The Dyatlov Pass Case

Introduction -

Otorten Mountains, for now, this place is situated in Russia's Northern Urals and this place's history has a page in it that is quite weird and mysterious. In 1959, between 1 Feb - 2 Feb, led by Igor Dyatlov, a group of nine Russian hikers moved towards Mt. Otorten consisting of 2 girls and the rest were boys. This group makes its campsite near Mt. Otorten and they all died, in unexplained circumstances. 

Rescue - 

For many days, there is no news about the hikers due to which, a rescue team is deployed. On 26th February, the team found the group's abandoned and badly damaged tent on Kholat Syakhl. The corpses of two members of the group were found near some trees about 1 mile from the campsite. But the shocking part was that the temperature of that place during that time was around -30°C, but both the bodies were shoeless and dressed only in underwear. 

The team found three more corpses, one of which had a fractured skull. But the doctors who investigated these 5 corpses said that these five people died due to hypothermia (drop in body temperature caused mostly due to exposure to cold). 

The weirdest thing is that finding the remaining four members of the group took more than 2 months. They finally found them on the 4th of May in a ravine; one of them had a fractured skull, another had crushed ribs, and, a female member too with crushed ribs and tongue handing out. Some of them even had their eyes and eyebrows missings. Three of the four were clothed better than others, and there were signs that some clothing of those who had died first had been removed for use by the others. Some radioactive substance was found on their clothes and traces of this substance were found in the whole area. One of them also died due to hypothermia. 

Discovery and investigation - 

Investigators said that these bodies didn't have any external trauma on them and that the injuries were all internal which is not possible to be inflicted by humans. One more weird thing was that the tent set up at the campsite had no evidence saying if they were all attacked by anyone at night. In fact, the tent was torn from inside and brings a question to our minds: What actually happened to the hikers? 

Actually, this expedition led by Igor Dyatlov, in the starting had 10 members but one of the members, Yuri Yudin, turned back due to knee and joint pain that made him unable to continue the hike. Yuri helped the rescue team to identify the hikers items but Yuri also found some items that didn't belong to anyone in the group. One of the items included: a piece of military cloth, glasses, and skis. 

Theories - 

Yuri Yudin's theory was that before the rescue team reached the site, some military people found the corpses and the destroyed campsite, and maybe they tampered with the evidence to cover something up. The problem with this theory is that the footprints that were found of the hikers, upon investigation, say that they all started hiking in a quite relaxed way. Usually, if someone is attacked, or let's suppose even if the military attacked, there would be quite a hustle-bustle. But the footprints suggested the opposite. Now, there might be a case that the hikers may have fully surrendered. But then, why would they attack the hikers?

The weirdest theory is that these hikers may have been killed by Yeti and on this theory, some documentaries were also made. But the investigators didn't find any creature's footprints around the place. One of the show's names is 'Russian Yeti: The Killer Lives'. The following image is one of the last photos taken by the hikers. To begin with, it doesn't look much like a Yeti. With its short, rather thin arms, it looks a lot like a person in a coat.

There is another weird and surprising theory which is that these hikers were killed by an unknown flying object. Actually, the chief investigator of the 'Dyatlov Pass Incident', Lev Ivanov, said in an interview that during the investigation, they found some pine trees which were burned from high up, but Lev got an order from his superior that he must not include his U.F.O. theory in the report. This included pictures of flying spheres drawn by the Mansi hunters and other testimonies. During the investigation, Lev got several reports according to which, near the campsite of the hikers, between February and March, many bright flying spheres were seen by another group of hikers. Skeptics might also add that Ivanov gave this interview to make some money. This theory was not investigated any further neither by the authorities nor by official science as it was deemed a pseudo-scientific or religious phenomenon.

The five hikers who died of hypothermia with fewer clothes on their bodies could be said to have happened due to 'Paradoxical Undressing'. In 'Paradoxical Undressing', hypothermic subjects remove their clothes in response to perceived feelings of burning warmth. However, others in the group appear to have acquired additional clothing (from those who had already died), which suggests that they were of a sound enough mind to try to add layers.

Book 'Dead Mountain' 2013's author, Donnie Eichar (who spent five years researching the incident), in his book gave hypothesis that the wind going around Kholat Syakal created a Karman Vortex street, which can produce capable of inducing panic attacks in humans. This vortex creates tornadoes, spinning fast enough to tear down roofs of buildings, creating a deafening sound. But under certain circumstances, they could also produce a more subtle and terrifying phenomenon known as infra-sound. 

Infra-sound is a type of vibration in the air that has a frequency so low it cannot be picked up by the human ear. But it can leave marked effects on the human body, including loss of sleep, shortness of breath, and extreme dread. Eichar's hypothesis for the Dyatlov pass holds that the whirling tornadoes would have been able to produce infra-sound in sufficiently high levels to induce panic. Because of their panic, the hikers were driven to leave the tent by whatever means necessary, and fled down the slope, after which the Siberian weather did the rest.

Kholat Syakhl is not an avalanche-prone area. It is not tall by more than 1079m and it is certainly not very steep. However, these facts don't exclude the possibility of a small avalanche. A portion of the upper layer of snow could simply shift and roll over the hikers as a slab of snow. Now, that would explain the hasty escape the hikers made by tearing the tent. But the footprints said otherwise. The footprints from the campsite indicated that they were relaxed and in no hurry.  Also, these men and women were experienced and well trained. They knew that chances of freezing to death is more likely than getting killed by an avalanche. 

In another theory, the campsite fell within the path of Soviet parachute mine exercise. Parachute mines detonate while still in the air rather than upon striking the surface and produce significant injuries similar to those experienced by the hikers: heavy internal damage with relatively little external trauma. The theory is that the hikers, woken by loud explosions, fled the tent in a panic and found themselves unable to return for supply retrieval. After some members froze to death attempting to endure the bombardment, others took their clothing only to be fatally injured by subsequent parachute mine concussions. There are indeed records of parachute mines being tested by the Soviet military in the area around the time the hikers were there. Now, this theory would explain 'glowing orbs' being seen. 

Movie -

A movie on this incident was made, going by the name, "Devil's Pass" (originally titled The Dyatlov Pass Incident) in 2013. It was directed by Renny Harlin and written by Vikram Weet. It was shot in the style of found footage. The movie went totally over the facts and showed about a ghoulish teleportation experiment and the elite guards putting an end to the hikers.  Although the movie is more or less hated throughout the Dyatlov community some frames fabricated for the movie had become so popular that people mistake them to be real.

Reopening of the Case - 

In the end, investigators gave the report saying that the cause of death of the hikers was an unknown force. Till February 2019, this case had been unsolved but the Russian authorities again reopened the case after 61 years. In 2019, a Swedish-Russian expedition was made to the site, and after investigations, they proposed that a violent katabatic wind was a plausible explanation for the incident.

This type of falling wind can appear when cold air over a glacier or a mountainous area starts to flow down a gradient. The phenomenon can be described as a ball rolling downhill by gravity. A katabatic wind could initiate when cold air atop a higher point begins to flow downhill, displacing warmer air below. If the lower elevations are comparatively much warmer - the stronger the wind. They can also occur over cooled mountain areas similar to the topography surrounding the Dyatlov pass. A sudden katabatic wind would have made it impossible to remain in the tent, and the most rational course of action would have been for the hikers to cover the tent with snow and seek shelter behind the treeline. On top of the tent, there was also a torch left turned on so that the hikers could find their way back to the tent. Though katabatic wind cannot be associated with glowing sphere. 

As for the radioactive substances found, 2 or 3 of the members were involved with radioactive chemistry as part of their university research, so they are bound to have those radiation levels on their bodies (the detected levels weren't life-threatening by any means).

Conclusion - 

On 11 July 2020, Andrey Kuryakov, deputy head of the Urals Federal District directorate of the Prosecutor-General's Office, announced an avalanche to be the "official cause of death" for the Dyatlov group in 1959. On 1 July 2016, a memorial plaque was inaugurated in Ural's Perm Region, dedicated to Yuri Yudin (the sole survivor of the expedition group), who died in 2013.

Paranormal Fact -

Unfortunately, these were not the last victims of the Kholat Syakhl. From 1960-61 several airplane crashes took away the lives of nine pilots and geologists who were sent here. For a time flights were canceled in the region. Among more recent victims of the mountain was a crash of Mi-8 in 2009. Pilots ignored long-standing unofficial no-fly zone. Fortunately, they survived the crash, but they couldn't explain why their helicopter went down so quickly and without any warning. Hikers today repeat the track of the Dyatlov group, but none of the groups ever contain 9 people.

******

This is it, guys. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Please tell me your thoughts on this in the comments. Please tell me if I was wrong somewhere in the comment section.

Also a question for you guys: Will you guys get scared if you think about this incident later? Or will you not? Please tell me in the comment section.

I know I released this chapter during this time when Russia and Ukraine are at war. I do not by any means, am disrespecting the Russian community or spreading hate towards them. I have been writing this chapter for a long time and happen to publish it now. Thank you for hearing me out. 

The theories included in this chapter are all popular ones. Meaning the lesser-known ones were not included. 

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Peace out ✌️.