For many years, an English-language horror site has been collecting a large number of views and comments on a terrible story about an experiment with sleep, which was carried out on the eve of the war in the USSR. Interest is fueled by the very introduction: the reader is promised secret and supernatural information.
The purpose of the experiment, which was carried out in the 1940s, was to develop a breed of people who do not need sleep and are able to work day and night. The political prisoners of the GULAG, who had very long terms, were offered a deal: for participating in the experiment, they would be released. It was required to live one month without sleep.
How was the sleep deprivation experiment
The experiment involved five prisoners. At first, they were only glad to be able to lie and read in a comfortable environment. Their cell was sealed, and a stimulant gas was constantly pumped into it, which prevented them from falling asleep. With the help of devices, constant monitoring of the concentration of the gas was ensured, since it was very toxic in high doses. The subjects were tracked using cameras and double-sided mirrors. Each of the prisoners had a microphone with which they were able to communicate with the observers. In the early days, all these tracking systems did not interfere with the experimental people or even attract their attention.
On the fifth day, the subjects showed signs of irritation and stress. They wandered around the cell chaotically, muttering something and periodically beginning to quietly complain about their inmates into their microphones.
On the ninth day, wandering around the camera turned into general throwing and hysteria.
On the 14th day, the prisoners began to go crazy. They howled and sobbed. One of them decided to get rid of the surveillance system and carefully smeared all the mirrors with his feces. Since then, the observers could only hear the prisoners, but no one dared to enter them. Then there was sudden silence. The oxygen consumption was high, as if the subjects were exercising.
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The researchers addressed the prisoners through the speakers that they would now enter to check the microphones and order them to lie on the floor, promising that one would be released. The answer was: "We no longer need freedom."
Intrigued observers removed the gas from the cell and opened the doors. A terrible picture appeared to their eyes. The five-day supply of food was untouched. Three bloodied test subjects begged to close the doors and turn on the gas again. Their stomachs were ripped open, and they seem to have been feeding on themselves for the past five days. The body of the fourth was torn to pieces, and the fifth was sitting in a corner, fumbling in his torn stomach and from time to time ate something from there. The observers tried to tie them up and take them to the hospital, but encountered fierce resistance. The prisoners fought in such a way that they broke their bones and tore their muscles, feeling no pain at all, one injured his spleen and died almost immediately. The remaining three seriously injured the guards. One of them was gnawed through the throat, the other died because his testicles were bitten off and an artery in his leg was bitten. The other five soldiers committed suicide after some time.
The three surviving test subjects were taken to the hospital, and they almost managed to break the straps that bind them. One of them died as soon as he closed his eyes. The autopsy report noted that the oxygen content in his blood was 3 times higher than normal. He had 9 broken bones, almost all as a result of muscle tension during the fight. He was operated on for 6 hours, replacing the fallen organs and restoring the torn muscles. He refused anesthesia and did not react in any way to the manipulations of doctors.
The subjects tried their best not to fall asleep. Another died in the hospital: as soon as he fell asleep, his heart stopped beating. Two prisoners survived. The opinions of the testers were divided about the further actions, the decision to put them back in the cell together with three observers won, but one of them drew a pistol and shot the commander and one of the subjects.
He aimed the muzzle at the remaining, still tied up, while the rest of the commission ran out of the room. “I won't go there with these creatures! Not with you!”Shouted the scientist. “What are you? I have to find out!"
"- Did you forget so quickly? We are you. We are the madness that lurks within you, which seeks to be free at any moment in all its animal depth. We are what you hide from every night. It is us you are trying to put to sleep and paralyze, hiding in shelters where we cannot penetrate. " The researcher, after a little hesitation, shot the remaining subject in the heart, his last words were: "So … close … to freedom …"
Through whom this story became known remains a mystery.
Galina Pogodina