Every year, tourists and explorers set out to storm hard-to-reach and little-explored places on the map of our planet. But not all of them come back. It happens that entire expeditions disappear or die under mysterious circumstances …
In 1848, an expedition headed by Ludwig Leichardt disappeared without a trace in the Central Arabian Desert - about a hundred people, mules and camels …
On June 8, 1924, climbers George Lay-Malory and Andrew Irwin disappeared during a snowstorm while climbing Mount Everest. Their bodies were never found …
In 1925, Percy Fossett's expedition in search of an ancient Indian city disappeared in Mato Grosso (Brazil). In May 1928, a rescue expedition was sent to the area, but no trace of Fossett and his companions could be found. There were rumors that Fossett, who had lost his mind, was seen in a tribe of savages, but these stories were never confirmed …
In the summer of 1953, communication with the expedition of L. N. Leontyev, who conducted research in Tuva. In the parking lot, rescuers found a fireplace with still embers, tents and equipment. No people, no horses … True, the prints of horse hooves were visible on the ground, leading from the forest towards the camp … And nothing more! A long search ended in vain …
In the winter of 1959, a group of students of the Ural Polytechnic Institute - eight guys and one girl, all experienced tourists - began skiing to the top of Mount Otorten, in the local dialect called "Holat Syakhyl" ("Mountain of the Dead"). They were led by Igor Dyatlov, who was considered a strong professional in his field.
The group did not get in touch at the appointed time. Soon, a team of rescuers removed the numb corpses of the dead from under the snow. Some died from hypothermia, others were seriously injured: it was as if their bones were ground. Some of them died of a ruptured heart … Fear froze on the faces of the dead …
Much has been said and written about this case. Among other versions, there was "anomalous". The local residents - the Mansi - revered the Mountain of the Dead as sacred. On its slope, they once made sacrifices. This place was banned from outsiders.
Promotional video:
However, young people dared to break it, for which the Khanty-Mansi shamans punished them. The corpses were not even shown to their relatives - they said that their eyes were gouged out, and the bodies themselves were mutilated: the shamans, with the help of witchcraft, allegedly put tourists into a trance, and then mocked those who "defiled" the sacred land …
Traces of radioactive contamination were found on the clothes of several of the victims. Maybe they found themselves in a nuclear test zone? The mystery has not been solved to this day …
This is not the only tragedy associated with the Mountain of the Dead. From 1960 to 1961, 9 more people died here - pilots and members of geological expeditions. By the way, according to an old legend, the mountain got its name after 9 Mansi found their death on its slope (the number 9 is clearly not accidental!) Since then, shamans forbid people to go there …
In March 1966, in the Heizhou gorge, located in the Chinese province of Sichuan (this place is better known as Death Valley), an expedition of military cartographers disappeared in full … In 1976, part of a group of forest inspectors disappeared in the same hollow. The comrades saw how they were enveloped in a strange fog, from which some incomprehensible sounds were heard …
The PRC Academy of Sciences sent an expedition to this area, consisting of rescuers and scientists. Devices recorded there the presence of poisonous fumes emitted by rotting trees … But even if we assume that people were poisoned by a poisonous "fog", then where did their remains go? Doesn't fit …
Of course, not in all cases the reasons for the disappearance or death can be associated with the intervention of some irrational forces. But adventurers should be aware of the dangers that lie in wait for them and be careful not to repeat the sad experience of their predecessors.