The secret of the Dyatlov Pass official version. The Dyatlov Pass is the most mysterious and terrible story of the last century. The mysterious Dyatlov Pass - the secret is revealed

The authors express their sincere gratitude for the cooperation and information provided to the Dyatlov Group Public Memory Foundation and personally to Yuri Kuntsevich, as well as to Vladimir Askinadzi, Vladimir Borzenkov, Natalya Varsegova, Anna Kiryanova and Yekaterinburg photo processing specialists.

Introduction

In the early morning of February 2, 1959, dramatic events took place on the slope of Mount Holatchakhl in the vicinity of Mount Otorten in the Northern Urals, which led to the death of a group of tourists from Sverdlovsk led by a student of the Ural Polytechnic Institute, 23-year-old Igor Dyatlov. Many circumstances of this tragedy have not yet received a satisfactory explanation, giving rise to many rumors, conjectures, which gradually developed into legends and myths, based on which several books have been written and a number of feature films have been shot. We think we've managed to recover true development these events, which puts an end to this protracted history. Our version is based on strictly documentary sources, namely on the materials of the Criminal Case of the history of the death and search for Dyatlovites, as well as on some everyday and tourist experience. We offer this version to the attention of all interested persons and organizations, insisting on its reliability, but not claiming a new coincidence in details.

Prehistory

On the night of February 1-2, 1959, a number of events occurred with the Dyatlov group before arriving at the place of a cold overnight stay on the slope of Mount Kholatchahlv. So, the very idea of ​​​​this hike III, the highest category of difficulty, Igor Dyatlov arose long ago and took shape in December 1958, as told by Igor's senior comrades in tourism. All further references to sources, unless otherwise stated, refer to the materials of the official Criminal Case on the death of the Dyatlov group.

The composition of the participants in the planned hike changed in the process of its preparation, reaching up to 13 people, but the backbone of the group, consisting of students and graduates of the UPI with experience in hiking, including joint ones, remained unchanged. It included:

• Igor Dyatlov - leader of the campaign, 23 years old;
• Lyudmila Dubinina - supply manager, 20 years old;
• Yuri Doroshenko - 21 years old;
• Alexander Kolevatov - 22 years old;
• Zinaida Kolmogorova - 22 years old;
• Georgy Krivonischenko - 23 years old;
• Rustem Slobodin - 22 years old;
• Nikolai Thibault - 23 years old
• Yuri Yudin - 22 years old
• two days before the trip, 37-year-old Semyon Zolotarev, a participant in the Great Patriotic War, a front-line soldier who graduated from the Institute of Physical Education, and a professional tourism instructor, joined the group.

At the beginning, the campaign went according to plan, with the exception of one circumstance: on January 28, Yuri Yudin left the route due to illness. The group traveled the rest of the way with nine of them. Until January 31, the campaign, according to the general diary of the campaign, the diaries of individual participants, the photo given in the Case, went well: difficulties were overcome, and new places gave young people new impressions. On January 31, the Dyatlov group made an attempt to overcome the pass separating the valleys of the Auspiya and Lozva rivers, however, having met with a strong wind at a low temperature (about -18 ° C), they were forced to retreat to spend the night in the forested part of the Auspiya river valley. On the morning of February 1, the group got up late, left part of the food and things in a specially equipped storage shed (it took a long time), had lunch, and at about 3 pm on February 1, they set out on the route. In the materials on the termination of the Criminal Case, apparently expressing the collective opinion of the investigation and the interviewed specialists, it is said that such a late exit to the route was the first mistake of Igor Dyatlov. At the beginning, the group most likely followed its old trail, and then continued to move in the direction of Mount Otorteni, at about 17:00 they stopped for a cold night on the slope of Mount Kholatchakhl.

To facilitate the perception of information, we present a wonderfully drawn up diagram of the place of events, given by Vadim Chernobrov (Fig. 1).

ill. 1. Scheme of the scene

The materials of the criminal case say that Dyatlov "came to the wrong place," making a mistake in the direction and taking much more to the left than was required to pass to the pass between heights 1096 and 663. This, according to the drafters of the case, was the second mistake of Igor Dyatlov.

We do not agree with the version of the investigation and believe that Igor Dyatlov stopped the group not by mistake, by accident, but specially in the place previously marked in the previous transition. Our opinion is not alone - this was also stated during the investigation by an experienced tourist student Sogrin, who was part of one of the search and rescue teams that found Igor Dyatlov's tent. The modern researcher Borzenkov also speaks about the planned stop in the book “Dyatlov Pass. Research and materials”, Yekaterinburg 2016, p. 138. What prompted Igor Dyatlov to do this?

Cold overnight

Arriving, as we believe, at the point predetermined by Dyatlov, the group set about setting up a tent, according to all "tourist and mountaineering rules." The question of a cold overnight baffles the most experienced specialists and is one of the main mysteries of the tragic campaign. Many different versions are put forward, up to the absurd, they say it was done for "training".

Only we managed to find a convincing version.

The question arises whether the participants in the campaign knew that Dyatlov was planning a cold overnight stay. We think that they did not know (this is indicated by the fact that the fire accessories - an ax, a saw and a stove - were not left at the site of the storehouse, moreover, a dry log for kindling was even prepared), but they did not argue, according to previous campaigns and stories about them, knowing about the difficult temper of his leader and forgiving him in advance.

Taking part in the general work on arranging an overnight stay, only one person expressed his protest, namely, a professional tourism instructor, 37-year-old Semyon Zolotarev, who went through the war. This protest was expressed in a very peculiar way, testifying to the high intellectual abilities of his applicant. Semyon Zolotarev created a very remarkable document, namely the Combat Sheet No. 1 "Evening Otorten".

We consider Battle Sheet No. 1 "Evening Otorten" the key to unraveling the tragedy.

The authorship of Zolotarev is evidenced by the very name "Combat Leaflet". Semyon Zolotarev was the only veteran of the Great Patriotic War among the participants in the campaign, and a very well-deserved one, having four military awards, including the medal "For Courage". In addition, according to the tourist Axelrod, reflected in the File, the handwriting of the handwritten "Evening Otorten" coincides with the handwriting of Zolotarev. So, at the beginning of the “Combat Leaflet” it is said that “according to the latest scientific data, Bigfoot live in the vicinity of Mount Otorten.”

It must be said that at that time the whole world was engulfed in a fever of searching for Bigfoot, which has not died down to this day. Such searches were also carried out in the Soviet Union. We think that Igor Dyatlov was aware of this "problem" and dreamed of meeting a Bigfoot for the first time in the world and photographing him. From the materials of the Case, it is known that Igor Dyatlov met with old hunters in Vizhay, consulted with them on the forthcoming campaign, perhaps it was also about Bigfoot. Of course, experienced hunters (this is how Chargin’s testimony is 85 years old in the case, that in Vizhay a group of Dyatlov tourists addressed him as a hunter) told the “young” the whole “truth” about Bigfoot, where he lives, what his behavior that he loves.

Of course, everything that was said was in the spirit of traditional hunting tales, but Igor Dyatlov believed what was said and decided that the surroundings of Otorten were just the perfect place for Bigfoot to live, and it was only a matter of getting up for a cold night, namely cold, as Bigfoot loves cold, and out of curiosity, he himself will approach the tent. The place for a possible overnight stay was chosen by Igor in the previous transition on January 31, 1959, when the group actually reached the pass separating the basins of the Auspiya and Lozva rivers.

ill. 2. The dispute between Dyatlov and Zolotarev about the further route.
At about 5 p.m. January 31, 1959

A photo of this moment has been preserved, which allowed Borzenkov to accurately determine this point on the map. The picture shows that, obviously, Igor Dyatlov and Semyon Zolotarev are arguing very hard about the further route. It is obvious that Zolotarev expresses himself against the logically difficult to explain decision of Dyatlov to return back to Auspiya and offers to “take the pass”, which was a matter of about 30 minutes and go down to spend the night in the Lozva river basin. Note that in this case the group would have stopped for the night just approximately in the area of ​​​​the same ill-fated cedar.

Everything becomes logically explainable, if we assume that already at that moment Dyatlov was planning a cold overnight stay, just on the slope of mountain 1096, which, in the event of an overnight stay in the Lozva basin, would be on the sidelines. This mountain (1096), called Mount Holatchakhl in Mansi, in translation is called "Mountain of the 9 Dead". Mansi consider this place "unclean" and bypass it. So from the Case, according to the testimony of student Slabtsov, who found the tent, the Mansi guide who accompanied them flatly refused to go to this mountain. We think that Dyatlov decided if it’s impossible, then everyone needs to prove that it’s possible and he’s not afraid of anything, and he also thought that if they say it’s impossible, then it means that the notorious Bigfoot lives here.

So, at about 17 pm on February 1, Igor Dyatlov gives an unexpected command to the group that had a rest in the afternoon to get up for a cold overnight, explaining the reasons for this decision to the scientific problem of finding Bigfoot. The group, with the exception of Semyon Zolotarev, took this decision calmly. For the time remaining before sleep, Semyon Zolotarev made his famous “Evening Otorten”, which is actually a satirical work, sharply critical, the orders that have developed in the group.

There is, in our opinion, a reasonable point of view on the further tactics of Igor Dyatlov. According to the experienced tourist Axelrod, who knew Igor Dyatlov well from joint campaigns, Dyatlov planned to raise the group at dusk, at about 6 o'clock in the morning, then go on the assault on Mount Otorten. Most likely that is what happened. The group was preparing to get dressed (more precisely, to put on shoes, because people slept in clothes), while having breakfast with breadcrumbs and lard. According to numerous testimonies of participants in the rescue work, crackers were scattered all over the tent; they fell out of crumpled blankets along with pieces of lard. The situation was calm, no one, except Dyatlov, was seriously upset that the Bigfoot did not come and that, in fact, the group suffered such significant inconvenience in vain.

Only Semyon Zolotarev, who was located at the very entrance to the tent, was seriously outraged by what had happened. His dissatisfaction was fueled by the following circumstance. The fact is that Semyon had a birthday on February 2. And it seems that already from the night he began to “celebrate” him by taking alcohol, and it seems that he is alone, because. according to Dr. Vozrozhdenny, no alcohol was found in the body of the first 5 tourists found. This is reflected in the official documents (in the Acts) cited in the Case.

About a feast with chopped lard and empty flask with the smell of vodka or alcohol at the entrance to the tent where Semyon Zolotarev was located, the prosecutor of the city of Indel Tempalov directly points out in the Case. A large flask of alcohol was confiscated in a discovered tent by student Boris Slobtsov. This alcohol, according to the testimony of student Brusnitsyn, a participant in the events, was immediately drunk by the members of the search group who found the tent. That is, in addition to a flask with alcohol, there was a flask with the same drink in the tent. We think that we are talking about alcohol, not about vodka.

Warmed up by alcohol, Zolotarev, dissatisfied with a cold and hungry night, left the tent for the toilet (a trace of urine remained at the tent) and outside demanded an analysis of Dyatlov's mistakes. Most likely, the amount of alcohol drunk was so significant that Zolotarev turned out to be very drunk and began to behave aggressively. Someone had to come out of the tent at this noise. At first glance, this should have been the leader of the campaign, Igor Dyatlov, but we think that he was not the one who came out to talk. Dyatlov was located at the farthest end of the tent, it was inconvenient for him to climb through everyone and, most importantly, Dyatlov was significantly inferior in his physical data to Semyon Zolotarev. We believe that tall (180 cm) and physically strong Yuri Doroshenko came to Semyon's demand. This is also supported by the fact that the ice ax found at the tent belonged to Yuri Doroshenko. So, in the materials of the Case, there was an entry made by his hand "go to the trade union committee, take your ice ax." Thus, Yuri Doroshenko, the only one from the whole group. as it turned out later, it was time to put on the boots. The footprint of a single man in boots was documented in the Act by prosecutor Tempalov.

There are no data on the presence or absence of alcohol in the body of 4 people found later (in May), and specifically, on Semyon Zolotarev, in the Acts of Dr. bodies at the time of the study had already begun to decompose. That is, the answer to the question: “Was Semyon Zolotarev drunk or not?” in the materials of the Case is not.

So, Yuri Doroshenko, shod in ski boots, armed with an ice ax and taking with him a Dyatlov flashlight for illumination, because. it was still dark (it was getting light at 8-9 in the morning, and the action took place around 7 in the morning), gets out of the tent. A short, sharp and unpleasant conversation took place between Zolotarev and Doroshenko. Obviously, Zolotar'v expressed his opinion about the Dyatlov and the Dyatlovites.

From the point of view of Zolotarev, Dyatlov makes gross mistakes. The first of them was the passage by Dyatlov of the mouth of the Auspiya River. As a result, the group had to make a detour. It was also incomprehensible to Zolotarev that the group’s departure on January 31 to the bed of the Auspiya river instead of going down to the bed of the Lozva and, finally, the absurd and, most importantly, fruitless cold overnight. The dissatisfaction hiddenly expressed by Zolotarev in the Evening Otorten newspaper spilled out.

We think that Zolotarev offered to remove Dyatlov from the post of leader of the campaign, replacing him with someone else, meaning himself first of all. It is difficult to say in what form Zolotarev proposed this to us now. It is clear that after drinking alcohol, the form should be sharp, but the degree of sharpness depends on the specific reaction of a person to alcohol. Zolotarev, who knew the war in all its manifestations, of course, was mentally disturbed, and could simply be aroused to alcoholic psychosis, bordering on delirium. Judging by the fact that Doroshenko left an ice ax and a flashlight and preferred to hide in a tent, Zolotarev was very excited. The guys even blocked his way to the tent, throwing the stove, backpacks, food at the entrance. This circumstance, up to the term “barricade”, is repeatedly emphasized in the testimonies of the participants in the rescue operation. Moreover, at the entrance to the tent stood an ax, absolutely superfluous in this place.

Obviously, the students decided to actively defend themselves.

Perhaps this circumstance enraged the drunken Zolotarev even more (for example, in the tent at the entrance, the canopy from the sheet was literally torn). Most likely, all these obstacles only infuriated Zolotarev, who was rushing into the tent to continue the showdown. And then Zolotarev remembered the gap in the tent from the “mountain” side, which was repaired all together at the previous parking lot, and decided to get inside the tent through this gap, using “psychological weapons” so that he would not be hindered, as was done at the front. Most likely he shouted something like "Throwing a grenade".

The fact is that in 1959 the country was still overflowing with weapons, despite all the Government Decrees on its surrender. Getting a grenade at that time was not a problem, especially in Sverdlovsk, where weapons were brought for remelting. So the threat was very real. And in general, it is very likely that it was not only an imitation of a threat.

Might have been a real live grenade.

Apparently, investigator Ivanov had this in mind when speaking about a certain "piece of iron" that he underinvestigated. A grenade could really come in handy on a campaign, in particular, for killing fish under ice, as was done during the war, since part of the route passed along rivers. And, quite possibly, the front-line soldier Zolotarev decided to take such a “necessary” object on a campaign.

Zolotarev did not calculate the effect of his "weapon". The students took the threat seriously and left the tent in a panic, making two cuts in the canvas. This happened at about 7 am, as it was still dark, as evidenced by a lit flashlight dropped by students and subsequently found by searchers 100 meters from the tent down the slope.

Zolotarev walked around the tent and, continuing to imitate the threat, decided to drunkenly teach the "young". He formed the people in a line (as witnessed by all the people who observed the footprints) and commanded "Down", setting the direction. He gave one blanket with him, they say, keep yourself warm with one blanket, as in that Armenian riddle from Evening Otorten. This is how the cold overnight stay of the Dyatlovites ended.

Tragedy in the Ural Mountains

People went down, and Zolotarev climbed into the tent and apparently continued to drink, celebrating his birthday. The fact that someone remained in the tent is evidenced by a subtle observer - student Sorgin, whose testimony is given in the File.

Zolotarev settled down on two blankets. All the blankets in the tent were crumpled, with the exception of two, on which they found skins from the loin, which Zolotarev ate. It was already dawn, the wind had risen, which passed through the gap in one place of the tent and cutouts in another. Zolotarev closed the breakthrough with Dyatlov’s fur jacket, and had to deal with the cutouts in a different way, since the initial attempt to plug the cutouts with things, following the example of a hole, failed (for example, according to Astenaki, several blankets and a padded jacket stuck out of the cutouts of the tent). Then Zolotarev decided to lower the far edge of the tent, cutting the rack - a ski pole.

The weight of the fallen snow (the fact that there was snow at night is evidenced by the fact that the Dyatlov lantern lay on the tent on a layer of snow about 10 cm thick) the stick was rigidly fixed and it was not possible to pull it out immediately. The stick had to be cut with the long knife used to cut the fat. The cut stick was pulled out, its parts were found cut from the top of the backpacks. The far edge of the tent sank and closed the cutouts, and Zolotarev settled down at the front post of the tent and, obviously, fell asleep for a while, having finished drinking alcohol from a flask.

The group, meanwhile, continued to move down, in the direction indicated by Zolotarev. It is attested that the tracks were divided into two groups - to the left of 6 people, and to the right - two. Then the tracks converged. These groups apparently corresponded to the two cutouts through which the people crawled out. The two on the right are Thibault and Dubinina, who were located closer to the exit. On the left is everyone else.

One person was walking in boots (Yuri Doroshenko, we believe). Let us recall that this is documented in the Case file by Prokur Tempalov. It also says that there were eight tracks, which documents our version that one person remained in the tent.

It was dawning, it was difficult to walk because of the snow that had fallen and, of course, it was desperately cold, because. the temperature was around −20 °C with wind. Approximately by 9 o'clock in the morning a group of 8 tourists, already half-frostbitten, found themselves next to a high cedar. Cedar as a point around which they decided to make a fire was not chosen by chance. In addition to the dry lower branches for the fire, which we managed to “get” with the help of cuts, an “observation post” was equipped with great difficulty on it to monitor the tent. For this, several large branches obstructing the view were cut out by the Finnish Krivonischenko. Below, under the cedar, with great difficulty, a small fire was lit, which, according to the concurring estimates of various observers, burned for 1.5-2 hours. If we ended up at the cedar at 9 am, it took an hour to build a fire, and plus two hours, it turns out that the fire went out at about 12 o'clock in the afternoon.

Still taking Zolotarev's threat seriously, the group decided not to return to the tent for the time being, but to try to "hold on" by building some kind of shelter, at least from the wind, for example, in the form of a cave. It turned out to be possible to do this in a ravine, near a stream that flowed towards the Lozva River. For this shelter, 10-12 poles were cut. What exactly the poles were supposed to serve for is not clear, maybe they planned to build a “floor” from them by throwing spruce branches on top.

Zolotarev, meanwhile, "rested" in a tent, forgetting himself in an anxious drunken dream. Having woken up and sobered up a little, at about 10-11 o'clock he saw that the situation was serious, the students had not returned, which means that they were "in trouble" somewhere and realized that he "went too far". He followed the tracks down, realizing his guilt and already without weapons (the ice ax remained at the tent, the knife in the tent). True, it remains unclear where the grenade was located, if it really was. At about 12 o'clock he approached the cedar. He walked dressed and in felt boots. The trace of one person in felt boots was recorded by the observer Akselrod 10-15 meters from the tent. He went down to Lozva.

The question arises: "Why is the ninth track missing or not seen?". The issue here is most likely the following. The students descended at 7 o'clock in the morning, and Zolotarev at about 11. By this time, a strong wind had risen at dawn, a drifting snow, which partly blew off the snow that had fallen at night, and partly compacted it, pressed it to the ground. It turned out a thinner, and most importantly, a denser layer of snow. In addition, felt boots are larger in area than boots, and even more so feet without shoes. The pressure from the boots on the snow, per unit area, is several times less, so the traces of the descending Zolotarev were hardly noticeable and were not recorded by observers.

The people at the cedar, meanwhile, met him in a critical situation. Half-frostbitten, unsuccessfully trying in turn to keep warm by the fire, bringing freezing hands, legs and faces close to the fire. Apparently from this combination of frostbite and mild burns, an unusual coloration of the skin of red tones of exposed parts of the body was observed in five tourists found in the first phase of the search.

People put all the blame for what happened on Zolotarev, so his appearance did not bring relief, but served to further escalate the situation. Moreover, the psyche of hungry and freezing people worked, of course, inadequately. Possible apologies from Zolotarev, or vice versa, his command orders, obviously, were not accepted. The lynching has begun. We think that at first Thibaut demanded to take off his felt boots as an initial measure of "retaliation" and then demanded to give the Pobeda watch, which reminded Zolotarev of his participation in the war, which, obviously, was the subject of his pride. This seemed to Zolotarev extremely offensive. In response, he hit Thibaut with a camera, which he may have demanded to give. And again, “didn’t calculate”, obviously the alcohol was still in the blood. He used the camera as a sling (this is evidenced by the fact that the camera strap was wound around Zolotarev's hand), he hit Thibaut in the head, actually killed him.

In the conclusion of Dr. Vozrozhdenny, it is said that Thibaut's skull is deformed in a rectangular area measuring 7 × 9 cm, which approximately corresponds to the size of the camera, and a torn hole in the center of the rectangle is 3 × 3.5 × 2 cm. This approximately corresponds to the size of the protruding lens. The camera was, according to numerous witnesses, found on the corpse of Zolotarev. Photo saved.

After that, of course, everyone present attacked Zolotarev. Someone was holding hands, and Doroshenko, the only one with boots, kicked him in the chest in the ribs. Zolotarev desperately defended himself, hit Slobodin so that his skull cracked, and when Zolotarev was immobilized by collective efforts, he began to fight with his teeth, biting off the tip of Krivonischenko's nose. So, apparently, they were taught in front-line intelligence, where, according to some information, Zolotarev served.

During this fight, Lyudmila Dubinina, for some reason, was ranked among the "supporters" of Zolotarev. Perhaps at the beginning of the fight she sharply objected to lynching, and when Zolotarev actually killed Thibaut, she fell into disgrace. But, most likely, the fury of those present turned to Dubinina for this reason. Everyone understood that the beginning of the tragedy, its trigger point, was Zolotarev's intake of alcohol. The case contains the testimony of Yuri Yudin that, in his opinion, one of the main shortcomings in the organization of the Dyatlov campaign was the lack of alcohol, which, it was he, Yudin, who could not get it in Sverdlovsk, but, as we already know, alcohol in the group still was. This means that alcohol was bought on the way to Vizhay, in Indel, or, most likely, at the last moment before going on the route from lumberjacks in the 41st forest area. Since Yudin did not know about the presence of alcohol, it was obviously kept secret. Dyatlov decided to use alcohol under some emergency circumstances - such as the assault on Mount Otorten, when his strength was running out, or to mark the successful end of the campaign. But the supply manager and accountant Dubinina could not help but know about the presence of alcohol in the group, since it was she who allocated public money to Dyatlov to buy alcohol on the road. People or Dyatlov personally decided that it was she who blabbed about this to Zolotarev, who was sleeping nearby and with whom she willingly communicated (photos have been preserved). In general, in reality, Dubinina received the same, even more severe injuries than Zolotarev (10 ribs were broken in Dubinina, 5 in Zolotarev). In addition, her "talkative" tongue was torn out.

Considering that the “opponents” are dead, one of the Dyatlovites, fearing responsibility, squeezed out their eyes, because. there was and still is a belief that the image of the murderer remains in the pupil of the victim of a violent death. This version is supported by the fact that Thibault, who was mortally wounded by Zolotarev, had his eyes intact.

Let's not forget that people acted on the verge of life and death, in a state of extreme excitement of passion, when animal instincts completely turn off acquired human qualities. Yuri Doroshenko was found with frozen foam at the mouth, which confirms our version of his extreme degree of arousal, which reached rage.

It is very likely that Lyudmila Dubinina suffered without guilt. The fact is that with almost 100 percent probability Semyon Zolotarev was an alcoholic, like many of the direct participants in the hostilities in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945. A fatal role here was played by the “People's Commissar's” 100 grams of vodka, which were issued at the front every day during the hostilities. Any narcologist will say that if this continues for more than six months, then dependence of varying severity inevitably arises, depending on the physiology of a particular person. The only way to avoid the disease was to abandon the "People's Commissar", which, of course, a rare Russian person can do. So, it is unlikely that Semyon Zolotarev was such an exception. Indirect confirmation of this is the episode on the train on the way from Sverdlovsk, described in the diary of one of the participants in the campaign, which is given in the Case. A "young alcoholic" turned to the tourists, demanding the return of a bottle of vodka, stolen, in his opinion, by one of them. The incident was hushed up, but most likely Dyatlov “figured out” Zolotarev and, when buying alcohol, strictly forbade Lyudmila Dubinina to talk about this to Zolotarev. Since Zolotarev nevertheless took possession of the alcohol, Dyatlov, and then everyone else, decided that the supply manager Dubinina, who let it out, blabbed, was to blame for this. Most likely it was not so. Students in their youth did not know that alcoholics develop a supernatural "sixth" sense for alcohol, and they successfully and accurately find it in any conditions. Just by intuition. So Dubinina here, most likely, had nothing to do with it.

The described bloody tragedy occurred around 12 noon on February 2, 1959, near the ravine where the shelter was being prepared..

This time of 12 noon is determined as follows. As we already wrote, the tourists in a panic left the tent through the cutouts at about 7 am on February 2, 1959. The distance to the cedar is 1.5-2 km. Taking into account the "nudity" and "barefoot" and the difficulties of orientation in the dark and at dawn, the group reached the cedar in an hour and a half or two. It turns out 8.5-9 o'clock in the morning. It's dawn. Another hour to prepare firewood, cut branches for an observation post, prepare poles for flooring. It turns out that the fire was lit at about 10 o'clock in the morning. According to numerous testimonies of search engines, the fire burned for 1.5-2 hours. It turns out that the fire went out when the group went to sort things out with Zolotarev to the ravine, i.e. at 11:30-12 noon. It comes out around 12 noon. After the fight, having lowered the bodies of the dead into the cave (dropping them), a group of 6 people returned to the cedar.

And the fact that the fight took place near the ravine is proved by the fact that, according to the expert opinion of Dr. Vozrozhdenny, Thibault himself could not move after the blow. It could only be carried. And to carry even 70 meters from the cedar to the ravine, dying, half-frozen people were clearly beyond their strength.

Those who retained their strength (Dyatlov, Slobodin and Kolmogorova) rushed to the tent, the path to which was now free. Exhausted in the fight, Doroshenko, the fragile Krivonischenko and Kolevatov remained at the cedar and tried to rekindle the fire near the cedar, which had gone out during the fight in the ravine. So, Doroshenko was found fallen on dry branches, which he obviously carried to the fire. But they didn't seem to be able to rekindle the fire. After some time, perhaps a very short time, Doroshenko and Krivonischenko froze to death. Kolevatov lived longer than them and, finding that his comrades were dead, and the fire could not be re-lit, he decided to meet his fate in the cave, thinking that one of those who were in it might still be alive. He cut off some of the warm clothes of his dead comrades with a Finn and carried them to the “hole in the ravine”, where the rest were. He also took off Yuri Doroshenko's shoes, but apparently decided that they were hardly useful and threw them into the ravine. The boots were never found, as well as a number of other things of the Dyatlovites, which is reflected in the File. In the Kolevatov cave, Thibaut, Dubinina and Zolotarev met their death.

Igor Dyatlov, Rustem Slobodin and Zinaida Kolmogorova met their death on the difficult path to the tent, fighting to the last for their lives. This happened around 13:00 on February 2, 1959.

The time of the death of the group, according to our version, is 12-13 hours of the day. It coincides with the assessment of the remarkable medical examiner Dr. Vozrozhdenny, according to which the death of all the victims occurred 6-8 hours after the last meal. And this reception was breakfast after a cold night at about 6 in the morning. 6-8 hours later gives 12-14 hours of the day, which is almost exactly the same time as we indicated.

A tragic ending has come.

Conclusion

It is difficult to find right and wrong in this story. Pity everyone. The greatest fault, as it sounded in the materials of the Case, lies with the head of the UPI Gordo sports club, it was he who had to check the psychological stability of the group and only after that give the go-ahead to the exit. It’s a pity for the provocative Zina Kolmogorova, who loved life so much, the romantic, dreaming of love Luda Dubinina, the foppish handsome Kolya Thibault, the fragile Georgy Krivonischenko with the soul of a musician, the faithful comrade Sasha Kolevatov, the mischievous home boy Rustem Slobodin, sharp, strong, with his own concepts of justice, Yuri Doroshenko. It's a pity for a talented radio engineer, but a naive and narrow-minded person and a useless leader of the ambitious campaign Igor Dyatlov. It is a pity for the well-deserved front-line soldier, scout Semyon Zolotarev, who did not find the right ways for the campaign to go as he probably wanted, as best as possible.

In principle, we agree with the conclusions of the investigation that "the group encountered natural forces, which they were unable to overcome." Only we believe that these natural forces were not external, but internal. Some could not cope with their ambitions, Zolotarev did not make a psychological allowance for the young age of the participants in the campaign and its leader. And, of course, a huge role was played by the violation of the "dry law" during the campaign, which, obviously, officially acted among the students of the UPI.

We believe that the investigation eventually came to a version close to that voiced by us. This is indicated by the fact that Semyon Zolotarev was buried separately from the main group of Dyatlovites. But, publicly voicing this version in 1959, the authorities considered it undesirable for political reasons. So, according to the memoirs of investigator Ivanov, “in the Urals, probably, there will not be a person who did not talk about this tragedy in those days” (see the book “Dyatlov Pass”, p. 247). Therefore, the investigation limited itself to the abstract formulation of the cause of the death of the group given above. Moreover, we believe that the materials of the Case contain indirect confirmation of the version of the presence of a combat grenade or grenades from one of the participants in the campaign. So in the Acts of Doctor Vozrozhdenny it is said that multiple fractures of the ribs of Zolotarev and Dubinina could result from the action of an air shock wave, which is precisely what the grenade explosion generates. In addition, the forensic prosecutor Ivanov, who conducted the investigation, as we have already written about this, spoke about the “under-investigation” of some piece of iron found. Most likely we are talking about Zolotarev's grenade, which could be anywhere, from a tent to a ravine. It is obvious that the people who conducted the investigation exchanged information and, perhaps, the “grenade” version also reached Dr. Vozrozhdenny.

We also found direct evidence that already in early March, that is, in the initial phase of the search, the version of the explosion was considered. So investigator Ivanov writes in his memoirs: “There were no traces of an explosion wave. Maslennikov and I carefully considered this ”(see in the book “Dyatlov Pass”, article by Ivanov L.N. “Memories from the Family Archive”, p. 255).

This means that there were grounds for searching for traces of the explosion, that is, it is possible that the grenade was nevertheless found by sappers. Since in the memoirs we are talking about Maslennikov, this determines the time - the beginning of March, so later Maslennikov departed for Sverdlovsk.

This evidence is very significant, especially if we remember that at that time the “Mansi version” was the main one, that is, that local Mansi residents were involved in the tragedy. The Mansi version completely collapsed by the end of March 1959.

The fact that by the time the bodies of the last four tourists were discovered in early May, the investigation had come to certain conclusions, is evidenced by the complete indifference of prosecutor Ivanov, who was present when the bodies were dug up. The head of the last group of search engines Askinadzi speaks about this in his memoirs. So, most likely, the grenade was found not near the cave, but somewhere on the stretch from the tent to the cedar in February-March, when a group of sappers with mine detectors worked there. That is, by May, by the time the bodies of the last four dead were discovered, everything was already more or less clear to the forensic prosecutor Ivanov, who was conducting the investigation.

Obviously, this tragic incident should serve as a lesson for tourists of all generations. And for this, the activities of the Dyatlov Foundation, as we believe, should be continued.

Fireball add-on

The monster is oblo, mischievous, huge, staring and barking.

It is not by chance that we cited this epigraph from the wonderful story of the educator A.N. Radishchev Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow. This epigraph is about the state. So how "evil" was the Soviet state of 1959, and how did it "bark" at tourists?

That's how. Organized a tourist section at the institute, where everyone studied for free and received a scholarship. Then such an "evil" one allocated money in the amount of 1,300 rubles for the trip of his students, gave them the most expensive equipment for the duration of the trip - a tent, skis, boots, windbreakers, sweaters. Helped with the planning of the trip, the development of the route. And even issued a paid business trip to the leader of the campaign, Igor Dyatlov. The height of cynicism in our opinion. This is how our country, in which we all grew up, “barked” at tourists.

When it became clear that something unforeseen had happened to the students, they immediately organized an expensive and well-organized rescue and search operation involving aviation, military personnel, athletes, other tourists, as well as the local Mansi population, who showed their best side.

What about the famous fireballs? Which tourists were allegedly so afraid of that they barricaded the entrance to the tent, and then cut it open in order to urgently get out of it?

We also found the answer to this question.

Finding this answer helped us a lot with the images that a group of researchers from Yekaterinburg obtained by processing the film from the camera of Semyon Zolotarev with the help of a unique technique. Recognizing the significant importance of this work, we wish to draw attention to the following easily verifiable and obvious facts.

It is enough just to rotate the resulting images to see that they do not depict mythical "fireballs" at all, but real and understandable stories. So, if you rotate one of the images from the book “Dyatlov Pass” and called “Mushroom” by the authors by 180 degrees, then we can easily see the dead face of one of the Dyatlovites found last, namely Alexander Kolevatov. It was he who, according to eyewitnesses, was found with his tongue hanging out, which is easily "read" in the photo. From this fact, it is obvious that the film of Zolotarev, after the frames he shot on the campaign, was filmed by a group of search engines Askinadzi.

ill. 3. "Mysterious" photo No. 7 - Kolevatov's face

Photos 6 and 7 are given in the article by Valentin Yakimenko “Tapes of the Dyatlovites”: Searches, finds and new mysteries” in the book “Dyatlov Pass”, p.424. From there, the numbering of the pictures. This position is additionally proved, this frame is called by the authors "Lynx".

Let's rotate it 90 degrees clockwise. In the center of the frame, the face of a man from the Askinaji search group is clearly visible. Here is a photo from his archive.

ill. 4. Asktinadzi group

By this point, people already knew where the bodies were and made a special “pictured” dam to hold them in the event of a flash flood. A snapshot of late April - early May 1959.

ill. 5. "Mysterious" photo No. 6 (object "Lynx" in the terminology of Yakimenko)
and an enlarged image of the search engine

We see in the center of the frame from Zolotarev's film a man from Askinadzi's group. We think that this person is not accidentally in the center of the frame. Perhaps it was he who played the key, main, central role in the search - he figured out where the bodies of the last Dyatlovites were located. This is also evidenced by the fact that he feels like a winner in the group picture of the search engines and is located above all.

We believe that all the other pictures given in Yakimenko's article have a similar, purely earthly origin.

So, thanks to the joint efforts of specialists from Yekaterinburg, primarily Valentin Yakimenko, and ours, the mystery of the "fireballs" was resolved by itself. She just never existed. As well as the "fireballs" themselves in the vicinity of Mount Otorten on the night of February 1-2, 1959.

Sources

1. The book edited by Yuri Kuntsevich “Dyatlov Pass. Research and materials”, Yekaterinburg, 2016.

Contributing to the publication of the book. This is, of course, only a small part of the entire book. But this is convenient for those who do not want or are not able to order the entire book in print. In addition to contributing to the publication of the book, doing a good deed to develop the history of your region, you will also receive a block of photographs from the films of tourists for the version. The first pages of the version are provided by the author to our portal.

Version-reconstruction of the death of the Dyatlov group based on the materials of the investigation in a criminal case, after studying the main versions of the death of the group, as well as studying other factual data that are significant and are direct or indirect confirmation of the version.

In 1959, a group of students and graduates of the UPI Sverdlovsk went on a hike of the highest category of difficulty in the mountains of the Northern Urals. Their route is completely unexplored. Tourists go on it for the first time. The leader of the campaign, Igor Dyatlov, planned to complete the campaign in 20 days, but no one was destined to return alive from the campaign. With the exception of one who left the group citing ill health. Having decided to spend the night on the mountain with a mark of 1079, tourists find themselves in conditions that stop their last hike. However, according to the itinerary of the trip, the group should not have stopped at this mountain at all. The search will be long and difficult. The finds will baffle everyone. It is no coincidence that the local Mansi people called this mountain Halatchakhl or "Mountain of the Dead". But is everything as mysterious and inexplicable as some people think? After studying the materials of the criminal case and other factual data that are relevant to the essence of the tragedy, the author creates a version-reconstruction of the death of tourists, which he presents to readers, based on facts, captivating the reader and offering to become a participant in the search and study of this difficult story.

1. Hike to Otorten

A trip to the Ural Mountains, to one of the peaks of the Poyasovoi Kamen ridge of the Northern Urals, to Mount Otorten was conceived by tourists from the tourism section of the sports club of the Sergey Kirov Ural Polytechnic Institute in the city of Sverdlovsk back in the fall of 1958. From the very beginning, Luda Dubinina, a 3rd year student and several other guys, were determined to go on a hike. But nothing worked until an experienced tourist, who already had experience in leading groups, 5th year student Igor Dyatlov, took up the organization of the trip.

Initially, the group was formed in the amount of 13 people. In this form, the composition of the group ended up in the route project, which Dyatlov submitted to the route commission:

But later Vishnevsky, Popov, Bienko and Verkhoturov dropped out. However, shortly before the trip, the instructor of the Kourovskaya camp site on the Chusovaya River, Alexander Zolotarev, known almost exclusively to Igor Dyatlov, was included in the group. As Alexander, he introduced himself to the guys.

The tourists were going to take personal equipment and some equipment from the UPI sports club with them. The campaign was timed to coincide with the beginning of the 21st Congress of the CPSU, for which they even received a ticket from the trade union committee of the UPI. She subsequently helped to move to the starting point of the route - the village of Vizhay and beyond, gave the official status to tourists as participants in an organized event, and not a wild hike, when a group appeared in any public place where an overnight stay or passing transport was required.

The route that Igor Dyatlov was going to take with the group was new, so still none of the UPI tourists and even the whole of Sverdlovsk did not go. Being the pioneers of the route, the tourists intended to get to the village of Vizhay by train and by car, from the village of Vizhay to get to the village of Vtoroy Severny, then go northwest along the valley of the Auspiya River and along the tributaries of the Lozva River to Mount Otorten. After climbing this peak, it was planned to turn south and go along the Poyasovyi Kamen ridge along the headwaters of the sources of the rivers Unya, Vishera and Niols to Mount Oiko-Chakur (Oykachahl). From Oiko-Chakur in an easterly direction along the valleys of the Malaya Toshemka or Bolshaya Toshemka rivers, to their confluence into the North Toshemka, then to the highway and again to the village of Vizhay.

According to the Project of the campaign, which was approved by the Chairman of the route commission Korolev and a member of the march commission Novikov, Dyatlov expected to spend 20 or 21 days on the campaign.

This hike was assigned the highest third category of difficulty according to the then existing system for determining the categories of hikes in sports tourism. According to the instructions in force at that time, the “troika” was assigned if the trip lasts at least 16 days, at least 350 km will be covered, of which 8 days in sparsely populated areas, and if at least 6 overnight stays are made in the field. Dyatlov had twice as many such overnight stays.

The release was scheduled for January 23, 1959. Igor Dyatlov intended to return with the group to Sverdlovsk on February 12-13. And earlier, from the village of Vizhay, the UPI sports club and the city sports club of Sverdlovsk should have received a telegram from him that the route was successfully completed. It was the usual practice of hiking and the requirement for instructions to report to the sports club. It was originally planned to return to Vizhay and give a telegram about the return on February 10th. However, Igor Dyatlov postponed the return to Vizhay to February 12. The precise engineering calculation of Igor Dyatlov underwent a change in schedule due to one emergency, which was the first failure in a group event. At the first stage of the campaign, Yuri Yudin left the route.

On January 23, 1959, the Dyatlov group began a trip to Otorten from the railway station in Sverdlovsk, consisting of 10 people: Igor Dyatlov, Zina Kolmogorova, Rustem Slobodin, Yuri Doroshenko, Yuri Krivonischenko, Nikolai Thibault-Brignolles, Lyudmila Dubinina, Alexander Zolotarev, Alexander Kolevatov and Yuri Yudin. However, on the 5th day of the campaign on January 28, Yuri Yudin leaves the group for health reasons. He left with a group from the last settlement on the route - the village of the 41st quarter and went to the non-residential village of Second Severny, when he had a problem with his legs. He obviously would have delayed the group, as he moved slowly even without a backpack. He lagged behind. Lost formation. However, in that transition between these villages, 41 quarter-Second North tourists got lucky. In the village, tourists going on a hike towards the 21st Congress of the CPSU were given a horse. Backpacks of tourists from the village of 41 quarters to the village of Second Severny were carried by a horse with a driver on a sleigh. Ill Yuri Yudin returns to Sverdlovsk.

The equipment at that time of the development of tourism was very heavy and not perfect. Very heavy backpacks old design, a bulky tent made of heavy canvas, a stove weighing about 4 kilograms, several axes, a saw. An additional increase in the load in the form of a mass of backpacks and the departure of Yuri Yudin from the group in itself prompted them to postpone the control time of the group's arrival back to Vizhay for two days. Dyatlov asked Yudin to warn the UPI sports club about the postponement of the return telegram from February 10 to February 12.

The description of this reconstruction version contains a possible presumption of responsibility and seriousness of the intentions of the participants in the campaign to return alive and unharmed. Speculation regarding the unsportsmanlike behavior of the participants in the campaign, which caused the death of the group, is excluded.

• Dyatlov Igor Alekseevich born on 13.01.36 just turned 23 years old
• Kolmogorova Zinaida Alekseevna born on 01/12/37, recently turned 22 years old,
• Doroshenko Yuri Nikolaevich born on 01/29/38, on the 6th day of the campaign he turns 21 years old
• Krivonischenko Georgy (Yura) Alekseevich born February 7, 1935, 23 years old, he was supposed to be 24 years old during the campaign,
• Dubinina Lyudmila Alexandrovna born on May 12, 1938 20 years,
• Kolevatov Alexander Sergeevich Born 11/16/1934 24 years,
• Slobodin Rustem Vladimirovich born on 01/11/1936, recently turned 23 years old,
• Thibaut-Brignolle Nikolai Vasilievich born 06/05/1935 23 years old
• Zolotarev Alexander Alekseevich born 02.02.1921 37 years.

There is no contact with tourists. No one in Sverdlovsk knows how the campaign goes. There are no radios for tourists. There are no intermediate points on the route from where tourists would contact the city. On February 12, the sports club UPI does not receive the agreed telegram about the end of the campaign. Tourists do not return to Sverdlovsk either on February 12, or on February 15, or on February 16. But the chairman of the UPI sports club, Lev Gordo, sees no reason for concern. Then the relatives of the tourists sounded the alarm. At that time, there were no structures of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, sports committees, trade union committees, city committees, with the support of internal troops and the armed forces, were engaged in the search for missing tourists. The search began on February 20, 1959. UPI students, the sports community of Sverdlovsk, and military personnel took part in the search. In total, several groups of search engines were recruited. The groups of search engines necessarily included UPI students. The groups were delivered to the areas that the Dyatlov group should pass along its route. The accident and its consequences were to be discovered by Dyatlov's classmates. The organizers of the search hardly doubted that the irreparable had happened. But the search was wide-ranging. Military and civil aviation was involved from the Ivdel airport. The search for students was given great attention due to the fact that two participants in the campaign, graduates of the UPI, Rustem Slobodin and Yura Krivonischenko, were engineers from secret defense mailboxes. Slobodin worked at the research institute. Krivonischenko at the factory where the first atomic weapon was created. Now this production association "Mayak" is located in the city of Ozersk Chelyabinsk region.

Several search groups searched for the tourists of the Dyatlov group at various supposed points along the route. After the discovery of the first corpses of tourists, the prosecutor's office initiated a criminal case, which began to be investigated by the prosecutor of the city of Ivdel, closest to the site of the tragedy, Junior Counselor of Justice V.I. Tempalov. Then the preliminary investigation was continued and completed by the forensic prosecutor of the prosecutor's office of the Sverdlovsk region, Junior Counselor of Justice LN Ivanov.

The search engines Boris Slobtsov and Misha Sharavin, UPI students, were the first to find the Dyatlov group's tent. It turned out to be installed on the eastern slope of peak 1096. Otherwise, this peak was called – Mount Halatchakhl. Halatchakhl – This is a Mansi name. Several legends are associated with this mountain. The indigenous Mansi people preferred not to go to this mountain. There was a belief that on this mountain a certain spirit killed 9 Mansi hunters, and since then everyone who climbs the mountain will be cursed by shamans. Halatchakhl in the Mansi language sounds like this - the mountain of the Dead.

How they found the tent, Boris Slobtsov told on April 15, 1959, under the protocol to prosecutor Ivanov:

“I flew to the scene by helicopter on February 23, 1959. I led the search party. The tent of the Dyatlov group was discovered by our group on the afternoon of February 26, 1959.

When they approached the tent, they found that the entrance of the tent protruded from under the snow, and the rest of the tent was under the snow. Around the tent in the snow were ski poles and spare skis - 1 pair. The snow on the tent was 15-20 cm thick, it was clear that the snow was inflated on the tent, it was hard.

Near the tent, near the entrance to the snow, an ice ax was stuck; on the tent, on the snow, lay a Chinese pocket lantern, which, as it was later established, belonged to Dyatlov. It was not clear that under the lantern there was snow about 5-10 cm thick, there was no snow above the lantern, it was a little sprinkled with snow on the sides.

Below you will often find extracts from interrogation protocols and other materials of a criminal case, often the only factual documents that shed light on the tragedy. During the investigation, search engines and other witnesses were interrogated, who informed the investigation of certain factual data. It should be noted that the lines of the protocols in this case were not always “dry” or “clerical”, sometimes even lengthy discussions about the state of tourism and the level of organization of tourist searches were found in the protocols. But sometimes some data surfaced later in the memoirs of search engines or eyewitnesses of searches.

Boris Slobtsov, who discovered the tent, later clarified the details of the tent discovery in one of the articles in the All-Russian magazine of extreme travel and adventures:

“Our path with Sharavin and the hunter Ivan lay on the pass in the valley of the Lozva River and further on to the ridge, from which we hoped to see Mount Otorten with binoculars. On the Sharavin pass, looking through binoculars on the eastern slope of the ridge, I saw something in the snow that looked like a littered tent. We decided to go up there, but without Ivan. He said that he was not feeling well and would wait for us at the pass (we realized that he had just "fell"). As we approached the tent, the slope became steeper, and the ice became denser, and we had to leave the skis and walk the last tens of meters without skis, but with sticks.

Finally, we ran into the tent, we stood, we were silent and we didn’t know what to do: the slope of the tent was torn in the center, there was snow inside, some things, skis were sticking out, an ice ax was stuck in the snow at the entrance, people were not visible, it was scary, already horror! ."

(“Rescue work in the Northern Urals, February 1959, Dyatlov Pass”, EKS magazine, No. 46, 2007).

On February 26, 1959, a tent was discovered. After the discovery of the tent, the search for tourists was organized.

The prosecutor of Ivdel was summoned to the scene. Inspection of the tent by prosecutor Tempalov is dated February 28, 1959. But the first investigative action was an inspection of the first discovered corpses, which was carried out on February 27, 1959. The corpse of Yura Krivonischenko and the corpse of Yura Doroshenko (he was first mistaken for the corpse of A. Zolotarev) were found below in a hollow, between Mount Halatchakhl and a height of 880, where there was a stream bed flowing into the fourth tributary of the Lozva. Their bodies lay near a tall cedar, at a distance of about 1500 meters from the tent, on a hillock at the base of height 880, at the base of the pass, which would later be called in their memory the “Dyatlov Group Pass”. A bonfire was found next to the cedar. The corpses of two Yurs were found in their underwear without shoes.

Then, with the help of dogs, under a thin layer of snow of 10 cm on the line from the tent to the cedar, the corpses of Igor Dyatlov and Zina Kolmogorova were found. They were also without outerwear and without shoes, but still dressed better. Igor Dyatlov was at a distance of about 1200 meters from the tent and about 300 meters from the cedar, and Zina Kolmogorova at a distance of about 750 meters from the tent and about 750 meters from the cedar. Igor Dyatlov's hand peeked out from under the snow, leaning on a birch. He froze in such a position, as if ready to get up and go in search of comrades again.

From the protocol of inspection of the first found corpses, which became the protocol of the inspection of the scene, the active phase of the investigation of the criminal case began on the death of tourists from the Dyatlov group. After the discovery of the first corpses, and the discovery of a tent torn in several places, the corpse of Rustem Slobodin will soon be found under the snow. It was under a layer of snow of 15-20 centimeters on a slope conditionally between the corpse of Dyatlov and Kolmogorova, about 1000 meters from the tent and about 500 meters from the cedar. Slobodina also did not have better clothes, one leg was shod in felt boots. As the forensic medical examination will later show, all the tourists found died from frostbite. Rustem Slobodin's autopsy will reveal a 6 cm long crack in the skull, which he received during his lifetime. Rustem Slobodin was discovered by search engines in the classic “corpse bed”, which is observed in frozen people if the body cooled down directly on the snow. Then began a long search for the remaining tourists Nikolai Thibault-Brignolles, Lyudmila Dubinina, Alexander Kolevatov, Alexander Zolotarev. The snow cover of the slope, light forest zones and the forest area around the cedar were combed by search engines with dogs, probed by avalanche probes. They no longer believed in the salvation of the Dyatlovites. The search went on throughout February, March and April. And on May 5, after exhausting, long and difficult search work, when excavating snow in a ravine, they found a flooring.

Near the flooring, 6 meters from it, in the bed of a stream flowing along the bottom of the ravine, they found the last four corpses of tourists. The flooring and tourists were dug out from under a large layer of snow. In May, the fir twigs and parts of the Dyatlovites’ clothes that had just melted out from under the snow were pointed to the excavation site. On May 6, the bodies in the ravine and the flooring were examined.

The location of the discovery of the flooring and the corpses "in the ravine" can be established with authenticity based on the materials of the criminal case.

In the protocol of the inspection of the scene of May 6, 1959, made by the prosecutor Tempalov, the location of the last corpses is described as follows:

“On the slope of the western side of a height of 880 from the famous cedar, 50 meters in a stream, 4 corpses were found, including three men and one woman. The body of the woman has been identified - this is Lyudmila Dubinina. It is impossible to identify the bodies of men without raising them.
All corpses are in the water. They were excavated from under the snow with a depth of 2.5 meters to 2 meters. Two men and a third lie with their heads to the north along the stream. The corpse of Dubinina was lying in the opposite direction with its head against the current of the stream.

(from the materials of the criminal case)

In the Resolution on the termination of the criminal case, issued by the forensic prosecutor Ivanov on May 28, 1959, the location of the flooring and the corpses is more precisely defined:

“75 meters from the fire, towards the valley of the fourth tributary of the Lozva, i.e. perpendicular to the path of movement of tourists from the tent, under a layer of snow 4-4.5 meters away, the bodies of Dubinina, Zolotarev, Thibault-Brignolles and Kolevatov were found.

(from the materials of the criminal case)

This perpendicular can be seen in the scheme from the criminal case.

(from the materials of the criminal case)

70 meters from the cedar. "To the river Lozva" - this means from the cedar to the north-west. The stream flows past the cedar from south to north towards Lozva. It flows into the 4th tributary of the Lozva.

Schematically, the location of the flooring and the last four corpses can be depicted as follows:

The location of the ravine on the map:

The ravine was covered with snow in February and from March to April until May 6, 1959. The ravine was also covered with snow in April 2001, when M. Sharavin was there as part of the Popov-Nazarov expedition ...

Between the tent and the cedar there was a ravine, along the bottom of which a stream flows. The ravine stretches from south to north in the direction of a stream flowing along its bottom to the 4th tributary of the Lozva. But by February 26, the ravine was already covered with snow. It is not even noticeable that until recently there was a ravine. You can only see the slope, the right eastern bank of the stream, which rose to a height of about 5-7 meters. This was shown by the search engine Yuri Koptelov.

“On the edge (further the slope was steeper) we saw paired tracks of several pairs, deep, on firn snow. They walked perpendicular to the slope of the tent in the valley of the tributary of the river. Lozva. We crossed from the left bank of the valley to the right bank and after about 1.5 km we ran into a wall, 5-7 meters high, where the stream made a turn to the left. In front of us was a height of 880, and on the right was a pass, which was later called lane. Dyatlov. We climbed the ladder (head-on) to this wall. I'm on the left, Mikhail is to the right of me. In front of us were rare low birches and fir trees, and then a large tree towered - a cedar.

(from the materials of the criminal case)

It seems quite reliable that Yuri Koptelov described the place of the alleged fall of the tourists Zolotarev, Dubinina and Thibaut-Brignolle. With certainty, it can be assumed that the place from which the fir and birch for flooring were cut off are those very “rare low birches and fir trees” from Koptelov’s description. And Yury Koptelov and Misha Sharavin climbed a little to the right of the wall, where the wall is not so high and flatter, which makes it more possible to climb the ladder on skis in the forehead. It's just about opposite the cedar.

The bodies of the last 4 tourists were found in a ravine under a layer of snow 2-2.5 meters thick.

Considering that the bottom of the ravine was not yet covered with snow on February 1, because It was after February 1 that witnesses noted heavy snowfalls and blizzards in the region of the Poyasovyi Kamen ridge (their testimonies are below), then a fall onto a rocky bottom from a steep 5-7 meters high seems very dangerous. But more on that below.

“January 31, 1959. Today the weather is a little worse - wind (west), snow (apparently with firs) because the sky is completely clear. We left relatively early (about 10 am). We go along the beaten Mansi ski trail. (Until now, we have been walking along the Mansi path, along which a hunter rode a reindeer not very long ago.) Yesterday we met, apparently, his overnight stay, the deer did not go further, the hunter himself did not go along the notches of the old path, we are following his trail now . Today was a surprisingly good overnight stay, warm and dry despite low temperature(-18° -24°). Walking today is especially difficult. The trail is not visible, we often stray from it or grope. Thus, we pass 1.5-2 km per hour. We develop new methods of more productive walking. The first one drops the backpack and walks for 5 minutes, then returns, rests for 10-15 minutes, then catches up with the rest of the group. This is how the non-stop way of laying tracks was born. It is especially difficult for the second one, who goes along the ski track, the first one, with a backpack. We are gradually separating from Auspiya, the ascent is continuous, but rather smooth. And now the spruces ran out, a rare birch forest went. We came to the edge of the forest. The wind is from the west, warm and piercing, the wind speed is similar to the air speed when the plane rises. Nast, naked places. You don’t even have to think about the device of the lobaza. About 4 hours. You have to choose accommodation. We descend to the south - to the valley of Auspiya. This is probably the snowiest place. The wind is light on snow 1.2-2 m thick. Tired, exhausted, they set about arranging an overnight stay. Firewood is scarce. Sickly raw spruce. The fire was built on logs, reluctance to dig a hole. We dine right in the tent. Warmly. It is difficult to imagine such comfort somewhere on the ridge, with a piercing howl of the wind, a hundred kilometers from settlements.

(from the materials of the criminal case)

There are no more entries in the general diary, so far no entries have been found for other numbers after January 31 in personal diaries group members. The date of the last overnight stay is determined in the Resolution known to us on the termination of the criminal case, signed by the forensic prosecutor Ivanov as follows:

“In one of the cameras, a frame (taken last) was preserved, which shows the moment of excavation of snow to set up a tent. Considering that this shot was taken with a shutter speed of 1/25 sec., at an aperture of 5.6 with a film sensitivity of 65 units. GOST, and also taking into account the density of the frame, we can assume that the tourists started setting up the tent at about 5 pm on January 1, 1959. A similar picture was taken with another camera. After this time, not a single record and not a single photograph was found ... "

(from the materials of the criminal case)

Until now, no one has seen these pictures of setting up a tent in a criminal case. And this is the biggest mystery of the case...

Stanislav Ivlev

The continuation can be found in Stanislav Ivlev's book "The campaign of the Dyatlov group. In the footsteps of the Atomic Project." The whole book, or a separate full text of the reconstruction, can be ordered on the "Planet", contributing to the release of the book.

Many people in Russia, the USSR and far abroad heard about the tragic death on February 2, 1959 of nine students-tourists of the Ural Polytechnic Institute (UPI) in the northern Urals. In the media over the past time, many articles have been published on this topic, there have been many reports and discussions on television. In the USA, a feature film was shot in Hollywood. The uncertainty of the conclusion of the investigation about the "elemental force" gave rise to a lot of fiction, mysticism and fears. Many different versions have been put forward from a UFO attack, Bigfoot to American spies.

Writer, publicist, journalist, expert, engineer, researcher Vladimir Garmatyuk (author of the book “Discoveries and Hypotheses of the 21st Century” published in Germany in 2018 based on his research) compiled the most reliable version of events based on additional information about the incident of a 60-year-old statute of limitations, which was not previously included in the criminal case. And brings it to the attention of the readers of the "Golden Ring".

In the picture, the students of the deceased group of tourists (from left to right) bottom row: Slobodin R.S. , Kolmogorova Z.A., I.A. Dyatlov I.A., Dubinina L.A. Doroshenko Yu.A. Top row: Thibaut-Brignolles N.V., Kolevatov A.S., Krivonischenko G.A., Zolotarev A.I.

The event attracted wide public attention due to the fact that the investigation conducted in 1959 by the Sverdlovsk prosecutor's office did not give a clear answer about the causes of death of young people. In the decision to terminate the criminal case by the prosecutor L.N. Ivanov literally said the following: “Given the absence of external bodily injuries and signs of a struggle on the corpses, the presence of all the values ​​​​of the group, and also taking into account the conclusion of the forensic medical examination on the causes of death of tourists, it should be considered what causes the death of tourists there was an elemental force, to overcome which the tourists were not able to.

Over time, additional information appeared in various sources, which was not attached to the criminal case, and therefore the real reasons were not named.

It remains only to complete the missing "links in the chain" of interconnected events in order to tell about the tragedy that has occurred...

Let's leave the details that have already been told and highlight the main thing that was missed.

Start.

So, a group of UPI students in the amount of ten people (one fell ill on the way and returned back) on January 26, 1959 left the city of Ivdel, Sverdlovsk region. Passing the villages of Vizhay and Severny, then they set off on their own on skis for a two-week transition to Mount Otorten (1234 m) in the northern Urals. The tourists laid their route along the sledge-deer trail of the hunters of the local northern Mansi people.

Map of the hike of a group of students Dyatlov

Along the way, some students kept their diaries. Their observations are interesting.

An entry from the diary of the group leader, fifth-year student Igor Dyatlov:

01/28/59… After talking, we crawl into the tent together. Hanging stove blazes with heat and divides the tent into two compartments.

01/30/59 “Today is the third cold night on the banks of the river. Auspii. We start to get involved. The oven is a big deal. Some (Thibault and Krivonischenko) they are thinking of constructing a steam heating system in a tent. Canopy - hanging sheets are quite justified. Weather: temperature in the morning - 17 ° C, in the afternoon - 13 ° C, in the evening - 26 ° C.

The deer path ended, the thorny path began, then it ended. It was very difficult to cross the virgin soil, the snow was up to 120 cm deep. The forest is gradually thinning, the height is felt, the birches and pines are dwarfed and ugly. It’s impossible to walk along the river - it didn’t freeze, but under the snow there is water and ice, right there on the ski track, we go along the bank again. The day is drawing to a close, and we must look for a place to camp. Here is an overnight stay. The wind is strong from the west, knocking snow off the cedar and pine trees, giving the impression of a snowfall.”

During the hike, the guys took pictures of themselves and their pictures have been preserved. In the photo, the students of the deceased ski group on the way of their route.

01/31/59 “We have reached the edge of the forest. The wind is from the west, warm and piercing, the wind speed is similar to the air speed when the plane rises. Nast, bare places. You don’t even have to think about the device of the lobaza. About 4 hours. You have to choose accommodation. We go down to the south - in the valley of the river. Auspii. This is probably the snowiest place. Light wind on snow 1.2-2 m thick. Tired, exhausted, they set about arranging an overnight stay. Firewood is scarce. Sickly raw spruce. The fire was built on logs, reluctance to dig a hole. We dine right in the tent. Warmly. It is hard to imagine such comfort somewhere on the ridge, with a piercing howl of the wind, a hundred kilometers from settlements.

Today was a surprisingly good overnight stay, warm and dry, despite the low temperature (-18° -24°). Walking today is especially difficult. The trace is not visible, we often stray from it or go gropingly. Thus, we pass 1.5-2 km per hour.

I am at a wonderful age: the dope has already weathered, and insanity is still far away ... Dyatlov.

On February 1, 1959, at about 17:00 in the evening, the students set up their tent for the last time on the gentle slope of Mount Kholatchakhl (1079 m) below 300 meters from its top.

The guys took pictures of the place where and how they pitched the tent. The evening was cold and windy. The picture shows how skiers on the slope dig deep snow to the ground, being in hoods, and how a strong wind blows snow into the hole.

1.02.59 Combat sheet No. 1 "Evening Otorten" - written by students before going to bed: “Is it possible to heat nine tourists with one stove and one blanket? A team of radio engineers composed of Comrade. Doroshenko and Kolmogorova set a new world record in the competition oven assembly– 1 hour 02 min. 27.4 sec.

Setting up a tent on a mountainside

The slope of Mount Holatchakhl is 25-30 degrees. Setting up the tent, the guys did not expect the avalanche to come down from the top. The hill was not so steep, and by the beginning of February the crust was strong, which kept a person without skis.

In the diary entries, it is highlighted that they had a collapsible stove, and they stoked it in a tent. The oven was very hot!

When the tent was dug deep into the snow on the mountainside under the “cornice of crust” and the furnace was heated, the snow around them melted. In the cold, the molten snow froze, turning into a hard ice edge, which later played its role.

After supper in the warmth, they put a heated stove in the corner of the tent, leaving one log to dry in it the next day for kindling (on a torch), taking off their shoes and warm outerwear, the guys went to bed.

But in a matter of hours, something happened that soon determined their fate...

Let's go a little off topic.

In 1957, in the Arkhangelsk region, just at the latitude of the northern Urals, the (at that time secret) Plesetsk cosmodrome was opened. In February 1959, he (according to his tasks) was renamed the 3rd Training Artillery Range.

From 1957 to 1993, 1372 ballistic missile launches were carried out from here. (This information is from Wikipedia).

Spent stages of ballistic missiles with the remnants of liquid fuel fell, burning over the deserted regions of the northern Urals. Approximately, just in the area where the students went on their last hike. Therefore, many residents of the surrounding areas often noticed burning fires (balls) in the night sky.

The falling, burning stage of the rocket over the mountainside, where the students spent the night, was photographed (with a diaphragm delay) by the instructor of the group Alexander Zolotarev. Being in the tent, he saw a bright light outside through the fabric walls. He quickly took the camera and, without getting dressed, jumped out to take a picture of what was happening. This was his last picture.

On the left of the picture, traces from the falling rocket stage are visible, and in the center of the frame there is a light spot from the camera's diaphragm.

Shot from Zolotarev's camera

The event was witnessed by many other people who were at that time far from this place, who spoke about it during the investigation.

Here's what people said. Late on the evening of Sunday, February 1, some were walking home from the cinema. In rural areas, on a day off in the USSR, cinema in clubs began for everyone at the same time, at 20-00 - 21-00. So, according to time, what happened was between 22 and 24 hours.

It is also necessary to pay attention to the fact that February 2, 1959 was a Monday- the beginning of the working week (for the military too).

Late in the evening (at the beginning of the night) on February 1, a flash occurred in the air near Mount Holatchakhl, and then a powerful explosion. People heard a burning, falling "star" in the sky and the sound of a powerful explosion, being many kilometers away from them.

Whether it was a rocket stage with incompletely burned fuel remaining in it, or it was a rocket that deviated from the given flight path, which was automatically blown up, or the falling rocket (stage) was shot down by another rocket as a training target - it no longer matters that specifically was the source of the explosion.

From the blast wave, the snow on the side of the mountain shuddered and moved down in places.

On top of the snow was a heavy layer of snow crust (sometimes called "board"). Nast is thick and hard rather than a board, but an icy, multi-layered heavy “plywood sheet”. So strong that people ran through the snow without shoes without falling through. This can be seen from the footprints going down the mountain from the tent. A photo of footprints from the mountain and an abandoned tent (below) was taken later around February 26, 1959 by members of the search party.

The guys in the tent, taking off their outer clothing and shoes, went to bed with their heads to the top of the mountain. The night before, the heat from the stove had melted the edges of the snow around the tent, turning it into solid ice, which hung over them like an "ice ledge" from the side of the mountain.

During the installation of the tent (seen from the photo) there was a blizzard and therefore over the edge of the tent from the top of the mountain it also blew from "half a ton" of snow.

After the explosion, this ice, pressed down from above by a heavy load of crust and snow and with force from the blast wave, fell on the tent and on the heads of the people sleeping in it.

Subsequently, a forensic medical examination found broken ribs in two and cracks (6 cm long) in the skull in two more.

One of the tent poles (farthest in the picture) was broken. If the rack broke, then the effort was quite enough to break the bones of unexpecting, relaxed lying people with the weight of snow and the hard edge of ice.

Students in the complete darkness of the tent, awakened by the sound of a nearby explosion, of course, could not appreciate the real danger that had arisen. They considered the ice and crust with snow that fell on them to be an avalanche. Being in a state of shock after the collapse, under the fear of being buried alive under the snow, in a panic, they instantly cut the tent from the inside and, being without shoes (in only socks), and without warm outerwear, jumped out, rushing to run from the snow avalanche down the mountainside. No other danger would have forced the guys to do this. On the contrary, from any other external threat, they would hide in a tent.

The photo of the tent dated February 26, 1959 shows that the entrance to it is blocked, and there is snow in the middle. On the evening of February 1, there was a blizzard and there was more loose snow. By the time the investigation team arrived, the loose snow had blown off the mountain. This can be seen in the photograph (below) - by the prints of footprints rising above the hard crust.

View of Dyatlov's tent covered with snow

Having gone down a run for 1.5 km down to the forest, the guys only there were able to soberly assess the situation and the real threat of death - from hypothermia. They had 1-3 hours to live without shoes and outerwear in the cold and in the wind.

As established post-mortem examination, death occurred 6-8 hours after the last meal. If their dinner ended at 19-20 hours, then the guys froze between 2-4 am (early morning) on ​​February 2. The air temperature in the early morning of February 2 was about -28°C.

Students in the wind could not make a fire for a long time, there were many extinct matches lying near the fire. And when they lit a fire under the cedar, they tried to warm themselves at first. But they quickly realized that without outerwear and shoes in the wind and in the cold, even being by the fire, you can’t get warm. Having figured out that there was no avalanche coming down and nothing but the cold threatened them, the three ran back up the mountain to the tent for warm clothes and shoes, but they didn’t have enough strength for this. On the way uphill from the icy wind and lethal hypothermia, all three fell and froze there.

Subsequently, two were found frozen under a cedar near an extinct fire. Four more (three of them with fractures received earlier in the tent or post-mortem from freezing) - tried to wait for those who left for clothes, hiding from the cold wind in a ravine. They also froze. This ravine was then covered with snow, and the guys were found later than all the others only on May 4, 1959.

Radiation was also found on the clothes of people covered with snow.

In the USSR, according to the chronology of tests of thermonuclear bombs, in the period from September 30, 1958 to October 25, 1958, 19 explosions were carried out in the atmosphere at the Dry Nose test site of Novaya Zemlya Island in the Arctic Ocean (opposite the Ural Mountains on the map).

This radiation from the upper layers of the atmosphere fell with snow to the ground in the winter of 1958-1959 (including in the territory of the northern Urals).

The location of the discovery of four bodies, swept under deep snow, in a ravine.

Returning to the materials of the criminal case.

Witness Krivonischenko A.K. showed during the investigation : “After the burial of my son on March 9, 1959, students, participants in the search for nine tourists, were at my apartment for dinner. Among them were those tourists who in late January - early February were on a campaign in the north, somewhat south of Mount Otorten. Apparently, there were at least two such groups, at least the participants of two groups said that they observed on February 1, 1959 in the evening a light phenomenon that struck them to the north of the location of these groups: an extremely bright glow of some kind of rocket or projectile.

The glow was constantly strong that one of the groups, being already in the tent and preparing to sleep, were alarmed by this glow, went out of the tent and observed this phenomenon. After a while they heard sound effect similar to strong thunder from afar.

Testimony of investigator L.N. Ivanov, who finished the case: "... a similar ball was seen on the night of the death of the guys, that is, from the first to the second of February, students-tourists of the geofaculty of the pedagogical institute."

Here, for example, is what the father of Lyudmila Dubinina, in those years a responsible worker of the Sverdlovsk Economic Council, said during interrogation in March 1959: “... I heard the conversations of students of the Ural Polytechnic University (UPI) that the flight of undressed people from the tent was caused by an explosion and large radiation ... The light of the projectile February 2nd around 7am seen in the city of Serov... I wonder why the tourist routes from the city of Ivdel were not closed...

An excerpt from the protocol of the interrogation of Slobodin Vladimir Mikhailovich - the father of Rustem Slobodin: “From him (Chairman of the Ivdel City Council A.I. Delyagin) I first heard that at about the time when a catastrophe happened to the group, some residents (local hunters) observed the appearance of a fireball in the sky. The fact that the fireball was observed by other tourists - students told me E.P. Maslennikov.

Scheme of the location of the tent on the mountainside and the discovered bodies of tourists

The individual features of the damage to the bodies of some of the victims do not change the overall picture of what happened. The damage only served as false conjectures.

For example, the frozen foam from the mouth of one is due to vomiting, which was caused by inhalation of vapors (or carbon monoxide residues from rocket fuel) dispersed in the air above the mountain. Also from this and unusual red-orange color skin, on the sun-exposed surfaces of corpses. Damage to an already dead body (nose, eyes and tongue) in others was done by mice or birds of prey.

The investigators did not dare to name the real reason for the death of students on the night of February 2, 1959 - from a test of missiles, from an explosion in the air that served to move the crust and snow on Mount Kholatchakhl.

The investigator of the Sverdlovsk prosecutor's office V. Korotaev, who first began to conduct the case (later during the years of glasnost), said: “... the first secretary of the (Sverdlovsk) city committee of the party, Prodanov, invites me to his place and transparently hints: there is, they say, a proposal - to stop the case. Clearly, not his personal, nothing more than an indication from above. At my request, the secretary then called Andrei Kirillenko (first secretary of the Sverdlovsk regional party committee). And I heard the same thing: stop the case!

Literally a day later, investigator Lev Ivanov took it into his own hands, who quickly turned it off ... ". - With the above wording about "irresistible elemental force."

It took scientists half a century to remove the accusations of the death of 9 tourists from aliens and the military ...

A mysterious tragedy that shook the whole country. Nikita Khrushchev personally followed the progress of the investigation. The researchers put forward a lot of hypotheses. Hundreds of articles have been written about the tragedy. There are books and documentaries. Upon the death of tourists opened a criminal case. They suspected the military, who tested secret weapons, and even some alien "fireballs" (documents that they were later seen by rescuers also ended up in a court case). But it seems that the true picture of the tragedy was restored only now ...

THERE WAS NINE

At the end of January 1959, a group of skiers from the tourist club of the Ural Polytechnic Institute (UPI, Sverdlovsk - Yekaterinburg) set off on a hike of the highest (at that time) category of difficulty to the north of the Sverdlovsk region. The goal is to pass a section of the Belt Stone Ridge with an ascent to the Otorten and Oiko-Chakur mountains. The group is experienced - the backbone was formed a few years ago. Two girls, seven guys. Five students, three young engineers (UPI graduates) and an instructor from one of the camp sites. The leader is Igor Dyatlov, a 5th year student of UPI. An experienced tourist and a very smart guy: shortly before the fateful trip, he, a student, was offered the position of deputy dean of the radio department of the UPI. He promised to think...

On February 12, the group was to return and send a telegram to Sverdlovsk. But as if dissolved in the winter taiga. The search began.

NUDE, BURNED AND BEAT?

The history of the terrible finds is set out in a criminal case initiated on the death of nine Dyatlovites.

On February 25, rescuers found a tent covered with snow, cut and severely torn in several places on the slope of a mountain with the ominous name Kholatchakhl (“Mountain of the Dead”). Without people. Shoes, some warm clothes, money and documents remained in place.

On February 26, one and a half kilometers down the slope, under a large cedar, rescuers stumbled upon the bodies of Yuri Doroshenko and Georgy Krivonischenko with burns on their hands and feet. Both were stripped to their underwear, next to the remains of a fire.

In the period up to March 5, the bodies of Igor Dyatlov, Zina Kolmogorova and Rustem Slobodin were found under the snow. Without outerwear and shoes (only on Slobodina there was one felt boot). They lay on the line tent - cedar, head to the tent. Slobodin has a skull injury. All have "small abrasions on the face and exposed parts of the hands."

The remaining four were found only in early May under a two-meter layer of snow, still almost 70 meters from the cedar, where Doroshenko and Krivonischenko lay.

Lyudmila Dubinina was on her knees, her face buried in the slope at the waterfall of a small stream (the tongue is missing (!), six broken ribs on the left, four on the right, a thigh wound, hemorrhage in the chest).

Rescuers discovered the snow-covered tent only on February 25. And all the bodies were found by May.
-------------
Nicholas Thibault-Brignolles was lying in the bed of a stream (a fracture of the bones and the base of the skull, a wound on his left shoulder).

The bodies of Alexander Zolotarev and Alexander Kolevatov were found by the searchers here, on the shore. The first one had six fractures of the ribs on the right. The second had no serious wounds. The investigation could not find a reliable explanation for these mysterious injuries, which did not have any external signs of damage - they were found only at autopsy. No traces of the use of weapons or blows! Mystery!

As a result, the investigation was terminated with the wording: "The reason for the death of the tourists was an elemental force, which they were unable to overcome."

VERSION #1: WHERE THE FIREBALLS COME FROM

Few people were satisfied with the decision of justice. After all, there were no professional rescuers at that time, and many representatives of the UPI tourist club, friends of the victims, were part of the search groups. During the search, they witnessed a very unusual phenomenon.

“At 4.00 in the southeast direction, orderly Meshcheryakov noticed a large ring of fire, which moved towards us for 20 minutes, then hiding behind the mountain.

Before disappearing beyond the horizon, a star appeared from the center of the ring, which, gradually increasing to the size of the moon, began to fall down, separating from the ring. An unusual phenomenon was observed by the entire personnel, alerted. Please explain this phenomenon and its safety, as in our conditions it produces an alarming impression.”

- Information about the appearance of "fireballs" was later confirmed by other witnesses, - says one of the most famous researchers of the mystery of the death of the group, master of sports in mountain tourism and author of the book "The Mystery of the Dyatlov Accident" Evgeny BUYANOV. - Everyone was excited, but from the headquarters they calmed down: they say, these are tests of “hydrogen fuel”. They go far from the place of search and are not dangerous. After that, the work was continued, but many search engines believed that the "fireballs" could be associated with the death of the guys due to the similarity of the situation. Like the Dyatlovites, they had to run out of the tent “in what they slept in” in the cold, and they all got pretty scared. In addition, another group of tourists saw "fireballs" on the morning of February 17, when search operations were not yet underway. And the locals said that they see this in the sky quite often.

It was then that the hypothesis appeared that these mysterious "balls" became the cause of the death of the Dyatlovites. Moreover, if some interpreted them as a test of a secret weapon, others sinned in the machinations of aliens.

However, the explanation was found, and quite simple. Both on February 17 and March 31, R-7 combat missiles of the Korolyov Design Bureau were launched from Baikonur to the Kura training ground (Kamchatka). Moreover, the time of their launch exactly coincided with the timing of the observation of "fireballs". Since the apogee of missiles that took off from Baikonur along ballistic trajectories reached 1000 km, it became clear on the basis of geometric calculations that their launch was observed from the Northern Urals in the line-of-sight zone with a clear sky on a moonless night. In the upper layers of the atmosphere, the rocket left behind a wide contrail, and a bright plume of flame from rocket engines illuminated this trail at a considerable distance. This is how this huge and “pale” “fireball” the size of the Moon arose with a bright star of flame inside. But on the night of February 2, when the Dyatlovites died, there were no launches.

RADIATION IS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT

According to another version, the guys suffered due to radiation. The investigation conducted a radiological examination, and an increased radiation background. Where did he come from?

“There are only three items for fonils: Dubinina’s sweater, Kolevaty’s sweater and bottom of his pants,” says Yevgeny Buyanov. “But the radiation level was only two or three times higher than the natural background. This is a negligible excess, completely harmless. After much thought and comparison of evidence, it turned out that the radiation was only the result of severe contamination of clothing from the upper layer of the soil, where radioactive fallout from the atmosphere condensed. When washing off the dirt, the radiation immediately dropped to a natural level (this was established by the examination itself).

Rescuers found a camera among the belongings of the dead. It seems that this last frame captures the moment of setting up the tent on the fateful evening. You can clearly see how the guys install it deep in the snow. It was then that they damaged the snow layer above the tent.

WHAT EVER HAPPENED

- To begin with, we decided to re-deal with the injuries of the Dyatlovites, - continues Evgeny Vadimovich. - They invited an experienced forensic expert - Professor of the Military Medical Academy Mikhail Kornev. He immediately stated that the injuries to the ribs of Dubinina, Zolotarev, Thibault-Brignolles and Slobodin were not received by an explosion or a fall from a height, but by squeezing - as if a person found himself between a “soft” hammer and a “hard” anvil. The only option was a small avalanche came down, and the guys were pressed hard to the floor of the tent, the bottom of which was covered with skis. Less major injuries and abrasions were received by the Dyatlovites when descending and when rubbing their faces and hands in the cold. And burns - when trying to warm the arms and legs by the fire.

One of the myths of the accident was the assertion that, in principle, "there could not have been an avalanche" at the site of the tent. It was based on non-professional assessments of the avalanche situation in 1959. We attracted geographers and avalanche pilots from Moscow State University and St. Petersburg State University, and they qualitatively substantiated the possibility of an avalanche coming down on the slopes of Mount Kholatchakhl according to the meteorological conditions of the winter of 1959. Also, during the expedition last summer, we found damage to the bark and needles of small firs from the side of the mountain slope, where the Dyatlov group's tent was set up. So, avalanches here periodically come down in our time.

On the evening of February 1, the group stopped on the side of a mountain. The tent was set up with a significant depth in the snow to protect itself from the wind. And at the same time they cut and damaged the snow layer above the tent. Which later, with increased wind and a sharp cold snap, caused a collapse. In the last photograph of the Dyatlovites, taken at the time of setting up the tent, you can clearly see how the snow layer was trimmed.

After the avalanche, some of the guys were injured. To get out of the crushed tent and pull out the wounded, the Dyatlovites had to cut and tear it. For some time, the group stood in the strong wind and frost, bringing the victims to their senses and trying to extract things from the covered tent. They managed to get two jackets, a blanket, felt boots and cloaks - all this was put on the wounded.

There was a danger of another avalanche, and they decided to lower the victims down to the forest. After that, the Dyatlovites thought to quickly return to the tent for things. By all indications, the fatal decision to go down without warm clothes, shoes and equipment was made in a state of great stress. And here the second very strong elemental factor came into play. The cold front of the Arctic cyclone hit the area that night - according to the nearest weather stations, the temperature dropped to 28 degrees below zero. Under such conditions, the group, weakened by injuries, without warm clothes and bivouac equipment (axes and saws), was doomed. Injuries, cold, wind and darkness slowed down the action so much that the Dyatlovites did not have time and energy to return to the tent. Downstairs they tried to make a fire, but they managed to get little firewood. Then they decided to build a snow gap with flooring in a place more protected from the wind near the stream - the victims were placed in it so that they would warm each other ...

Probably the first to die were Kolya Thibault-Brignolles or Lucy Dubinina - they had the most severe injuries. Dyatlov, along with two comrades, makes a desperate attempt to return to the tent for equipment. They manage to go back through deep snow a little. Cold fatigue sets in. Resting, tourists lie down on the snow and fall asleep, so as not to wake up ...

Similar tragedies happened more than once or twice. This is how a group of climbers died on Pobeda Peak in 1955, a women's team on Lenin Peak in 1974, a group of tourists in 1990 on Elbrus, and guys from Ulyanovsk in the same place in 2005 ... The final picture of such accidents is the same even in details: someone sometimes he is dressed in double clothes, others in the same underwear, without shoes. And at the end of the tragic denouement, there are always chaotic, not too thoughtful actions of people struck by the cold ...

In connection with the death of Oleg Borodin, a resident of the Chelyabinsk region, on the Dyatlov Pass, the old story, dating back to 1959, was again remembered, mysterious and incredible. A group of student-tourists from the Sverdlovsk Polytechnic University, who had gone on a hike, was discovered in the Northern Urals. No one survived, and the condition of the bodies suggested the unusual circumstances of the death of these young people, brave, strong and beautiful. And now the mystery that has stirred up the minds of two generations may have received an explanation, all the more unexpected, since the solution to it lay on the surface even at the moment when the investigation was just beginning. At least, this interpretation of the tragic events seems to be the most probable.

Borodin, frozen on the pass

In the circumstances of the death of Oleg Borodin, in general, nothing mysterious was found. This glorious man lived his own life, he was 47 years old, he was known as a hermit, extraordinary in nature and often went on dangerous campaigns. After his body was discovered by a tourist group, everything was done to ensure that the entire situation of his death was preserved intact. Oleg, in general, traveled a lot and foresaw that such an end to his biography, alone with his own literary works (he wrote poetry), is quite likely. And so it happened. The only thing that caused associations with the place of death of the Dyatlov group was the geographical coordinates of the event (the same pass), and external signs, namely, a tent covered with snow. Another bewildering fact was that Borodin did not use the means of survival that he had, but an explanation was found for this: the man simply fell asleep. He was considered strange, but it is, after all, the right of everyone - to be what you want.

Secrets of 1959

The circumstances of the death of students back in 1959 were quite different. All the guys were daredevils, and the girls fully met the standards of the representatives of the best Soviet youth - both Komsomol members, and athletes, and beauties. No one noticed any oddities behind them, no vices either, and no one doubted their confidence that they would be able to ski hundreds of kilometers through frosty snow. After the discovery of the camp of the disappeared group, the picture that appeared before the rescuers caused horror. The guys cut through the tents from the inside, ran somewhere in a panic and froze. There were also bodily injuries, and, as indicated in the conclusion of the medical examination, intravital and serious. There was an impression of beatings and injuries, rib fractures turned out to be as if the girl (Zina Kolmogorova) had been trampled underfoot. The tongue of one of the corpses was missing, the eye sockets gaped terribly. In general, the picture of a probable crime (or accident) indicated that the young people were mocked, and possibly mocked at the corpses. Who did this? Nobody could answer this question.

Attempts at explanation

The most incredible circumstances usually have a simple explanation. So, the red color of the skin, engraved in the memory of all participants in the funeral, medical expert, MD. Yuri Morozov, considers it quite normal when freezing. The absence of a tongue and eyes is also understandable; they could have been eaten by mice found in those places. The panic that seized the inhabitants of the campground was sudden, and its causes were the main mystery, everything else had one or another obvious reason. The fact that people who are deprived of their outer clothing die from hypothermia in the cold is so obvious that it will not run up to discussion. But why all the causes of death could be divided into two groups, traumatic and temperature, was not explained in any way. In the end, everything was written off as an accidental death of students as a result of an accident under circumstances that were not fully clarified.

Investigation

The presence of a human, and not just a natural factor immediately fell into the category of one of the versions of the ongoing investigation. The disorderly flight of tourists from the camp suggested their insanity and lack of ability to analyze the situation. People drunk or under the influence of psychotropic drugs could have behaved like this, but no alcohol was found in the blood of the guys, and there was no talk of drugs at that time, especially in the South Urals.

Khanty trail

Suspicions were raised by the Bakhtiyarovs, a family of shamans who had practiced witchcraft for many generations, but the attitude of materialistic investigators towards the other world was skeptical, and in general the local population of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug was considered friendly and loyal. Technically, it was not possible to verify the involvement of the hunters in the incident. There was only one thing left - to release the case "on the brakes." Outside, no one broke into the tents, and why the students cut the tarpaulin and hurriedly jumped out of them in a hurry outside, into the cold, now no one ever seemed to be able to tell. However, there was such a person.

Cave, Khanty and Datura

Anatoly Stepochkin, who hunted in the Ural mountains, became a witness, although indirect, now he is an elderly man, but his story takes us back to the early eighties. As he told the correspondent of the site Znak.com, he happened to meet in 1981 with a certain local resident and exchange a gun with him. In a conversation, the hunter expressed the idea that they (the Khanty) are masters in their land and are ready to punish anyone who encroaches on their values ​​and shrines. As an illustration of his statement, he cited a story that happened a long time ago. Then a few tourists found a cave with jewelry (obviously, gold in nuggets) and furs. The Khanty acted decisively, they crept up to the camp, let dope into the tents, and when the newcomers jumped out, they were killed one by one. It is not known what kind of substance was used as a psychotropic drug, most likely, only shamans know the art of its preparation. At that time, the general public did not know about the death of the Dyatlov group, this story, like many other cases of crime, was kept under the heading "secret" for ideological reasons, and simply so as not to worry the people, and Anatoly Stepochkin attributed the story of the Khanty hunter to the category of numerous tales.

Treasure, gun, gold

Stepochkin's story is unsubstantiated, but such a version has not yet come to the attention of the directors of numerous films, authors of fiction, and even public organizations involved in unraveling the mystery of the Dyatlov Pass at a completely professional level. It explains most of the hitherto incomprehensible circumstances, in particular the presence of injuries and, most importantly, the cause of the stampede. The death of most tourists was due to hypothermia, and probably those who were able to escape were doomed due to the helpless state that came due to intoxication and paralyzing horror, which did not allow them to return to the tents.

The version is simple but plausible

Indirectly, the veracity of the story can be told by the very gun received from a local hunter, but it was stolen. It was the theft that became the reason to remember this episode, which happened a long time ago.

It is also quite possible to assume that the Dyatlov group died due to a misunderstanding. The place for the camp near the alleged Khanty treasure was obviously chosen at random, it is difficult to suspect the students of the intention to take possession of it.

The simplicity and unpretentiousness of the hunting story convinces of its plausibility stronger than the strongest evidence and evidence. Much more entertaining, however, are theories about the all-powerful KGB, terrible secret military experiments, mafia mafia or aliens ...