Dyatlov Pass is the last one in fact. The Dyatlov Pass is the most mysterious and terrible story of the last century. Dyatlov Pass - fireballs
Watch the broadcast of the program from February 21, 2018 online
Today in the studio, in which it is impossible to lie, there is a unique case: a scientist, Valentin Degtyarev, is taking a lie detector test, who announced to the whole world that he had finally revealed the secret of the death of the “Dyatlov group”, and also, today in the studio he is ready to show a photo of one of the killers. Whether he is telling the truth or not, we will find out today in the program.
So, the story of the “Dyatlov Pass”, and the fact that a group of tourists in February 1959 went on a hike to the Northern Urals, and then disappeared without a trace, was heard by the whole world. Many classify this story as a “paranormal” phenomenon, since witnesses to the tragedy have repeatedly claimed that during these days they observed a huge fireball in the sky. And the testimony of different people coincided. At the same time, the bodies of the Dyatlov group were eventually found with signs of frostbite, but until now, the cause of their death remains a mystery to the whole world.
In our last program, for the first time, using a lie detector test, witnesses and experts revealed classified materials in this case. The two half-naked corpses that rescuers initially found were lying “neatly folded,” according to the documents. Someone packed them and hid them a week before the bodies were discovered by search parties.
In addition, a tent was found with people who lived in it for several days, and then suddenly cut it open and jumped out naked into the bitter cold. Who and what could have scared the climbers so much that they ran out of the tent to certain death?
Today, researcher and scientist Valentin Degtyarev declares: it was a deliberate murder. And he found the one who killed the “Dyatlov group”.
But did they all die? Versions were repeatedly heard in the studio that Semyon Zolotarev, the eldest of the tourists in the group, was still alive. And all these years he has been successfully hiding from the public eye! He is called the most mysterious figure in this case.
In 2003, an Israeli newspaper published a full-fledged analytical article about the fate of the “Dyatlov group”, and Russian scientists and researchers became seriously worried: in their opinion, Zolotarev himself could be the author of the article! They started looking for him, searched for 15 years, but the author of this article was never found. And our editors found it. Five months of persistent searches - and today in our studio we have the author of the article who is ready to answer all questions. Is it possible that he is the surviving member of the group Semyon Zolotarev? And will the “secret of the century” finally be revealed?!
So, in the studio of the program there were already experts and scientists who voiced a lot of sensational statements. And one of them is “Semyon Zolotarev is alive!” Moreover, he writes under a pseudonym in an Israeli newspaper.
Also, Valentin Degtyarev, a scientist who says: he unraveled the cause of the death of the Dyatlov group, also declares a sensation. They were killed by shamans, Mansi. Five people who lived in that area as hermits and were adherents of a certain cult, which no longer exists today. And he found proof of this. By the way, the same version initially appeared in the official investigation of the case, but it was rejected after the results of the examination of the dead bodies found came back. People died not from being hit by objects, but from frostbite. The internal organs were not damaged.
At the same time, Degtyarev assures: 6 photographic films were found on the bodies of the dead people. Three were directly related to this campaign. On three films, in different places, there are different people who followed this group. And on one - the man who killed them! In fact, the entire group was sacrificed. It was a ritual sacrifice. And in the photo you can clearly see a rock painting that marks the entrance to the cave where sacrifices were made to the gods. The same version was confirmed by the famous forensic medical expert Eduard Tumanov, who said that according to his version, all participants in this campaign were killed and killed by people.
Degtyarev continues: they were killed with a club. And the corpses themselves lay in a certain order, and in one line. And they all lay next to the tree. This is also part of the ritual. Every corpse. He is even ready to show a photo of each body and comment on it.
In the studio, expert Yuri Kuntsevich, head of the Dyatlov Group Memory Foundation, comes into opposition to him, who assures that the group died due to man-made reasons. Simply put - as a result of an explosion! And of the rock paintings that the scientist refers to, even tomorrow he can draw five of them on each rock...
The world knows a huge number of stories related to the unexplained death of people. These include the situation that occurred in the north of the Urals in 1959, when for unknown reasons a group of skiers died. Disputes about the reasons for what happened are still ongoing.
What is this Dyatlov Pass?
This is the name of the area where the terrible tragedy occurred. A group of skiers of 10 people (2 girls), members of the club of the Ural Polytechnic Institute, went on a hike on January 23, 1959, which was supposed to last 16 days. It was planned to walk at least 350 km and climb Mount Oiko-Chakur and Otorten. The route was of increased complexity, but it is worth noting that the tourists had extensive experience in such hikes, so no one feared for their lives.
Six students, three graduates and one instructor went on a hike to the Dyatlov Pass. After four days, one of the participants stopped the hike due to sciatica. According to the journal kept by the group, on January 31 they reached the upper reaches of the Auspiya River. The next day they installed a storage shed and at three o'clock in the evening they began climbing the mountain. Two hours later they stopped at a pass to pitch a tent and spend the night. The latest events concerning the life of the group were reconstructed thanks to the photographs they took. The exact events that occurred that night are still unknown.
When discussing what the Dyatlov Pass is, what really happened and who is to blame for it, it should be noted that the search for tourists began 14 days after the incident. First, the researchers found a tent and, one and a half kilometers away, found two corpses, stripped down to their underwear. After another 300 m, the body of Dyatlov, who was the leader of the group, was found, and the body of one of the girls was found nearby. A few days later another body was discovered. The remaining members of the group were found in late spring. Six people from the group died from hypothermia, and three from injuries.
Where is the Dyatlov Pass?
The place where the tragedy occurred is located on the slopes of Mount Kholatchakhl at an unnamed height of 905. The pass stands somewhat apart in the east of the Main Ural Range. A map of the location of the Dyatlov Pass and the group’s route is presented below. Local Mansi residents call this area “the mountain of the dead.” After the tragedy occurred, they began to name the pass in honor of the lost Dyatlov expedition.
What happened at the Dyatlov Pass?
The terrible and inexplicable incident caused the emergence of a huge number of versions of what happened. Understanding the topic - the Dyatlov Pass, what actually happened that night, it is important to note that the expedition members were found with various injuries: abrasions, bruises, burns, frostbite, fractures, hemorrhages, and one girl had her eyeballs and tongue cut out . The criminal case was closed on May 28, 1959 due to the lack of evidence of a crime. To explain why people died at the Dyatlov Pass, the following facts were established:
- Young people got out of the tent by cutting a hole in the tent.
- Warm clothes and even shoes were left in place.
- According to the nature of the tracks, it was established that the group walked at a calm pace one after another.
- Investigators believe that part of the group made a hole near the tree and lit a fire, but still froze. Others fell from the slope, and some decided to return to the tent to get their things, but froze along the way.
Dyatlov Pass - latest versions
Although a lot of time has passed since the tragedy, the topic concerning the causes of death of people still remains popular. New versions appear regularly or old versions are updated, but so far the secret of the Dyatlov Pass has not been revealed. Among the most frequently discussed options for death are the following: bear attack, exposure to infrasound, nuclear weapons testing, and murder by KGB agents.
Dyatlov Pass - avalanche version
This is the most popular version of what happened, and it was described by the scientist E. Buyanov. It is believed that a “snow board” descended on the group and the tourists themselves were to blame for this, as evidenced by a number of facts:
- There was a strong wind that day, and the snow formed a dense crust, which was located on a loose surface. To put up the tent, digging and deepening was done. At night, part of the snow crust separated and fell on people.
- The tourists cut the tent to get out. They were unable to dig up their things and for cover they decide to go down to the forest.
- The scientist explains the presence of eight pairs of footprints by the fact that a man with a broken head was carried in his arms.
- The mystery of the Dyatlov Pass was told in the film “Unfinished Route” and it is stated that the students lit a fire near a large cedar tree.
- They dug a shelter in the snow and built a deck for the wounded, but they still froze.
- The three people decide to go back to get their things, but freeze along the way. Those who remain by the fire sit close to the fire to warm themselves, so they get burned.
Dyatlov Pass - the Yeti hypothesis
One of the common versions concerns an attack by Bigfoot, and several facts have been cited to prove this. In contrast, scientists cite information from the criminal case that no other traces were found.
- People cut the tent to protect themselves from attack and to escape from the monster as quickly as possible, which is why they are missing some of their clothes.
- The Dyatlov Pass tragedy is associated with numerous injuries and this is explained by a skirmish with the yeti, which, according to the testimony of other people, is a powerful creature.
- The fire was a defense against the attack of the animal, which is considered to be the Yeti.
Dyatlov Pass - spy version
Some of the assumptions seem strange, but many believe in them. It is believed that three members of the group were undercover KGB officers who were supposed to meet with foreign intelligence agents along the route and give them fake samples of radioactive materials. Explaining what happened at the Dyatlov Pass, it is assumed that the spies were exposed, and it was decided to remove the witnesses.
- The participants were thrown out of the tent without clothes so that they would freeze and death would appear natural.
- Trying to resist, the expedition members fought for their lives, which explains the presence of injuries.
- When the group separated, the agents killed them individually using torture and hand-to-hand combat techniques.
Dyatlov Pass - man-made version
Ural researchers claim that that night a strong explosion occurred near the tent, which led to the death of people. One of the researchers suggested that it could be the R-7 missile, which was being tested at that time. Frightened by what had happened, the Dyatlovites began to run away and, falling, received their injuries. As evidence that a man-made disaster occurred at the Dyatlov Pass, fragments of rockets and aircraft were found during the expedition. There is an assumption that the young people were poisoned by chemicals.
Dyatlov Pass - fireballs
Another conclusion arose based on evidence that in 1959, in the area near the mountains where the expedition took place, various people saw luminous balls that moved across the sky and glowed brightly. There are several versions about the Dyatlov Pass and what actually happened that night:
- Members of the search group said that they saw fireballs at the Dyatlov Pass, which caused confusion in everyone’s minds and people did not understand what they were doing. Tourists may also have died. After reporting the emergency, they were told that this was testing a new type of fuel and there was no danger.
- There is a version that the glowing balls were unsuccessfully launched rockets.
- There is an assumption that the tourists were killed the day before due to a rocket explosion, and then they were dropped from a helicopter at the pass.
Dyatlov Pass - Mansi
One of the very first versions of the investigation was an attack by the local Mansi population. It was believed that the death of the students at Dyatlov Pass was due to the fact that they walked through places that the Mansi consider sacred, so the pagans severely punished the people. There were versions that they used hypnosis and various psychotropic methods of influence. Research has shown that there are no sacred Mansi places on the mountains where tourists passed, and no traces of other people left on the night at the Dyatlov Pass were found.
Dyatlov Pass - black diggers
Among the versions of the death of the group, another one is widespread, according to which the criminals killed people, believing that they had gold with them.
- This is explained by the fact that in the last settlement, together with Yudin, they visited a warehouse of geological samples, where they took several stones and these were chalcopyrites and pyrites.
- There are sources that indicate that the students' backpacks were filled with gold. Rumors reached the prisoners who were in the village at that time.
- According to another version of why they died at the Dyatlov Pass, one of the black diggers hid valuables in tourists’ backpacks so that they would take them outside the village.
- Understanding the topic of the Dyatlov Pass, what really happened and who is to blame, some researchers believe that tourists stumbled upon black diggers who decided to remove the witnesses.
- Mansi, who are participating in the search operation, claim that other people followed in the footsteps of the group and perhaps these were the same prisoners.
Dyatlov Pass - UFO
There are people who believe that an attack by an unidentified flying object is to blame. The version was proposed by Yu. Yakimov, who claimed that he himself saw the glowing plate, but only in 2002. They say the following about UFOs and the Dyatlov Pass:
- The object that descended to the ground reacted to tourists and illuminated them with bright light. After that, several bright balls separated from him and approached the group.
- It is believed that the last photo shows glowing objects. Scientists believe that this photo was taken accidentally while changing film.
- People were injured due to the shock wave impulse, which was sent by glowing objects. This explains the bone fractures and the integrity of the soft tissues.
- Yakimov believes that the UFO sought to eliminate witnesses who saw its research.
Psychics about the Dyatlov Pass
In the 13th season of the famous show “Battle of Psychics,” a test was conducted where the participants had to tell what happened to them without seeing photographs of students participating in the hike. The mystery of the Dyatlov Pass tragedy has not been solved, since psychics offered several different versions.
- Vit Mano said that it was all due to a quarrel between the guys over virgin girls. He claimed that the tourists were under the influence of psychotropic drugs.
- Fatima Khadueva believes that the death at the Dyatlov Pass was staged, since the young people learned some kind of state secret.
- Valentina Serdyuk suggested that the students were frightened by a round and bright object.
- Elena Golunova believes that otherworldly forces are to blame.
- Dmitry Volkhov proposed a version that the tourists ended up in an ancient cemetery and the spirits took revenge on them.
The death of a group of travelers who conquered one of the Khanty-Mansiysk peaks became one of the most mystical incidents in Russia. The place of death is now known by the name of the leader of the campaign - Dyatlov Pass. What really happened is one of the most baffling mysteries of the 20th century.
A brief excursion into what happened
The sequence of events of the most mystical of Soviet tragedies is as follows:
- At the end of January 1959, a group of students from Yekaterinburg (then Sverdlovsk) set off to conquer the Ural peaks;
- On January 25, they reached the village of Vizhay, where they stayed at a hotel;
- The next day they were picked up by a truck and taken to the village. They spent the night in the hostel;
- The ski trip begins on January 27. One of the expedition members, Yuri Yudin, was forced to return home for health reasons;
- Four days later, tourists approached the top of Kholat Syakhyl and unsuccessfully tried to climb it;
- On the evening of February 1, it was decided to stop for a break and continue trying tomorrow;
- After mysterious events that took place at night, all members of the expedition were dead.
All events were reconstructed from diary entries. The investigation and search operation began only 10 days after the death, when the students were supposed to descend to Vizhay.
Dyatlov Pass: versions
Until now, no one knows for sure what exactly happened in the Northern Ural on the night of February 1-2, 1959.
The uncertainty surrounding a terrible tragedy gives rise to many guesses :
- According to residents of the surrounding villages, that night turned out to be especially windy. Strong air currents could blow away tents and freeze people alive;
- In the early 1990s, there was a popular theory about large masses of snow suddenly falling on unsuspecting people. Thus, the physical damage on the body of some participants in the campaign became clear;
- The tent could not withstand the snow cap and suffocate its occupants;
- Meeting with a dangerous predator (bear, wolf, etc.);
- The climbers became victims of one of the atmospheric phenomena little known to science. Candidates for this could be ball lightning or a thunderstorm that occurs in severe frost.
Although the bodies of the travelers did not have puncture wounds or bullet wounds, the theory of human impact was developed along with the rest.
Who killed the Dyatlov group?
One of the popular versions is the inventive and cold-blooded murder of ordinary tourists for various reasons.
The investigation and journalists suggest that:
- The crime could have been committed by criminals who escaped from prison. The prosecutor's office dismisses this possibility due to the lack of information about escapes in the surrounding area during that period;
- Representatives of the indigenous people of those places - the Mansi - could understand the hand on the unarmed. However, this small nation was not noticed in interethnic conflicts with the Russians;
- A quarrel between the participants of the campaign. It is possible that a fight could have broken out due to alcohol abuse or a love polygon;
- Attack by police officers involved in poaching. Thus, they got rid of unnecessary witnesses to the crime. Thanks to the availability of administrative resources, the fact of the brawl could be successfully forgotten;
- Conspiracy theory. Dyatlov's comrades were none other than undercover state security officers on a mission. Foreign spies who came to the meeting “removed” the intelligence officers.
Speculation about an alien invasion
In September 2016, news appeared about the discovery of debris of unknown origin at the pass.
This discovery became the reason for another journalistic investigation:
- According to interviewed military pilots, the fragment is not related to any known model of aircraft;
- The part cannot be recognized as a spare part for a rocket or jet apparatus;
- Specialists from the Moscow Aviation Institute refused to give specific explanations on this matter. The scientists cited the need for more research on this topic;
- Journalists from Komsomolskaya Pravda made a risky assumption about the extraterrestrial nature of the artifact. The suspicious silence of representatives of the Ministry of Defense forces us to favor this version. Probably, the latter have information about visits to these places by an extraterrestrial civilization.
It should be noted that such insinuation on the theme of the supernatural is not the first of its kind. Theories have been expressed regarding Bigfoot, time holes, etc.
More than half a century has passed since the incident, but public curiosity does not think of cooling its ardor. The site of what happened today is a lucrative “amusement park” for the unsophisticated public. An all-terrain tour of the place of death can cost several tens of thousands of rubles.
Professionals found an inexhaustible source of inspiration in the incident. The number of works of art of varying quality on this topic reaches double digits, and the activity does not weaken over time:
- The most famous literary works about the incident belong to the pen of Yuri Yarovoy, Anna Matveeva and Donny Eichar;
- In 2015-2017, the Komsomolskaya Pravda publication published a series of reports about the incident. However, the quality of journalistic work caused a storm of criticism;
- The Rossiya 1 TV channel produced a documentary that received equally critical reviews.
However, the most famous creation is the Russian-American film “The Dyatlov Pass Incident” (with subtitles):
Film by Renny Harlin
The 2013 film by Hollywood director Renny Harlin was also intended to shed light on the events of many years ago. The horror film put the tragedy in an unusual light and made people talk about it again. But the viewing experience was spoiled by numerous blunders:
- Free handling of real events. According to the script, all the tourists were discovered at the same time, and the name of the main character sounds like Peter. Both are not true;
- The plot is generously stuffed with spreading cranberries and clichés. Russians behave as they should behave according to American stereotypes;
- All residents of the Urals speak English perfectly;
- Despite the high level of radiation according to the dosimeter, a group of searchers stayed there for the night;
- The involvement of the insidious Soviet secret services is far-fetched;
- The computer graphics don't stand up to criticism.
As a result, the film's distribution fate was sealed, and critics from Rotten Tomatoes gave it only 53 out of 100%.
Accidents involving travelers in the mountains are, unfortunately, not uncommon news. But all of them do not show even a hundredth of the interest that the ill-fated Dyatlov Pass has. What really happened is known only to those who know the killer of Kennedy and Princess Diana.
Video: what happened at the Dyatlov Pass: the end of the story
In this documentary, historian Stanislav Lozhkin will talk about the final version of what happened at that ill-fated pass in the Ural Mountains:
The mysterious death of nine tourists on the Mountain of the Dead, which occurred on February 1, 1959, is considered one of the deepest mysteries of the Northern Urals to this day.
They tried to unravel the mystery of the Dyatlov Pass by considering many versions, which were described in detail in documentaries and articles by numerous authors.
Photo of members of the tour group at the monument. Top row: Doroshenko, Dubinina, Dyatlov; Middle row: Zolotarev, Kolmogorova, Kolevatov; Bottom row: Krivonischenko, Slobodin, Thibault-Brignolles/ Photo: Photo: commons.wikimedia/CC0 Public Domain
Another documentary film was released this year, and the full-length American thriller film “The Mystery of the Dyatlov Pass” was recently released.
It is clear from the investigation documents that nine experienced skiers hastily left their tent on the slope of Mount Kholatchakhl (Kholat Syakhyl) in the evening, leaving skis, food, warm clothes and shoes.
With this mountain, translated from the language of the local Mansi people, the Mountain of the Dead, there is an old belief that on it in ancient times a certain spirit killed nine Mansi hunters, and from then on everyone who tries to climb the mountain will face the curse of the shamans.
The indigenous people believe this legend and prefer not to go to Mount Kholatchakhl. What evil spirit killed the skiers in 1959?
Without outer clothing, preparing for bed, the young people ran in the dark down the snowy slope towards the dense forest, where there was no chance of survival at temperatures of about minus 30 degrees Celsius.
Confused investigators, who concluded that the group died as a result of the “supernatural influence of some unknown force,” closed the case and classified it as “secret.”
Records related to the incident were copied, and in the early 1990s new investigations began again, but the friends of the victims, as well as all interested people who had some connection with the mysterious tragic incident, did not find answers.
"If I could ask God one question, it would be, 'What really happened to my friends who died that fateful night?'- said Yuri Yudin, the only member of the ski expedition who survived because he did not go to the mountain.
Yudin and nine other students from the Ural Polytechnic Institute went on a ski expedition to Mount Otorten in the Northern Urals on January 28, 1959. However, Yudin’s leg hurt, he could not follow with the group and remained in the village of the 2nd Northern Mine, the last settlement before the ascent.
The skiers, led by 23-year-old Igor Dyatlov, set up camp for the night on the eastern slope of Kholat Syakhyl, a mountain near Otorten. They set up their tent around 5:00 p.m. on February 1, investigators said, citing photographs they discovered while examining rolls of film found among the abandoned belongings of expedition members.
Nine skiers chose a place to spend the night on the slope - this was the first and fatal mistake of the Dyatlov group, and it remained unclear. The group could have ventured just 1.5 kilometers down the mountain into the forest, where they would have found refuge from the harsh elements of the elements or other unknown forces.
“Dyatlov probably did not want to lose the distance they had covered and decided to set up camp on the mountainside,” Yudin said by phone from Solikamsk, a city near Yekaterinburg where the Ural State Technical University, which was an institute at the time, is located.
When a group of tourists left the institute, Dyatlov promised to send a telegram as soon as they returned to Vizhay, having completed their ascent to the Otorten and Oiko-Chakur mountains, around February 12.
But Yudin said that the leader of the group, even when they parted, assumed that the hike would be delayed, and the tourists might return several days later than planned. Thus, no one was worried when the Dyatlov group did not get in touch on February 12.
Only on February 20, after relatives raised the alarm, a search and rescue team of teachers and students left the institute. The police and army sent searchers by planes and helicopters later.
Unclear data
“We found that the tent was half torn and covered with snow. There were no people there, the guys’ clothes and shoes, equipment and a stove remained inside, a log for kindling was nearby,”– Mikhail Sharavin, the student who found the tent, said over the phone from Yekaterinburg.
From the investigators' notes it became known that the tent was cut from the inside, and traces of nine people led from it in a meter-long layer of snow. The footprints were different: from boots, bare feet and in socks, and in one felt boot.
Investigators claimed that the footprints were left by members of the expedition, and also said that there was no evidence of a struggle or other evidence of the presence of outsiders in the camp. The tracks led down the slope to the forest, and disappeared after 50-60 meters, covered with snow.
Continuing the search, Sharavin discovered the first two bodies on the edge of the forest, under a tall cedar tree, at a distance of 1,500 meters from the tent. They were 24-year-old Yuri Krivonischenko, and Yuri Doroshenko, the youngest of the men in the group, he was 21 years old.
The bodies of the dead students that were found were without shoes or outerwear; their palms and soles were burned and wounded.
Nearby were the charred remains of a fire. The branches on the tree were broken five meters high, Sharavin said. Broken branches were scattered in the snow below.
The body of Igor Dyatlov (23 years old) was found; he walked 300 meters in the direction of the tent from the cedar tree. The bodies of Zina Kolmogorova (22), and Rustem Slobodin (23) were also found on the path between the cedar and the tent: Kolmogorova - 850 meters from the tent, Slobodin - 1000 meters.
Investigators said that, by all indications, the dead were moving towards the camp, but no one could explain why the tourists were going to the place from which they had so hastily fled.
The authorities immediately opened a criminal case, but after autopsy of the bodies they found no evidence of any intervention. Doctors determined that five people died from hypothermia.
Slobodin’s skull was broken - a crack 6 cm long and 0.5 cm wide, but the injury he received during his lifetime, according to the medical examination, was not the cause of death. He also died of hypothermia, lying face down in the snow, which melted from his breath, forming an ice crust.
It took two months to find the remaining skiers. Their bodies were found buried under a four-meter layer of snow in a forest ravine, 75 meters from the cedar.
They were Lyudmila Dubinina (21), 24-year-old Nikolai Thibault-Brignolles, the eldest - Alexander Zolotarev, who was 37 years old, and Alexander Kolevatov (25) - apparently, three of this group of tourists died from injuries.
Thibault-Brignolle's death was caused by a skull injury and cerebral hemorrhage. Dubinina and Zolotarev had numerous fractures of the ribs, in addition, Dubinina had no tongue.
But at the same time, medical experts did not find any traces of external influence on the bodies of the dead. Such severe injuries usually occur from being hit by a speeding car or falling from a height.
All four who were found first were dressed warmer than the others. Dubinina's leg was wrapped in a piece of a sweater. Having examined the clothing, the examination found an insignificant amount of radiation.
The investigation, however, was closed after a few months; investigators said they could not find the cause of death of nine tourists from Dyatlov’s group. The case was sent to the secret archive.
For three years, skiers and other tourists were prohibited from visiting Dead Man's Mountain.
“I was 12 years old at the time, but I remember the deep resonance that arose among people, despite the efforts of the authorities to silence the relatives of the dead tourists and investigators,”- Yuri Kuntsevich, the head of Yekaterinburg, said at a meeting with the founders of the Dyatlov Foundation, who were trying to unravel the mystery.
Investigators were investigating a version according to which supposedly local Mansi could have killed skiers in retaliation for illegal entry into their land. But this theory was not confirmed by any evidence.
It was documented that neither Otorten nor Kholat Syakhyl - the Mountain of the Dead - were considered sacred or taboo by the Mansi.
The medical examiner who examined the bodies of the victims in 1959 believed that no person could have caused such injuries, since the force of the impact was too strong, as happens as a result of a car accident. This was confirmed by Doctor Boris Vozrozhdenny, as recorded in the case materials.
Flight of glowing balls
In 1990, chief investigator Lev Ivanov said in an interview that he was ordered in 1959 by a senior regional official to close the case and was made to sign an undertaking to “keep the results of the investigation secret.”
He said officials were concerned by reports from several witnesses who spoke of strange phenomena. In addition, the meteorological laboratory and the military claimed that "bright flying spheres" were seen in the area in February and March 1959.
"I suspected at the time, and I'm pretty sure now, that those bright flying balls had a lot to do with the group's death."– Ivanov said in an interview with a small newspaper in Kazakhstan.
There is information that contains testimony from the leader of another group of tourists who camped about 50 kilometers south of the camp of the dead skiers on the same night. He said his group saw strange orange orbs floating in the night sky in the direction of Mount Kholatchakhl.
Investigator Ivanov suggested that one of the skiers may have left the tent at night, saw the ball flying in their direction, and woke up the others with a scream.
Ivanov said that the exploding ball could well have killed the four who had serious injuries, and he also explained the crack in Slobodin’s skull.
Yudin said he also thought some kind of explosion might have been responsible for his friends' deaths, and the level of secrecy surrounding the incident suggests the group might have inadvertently entered a secret military training ground.
He said that traces of radiation on the clothes of the victims confirmed his version.
The head of Yekaterinburg, Kuntsevich, agreed, saying that another evidence of death from the explosion was that the faces of the first five skiers who died were of an unnaturally dark color.
“I attended the funerals of the first five victims and I remember that their faces looked tanned, they had a deep brown tan,”- he said.
“I know for sure that their organs were sent for examination in special containers,”- said the surviving tourist from Dyatlov’s group.
However, the version of death from the explosion was refuted, since no traces of the explosion were found near Mount Kholatchakhl.
The version of missile launches or military tests and the purging of witnesses was also refuted.
Mansi said during the investigation that they saw some traces of skiers: “two days later strangers followed the trail of Dyatlov’s group.”
Local residents could have come up with this after they were tortured during interrogation, when they were working out a version of the attack on local skiers. One of the investigators spoke about this in an interview.
What really happened to the tourists?
The tragedy of 1959 has acquired numerous versions, mysticism and mystery; the mystical version with luminous balls looks especially intriguing, perhaps referring to UFOs.
And no one took seriously what the tourists and friends of Dyatlov said, who carefully studied the case materials, comparing the location of the area, weather conditions and the characters of the tourists themselves.
Having travel experience, based on facts from the investigation, friends of Dyatlov’s group said that the death of the group was caused by a large snow storm, increased wind and a drop in temperature from 0 to -30.
They reconstructed in detail the chronicle of events related to the mystery of the Dyatlov Pass. The truth is always simple and accessible, they just sometimes don’t want to admit it.
This is how it all really happened according to experienced tourists and friends of the Dyatlov group
On the evening of February 1, 1959, having reached the slope of Mount Kholatchakhl (Kholat Syakhyl - Mountain of the Dead), tired skiers set up a tent, they were not going to light the stove, since it had to be suspended, and the tourists did not install the central strut and did not strengthen it on the trees, so how they weren't around.
Still, it would be reasonable to secure the center of the tent, not even in order to hang the stove, light it and keep warm, but at least in order to avoid sagging the slopes of the tent under the weight of the snow that was constantly falling on the tent due to the blizzard.
The tourists warmed themselves with alcohol, took off their wet clothes and shoes, and rubbed themselves. While the sun was shining, it was not yet so cold. The snowfall and wind intensified, and, according to weather reports, the snow was falling wet and heavy.
The tent became covered in snow and eventually the back wall of the tent collapsed. Perhaps the guys got scared, thinking that there was an avalanche and that a second one would follow, so there was no time to look for shoes in the tent crushed by the snow.
Afraid of being buried under the snow, which could cover the tent with all the people inside, or being carried away along with the tent by a gust of wind, they decided to quickly get out and run to the saving forest, where they could light a fire.
This could explain the tent being cut open from the inside, tracks leading from the tent, an ice ax left near the tent, and a pair of skis placed - so that later it would be easier to locate the camp if the tent was completely covered with snow.
At first we walked in an organized manner, holding hands, overcoming the ridges of the kurumnik, along the snowdrifts, under which there were icy stone ledges, our hands sometimes parted.
And then the first tragedy happened: Rustem Slobodin, walking in only felt boots, slips, falls, hits his head on a stone, loses consciousness, those walking do not yet notice the loss, and leave him, he, having regained consciousness, still tries to walk, crawl, but after all, after 1000 meters of travel it can no longer move, it freezes. This is where he will be found later.
And the rest are still walking towards the forest, hoping to find shelter from the elements there and wait out the bad weather by the fire. But again, it’s as if someone is pushing tourists to make mistakes one after another, leading them into the clutches of death. Three people separate from the group to walk faster in search of shelter from the snowstorm and terrible cold.
These were the most warmly dressed of all the skiers and in shoes: Alexander Zolotarev and Nikolai Thibault-Brignolle, and Luda Dubinina went with them.
They quickly reached the forest, which began in a ravine already 700-800 meters from the tent. Then we went to the left, making our way among the trees, scratching our faces with branches with the only hope of quickly finding a place to camp, digging a cave in the snow, lighting a fire and sitting out until the end of the storm.
In the darkness, they obviously did not notice how they came to a steep cliff on the bank of a stream, not far from the fourth tributary of the Lozva River, and found themselves on a small snow cornice, the kind that usually blows up in the Northern Urals during snowy winters.
A fall from such a height of 5-7 meters - the height of a three-story building - onto the rocky bottom of an unfrozen stream, slightly dusted with fallen snow, led to the tragedy.
All three suffered what medical examiners described as fatal injuries. Thibault-Brignolle received a severe head injury, and Zolotarev and Dubinina suffered multiple rib fractures. They could not move, Sasha Kolevatov came to their aid, who, together with Doroshenko and Krivonischenko and Igor Dyatlov, moved them up the stream closer to the cedar, where they lit a fire.
However, they could not lift their wounded comrades from the ravine - there was a steep ravine - a wall, for the wounded they had to make a flooring below, which the searchers found 70 meters from the cedar, where the guys also lit a fire and tried to lift their comrades from the stream here.
The things of both Yuras were found on the flooring - they put them for the guys. Between the wounded and the flooring there was also a small ledge that formed a waterfall, and which also prevented the wounded from getting to the flooring.
Luda Dubinina will later be found at the waterfall, she was turned to face this waterfall and was kneeling in the water. Sasha Kolevatov remained with the wounded and warmed them with his body until the end of his life, where he was found frozen next to Sasha Zolotarev.
Before this, Zinaida Kolmogorova separated from the group, then Igor Dyatlov. Having reached the cedar and discovered that Rustem Slobodin was not among them, Zina first went in search of him, who climbed quite high up the slope, she was found frozen 650 meters from the cedar, then Igor, after transporting the wounded along the ravine.
Igor combed the slope in search of Zina and Rustik, and died 500 meters from the cedar, freezing, but not curling up into an embryo, as usually happens in such situations. He held onto the birch tree, as if preparing to get up and go again in search of his missing friends.
And by the cedar, by the fire, only two Yuri remained from the entire expedition; they took off their wet clothes after dragging the wounded along the ravine, dried out and warmed up, and began to fall asleep. Then, in order not to fall asleep and freeze, they were forced to put their hands and feet into the fire, medical experts concluded: they had serious burns and wounds on their hands.
This version explains everything and reveals the causes of death with full evidence and confirmation, facts and similar cases set out in the investigative materials and similar cases that happened to tourists in the same situations both in the mountains of the Northern Urals and on other tourist routes.
I am writing this article in advance. Why? Because I don’t have the right to talk about such news prematurely. But, in advance, I foresee how all this will end.
Let me remind you very briefly. An elderly gentleman named Veniamin Berenkholtz called the program and stated that he knew the name of the killer of the Dyatlov group. According to him, he was the last person to see the group alive. He came to Moscow from Israel, where he has lived for almost fifty years in a row. The gentleman passed a lie detector (polygraph), so there is no doubt in his words. According to him, he accompanied the group to an abandoned settlement of geologists.
Indeed, Dyatlov’s group stayed in the village of Vizhay. Where there were special regime camps then. There is no mention in the diaries that they visited area 70 of the village. Especially on February 2, 1959. On the contrary, this date is considered the date of their death. A visit to Vizhay in this photo:
Or this one:
Tourists were greeted there like best friends. I have no doubt that Benjamin told the truth that the group left only a couple of days later. Then it turns out that the mark on the group’s waybill was inaccurate. I also believe that the young soldier from Kyiv (Veniamin) really wanted to communicate with them. Moreover, there were two young women in the group, clearly urban and, of course, very beautiful. The departure of Dyatlov’s group from Vizhay to the village of 41 quarters was also included in the photographs. A few words about this village. This is a special settlement. Former prisoners and civilian workers work together to extract wood there. The morals there are extreme. Women and alcohol are not available to settlers. However, they warmly welcomed tourists. They fed us, gave us lodgings, and even showed us a couple of movies. If we take into account the diaries of the girls from Dyatlov’s team, there were no attempts to persuade them to have sexual intercourse. On the contrary, several residents of the village aroused their keen interest. Who knows what would have happened if the group had remained alive, perhaps there would have been more of one family...
This photo shows the departure of tourists from Vizhay (by truck):
And here is the group’s arrival in the village “41st quarter”. As you can see, everything was fine with them there.
Veniamin says that the commander sent him, along with a horse and a coachman, to accompany Dyatlov’s group to the so-called village: “Second Northern Mine.” This is an abandoned village. Geologists used to live there. No one lives now (indicated in the criminal case). Here certain questions arise regarding Benjamin’s story. So he says that the group did not go on skis, but on foot. He noted this more than once in his stories. However, it is not. In the photographs of the crossing (to the abandoned village), tourists walk in front and behind a sleigh with a horse, walking on skis (!) Most likely Veniamin did not know about these photographs. But those who deal with this topic professionally have also forgotten about them.
In the photo, tourists are skiing in the area of the village: “2 northern mine”. On one horse (and not on two, as Benjamin said on the program).
On the other hand, it is officially said that pipes were carried on sleds. And the Dyatlovtsevs were taken for company. Why and who would lead the pipes there? If there is (officially) no one there?!
Benjamin immediately said that the sleigh and horse were specially allocated for transporting tourists. But there are no (!) pipes on the sled. So here he is, again, telling the truth. In the case materials there is a mention of the interrogation of the coachman. This is an exiled Lithuanian born in 1903. He is about 56 years old. He is no longer young, so in the diaries the Dyatlovites call him grandfather. Benjamin says that it was he who transported the group. Indeed, in the photograph (from the back) a rather young man is visible. He is wearing a black military-style pea coat (or padded jacket). So, what can we say that Benjamin is telling the truth? Are there lies written in the criminal case materials? On the other hand, in the surviving diaries of the Dyatlov group there is not even a single word about him.
I will give, as an example, excerpts from the interrogation of the head of the forest plot of that very 41st village: “In the 41st quarter, a group of tourists from the Sverdlovsk Polytechnic Institute consisting of 10 people - 8 men and 2 women - arrived by car on January 26, 1959 at approximately 7:00 am. 8 pm. All of them lived in quarter 41 for 2 days, i.e. January 26 and 27. We spent 2 nights in our barracks. They purchased some products from our store. On January 27, a man and a woman approached me and asked for a horse to transport things and food to the 2nd Northern mine, which is located from 41 square meters. at a distance of 22 km. I allocated a horse for them and gave them the driver Velukyavichus Stanislav Alexandrovich. On January 28, 1958, at approximately 10 o’clock in the morning, they left for the 2nd Northern mine. People walked on skis, and things and food were transported on carts. When the tourists were in the 41st quarter, they behaved very well, sang and danced with the workers. They presented Master Venediktov Evgeniy Petrovich with an art book and Tutinkov Anatoly also gave something. Venediktov and Tutinkov on 41 sq. not now, the first of them quit and moved out, and Tutinkov works in the city of Ivdel at the Energy and Wood Plant. Upon the return of the driver Velikyavichus to the 41st quarter, he said that he took the tourists to the 2nd Northern Mine, they stayed there in a non-residential house and, apparently, spent the night there. In the village No one lives in the Northern Mine.”
Now I will give the testimony of the coachman himself: “In January 1959 (I don’t remember the exact date), a group of students arrived in the village of 41 kilometers, where I was working at that time, including two girls and the rest guys. These tourists slept one or two nights in the 41 sq. m. On the instructions of the head of the site, Comrade Ryazhnev, I accompanied these tourists to the village. 2nd Northern: they went on skis, and I carried their cargo on a cart. We arrived at the village of 2nd North at eleven o'clock in the evening, where at that time there were no citizens in the village, and in general no one lived there. I spent the night in a hut with the tourists, and the next morning we had breakfast together. One of the tourists put core rock from drilling workings in a duffel bag and asked me to take it to the 41st km. At the same time, he told me to drive back quietly, and he would catch up with me, since he could not go further on the hike due to illness, his leg hurt. Tourists in my presence talked about the route, but I don’t know the detailed route. I heard that in their conversation they mentioned mountains, rocks, forests and that who(?) would photograph what moments. I left the village at about 10 o'clock in the morning, the tourists remained there. At the 41st km I arrived at about three o’clock in the afternoon, and after a while one tourist appeared and collected the rock.”
The one who left the group is well known to us. This is the tenth member of the campaign. Yuri Yudin. Recently deceased, unfortunately. His testimony is as follows: “From the mountains. We left Sverdlovsk on January 22, 1959 all together, we arrived in Ivdel on the night of January 25, from where we left by bus the next day, on January 26, 1959 in the afternoon, on the same day we arrived in the village. 41st quarter, spent the night there in the logging hostel, on January 27, 1959, our group went on skis in the direction of the village. 2nd Northern. On the evening of January 27, 1959, we arrived in the village. 2nd Northern, we spent the night there in an abandoned hut. My leg hurt, I couldn’t take part in the hike, so on January 28, 1959 from the village. 2 Severny returned back to the mountains. Ivdel, and the remaining 9 people on skis and with all equipment went along the route.”
He's not lying. Because he follows the sleigh. Significantly behind. Like a person whose leg hurts. I tagged Yura Yudin in the photo. He will soon go back to Ivdel.
Now certain questions arise. There are eight people in the picture. One takes a photo. There are nine of them in total. Where's the tenth? At this moment there are ten of them. Yudin has not yet left for Ivdel. By the way, it is not clear why he is skiing. If his leg hurts, then it would be more logical to put him in a sleigh.
And where is our soldier named Benjamin? He was not in a sleigh, not on skis, because he did not know that the group was going to the village of “2 Northern Mine” on skis. So where is he?!
Now let’s talk about the group’s arrival in the abandoned village “Second Northern Mine”. According to our Veniamin, he led the Dyatlov group to the home of a Mansi named Andrey. This man is not made up. He was famous at that time. In addition, you saw his relative on the program. But the case materials say that no one lives in the village. And this is the real lie. Several (!) people live in the village. They are in the photographs taken by the Dyatlov group.
Nothing is known about any contact between them and the group. Therefore, Veniamin’s story that the group spent the night in a tent with a Mansi named Andrey raises slight doubts. Firstly, it is doubtful that tourists would spare him alcohol, and secondly, they would definitely describe such a meeting in their diaries. There is nothing like that in them. But still, who are these few people? Most likely loggers or geologists. Why are there no entries in the diaries about them? Because these pages were torn out of them by the investigator. Of course, on instructions from high offices. For what?
I think that these people were the killers of this group. Well, if not themselves, then they were the cause of their death by reporting to the camp in Vizhay. Apparently, the surviving tourist Yudin also knew this well, or simply guessed. That’s why I never said a word about it to everyone. The elderly coachman knew the same thing. He, in general, left these places forever soon after that incident. Venimamin came to Russia only in order (this is just a guess, I’m not claiming anything) so that all suspicions would fall specifically on the Mansi named Andrei. True, he got the details a little mixed up, which is also understandable. Still a respectable age, and this business is already almost sixty years old. These people, most likely, were dressed like Mansi. Very comfortable clothes in the taiga. This was the reason that I followed the wrong trail. If it weren’t for Benjamin’s visit, I would still be confident in him now. But now I don’t believe in him anymore. Moreover, he said that Mansi wanted to rob tourists. How then did all the things remain untouched? Money (almost 2000 rubles. A lot for those times), cameras, things, the same alcohol that Dyatlov and Zolotarev allegedly spared him?!
Now about the inhabitants of the abandoned village. Who are these people really? These are (apparently) illegal miners. They mined gold there, perhaps taking advantage of the fact that geologists had hidden some profitable deposit from the state. The business was a source of considerable income for the head of the camp, as well as for his subordinates. Somehow the Dyatlovites saw this production going on. Or it’s all because of the core (cut of rock) that Yudin sent along with the coachman. Perhaps there were traces of native gold. What would become clear even with a cursory analysis of it. There was definitely a radio station there. Therefore, residents of the abandoned village could report this to the camp. And then what happened happened. Several people who knew these places very well attacked sleeping people at night (or early in the morning). Some were finished off, others simply froze in the wind, but they took the secret with them. The diaries were inspected, since the group had been at the pass for quite a long time. Unfortunately, all traces of their presence were destroyed by snowfall, and then completely destroyed in the spring. The case of illegal mining in those years was executed by firing squad. Everyone who was associated with him understood this. The murder of the group was also an execution case, but they managed to avoid answering for as much as 59 years. So, karma was kind to them.
By the way. I'm surprised that no one paid attention to these group diaries:
27.I.59 The weather was good, the wind should have been blowing at the back along the way (that is, it was from the south, and the weather was warm - G.K.). The guys agreed that a horse would carry the bales to the 2nd Northern. From 41st it is 24 km. We helped Grandfather Slava unload the cart of hay and began to wait for the horse (she had gone to get hay and firewood). We waited until 4 o'clock.
The horse is walking slowly. How nice it is to go without backpacks.
We walked 8 km in 2 hours (Ushma River).
... Late at night, in complete darkness, they found a village and only by looking at the ice hole they guessed where the hut was...
Doroshenko.
Pay attention!... Late at night, in complete darkness, they found a village and only by looking at the ice hole they guessed where the hut was... The ice hole will not appear on its own. So someone was collecting water there. And they were looking for a hut to live in (!) somewhere who had already lived before them. This means that the abandoned village was not as deserted as we were told all these years. And (again) there is no word about a Mansi named Andrey. A few words about what was not known until this day. It turns out that Dyatlov’s group had a gun! Benjamin himself reported this. I checked. This is true. There was a gun, but in a case. Here it is in the photo. The search engines never found him. Zolotarev carried it in his backpack. This moment was cut from the program, of course.
The gun is in a case in Zolotarev’s backpack.
Now about the possible tenth corpse. I asked questions to those who found the bodies of this group. Investigators spent a long time looking for the item used to cut the tent. Why was there any need to look for it if it was clutched in the right hand of Igor Dyatlov’s corpse? He was then pulled out and thrown away. As you can see, they began to hide the facts already then, back in 1959.
With the tenth body, too, not everything is clear. Nobody answered my question about the tenth corpse. It was also not possible to ask a question during the program. But he (the corpse) was there. Only significantly below the pass itself, below the place where the entire group died.
But in this photo, investigator Ivanov carefully cut out the image of the tenth body.
Diagram of the location of all bodies at the pass.
So, what did we get? The Dyatlov group was indeed killed. But this murder was not connected with issues of religion, or with the possible refusal of women to have sexual intercourse. The group accidentally witnessed illegal gold mining. In an abandoned village. Where (officially) there was no trace of gold. The tenth corpse was dressed in Mansi clothes (again, only a version). This is probably some local resident who could have been killed on purpose. Perhaps his name can be found if you dig deep into the archives. But, most likely, he had no documents at all. The topic was hushed up because they did not want to aggravate relations with the Mansi people. Now, on purpose, they did everything to make the matter even more confusing. I am sure that someone is well aware of the possible gold deposit and, perhaps (sorry for the repetition, but there is no other way to say it), already has definite plans for it. They do not condemn him, since gold should generate income. It is not clear, only one thing, for what purpose the visit was organized by this very Veniamin. On his personal initiative? Or did someone tell him this? If I fantasized, then let Benjamin himself refute it.
Valentin Degterev. Internet journalist. Specialization in the genre of searching for various artifacts