The Dyatlov Pass incident is one of the most well known mysteries among mountaineering deaths. In 1959, 9 young Soviet mountaineers met their end while attempting an expedition through Russia’s Ural Mountains. Their bodies were found on February 20th, 1959, and while deaths in the mountains are, unfortunately, rather common (especially back then), the state of the nine bodies is what keeps amateur sleuths interested in the incident.
The group’s tent was cut from the inside out, appearing as if the group was attempting to escape something. Bodies were found near naked and completely barefoot, and one hiker was found with foam coming from his mouth and had a brown/purple hue covering his skin. Several of the hikers were found with severe internal damages, like chest fractures, pointing to a pretty severe bludgeoning or worse.
The more you look into the incident, the more mysterious it gets. One of the hikers was famously missing her tongue, and some of the group member’s clothing was radioactive. On top of that, another group of hikers, located about 30 miles form the Dyatlov Pass group, reported seeing glowing orange orbs floating in the sky near where the group would have been at the time.
Several theories attempt to explain the incident, from pretty basic to pretty wild. An animal attack or attack by indigenous people has been suggested, but investigators found no evidence of such. Another theory suggests that the group may have taken some sort of psychedelic drug, leading to disorientation and causing all the whacky behavior. The strange orbs, of course, lead some to believe UFOs and aliens were involved, but the soviet military was reportedly testing parachute mines in the area, so, that could kind of explains that.
There’s a good chance you’re thinking something like, “it was an avalanche, DUH“, but it’s been pointed out over and over again that the group’s diaries explain that the snow was in good condition, and that the mountains they were surrounded by weren’t steep enough for an avalanche. Unfortunately for those incredibly invested in solving this mystery and proving the existence of UFO visits to Earth, though, new evidence and studies is suggesting otherwise.
So… yeah. It was probably an avalanche. It’s not 100% an avalanche, but it was probably an avalanche. The radioactivity on the clothing was probably from some glow in the dark device, the missing tongue was probably because animals do that, and the strange orbs seen in the sky were probably parachute mines. It’s October, it’s spooky month, so I hate to seek explanations for fun spooky mysteries, but the truth is the truth. It was probably an avalanche. Sorry y’all, no aliens, no yetis, no psychedelic mushrooms, just some good ol’ high powered chunks of snow.
Image Credit: Dyatlov Pass via Facebook