On February 2, 1959 in the Ural Mountains of Russia nine experienced hikers mysteriously died. Found near Dyatlov Pass, named for the expedition’s leader, Igor Dyatlov, the deaths occurred on the east side of the mountain that in Mansi means Mountain of the Dead.
The group originally contained eight men and two women, all of whom were experienced in ski tours, with the intention of reaching Mt. Otorten. On January 27, 1959 the group began their tour to Mt. Otorten but lost a member due to sickness the following day. There were now nine people.
Journals and personal cameras were discovered at their final camping site which made it possible to piece together the route the group had chosen and that had placed them in the infamous pass.
It appeared that as they were trying to clear the pass the weather took a turn for the worse and forced them to lose their way. They set up camp for the night on February 2, 1959 to wait for the storm to subside.
Igor Dyatlov was supposed to send word they had safely returned via telegraph around February 12, 1959. When no message had arrived by February 20, 1959 an emergency search party was put together that eventually involved the police and the army.
On February 26, 1959 the abandoned camp site was finally discovered. The tent was found to be horribly mangled and it appeared as though the group of nine hikers had forcibly cut their way out.
Footprints outside the tent indicated the group had left shoeless and even barefoot. Following the prints led investigators to the edge of a forest where five of the nine bodies were found. Two were without shoes and in their underwear. It would take over two months to find the remaining four bodies.
Originally thought to have died from hypothermia, upon further examination it was found that one of the women was missing her tongue and that three of the hikers had sustained a massive skull fracture and two massive chest fractures. The force of these traumas were said to be similar to traumas sustained in a car crash.
Oddly, there were no visible signs on the surface of the bodies to indicate the internal damage. Reportedly it was as though the trauma inside their bodies was caused by a powerful, unknown pressure. It was even postulated that the internal injuries could not have been caused by a human because the force of it was just too great.
Some of the corpse’s skin was a strange orange to brown color and they appeared to have aged prematurely. Some of the victim’s clothes were even tested and found to be highly radioactive.
Investigators, in trying to pin down the real cause for these deaths, found it strange that no other footprints were found in the vicinity and that there were no outward signs of a struggle from the victims. It was like they did not have time to defend themselves.
Some believe the incident was a military experiment gone awry and others blame the paranormal. For instance, it was reported that a separate group of hikers located in the general area of those who died spotted bright, orange spheres hovering over the ill-fated site on the night of February 2, 1959.
And in 1990 a former police officer who investigated the incident said he was told to remain quiet about the report of the orange spheres. In an article he wrote he admitted that he himself believed the carnage was somehow connected to and caused by these UFO’s.
Please visit these sites for more information:
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_incident
www.theunexplainedmysteries.com/Dyatlov-Pass.html