Russia's Dyatlov Pass Incident

[Ben]

I stumbled upon this very interesting read about a Russian expedition, found dead in two groups under bizarre conditions and with, in some cases, inexplicable injuries. There seem to be various theories, from the plausible to the not so plausible, but apparently to this day, no concrete evidence of what could have happened.

http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/dyatlov-pass-incident-strangest-unsolved-mystery

[BlueStarLizzard]

Weird

[TommyGunn]

A Donner Party parallel with an X-File twist ......

[White Horseradish]

One of the forums where I hang out has an entire subforum devoted to this.

[Doggy Daddy]

I thought this was an interesting comment:

D R Randy Stidom · Works at The place that gives me a paycheck
February 2, 1959. On this same night, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson took off in a plane and died. Two stories on the same night on opposite sides of the Earth and the simple truth for both will never be known.

[Boomhauer]

Um the buddy holly crash is pretty damn simple/understandable...

[Doggy Daddy]

Um the buddy holly crash is pretty damn simple/understandable...

But, there was a coin toss involved!  The implications, man, the implications!   

[BlueStarLizzard]

I read this one to dad (he LOVES this kind of stuff)

"It was Yetis!"

or (and this I should have predicted)

"The natives called it the Mountain of the Dead. Maybe it was the living dead! Zombies!"

[French G.]

Norwegian Nazi zombies. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1278340/

[RoadKingLarry]

Russian hippies, bad drugs.

[AJ Dual]

Russian hippies, bad drugs.

It was just a case of hypothermia delirium a subset of which is known as paradoxical undressing, sometimes the hypothermia screws up the hypothalamus and you start stripping, either because you "feel" unbearably hot, or it makes the clothing feel unbearably restrictive.

There's dozens of other documented cases of paradoxical undressing in other countries. And RKL is onto something, because most of them involve drugs or alcohol as contributing factors to the hypothermia.

The damage to the campsite was from an avalanche, (I'd sure as hell "rip my tent open from the inside to get out of there, or maybe the air-pressure just burst the tent...) that might have been the event that caused the hypothermia and the broken bones in the group in the first place, or perhaps it happened afterward and is what scattered the campsite around.

The one woman who lost her tongue probably did to a scavenging animal.

The radiation and "lights in the sky" part is just bull****, that got added onto the story urban-legend style.

[Regolith]

It was just a case of hypothermia delirium a subset of which is known as paradoxical undressing, sometimes the hypothermia screws up the hypothalamus and you start stripping, either because you "feel" unbearably hot, or it makes the clothing feel unbearably restrictive.

There's dozens of other documented cases of paradoxical undressing in other countries. And RKL is onto something, because most of them involve drugs or alcohol as contributing factors to the hypothermia.

The damage to the campsite was from an avalanche, (I'd sure as hell "rip my tent open from the inside to get out of there, or maybe the air-pressure just burst the tent...) that might have been the event that caused the hypothermia and the broken bones in the group in the first place, or perhaps it happened afterward and is what scattered the campsite around.

The one woman who lost her tongue probably did to a scavenging animal.

The radiation and "lights in the sky" part is just bull****, that got added onto the story urban-legend style.

Yeah, there was something on the Science channel (a Dark Matters episode, maybe?) about this incident, and IIRC that's pretty much the exact same explanation they had for what happened.

[LadySmith]

The Blair Witch.

[Ben]

The one woman who lost her tongue probably did to a scavenging animal.

I was reading other accounts yesterday, and one of them gave the woman's condition in more detail. It said she was also missing both eyes and part of her face. That sounds like the work of buzzards.

The still inexplicable stuff, if factual, is the irradiated clothing and the russkies classifying the investigation.

[MechAg94]

I was reading other accounts yesterday, and one of them gave the woman's condition in more detail. It said she was also missing both eyes and part of her face. That sounds like the work of buzzards.

The still inexplicable stuff, if factual, is the irradiated clothing and the russkies classifying the investigation.

A toxic waste disposal site hidden out there?

[Tallpine]

I don't buy the avalanche-->hypothermia theory.

It would have either buried them hopelessly, or else as experienced mountaineers they would have dug themselves out and salvaged what they could before trying to get down the mountain.  Not likely that all nine would have the exact same stage of hypothermia at the same time even under similar conditions.  Something else made them flee the camp. 

The hypothermia stripping thing usually happens at the end stage.  After conserving heat for some length of time, the body suddenly gives up and lets go the blood from the core into the extremities which creates the "hot flash" symptom.

[Hawkmoon]

I recall reading a much more extensive article on the incident a few years ago. IIRC, that article didn't attempt to reach any conclusions, and it certainly didn't attribute the whole thing to drugs or mass hypothermia.

[Azrael256]

A toxic waste disposal site hidden out there?

Soviet Union.  EVERYTHING is radioactive. Everything was radioactive before radiation was invented.  To counteract the Soviet radiation, everything in China is made with lead.  Circle of life and all that.

I read that the severe injuries were people who had fallen into a ravine.  That would explain it pretty nicely.

That, and

[RevDisk]

It was just a case of hypothermia delirium a subset of which is known as paradoxical undressing, sometimes the hypothermia screws up the hypothalamus and you start stripping, either because you "feel" unbearably hot, or it makes the clothing feel unbearably restrictive.

There's dozens of other documented cases of paradoxical undressing in other countries. And RKL is onto something, because most of them involve drugs or alcohol as contributing factors to the hypothermia.

The damage to the campsite was from an avalanche, (I'd sure as hell "rip my tent open from the inside to get out of there, or maybe the air-pressure just burst the tent...) that might have been the event that caused the hypothermia and the broken bones in the group in the first place, or perhaps it happened afterward and is what scattered the campsite around.

The one woman who lost her tongue probably did to a scavenging animal.

The radiation and "lights in the sky" part is just bull****, that got added onto the story urban-legend style.

All of 'em got near nekkid from hypothermia delirium? But then snagged clothing and made fire in the boonies instead of going back to camp?

[brimic]

If you watch this movie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamcatcher_(film)  it will all make perfect sense.

[Perd Hapley]

If you watch this movie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamcatcher_(film)  it will all make perfect sense.

Here's a movie actually based on the Dyatlov Pass incident.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbq3dR-SEr4

[Pharmacology]

I stumbled upon this very interesting read about a Russian expedition, found dead in two groups under bizarre conditions and with, in some cases, inexplicable injuries. There seem to be various theories, from the plausible to the not so plausible, but apparently to this day, no concrete evidence of what could have happened.

http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/dyatlov-pass-incident-strangest-unsolved-mystery

They got caught outside during a Blowout.

case closed. 

[Devonai]

They must not have been tuned to Beard's frequency.

[Azrael256]

If you watch this movie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamcatcher_(film)  it will all make perfect sense.

A copy of the film fell through a space-time vortex and landed on a group of camping Russkies.  They watched it, and it sucked so much that they all went insane, stripped off their clothes, and ran into the snow....

Interesting idea.  I'd like to make it into a history channel special.

[Perd Hapley]

They got caught outside during a Blowout.

case closed. 

What is a blowout?

This?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowout_%28well_drilling%29