Soviet X-Files: Mysteries and Conspiracy Theories

In February 2019, 60 years after the incident, the Russian Prosecutor's Office announced the reopening of the most famous case, in order to end the mystery surrounding the deaths of nine expert cross-country skiers, students of the Ural Polytechnic Institute (now Ural State Technical University) who were found dead at a campsite in a pass in the Ural Mountains, in Siberia.

The initial group comprised eight males and two females who met in Yekaterinburg, located in the heart of the Soviet Union's midwest, on January 23, 1959.

From there, they embarked on a train journey towards Yvdel, north of the Ural Mountains, where they arrived two days later. That same night, they reached their final destination: Vizhai, the last settlement at the northernmost tip of the region.

The plan was to head towards Gora Otorten, a mountain approximately 1,200 meters high. "According to the local indigenous language, Mansi, 'Otorten' means 'Don't go there'."

The trail they faced, skiing to reach the destination, was classified as category 3, the most challenging. However, all members of the group were experienced skiers, including in mountaineering expeditions.

They began the journey on January 27, but just one day later, one of the group members, 22-year-old Yuri Yudin, had to return to Vizhai due to intense sciatic nerve pain. He was the only survivor of the group.




What Happened in the Ural Mountains

Igor Dyatlov had arranged to send a telegram to the university when the group returned to Vizhai, which was scheduled to occur on February 12.

Initially, the lack of news from the group within the deadline didn't cause much surprise. Delays due to adverse weather were common. However, when February 20 arrived and three weeks passed with no sign of the group, the families of the students began to worry. The Polytechnic Institute then organized a search team composed of volunteer students.

The young people discovered a snow-covered tent and, upon entering, found only objects, including snow boots and cut meat on plates, as if the skiers were about to have a meal.

Surprisingly, the tent had been cut from the inside. "They may have been desperate to get out... But why?".

One of the students who participated in the search 60 years ago revealed to the journalist an even stranger detail: "Near the tent, we saw frozen footprints, as if they had been made by people wearing only socks or barefoot," he reported.

The footprints disappeared a few meters ahead. "We were perplexed," recalled the volunteer. They returned to base to report their findings.

The next day, when they returned to the site, they confirmed their worst fears: they began to find the bodies. Some were dressed only in underwear, while others were dressed but without shoes.

The official cause of death was attributed to hypothermia and freezing, but some bodies had serious injuries that couldn't be explained by the cold. One of the women had a severe bruise on her side, which seemed to have been caused by a blunt object. Another student had a fractured skull.

The last four bodies were only discovered three months later, in a ravine, when the snow began to melt. Three of them had fatal injuries, including a cranial fracture.

The other woman and another of the men also had trunk fractures "that could only have been caused by an extremely powerful force, comparable to a car accident."

The Rocket Fall Theory

One of the theories that emerged at the time and persist to this day is the belief that the young people's deaths may have a technological explanation: a rocket fell in the area and poisoned the group.

Many support this theory, especially considering the context of the Cold War, when the Soviet Union led the production of weapons and space equipment.

Yuri, a resident of Yekaterinburg obsessed with the case, speculates that the young people may have died as a result of an experiment, and that the crime scene was "staged" to cover up what really happened. He told the BBC he had seen the victims' bodies and noticed their orange faces.

Many Russians believe the State tried to cover up what happened in this case. Even former President Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007), who studied at the Ural Polytechnic Institute, shared this belief that something unusual had occurred.

In 1990, as the Soviet Union began to unravel, the case's first investigator, Lev Ivanov, told a newspaper that he had collected several testimonies from people who had seen fireballs in the sky. He claimed to have been instructed to classify his findings as secret and to forget the matter. In his interview, Ivanov apologized to the victims' families for covering up what happened.

A private investigator who accessed Ivanov's documents after his death told the BBC that the first report on the bodies indicated the presence of radiation on their clothing. He also mentioned the involvement of KGB agents in the examinations, prepared to prevent radioactive contamination.

On the other hand, he noted that several dead animals were found in the area where the students were found, and highlighted that hunting and water use were prohibited in the region for four years, as confirmed by the Mansi community.

Despite the theory of an explosion or rocket fall being considered probable, some less plausible hypotheses persist. It is estimated that there are approximately 75 different explanations of what could have happened.

 

Other Theories

One of these theories suggests that the deaths were caused by the "abominable snowman," also known as Yeti. Additionally, there are those who believe it may have been an extraterrestrial abduction.

The continued interest in this mystery led Russian authorities to announce the reopening of the investigation last February, on the occasion of the incident's 60th anniversary.

However, researchers clarified that they will only investigate three possible causes, all related to extreme weather. "It was an avalanche, a block of compacted snow that fell, or a hurricane," summarized the prosecutor general's spokesperson.

 

Since then, the Soviet X-Files has become fertile ground for conspiracy theories and speculations. One of the most popular hypotheses is that the footprint belongs to an extraterrestrial being, a giant alien who visited Earth thousands of years ago.

Other Possibilities and Persistent Mysteries

In addition to the most popular theories, the Soviet X-Files has also inspired various other hypotheses, from the presence of lost civilizations to the actions of interdimensional beings. The lack of definitive scientific explanations fuels the mystery and fascination with the case.