“The case without a number” is the name of the criminal case initiated on the fact of mysterious death of a group of Sverdlovsk, Russia tourists on February 2, 1959. On the eve of the next anniversary of the tragedy, Ural researchers voiced new versions of the causes of the tragedy. All of them are man-made, reports ural.aif.ru.
Fireballs
Initially, the incident was recognized as an accident caused by elemental force. The criminal case, which really does not have a number, was closed. In 2019, the Sverdlovsk prosecutor’s office conducted an additional investigation and made an official conclusion that the tourists were killed by an avalanche.
However, thousands of independent researchers in Russia and around the world did not agree with this conclusion. To date, there are from 75 to 100 versions of those events: a quarrel, a hurricane, ball lightning, methyl alcohol, infrasound, an attack by escaped prisoners or local residents, a UFO, a Bigfoot, a bear, a disturbed Mansi spirit, tests of secret weapons…
At the same time, almost every year there are new explanations related, among other things, to the unsuccessful launch of the rocket.
“During the search on February 17, 1959, we saw a fireball,” says Vladislav Karelin, a participant in the search work at the Dyatlov Pass. “In addition to us, eyewitnesses observed such objects in the area of Nizhny Tagil and Novaya Lyalya, and the UFO constantly changed its direction of movement.”
Experts note that such balls can appear after the flight of the rocket. If it is launched in the evening, when the sun has not yet completely set, the following effect takes place: the exhaust gases rise into the upper layers of the atmosphere, acquire a rounded shape, and since they are illuminated from the side by the sun, they are perceived as luminous balls.
“Ten years ago, many documents were declassified and made publicly available that relate to missile tests in the 50-60s,” says Vadim Skibinsky, researcher of the tragedy at the Dyatlov Pass.
A number of data allow us to assert that from January to February 1959, six missiles were launched in the USSR from a point near the village of Polyarny – between Salekhard and Vorkuta. The reason for the death of tourists could be a malfunction of the R-12 rocket, on board of which there was a large amount of nitric acid, which, during the accident, broke out.
“According to my calculations, we are talking about 10-15 tons of the substance. Finely dispersed nitric acid (in the form of a cloud or fog) penetrated the tarpaulin of the tent, which caused an inadequate reaction and the death of all nine tourists. People, having inhaled deadly vapors, experienced an instant spasm and fear, cut the tent from the inside, tried to escape … ”
Particular secrecy
Fireballs in that area were seen by geologist Eduard Khodorchenko, who worked in one of the neighboring taiga areas not far from the place where the tourists died. Investigator of the regional prosecutor’s office Yevgeny Okishev recalled that in 1959 testimony was taken from servicemen of military unit 6602 in Ivdel.
After the evening movie show, they went out with their spouses from the Palace of Culture. Dzerzhinsky and observed flashes in that square. But in the criminal case, there is no such evidence without a number. Eyewitness Yakov Peters worked in those days as a rationing worker in Ivdellag (civilian). Together with the guards, he saw a luminous object flying at a low altitude.
The “rocket” version, according to the researchers, is confirmed by the special secrecy that accompanied the search for tourists and the investigation of the criminal case, as well as the presence of a large number of government officials, law enforcement officers and KGB officers.
“The autopsy was done by forensic expert Boris Vozrozhdenny,” says the head of the Igor Dyatlov Group Memory Society, writer, historian Oleg Arkhipov.
“It took place in the morgue of the Ivdellag Central Clinical Hospital. The prosecutor of the Sverdlovsk region, Nikolai Klinov, personally came to the autopsy of the first five dead.
“Representatives of the KGB were brought from Serov to cordon off. That is, the secrecy was unprecedented. Even orderlies were not allowed into the morgue, everything was done by the forensic doctors themselves.
“After that, a container was created with fragments of the internal organs of the dead, which was sent to Sverdlovsk. A histological examination was carried out at the regional bureau of forensic medical examination.
“But there was a call from the KGB, then people in civilian clothes came and seized not only the acts, but also fragments of internal organs. There are no such documents in the criminal case without a number, there is only a “cliché” examination of the last four dead, which is completely uninformative.”
All eyewitnesses and participants in the search also note a large concentration of the military. The commander of the Ural Military District, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Dmitry Lelyushenko arrived in Ivdel, who was in an extremely depressed state.
In those days, the city was twice visited by the first secretary of the regional committee, Andrei Kirilenko. The presence of such persons speaks volumes. All those involved in the investigative actions were subsequently sent for a radiological examination.
Two criminal cases?
“There is an assumption that in addition to a criminal case without a number – on the fact of the death of tourists, there was another case – on the fact of a man-made disaster in that area, – emphasizes Oleg Arkhipov. “We are confident that documentary evidence of the rocket explosion exists.”
“Speaking about the tragedy at the Dyatlov Pass, people who support the “rocket” version sometimes begin to stigmatize and criticize the state, Vadim Skibinsky clarifies. “But I would like to say a few words in his defence. Humanity learns from its mistakes. So we comprehended electricity, atomic energy.
“Many people died because they did not know what radiation was. With rocket themes – the same thing. Before the tragedy at the Dyatlov Pass, 25 rocket launches were successfully carried out, and the probability of an accident was a very small percentage.
“There was no Nedelinsky launch yet (an accident at Baikonur in 1960, in which more than a hundred people died). You need to understand the conditions in which people worked, how important it was for our country. But, apparently, everything connected with the death of the Dyatlov group is still too early to declassify. It is possible that those who conducted the tests are still alive … ”
Recall that nine Sverdlovsk tourists (five students, three engineers and an instructor of the camp site) died on the night of February 1-2, 1959 in the vicinity of Mount Holatchakhl (in Mansi, the Mountain of the Dead).
When they did not return at the appointed time, the search began. On February 26, an empty tent with a cut wall was discovered, and some time later, the bodies of all participants in the campaign within a radius of a kilometer around it.
