Research results show that the 'Dyatlov Pass Incident', in which nine young people died in the snowy mountains of the Soviet Union, was scientifically explained.



The '

Dyatlov Pass Incident, ' in which nine men and women were found dead in the northern Ural Mountains of the Soviet Union in 1959, was a mysterious incident because the bodies lacking eyes and tongue were found despite no evidence of conflict. Called a topic. The case has long been treated as an unsolved case, but on January 28, 2021, more than 60 years after the incident occurred, the 'avalanche cause theory' was denied for various reasons, although it was suspected to be the first cause. Was actually correct, the research result was announced.

Mechanisms of slab avalanche release and impact in the Dyatlov Pass incident in 1959 | Communications Earth & Environment
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-020-00081-8

Using science to explore a 60-year-old Russian mystery | EurekAlert! Science News
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-01/epfd-ust012621.php

Russia's'Dead Mountain' conspiracy theory may have been solved with an avalanche | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/dyatlov-pass-incident-slab-avalanche-hypothesis.html

The Tragic Mystery of The Dyatlov Pass Incident Has a New Scientific Explanation
https://www.sciencealert.com/the-tragic-mystery-of-the-dyatlov-pass-incident-has-a-new-scientific-explanation

The incident began in January 1959 when 10 people, including Igor Alexeievich Dyatlov, headed for snow mountain climbing in the northern part of the Ural Mountains of the Soviet Union in Sverdlovsk Oblast. Mr. Igor and others all have grade 2 which is the official qualification for mountain climbing in the Soviet Union, and only those who have vertical running experience of 300 km or more are qualified to take the highest rank grade 3 exams. was.

Nine people, except one who had withdrawn from rheumatoid arthritis, entered the Ural Mountains on January 27, but have since disappeared. Volunteer rescue teams conducted an investigation at the request of relatives on February 20, well after the scheduled return date of Mr. Dyatlov and others, but there was no result. Army and police then sat up and set out on an expedition, finding a damaged tent on February 26 at Mount Kholat Shafir, which means 'mountain of death' in the language of local ethnic minorities.



The tent found was torn in half, with no one inside and luggage left behind. Five bodies were soon found around the tent, and the remaining four were found under four meters of snow about two months after the investigation began.

The state of the last four bodies found was the focus of much attention in this case. It was concluded that all the bodies of the first five found died of hypothermia, but the four found later had skull and rib fractures despite no trauma, and even eyes.・ Some corpses had no tongue or eyebrows.

Soviet officials set out to investigate the cause of the incident, but eventually concluded that nine people died of 'natural voluntary power' as unknown. For this reason, this incident has caused a lot of speculation, including indigenous assault theory, infrasound panic attack theory, military experiment involvement theory, and even UFO theory and alien theory. As an unsolved case, it has become the subject of many novels and movies, and in 2015, a movie called '

Devil's Incident ' was also aired.



Of the series of hypotheses, the most probable theory was the 'avalanche theory.' However, there were no traces of avalanches around the incident, and the average tilt angle in the area was 23 degrees, which is much more gentle than the 30 degrees normally associated with avalanches, chest and head. This theory was denied because fractures of the part were not seen by avalanche victims.

The research published by Alexander Puzlin and others, who specialize in landslides at the Faculty of Geotechnical Sciences, Zurich Institute of Technology, says that the avalanche theory is correct. After reproducing the environmental conditions at the time of the incident with a computer from topographical data and snowfall records, Mr. Puzlin and his colleagues argued against the three arguments that deny the avalanche theory.

◆ Counterargument 1: Traces of avalanche and tilt angle
According to Puzlin et al., The inclination angle near the site was 28 degrees, which is far from the average inclination angle of the area according to the topographical data, and the avalanche was caused by the continuous snowfall for several weeks from the occurrence of the incident to the discovery. It is possible that the traces have disappeared and the slope has become even gentler. Therefore, the actual tilt angle at the scene of the incident could be quite close to 30 degrees, where an avalanche can occur.

◆ Counterargument # 2: Friction on snow
In addition, under the meteorological conditions around the scene of the incident, it is possible that coarsely crystallized snow called 'depth hoar' was formed near the lower layer. Since the friction of shimozame snow is low, it is easy to cause an avalanche, and it is quite possible that an avalanche will occur when combined with the above-mentioned problem of inclination angle.

◆ Counterargument # 3: Damage to the body
In addition, Puzlin and colleagues created an avalanche simulation on the assumption that the victims were believed to have dug up the slopes and set up tents. We conclude that under these conditions, even a relatively small

surface-generated surface avalanche is sufficient to inflict fractures of the chest and head.



The Russian prosecutor's office is also re-investigating this case in 2019 and 2020, and as a result of the investigation, announced the conclusion that 'died due to an avalanche', but it was not accepted by the bereaved family association. Has a history of being asked to investigate further. Mr. Puzlin and his colleagues pointed out that the bereaved families argued because the prosecution failed to explain the cause of the incident, and commented that the study was conducted to clarify the cause of the incident. Regarding the results, he said, 'Scientifically, the avalanche theory is the most probable,' but 'not all mysteries have been solved.'

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