The Dyatlov Pass Mystery
The account
Nine hikers fled their tent in the middle of the night, and orange lights in the sky fueled the idea of an encounter with something unknown.
What investigators found
In 2020, Russian prosecutors concluded that an avalanche caused the tragedy, a hypothesis supported by a scientific study published in 2021.
The story
In February 1959, nine experienced students and mountaineers led by Igor Dyatlov died on the slope of Kholat Syakhl mountain in the northern Urals. Search teams found the tent cut open from the inside and the bodies scattered across the snow, some lightly dressed and others with severe injuries. The Soviet investigation spoke only of a compelling natural force, which opened the door to every kind of theory.
Popular hypotheses include secret military tests and even UFOs, because other groups reported glowing spheres in the sky over the region in those months, lights now linked to missile launches. In 2019 the case was reopened, and in 2020 Russian prosecutors named an avalanche as the cause. A study published in 2021 showed that a small slab avalanche could explain both the flight from the tent and the injuries.