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A small, delayed avalanche may have been responsible for the Dyatlov Incident

nationalgeographic.com

51–59 of 59 posts

Re: A small, delayed avalanche may have been responsible for the Dyatlov Incident

#51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lammergeyer, a sort of high-altitude vulture. They're known to eat the dead on Everest.

> They even have been observed living at altitudes of 7,500 m (24,600 ft) on Mount Everest > The bearded vulture is the only known vertebrate whose diet consists almost exclusively (70 to 90 percent) of bone. > The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), also known as the lammergeier and ossifrage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearded_vulture

> ossifrage

the bone-breaker

Appropriate.

Re: A small, delayed avalanche may have been responsible for the Dyatlov Incident

#52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lammergeyer, a sort of high-altitude vulture. They're known to eat the dead on Everest.

> They even have been observed living at altitudes of 7,500 m (24,600 ft) on Mount Everest > The bearded vulture is the only known vertebrate whose diet consists almost exclusively (70 to 90 percent) of bone. > The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), also known as the lammergeier and ossifrage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearded_vulture

"ossifrage" is interesting to see in a sentence because the word appeared in a famous 1977 RSA cryptographic challenge with the solution "The magic words are squeamish ossifrage". The challenge appeared in Martin Gardner's Scientific American column and took 17 years to break.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Words_are_Squeamis...

Re: A small, delayed avalanche may have been responsible for the Dyatlov Incident

#53

A local guide told me one of the scientific versions, which is common among local experts. It is quite simple: the missile test scared a herd of reindeer and they ran along a path known to them, which passed through the tent. The Russian authorities even now cannot disclose information about the tests, because those who launched the missiles are still alive and have high ranks (and if the information is disclosed, th…

I don't know Russian law, but the idea a missile test has to be kept secret because some reindeer got spooked and the spooked reindeer trampled some people and senior military officials would go to jail for it sounds very much like an urban legend.

Re: A small, delayed avalanche may have been responsible for the Dyatlov Incident

#54
post #19
post #3

The actual scientific paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-020-00081-8/ Still no explanation about the "numerous unexplained observations. While hypothermia was determined to be the main cause of death, four hikers had severe thorax or skull injuries, two were found with missing eyes and one without tongue; some were almost naked and barefoot, traces of radioactivity were found on some of their clothes, and…

A somewhat detailed explanation with pictures of the injuries of each body found [0]. The info that Dubinina's tongue seems to had been _removed_ while still allegedly alive seems a bit odd to me. The site was created by web designer and mountain hiker Teodora Hadjiyska [1]. 0 - https://dyatlovpass.com/death 1 - https://dyatlovpass.com/about

Could Dubinina's specific injury have been caused by taking a sudden excess of snow by mouth?

Re: A small, delayed avalanche may have been responsible for the Dyatlov Incident

#56
post #29

I watched Lemmino's mini documentary on the subject and can only recommend it [1]. He spent a month going through the Russian original evidence and is surprised why it is still considered an "unresolved mystery". Some take-aways that I remember: * They had a self-made, wood-fired oven in the tent, which had already burned one of the hikers a couple of days before (documented in a picture) and could have malfunctioned…

Loved that video. The avalanche theory still has some explanatory power as the proximate cause of the first point, although Lemmino points out how crappy the design of the stove was in the first place IIRC.

Re: A small, delayed avalanche may have been responsible for the Dyatlov Incident

#57
post #53

A local guide told me one of the scientific versions, which is common among local experts. It is quite simple: the missile test scared a herd of reindeer and they ran along a path known to them, which passed through the tent. The Russian authorities even now cannot disclose information about the tests, because those who launched the missiles are still alive and have high ranks (and if the information is disclosed, th…

I don't know Russian law, but the idea a missile test has to be kept secret because some reindeer got spooked and the spooked reindeer trampled some people and senior military officials would go to jail for it sounds very much like an urban legend.

I think death is not the only factor. The tests were conducted in an open area, the territory of Novaya Zemlya still has an elevated radiation background, and the winds bring it all to Western Siberia and the Urals. People live there, and if government disclose the information, they will have to pay compensation, which is a very decent amount of money. You may also have to disclose the location of active bases. Military secrecy is a case where what seems like a trifle can actually have huge consequences and it is easier to hide everything.

In any case, it has little to do with the incident, since herd of reindeer might have been spooked by something other than a rocket, or they might have just been wandering the usual road for no reason. The theory as a whole may be wrong, but the important fact is that there are even several scientific versions. This should put those who talk with a serious face about Yeti and UFOs in their place.

Re: A small, delayed avalanche may have been responsible for the Dyatlov Incident

#58
post #37
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dyatlov was one of the featured characters in HBO´s "Chernobyl". His quote "not great, not terrible" became a meme for a while. https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/anatoly-dyatlov

In the Dyatlov group there was a real "liquidator" of a nuclear disaster Kystym-57 (the 2nd worst in history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyshtym_disaster ) https://dyatlovpass.com/yuri-krivonischenko - an engineer at the USSR version of Hanford. Later he tried to resign very disgruntled from his job, and instead they reassigned him to the most polluted site. Given the level of secrecy back then, especially consider…

It is interesting how close the two events are. He tried to resign, they refused and transferred him to a hell-hole. Shortly thereafter, he dies.

Re: A small, delayed avalanche may have been responsible for the Dyatlov Incident

#59
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the Dyatlov group there was a real "liquidator" of a nuclear disaster Kystym-57 (the 2nd worst in history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyshtym_disaster ) https://dyatlovpass.com/yuri-krivonischenko - an engineer at the USSR version of Hanford. Later he tried to resign very disgruntled from his job, and instead they reassigned him to the most polluted site. Given the level of secrecy back then, especially consider…

It is interesting how close the two events are. He tried to resign, they refused and transferred him to a hell-hole. Shortly thereafter, he dies.

add to that that his father was a big boss in the industry at the time, so they couldn't apply openly all the harshness that would be applied otherwise.
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