The Dyatlov Pass Incident: Was it Death by Yeti?

Discovery Network continues their quest to be tops in science fiction. They are succeeding! A press release announces a 2-hour special investigating an actual unsolved mystery. And they know that when you can’t explain something, it just might be paranormal. This time, instead of UFOs or government secret testing, as proposed for this missing persons incident in the past, they are going to go with a mythical monster. Good call for ratings.

Discovery Channel Searches for the Russian Yeti on Sunday, June 1 – Ratings | TVbytheNumbers.Zap2it.com.

 

On February 2, 1959, nine college students hiked up the icy slopes of the Ural Mountains in the heart of Russia but never made it out alive. Investigators have never been able to give a definitive answer behind who – or what – caused the bizarre crime scene. Fifty-five years later, American explorer Mike Libecki reinvestigates the mystery – known as The Dyatlov Pass incident – but what he uncovers is truly horrifying.

 

RUSSIAN YETI: THE KILLER LIVES, a 2-hour special airing Sunday, June 1 at 9 PM ET/PT on the Discovery Channel, follows Mike as he traces the clues and gathers compelling evidence that suggests the students’ deaths could be the work of a creature thought only to exist in folklore.

The students’ bodies were found in strange conditions. According to this Skeptoid episode:

 

The bodies of the nine victims were scattered over a wide area of the frozen landscape. Some were wearing only their underwear. Some were wearing each others’ clothes. Two had head injuries. One had no tongue. Two had severe internal chest injuries. None had any visible external signs of trauma. Some of their clothes were found to be radioactive.

There are serious questions that have been asked about the radioactivity and the potential for avalanches. There also seems to be some confusion about the details – for example that they were blinded or had grey hair now. Even the reality and extent of the radiation is questioned since it may have been a detail added later. Also, because there were no eyewitnesses, we lack important information that we will never have. Does this new TV special have new info? Perhaps. If so, putting it on a network that promotes fake shows about extinct sharks, mermaids and Bigfoot is not a good place to present your case. Their credibility is shot.

This is NOT the first time the Yeti or Abominable Snowman has been mentioned in connection with the incident. This piece examines the finds and rumors and states that there was supposedly a notation left that said: “From now on we know there are snowmen.” This is unconfirmed and a nifty add-on to those who prefer the Yeti/Almas explanation. There was also a movie that made it into a horror story.

A new book would be a logical place to go with the results of the investigation. It would be nice to hear more but since it appears they are plugging the explanation on a creature that no one has shown actually exists, I’m not enthusiastic about his opinion. He is explaining an unknown with another unknown. That gets us exactly nowhere.

A new interesting idea is that the hikers were disoriented by infrasound created by wind conditions. Fringe? Yes. But more plausible than a Yeti. The Dyatlov Pass Incident may never be solved, we just don’t have enough information to determine what happened. It could have been rare circumstances that came together in a way that was tragic for the kids and we haven’t thought of it.

But what I do know about this mystery is that I don’t trust a TV special intent on speculation for big ratings to deliver a sound case. I’ll wait for the paper and peer review from people who actually know how to investigate mysteries.