Has Science Solved One of History's Greatest Adventure Mysteries? (nationalgeographic.com) 56
Robin George Andrews, reporting for National Geographic: A 62-year-old adventure mystery that has prompted conspiracy theories around Soviet military experiments, Yetis, and even extraterrestrial contact may have its best, most sensible explanation yet -- one found in a series of avalanche simulations based in part on car crash experiments and animation used in the movie Frozen. In an article published this week in the journal Communications Earth and Environment, researchers present data pointing to the likelihood that a bizarrely small, delayed avalanche may have been responsible for the gruesome injuries and deaths of nine experienced hikers who never returned from a planned 200-mile adventure in Russia's Ural Mountains in the winter of 1959.
In what has become known as the Dyatlov Pass incident, ten members of the Urals Polytechnic Institute in Yekaterinburg -- nine students and one sports instructor who fought in World War II -- headed into the frigid wilderness on a skiing and mountaineering expedition on January 23, 1959. One student with joint pain turned back, but the rest, led by 23-year-old engineering student Igor Dyatlov, continued on. According to camera film and personal diaries later found on the scene by investigators, the team made camp on February 1, pitching a large tent on the snowy slopes of Kholat Saykhl, whose name can be interpreted as "Dead Mountain" in the language of the region's Indigenous Mansi people. The nine -- seven men and two women -- were never heard from again.
When a search team arrived at Kholat Saykhl a few weeks later, the expedition tent was found just barely sticking out of the snow, and it appeared cut open from the inside. The next day, the first of the bodies was found near a cedar tree. Over the next few months, as the snow thawed, search teams gradually uncovered more spine-chilling sights: All nine of the team members' bodies were scattered around the mountain's slope, some in a baffling state of undress; some of their skulls and chests had been smashed open; others had eyes missing, and one lacked a tongue. Each body was a piece in a grim puzzle, but none of the pieces seemed to fit together. A criminal investigation at the time blamed their deaths on an "unknown natural force," and the Soviet bureaucracy kept the case quiet. The lack of detail about this shocking event, an apparent massacre that transpired in a deeply secretive state, gave rise to dozens of long-lived conspiracy theories, from clandestine military tests to Yeti attacks.
In what has become known as the Dyatlov Pass incident, ten members of the Urals Polytechnic Institute in Yekaterinburg -- nine students and one sports instructor who fought in World War II -- headed into the frigid wilderness on a skiing and mountaineering expedition on January 23, 1959. One student with joint pain turned back, but the rest, led by 23-year-old engineering student Igor Dyatlov, continued on. According to camera film and personal diaries later found on the scene by investigators, the team made camp on February 1, pitching a large tent on the snowy slopes of Kholat Saykhl, whose name can be interpreted as "Dead Mountain" in the language of the region's Indigenous Mansi people. The nine -- seven men and two women -- were never heard from again.
When a search team arrived at Kholat Saykhl a few weeks later, the expedition tent was found just barely sticking out of the snow, and it appeared cut open from the inside. The next day, the first of the bodies was found near a cedar tree. Over the next few months, as the snow thawed, search teams gradually uncovered more spine-chilling sights: All nine of the team members' bodies were scattered around the mountain's slope, some in a baffling state of undress; some of their skulls and chests had been smashed open; others had eyes missing, and one lacked a tongue. Each body was a piece in a grim puzzle, but none of the pieces seemed to fit together. A criminal investigation at the time blamed their deaths on an "unknown natural force," and the Soviet bureaucracy kept the case quiet. The lack of detail about this shocking event, an apparent massacre that transpired in a deeply secretive state, gave rise to dozens of long-lived conspiracy theories, from clandestine military tests to Yeti attacks.
Eyes and Tongue Missing (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Troll)
The whole analysis is thin
IF the avalanche was strong enough to break bones, why not damage to tent except for their own cuts for exit?
IF predators/scavangers ate body parts, then which ones do so in sub-zero temp?
imo, more questions than answers
Re: (Score:1)
Migration?
If it was cold enough to freeze them instantly where they lay, then I sure would like to know what predators/scavangers live there
Like I said, then analysis that does not provide such details is thin
Re:Eyes and Tongue Missing (Score:4, Insightful)
The campsite didn't get hit by an avalanche, but they might have fled from it thinking an avalanche they could hear in the dark was going to hit them.
The body with the missing parts was found face down on the bank of a small stream. The stuff that was missing was submerged in the stream, which was not frozen solid, and had rotted away and or been eaten by aquatic animals. Even small bodies of flowing water frequently don't freeze solid in extremely cold environments. A layer of ice might form but that just serves to insulate the water underneath from the colder air above, and provides a surface on which snow can accumulate which insulates even better.
The broken bones, broken ribs, of at least one individual were probably caused by hard falls. If I remember correctly those bodies were found in the bottom of a ravine. When running in a panic in the dark in unfamiliar territory there is plenty of opportunity to suffer a serious fall.
So far as animals eating in sub zero temperatures.... pretty much any carnivorous animal that lives in such environments will eat when it is hungry, regardless of the temperature. Wolves, coyotes, bears, wolverines, foxes, and probably plenty of smaller things like mink. Animals might tend to stay in shelter when it is colder than usual outside but if they are hungry enough they'll go looking for food.
Re: (Score:2)
Very little that you outline here was included in the article, like I said poor article
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
It's Russia, so also bears.
We'll never know (Score:5, Funny)
Re: We'll never know (Score:2)
To be frank, ... a mini-avlanche and the movie Frozen... that's almost, but not quite, entirely as out there as aliens.
But tongue and eyes missing... by "Frozen" avalanche... now you're just fucking with us!
I'd say one of the members went nuts and tried to murder everyone in their sleep. Maybe they accidentially ate some shrooms. And one person staying behind? Yeah, guess where I'd look for DNA matches, even today ... ;)
Re: (Score:2)
But tongue and eyes missing... by "Frozen" avalanche... now you're just fucking with us!
Yeeees. Because all injuries MUST have had from the same cause.
There are NO carnivorous birds in those parts. NONE!
Re: (Score:2, Troll)
If the article or analysis was useful, it would list what predators/scavangers are active in sub zero temps at high altitude in the Urals
Re: (Score:2)
To be frank, ... a mini-avlanche and the movie Frozen... that's almost, but not quite, entirely as out there as aliens.
After reading the entire story (no, I'm not new here), which does not appear to be behind a paywall, I'm inclined to accept that it was indeed a mini-avalanche.
The missing eyes and tongue, as the article postulates, were likely a result of wildlife trying to feed on the corpses.
The movie Frozen is part of this story solely, but crucially, for the accuracy of its snow simulation. The simulation's programmer changed it for the researcher to use real world values for snow, ice, and impact results against the h
Re: (Score:2)
I had to wonder why they theorized that they had placed their tent on top of their skis... when in the picture skis are placed vertically in the snow...
Re: (Score:2)
Trust GM? Think Pinto.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Unless a lot has changed since I last read up on this the body with parts missing was found face down in a still flowing stream. The body was found weeks if not months after the event, natural decomposition easily explains the missing stuff.
Re: (Score:2)
Well, there were signs posted about saying "No Hungry Carnivorous Animals Allowed Beyond This Point", so we know it wasn't the critters.
Re: (Score:2)
Summaries that summarize go with editors that give a shit about editing. :-(
Not here, any more
The text is all there, scroll down, copy paste (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
If only there was a place on the internet where you could find answers to things you don't know...
Re: (Score:2)
I don't think our parents are here.
Yekaterinburg (Score:2)
Yekaterinburg is one of the few places in Russia that is still loyal to the Romanovs. They have a church dedicated to them, and a memorial to all the victims of the gulag (and other soviet atrocities). They didn't like the Soviets, and they don't like Putin.
They have a point (Score:2)
Russia always had problems, but they were best under the czars. The Soviets made them seem strong, but then fell apart, and Putin seems to be unable to make a functional economy or foreign policy (rumor is that he is owned by China). Restoring the monarchy makes sense in general, but doubly so for the Russians.
Re: (Score:2)
No, Czar Nicholas was awful. He had good intentions, but horrible judgement.
Re: (Score:2)
Not even so sure about the "good intentions", he was well aware that commoners were starving while he was using the money extracted from them to buy Faberge eggs for the Czarina.
Re: (Score:2)
they were best under the czars.
I'm sorry, but is there a rule against right wingers having even a casual acquaintance with history? Something in the wingnut bylaws? Do you get ejected from the Libertardian party if you actually read?
Life for commoners under the czars was so bad that they preferred Lenin and then Stalin to rule them. Imagine how bad life had to be when frelling STALIN's rule was preferable. By all the gods above, below and non-existent, people who deliberately prefer to remain ignorant piss me off.
Re: (Score:2)
The Soviets made them strong? Were these the same Soviets under Stalin that lost millions to his loving secret police? The same Soviets that turned swaths of the country into environmental hellholes? The same Soviets that screwed up Eastern Europe to the point where they are still screwed up over 70 years after WWII while the Western countries have done okay? Maybe you are referring to the delightful Soviets who turned their people into spies on the same people. Yup, made them strong.
The poor Soviet republi
Re: (Score:2)
Re: They have a point (Score:2)
Sure, by spending lives like monopoly money.
I'm not sure exactly what that proves except that Russian rulers are hardasses.
"The nine were never heard from again" (Score:2)
Erm, they found them dead ?
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
Especially the one without a tongue.
Re: (Score:2)
Freeze thawing (Score:2)
Could some of it be explained by freeze thawing? How well documented are the finds?
Either that or the Tunguska aliens are pissed off. Wouldn't you be if you had a nice cabin in Siberia but had to nuke your own place because of meddling humans and then move to thousands of miles west along the 60th parallel only to be annoyed by more meddling humans? Oh yeah both incidents occured around the same latitude. I'm not saying it's aliens. But man, aliens are the only explanation.
Avalanche vs. Yetis (Score:2)
This is like me explaining parsimony to my daughter when she was 9 years old.
Me: "So parsimony means that the simplest explanation is the best. For example, suppose you look up at the trees and see the leaves moving around. Consider two possible explanations. First, that the wind is blowing the leaves. Second, that invisible elves are shacking the leaves. Which is the better explanation?
Her "Invisible elves!"
Me. "Ok. Never mind."
Despite avalanches, some people will be sticking with the yetis on this
Re: (Score:2)
My first thought was murder by humans who did not want them there
People used to disappear in the emerald triangle, a cannabis growing region in California, and the supposition was that they stumbled across illegal grow sites and became fertilizer.
yetis? not so much
Re: (Score:2)
cannabis growing Bigfoot creatures
I'm all in on this "Harry and the Hendersons" remake.
But we all know in our hearts it was actually radioactive communist cannibal yeti.
Tourism (Score:2)
If Yetis did it, you can bring in lots of clueless tourists to wander around in the snow and then pay many rubles to be rescued. Since the only other functional industry in Russia seems to be organ harvesting, it might be a good idea to write "YETI ATTACK" on the cause of death line in the coroner's report and then prepare for an influx of YouTube influencers.
Re: (Score:2)
Jaysus! Of course it wasn't the yetis. It was the ALIENS! Yeah, they ran across a bunch of aliens experimenting on the local wildlife, and became part of the experiment! That's the ticket.
Either that or they were killed by KGB guards at a secret radio-monitoring experiment. You know, the one that proved that Rock&Roll would melt your brains....
Did they know they weren't in an avalanche area? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
You're exactly right. Most researchers dismissed the avalanche theory because they (the researchers) were aware this is not an avalanche-prone area. The group did not know that, and only one or two of them had previous experience skiing that route. So it is to be expected that most, if not all of them, would assume an avalanche could happen. That's all it takes to cause a mass panic in the middle of the night and react before anyone can think things through.
.
Also, the bodies with the worst injuries (brok
Re: (Score:2)
I'm still betting on a drunken party of yetis ... but don't hold me to it. I'm not even sure there _are_ Russian yetis.
Oh come on, we're better than this... (Score:5, Insightful)
I know that there's a semi-standard to simply copy/paste the article's title as the Slashdot title, but when it's vague click-baity nothingness, we shouldn't follow that standard.
Try this headline: "Avalanche Simulations May Explain Missing Hiker Mystery"
And calling this story one of "history's greatest mysteries" is ridiculous.
and animation used in the movie Frozen (Score:2)
If you don't want to get crushed by an avalanche, don't burst into song downhill of fresh powder.
Plausible (Score:1)
Respect (Score:2)
The scientific investigation came with an added benefit from Puzrin’s wife, who is Russian. “When I told her that I was working on the Dyatlov mystery, for the first time she looked at me with real respect,” he says.
Ouch.
Go read about this here. (Score:2)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ext... [bbc.co.uk]
Much better article. Really interesting stuff actually.
Re: Go read about this here. (Score:2)
Nature have the full paper which includes diagrams, rather than the dumbed down version on National Geographic. National Geo seemed more interested in bigging up the Frozen connection than the actual research.
https://www.nature.com/article... [nature.com]
Hypothermia, for at least some of it (Score:2)
People do bizarre things when hyopthermic. Many higher brain functions shut down or get misinterpreted, so they end up doing crazy things like stripping off their clothes and jumping into freezing lakes, or rolling in snowbanks, etc. IDK if it can get extreme enough that you start self- (or other-) mutilating, but it certainly does get severe enough that you could easily flee a tent in search of warmth.
Re: (Score:1)
LOL. (Score:1)