Tornados are extremly rare in Russia. As far as I know no tornados were witnessed in the Ural Mountains, ever. However, it of course could be some kind of weather anomaly that caused all this. In fact, the conclusion the investigators came to was that the group died because of some force of nature. What else they could say anyway. Any UFO and paranormal subjects were totaly banned in Russia in those days, with no-one allowed to publish "strange" things.

As for the bodies having no skin and tissue damage - I meant that there were no any cuts or wounds found. The injuries looked as if the bodies were thrown to the ground with a great force, crushed with something, or were beaten with something very heavy and smooth with no sharp corners which could penetrate the skin.

I see no strangeness in any of the photos other than what was already described in the evidence.

Were they on a high mountain slope? Snow covered? Avalanche region?

Are there tribes of hermits or other independent russian groups that live reclusively in that area or did during that period?

A smooth object perhaps such as a large bludgeon or a smooth rock might have that sort of impact.

It seems not likely that the injuries were caused by an animal because an animal would have cut and sliced with claws or teeth.

so what about the person with the missing tongue? Could they have bitten it off themselves somehow?

Originally posted by nexus6
so what about the person with the missing tongue? Could they have bitten it off themselves somehow?

Not much known except that the autopsy report stated the tongue was missing and the sublingual cartilage (?) was broken.

Originally posted by deee

Originally posted by nexus6
so what about the person with the missing tongue? Could they have bitten it off themselves somehow?

Not much known except that the autopsy report stated the tongue was missing and the sublingual cartilage (?) was broken.

That's a good point as well ... rather odd. I have heard of situations where people swallow their own tongues. I can't imagine they would be able to bite off their own tongues. Was the tongue ever found somewhere else?

It is wierd, perhaps someone's rather psychotic tongue fetish? I can't imagine why an animal would take a tongue and nothing else. Must have been human done. Was the whole tongue gone or just a big piece of it?

Originally posted by grad_student

Originally posted by deee

Originally posted by nexus6
so what about the person with the missing tongue? Could they have bitten it off themselves somehow?

Not much known except that the autopsy report stated the tongue was missing and the sublingual cartilage (?) was broken.

That's a good point as well ... rather odd. I have heard of situations where people swallow their own tongues. I can't imagine they would be able to bite off their own tongues. Was the tongue ever found somewhere else?

It is wierd, perhaps someone's rather psychotic tongue fetish? I can't imagine why an animal would take a tongue and nothing else. Must have been human done. Was the whole tongue gone or just a big piece of it?

The most realistic explanation to date is that since the body was completely frozen, the tonuge might have simply fallen off and lost during the transportaion. I guess that would assume that the girl died with her mouth open, otherwise the tongue would have been found somewhere in her throat. An animal eating it away is rather unlikely consideing nothing else was taken.

This is a very interesting mystery, partly because it is ripe for someone to fill in the blanks and make anything they want out of it, which is why I assume the author you mentioned used the events as a base for her story. It does have a very scary romantic flavour partly because of the setting, the nudity and the virgins and I wonder if this caused much sensation when it happened?

A few points to consider:

1. In this day and age of advanced forensics would it have made any difference in the findings?

2. Failing the lead to any logical avenues of possibility, let me speculate by saying, didn't some older cults remove the tongue as a manner of ceremony?

3. Could they have ingested any herbs that caused them to go temporarily insane, get naked and mash each other about on the head in the bitter cold?

Originally posted by nikelbee
This is a very interesting mystery, partly because it is ripe for someone to fill in the blanks and make anything they want out of it, which is why I assume the author you mentioned used the events as a base for her story. It does have a very scary romantic flavour partly because of the setting, the nudity and the virgins and I wonder if this caused much sensation when it happened?

A few points to consider:

1. In this day and age of advanced forensics would it have made any difference in the findings?

2. Failing the lead to any logical avenues of possibility, let me speculate by saying, didn't some older cults remove the tongue as a manner of ceremony?

3. Could they have ingested any herbs that caused them to go temporarily insane, get naked and mash each other about on the head in the bitter cold?

1. We can only guess... As far as know some of the present reseachers of this story did request to exhume the bodies and perform more thorough tests, but it is very unrealistic to assume that the living relatives would ever give a permission to do that, and that's perfectly understandable.

2. I'm not sure... If it was some cult, then why not to take tongues from all of the bodies while they were at it.

3. As I already said, the only people naked were the ones found at the campfire. Their clothes were then later found on a girl. It is believed that somebody cut the clothes from already by that time dead bodies and gave them to the girl to warm her a little. It was like -30C there...

My personal theory is that something like this happened:

There was some unsuccessful missile launch, with the missile breaking down somewhere near the area, spreading a whole cloud of poisonous and explosive fuel. This cloud could hit the tent while the guys were sleeping, making them panically run away because they couldn't breath. They ran off from the tent trying to escape the cloud. Some of them ran faster than others. At some point the whole cloud exploded becoming some sort of a vacuum bomb, hitting the ones which ran slower and were closer to it with a shockwave. From this point their struggle for survival began. They didn't want to leave their injuried buddies behind. At the same time they also realized that they, being all sick, shocked, and poisoned, simply had no strength to carry the injuried ones back to the tent. So they sent out three members back to the tent to get all the warm clothes and food needed to survive, had two guys make a signal fire (that campfire is believed to have been a signal one, that's why it was on a fairly open windy area and not in the woods where it could not be seen from above), with the last uninjured member asked to carry the injuried guys a little deeper in to the less windy woods where they had more chances to survive. Unfortunately, the deadly cold got them all anyway...

Russian mountain area could be site of paranormal events. The Russian composer Moussorgsky wrote a composition "Night on Bald Mountain" that I believe contains some similar themes. This story reminds me not just of Blair Witch but also the Jersey Devil story that has been appearing on cable tv, in which three men were killed and one of the bodies totally disappeared. The tv presentation was almost as weird as the story itself, but was interesting.

I'm curious as to what the weather was like on the night this incident occured. We know it was cold, but was it snowing, or was it a cloudless, moonlit night. I would imagine that interpretations of the cause of this would vary depending on the weather. For example, if it was a cloudless, moonlit night, one could assume that the people did not lose their bearings due to nature, but some other reason....

Sounds to me like the natives at work. Though the Urals isnt exactly an uncivilized region, who would strike people on the head and nowhere else, steal their tongue, or slice into their tent.

Very odd, and yet they say the natives checked out as not the culprits.

If you google "strange happenings Ural mountains Russia" you will get a lot of links that say there has been a lot of UFO happenings there...
One reports says a person observed an "orange" beam coming out of a UFO in Russia. You say that the hikers had an "orange" tint in there eyes...???

Here is some info. on Ural mountains. It's interesting to note thatr people's emotions have been said to be affected in the area, even to suicide. Perhaps the hikers emotions were affected, causing them to get naked and whatever else they did...It also says that a group of researchers were chased into the woods by UFO, maybe the hikers were also chased into the woods...

Here is some info. on Ural mountains:

The M Triangle.

Undoubtedly the most UFO intensive area in Russia is a remote region near the Ural mountains, approximately 600 miles east of Moscow. Known as the M-Triangle this is a place renowned for its weird phenomenon and strange manifestations. Mysterious happenings are part and parcel of daily life. Witnesses report seeing strange lights in the sky as well as flying objects, and encounters with translucent beings who emerge from the forest! People even report signs and letters written in the sky!

Russian writer Alexander Myagchenkov, author of the book "UFO - Unannounced visit", says that "incidents that have happened in that area are hard to believe, and it cannot be compared to any other place"! Myagchenkov claims that people who have visited the M-Triangle have sometimes developed astonishing powers and super-human abilities.

Extraordinary powers.

One notable example of acquiring extraordinary powers is the journalist and cosmonaut Pavel Mukhortov. Discharged from the army for health reasons, Mukhortov later found work as a journalist. Whilst reporting for a newspaper he began to read more and more about the strange powers associated with the M-Triangle and decided to visit the place for himself.

Apparently the area was already the focus of a KGB investigation, and this strengthened Mukhortov's resolve to find out the facts for himself. What he discovered was a remote and isolated area that immediately felt strange and eerie. Some of his group quickly became ill, and Mukhortov himself felt overcome by wild emotions.

Photos of strange flying objects were taken, and upon returning to Moscow Mukhortov felt changed. He believed he had been filled with great knowledge concerning aerospace physics, and a short time afterwards was admitted to the Soviet Space Programme as a cosmonaut. He believes the M-Triangle completely changed his life and believes it gave him abilities beyond his wildest expectation.

Unusual Events.

Another Russian author with experience of the M-Triangle is Emil Bachurin, who later wrote a book on the subject. He associates the triangle with many strange occurrences! The most amazing of these concerns the incredible events that befell a visiting research team. Very early in their visit they encountered a strange energy source and were chased into the surrounding woods by translucent lights that exuded a peculiar heat. As a result several members of the group received serious burns!

Suicide.

Later a glowing object stunned one of the research group, and one of the men was so disturbed by the area that he later committed suicide. Bachurin claims that UFO's are frequently seen in the area, either flying by or landing, leaving behind areas of increased radiation.

A visiting American television crew for the syndicated programme "Sightings", was allowed access to the M-Triangle, but warned to stay no longer than 24 hours. The Russian government was at pains to point out the considerable dangers of the area - events and happenings that though frequently investigated, could not be explained.

Encircling Lights.

Almost immediately the visiting TV crew were acquainted with the areas strange powers. Weird lights encircled their encampment, and bizarre events and phenomena were captured on film. Locals were quick to relate their own wealth of experiences ranging from flashing red balls, to mysterious objects that flew about the sky. So common were these happenings that many of the locals saw nothing unusual in them and were even bored by them. Said one old woman: "I've seen saucers numerous times. To say they are nonsense is nonsense. We know what we see"!


[edit on 12-8-2005 by GREGNOW]

Originally posted by Roper
This event sounds like a very bad LSD trip. I have heard that a user on acid thinks that he can fly. YMMV

Roper

It sounds plausible and perhaps even probable

I first thought a bad LSD trip at first too but then i saw it occured in 1959.If im correct LSD didnt become a hit until mid sixties.

1938 is the year it was invented. I'm sure it got around the world fairly quick. Do the google.



Roper

Wouldn't that kind of thing (LSD) have shown up in the blood work? They checked for alcohol and I believe LSD remains in system for some time.

I also noted in the mythology of the 'Mountain of the Dead' some reference to nine sacrifices and there were nine in this group right? Both the UFOlogy and the folklore of the area do give this story a very eerie tint.

Well this is interesting ... the Russian version of Area 51 or perhaps the Bermuda triangle?

Well I don't buy the LSD idea. But, certainly there are other suggestions that are possible. I doubt the missle idea because a missle hit would cause shrapnel which would cut the bodies rather than a dull skull impact.

The dull skull impact is more reminiscent of a primitive tribe or in-fighting amongst the group. The in-fighting, however, could have been due to all sorts of possible influences, drugs, radiation, military test vehicles, etc.