1 00:00:10,252 --> 00:00:14,755 Fishburne: Tonight, an infamous Cold War cold case. 2 00:00:14,907 --> 00:00:17,574 ♪ ♪ 3 00:00:17,593 --> 00:00:22,596 Nine hikers found mutilated on a remote mountain slope. 4 00:00:22,690 --> 00:00:28,009 Their injuries and the facts don't seem to add up. 5 00:00:28,103 --> 00:00:31,196 - You can't help but wonder who would be capable of doing this. 6 00:00:31,423 --> 00:00:33,348 ♪ ♪ 7 00:00:33,442 --> 00:00:36,368 - It looks like a murder scene 8 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:40,931 from a super graphic horror movie. 9 00:00:40,949 --> 00:00:43,375 Fishburne: Now, we uncover the top theories 10 00:00:43,527 --> 00:00:45,602 surrounding a place that's been called 11 00:00:45,621 --> 00:00:48,881 Russia's Area 51. 12 00:00:49,032 --> 00:00:51,275 - There's a number of people in Russia who believe 13 00:00:51,293 --> 00:00:54,945 that a yeti is the culprit in this case. 14 00:00:54,963 --> 00:00:58,632 - This looks and feels a lot like a coverup. 15 00:00:58,784 --> 00:01:00,634 ♪ ♪ 16 00:01:00,786 --> 00:01:01,785 Fishburne: Can new evidence 17 00:01:01,878 --> 00:01:03,470 finally bring us closer to the truth? 18 00:01:03,622 --> 00:01:05,122 ♪ ♪ 19 00:01:05,140 --> 00:01:07,474 - The bodies all appear withered, 20 00:01:07,568 --> 00:01:09,976 and some of them have third-degree burns on them, 21 00:01:10,129 --> 00:01:12,905 which is a sign of radiation poisoning. 22 00:01:13,132 --> 00:01:14,815 ♪ ♪ 23 00:01:14,909 --> 00:01:19,152 Fishburne: What really happened at Russia's notorious 24 00:01:19,246 --> 00:01:21,229 Dyatlov Pass? 25 00:01:21,323 --> 00:01:24,157 [dramatic music] 26 00:01:24,310 --> 00:01:31,173 ♪ ♪ 27 00:01:39,508 --> 00:01:43,176 The Soviet Union 1959. 28 00:01:43,329 --> 00:01:47,255 As the Cold War between the U.S. and USSR intensifies, 29 00:01:47,349 --> 00:01:50,667 so do conspiracy theories about covert experiments, 30 00:01:50,686 --> 00:01:55,005 secret weapons, and spies. 31 00:01:55,098 --> 00:02:00,177 And on February 26th, high up in Siberia's Ural Mountains, 32 00:02:00,195 --> 00:02:04,197 something equally nefarious will be discovered. 33 00:02:04,291 --> 00:02:07,184 On that day, three cross-country skiers 34 00:02:07,202 --> 00:02:10,796 spot a solitary tent partially collapsed by snow. 35 00:02:12,858 --> 00:02:16,135 - What was unusual was the entrance was fastened closed, 36 00:02:16,286 --> 00:02:18,620 but the outside had been slashed open. 37 00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:21,865 They looked inside, and they found nobody was there, 38 00:02:21,884 --> 00:02:23,533 but they did find some footprints 39 00:02:23,552 --> 00:02:26,812 leading down the hill. 40 00:02:27,039 --> 00:02:28,630 - And when they get to the end of that trail 41 00:02:28,724 --> 00:02:31,132 they make a horrible discovery. 42 00:02:31,152 --> 00:02:35,712 They find corpses in the snow. 43 00:02:35,805 --> 00:02:37,714 Fishburne: Warning: The images 44 00:02:37,807 --> 00:02:40,659 you are about to see are disturbing. 45 00:02:43,071 --> 00:02:45,998 - Close your eyes and try to picture the scene. 46 00:02:46,225 --> 00:02:49,743 Imagine you're going through the snow. 47 00:02:49,837 --> 00:02:53,154 You come across these bodies. 48 00:02:53,174 --> 00:02:56,341 It looks like a murder scene 49 00:02:56,493 --> 00:03:00,070 from a super graphic horror movie. 50 00:03:00,163 --> 00:03:03,849 It just keeps getting worse and worse. 51 00:03:04,076 --> 00:03:05,667 - The first thing the investigators found 52 00:03:05,686 --> 00:03:07,244 were two members of the team 53 00:03:07,262 --> 00:03:09,354 lying underneath a cedar tree, 54 00:03:09,581 --> 00:03:11,506 and neither of them were wearing winter clothes. 55 00:03:11,525 --> 00:03:13,600 They were just in their underwear. 56 00:03:13,752 --> 00:03:16,028 One has burns on his head and foot. 57 00:03:16,179 --> 00:03:18,530 There's lots of cuts and bruises on his body. 58 00:03:18,682 --> 00:03:23,368 - He has some dried blood on his face and also strange, 59 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:27,764 gray foam is found on his cheek. 60 00:03:27,783 --> 00:03:30,692 - It looks like this could be foul play. 61 00:03:30,711 --> 00:03:33,045 The second body has similar cuts and bruises. 62 00:03:33,272 --> 00:03:35,047 He's missing the tip of his nose, 63 00:03:35,274 --> 00:03:37,549 and his knuckles are bruised and swollen. 64 00:03:37,701 --> 00:03:39,718 It's a very strange scene. 65 00:03:39,945 --> 00:03:42,888 Fishburne: Several yards away, another body. 66 00:03:45,634 --> 00:03:48,876 - This third body is found lying face-up in the snow. 67 00:03:48,896 --> 00:03:50,620 He's hugging a branch. 68 00:03:50,714 --> 00:03:53,123 He also has cuts and bruises on his knuckles 69 00:03:53,216 --> 00:03:55,049 and dried blood on his face, 70 00:03:55,143 --> 00:03:57,552 and he's facing back towards the tent, 71 00:03:57,646 --> 00:04:00,656 suggesting he's trying to make a desperate attempt to return. 72 00:04:03,226 --> 00:04:05,802 - So naturally, the skiers rush to report this, 73 00:04:05,895 --> 00:04:09,322 and a bigger search party is put together. 74 00:04:09,416 --> 00:04:12,158 And this bigger search party starts combing the area, 75 00:04:12,311 --> 00:04:14,235 to try to find clues as to what happened 76 00:04:14,255 --> 00:04:15,812 to these three men. 77 00:04:15,905 --> 00:04:17,664 But before they can figure that out, 78 00:04:17,816 --> 00:04:20,425 several more bodies turn up. 79 00:04:20,652 --> 00:04:24,412 Fishburne: Next, they discover a young woman. 80 00:04:24,431 --> 00:04:27,324 - She has a lot of bruises on her face, 81 00:04:27,342 --> 00:04:30,752 and her hair is in disarray. 82 00:04:30,846 --> 00:04:35,332 - She has this long, red bruise on the side of her torso, 83 00:04:35,350 --> 00:04:37,517 and on top of that, her fists are clenched, 84 00:04:37,611 --> 00:04:40,779 so it looks like maybe there was some sort of scuffle. 85 00:04:41,006 --> 00:04:42,948 Some sort of fight that might have went down. 86 00:04:43,099 --> 00:04:45,342 You also have to remember this is Siberia. 87 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:47,193 You've got freezing temperatures. 88 00:04:47,346 --> 00:04:51,031 You've got blinding snow, so all this work 89 00:04:51,183 --> 00:04:52,699 that the search party is trying to do, 90 00:04:52,793 --> 00:04:55,443 to locate all of this evidence, make the work 91 00:04:55,462 --> 00:04:58,538 very, very slow and very, very difficult to perform. 92 00:04:58,690 --> 00:05:02,042 Fishburne: After a week, a fifth corpse is found, 93 00:05:02,194 --> 00:05:05,137 further up the slope. 94 00:05:05,364 --> 00:05:07,472 - It's another young male victim, 95 00:05:07,699 --> 00:05:09,791 and this one has a fractured skull. 96 00:05:09,885 --> 00:05:11,217 Perhaps more evidence 97 00:05:11,370 --> 00:05:13,887 that there was some violent altercation. 98 00:05:14,039 --> 00:05:15,630 What's interesting about this victim 99 00:05:15,724 --> 00:05:18,966 is he had one sock on one foot and a felt boot on the other, 100 00:05:18,986 --> 00:05:22,562 suggesting something took him by surprise. 101 00:05:22,714 --> 00:05:25,231 Fishburne: Six weeks later, as the snow starts to melt, 102 00:05:25,326 --> 00:05:28,401 the mystery deepens. 103 00:05:28,495 --> 00:05:32,222 Members of the Mansi, a local indigenous tribe, 104 00:05:32,315 --> 00:05:33,665 approach the police and lead them 105 00:05:33,817 --> 00:05:36,576 to a makeshift snow shelter 106 00:05:36,728 --> 00:05:41,081 250 feet from where the first two bodies were found. 107 00:05:41,175 --> 00:05:44,084 - The searchers--they start to dig below the surface, 108 00:05:44,236 --> 00:05:46,661 and they find this snow den 109 00:05:46,755 --> 00:05:48,680 with these branches all lined up 110 00:05:48,832 --> 00:05:51,575 next to each other forming some type of floor. 111 00:05:51,668 --> 00:05:54,077 Additionally, they're also finding 112 00:05:54,096 --> 00:05:56,188 some torn pieces of clothing. 113 00:05:56,415 --> 00:05:59,082 There's a pair of sweatpants with--[slicing] 114 00:05:59,101 --> 00:06:01,768 The right leg just cut off completely. 115 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:06,531 Likewise, there's also only the left half of a woman's sweater, 116 00:06:06,758 --> 00:06:07,941 so there's more and more evidence 117 00:06:08,035 --> 00:06:09,442 that's starting to build 118 00:06:09,536 --> 00:06:12,929 that something violent may have happened here. 119 00:06:12,948 --> 00:06:14,764 Fishburne: Investigators excavate 120 00:06:14,783 --> 00:06:16,524 around the snow shelter, 121 00:06:16,543 --> 00:06:19,360 revealing four more victims, 122 00:06:19,454 --> 00:06:22,939 bringing the death toll to nine. 123 00:06:22,958 --> 00:06:26,793 - These four bodies are lying somewhat closely together, 124 00:06:26,945 --> 00:06:29,779 in the bed of a rocky stream, at the bottom of a ravine. 125 00:06:29,873 --> 00:06:32,724 It looks like a dumping ground. 126 00:06:32,951 --> 00:06:36,469 It looks like just someone or something 127 00:06:36,622 --> 00:06:38,397 may have dropped them there. 128 00:06:38,624 --> 00:06:40,399 Fishburne: Compared to the other victims, 129 00:06:40,626 --> 00:06:44,144 these bodies have even more ghastly injuries. 130 00:06:44,296 --> 00:06:50,909 - One corpse is a male victim with a severely twisted neck. 131 00:06:51,136 --> 00:06:53,728 - Another young female has a crushed ribcage, 132 00:06:53,822 --> 00:06:55,472 and it's such a brutal injury 133 00:06:55,490 --> 00:06:57,899 that her ribs actually punctured her heart. 134 00:06:57,993 --> 00:07:01,811 And horrifically, her eyes and tongue are missing. 135 00:07:01,830 --> 00:07:04,147 Another young male has a massive fracture 136 00:07:04,166 --> 00:07:05,924 to the side of his skull that would have 137 00:07:06,151 --> 00:07:09,319 almost certainly knocked him unconscious. 138 00:07:09,412 --> 00:07:12,172 - It looks more and more like the injuries 139 00:07:12,266 --> 00:07:16,843 are from brutal beatings from some heavy, blunt object. 140 00:07:16,995 --> 00:07:20,346 Fishburne: Investigators soon identify the dead 141 00:07:20,499 --> 00:07:22,774 as members of an expedition sponsored 142 00:07:22,926 --> 00:07:26,260 by the Ural Polytechnic University. 143 00:07:26,354 --> 00:07:27,687 They were reported missing 144 00:07:27,839 --> 00:07:31,341 after failing to complete their trip. 145 00:07:31,359 --> 00:07:33,026 - Once you know who these victims are, 146 00:07:33,178 --> 00:07:35,178 it's even more tragic. 147 00:07:35,271 --> 00:07:36,771 These students were among the best 148 00:07:36,790 --> 00:07:40,183 and the brightest from the Ural Polytechnic University. 149 00:07:40,202 --> 00:07:42,869 - They were very experienced mountaineers 150 00:07:43,021 --> 00:07:46,523 and well-respected members of the sports club 151 00:07:46,616 --> 00:07:50,043 of the Ural Polytechnic Institute. 152 00:07:50,195 --> 00:07:52,195 Fishburne: The group's leader is 23-year-old 153 00:07:52,288 --> 00:07:55,381 engineering student Igor Dyatlov. 154 00:07:55,476 --> 00:07:58,218 The tragedy bears his name. 155 00:07:58,312 --> 00:08:02,731 - The Dyatlov Pass is named in memory of Igor Dyatlov. 156 00:08:04,726 --> 00:08:05,875 - He designed this expedition 157 00:08:05,969 --> 00:08:07,635 to be as challenging as possible, 158 00:08:07,729 --> 00:08:09,136 so they could all get certified 159 00:08:09,231 --> 00:08:10,989 as grade III outdoorsmen. 160 00:08:11,140 --> 00:08:12,991 This was the highest category in the Soviet Union 161 00:08:13,218 --> 00:08:15,494 at the time. 162 00:08:15,645 --> 00:08:17,645 Fishburne: In January, the group leaves their home 163 00:08:17,739 --> 00:08:19,572 of Yekaterinburg 164 00:08:19,666 --> 00:08:22,984 and travels to the village of Vizhay. 165 00:08:23,078 --> 00:08:24,577 - From Vizhay, they go off grid 166 00:08:24,730 --> 00:08:26,654 and head off into the wilderness. 167 00:08:26,748 --> 00:08:29,415 They have a compass and all the gear they think they need, 168 00:08:29,568 --> 00:08:31,343 but they don't have any radio communication equipment 169 00:08:31,570 --> 00:08:33,236 with them. 170 00:08:33,329 --> 00:08:34,404 Fishburne: The trip was supposed to cover 171 00:08:34,422 --> 00:08:37,090 200 miles over 16 days, 172 00:08:37,242 --> 00:08:40,519 but they only make it halfway. 173 00:08:40,746 --> 00:08:44,097 - What frustrates friends and family of these hikers 174 00:08:44,191 --> 00:08:49,085 the most is that they say that they are way too smart 175 00:08:49,178 --> 00:08:51,271 and way too experienced to have ended up 176 00:08:51,423 --> 00:08:55,441 accidentally freezing to death in the outdoors. 177 00:08:55,536 --> 00:08:57,685 Fishburne: The lead investigator in the case, 178 00:08:57,704 --> 00:09:00,705 Lev Ivanov, says he knows the cause of death. 179 00:09:00,932 --> 00:09:07,212 ♪ ♪ 180 00:09:07,363 --> 00:09:09,272 - There are signs of a struggle at the scene, 181 00:09:09,365 --> 00:09:10,774 and no one can ignore the bruises 182 00:09:10,792 --> 00:09:12,717 and cuts to the face, and the body, 183 00:09:12,869 --> 00:09:15,278 and the missing pieces of flesh. 184 00:09:15,297 --> 00:09:16,704 Fishburne: But who could be capable 185 00:09:16,798 --> 00:09:20,133 of such a violent crime here? 186 00:09:20,227 --> 00:09:24,062 The potential suspect list is incredibly short. 187 00:09:24,289 --> 00:09:25,880 - The mountain where the tent was abandoned-- 188 00:09:25,974 --> 00:09:27,381 It's called Height 1079-- 189 00:09:27,475 --> 00:09:30,235 Is a mostly uninhabited area, 190 00:09:30,462 --> 00:09:33,071 and it borders the Siberian wilderness. 191 00:09:33,222 --> 00:09:35,315 Almost nobody lives there. 192 00:09:35,467 --> 00:09:37,650 Almost. 193 00:09:37,744 --> 00:09:41,638 Except for the fact that this region is home 194 00:09:41,731 --> 00:09:46,543 to many of Stalin's infamous gulags. 195 00:09:51,925 --> 00:09:55,760 Stalin built lots of gulags. 196 00:09:55,987 --> 00:09:57,078 If you don't know what a gulag is, 197 00:09:57,097 --> 00:10:00,156 it's this insane labor camp 198 00:10:00,175 --> 00:10:01,582 where political prisoners were sent. 199 00:10:01,676 --> 00:10:05,604 They were forced to do hours upon hours of manual labor. 200 00:10:05,755 --> 00:10:08,498 This is where you have some of the most hardened criminals 201 00:10:08,516 --> 00:10:10,516 in the Soviet Union residing, 202 00:10:10,611 --> 00:10:15,763 so investigators are thinking maybe one of these prisoners 203 00:10:15,782 --> 00:10:20,118 got out and encountered those nine hikers. 204 00:10:20,345 --> 00:10:22,120 Fishburne: Especially when they learn 205 00:10:22,347 --> 00:10:24,681 that the Ivdel Gulag is only a few miles 206 00:10:24,774 --> 00:10:26,791 from the site of the attack. 207 00:10:27,018 --> 00:10:29,185 - Police check with the Ivdel Gulag, 208 00:10:29,204 --> 00:10:31,112 to see if there are any prisoners that are missing, 209 00:10:31,131 --> 00:10:34,023 but no, they're all accounted for. 210 00:10:34,117 --> 00:10:37,469 They also doubt any escaped prisoners might have done this, 211 00:10:37,696 --> 00:10:39,620 because no provisions or belongings 212 00:10:39,714 --> 00:10:41,789 were stolen from the tent, 213 00:10:41,808 --> 00:10:45,143 so the escapee theory doesn't go anywhere. 214 00:10:45,370 --> 00:10:47,220 - So investigators start to ask, "Okay. 215 00:10:47,314 --> 00:10:49,372 It seems like it's a very personal crime." 216 00:10:49,391 --> 00:10:50,815 So they start to wonder, 217 00:10:51,042 --> 00:10:53,059 "Could this have been connected with anyone 218 00:10:53,153 --> 00:10:55,228 that was affiliated with that group?" 219 00:10:55,322 --> 00:10:57,881 And one name pops up. 220 00:10:57,899 --> 00:11:00,900 Fishburne: The name? Yuri Yudin, 221 00:11:00,994 --> 00:11:04,663 a tenth hiker with the group and the sole survivor. 222 00:11:07,167 --> 00:11:10,669 Is it possible that members of the Dyatlov expedition 223 00:11:10,896 --> 00:11:13,171 were killed by one of their own? 224 00:11:17,903 --> 00:11:20,679 [percussive music] 225 00:11:20,906 --> 00:11:23,256 ♪ ♪ 226 00:11:23,408 --> 00:11:26,075 Fishburne: It's a mystery that's gripped the world. 227 00:11:26,094 --> 00:11:30,522 Nine Russian hikers dead in a remote mountain pass. 228 00:11:30,749 --> 00:11:33,750 Police are certain it's murder, 229 00:11:33,768 --> 00:11:39,013 and among their top suspects is fellow hiker Yuri Yudin. 230 00:11:39,032 --> 00:11:41,348 - So Yuri Yudin is a fourth-year engineering student 231 00:11:41,368 --> 00:11:43,535 who was part of that same group of hikers. 232 00:11:43,762 --> 00:11:48,431 In fact, he's the tenth member of that group. 233 00:11:48,450 --> 00:11:52,769 But apparently, Yudin left early, 234 00:11:52,862 --> 00:11:57,607 and instead of ending up dead, he's now the sole survivor. 235 00:11:57,625 --> 00:12:00,293 Therefore, we can assume one of two things. 236 00:12:00,445 --> 00:12:04,556 Either Yudin is incredibly lucky, 237 00:12:04,783 --> 00:12:06,558 or he's the killer. 238 00:12:06,785 --> 00:12:09,302 ♪ ♪ 239 00:12:09,396 --> 00:12:10,729 Fishburne: When Communist Party officials 240 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:13,047 question Yudin, he tells them 241 00:12:13,066 --> 00:12:17,068 he backed out of the trek long before the murders. 242 00:12:17,295 --> 00:12:19,128 - Yudin claims to investigators 243 00:12:19,222 --> 00:12:20,554 that his back started to hurt when he was 244 00:12:20,648 --> 00:12:21,740 making his way up the mountains, 245 00:12:21,967 --> 00:12:24,484 which caused him to quit the expedition. 246 00:12:24,636 --> 00:12:28,488 He says that he left the group on January 28th at 11:45 a.m. 247 00:12:28,582 --> 00:12:31,583 at a location known as the 2nd Northern, 248 00:12:31,734 --> 00:12:34,494 and when he leaves, the rest of his group 249 00:12:34,588 --> 00:12:36,755 are all still very much alive. 250 00:12:36,982 --> 00:12:37,756 Very much breathing. 251 00:12:39,742 --> 00:12:41,651 But as investigators are questioning Yudin, 252 00:12:41,669 --> 00:12:43,836 they start to notice he becomes a bit more panicked. 253 00:12:43,989 --> 00:12:46,890 A bit more nervous. They're certainly skeptical. 254 00:12:48,994 --> 00:12:51,436 Fishburne: Still unsure of Yudin's story, 255 00:12:51,663 --> 00:12:55,181 investigators ask him to help analyze the crime scene. 256 00:12:55,333 --> 00:12:56,757 - And this has to be traumatic for him. 257 00:12:56,851 --> 00:12:58,425 Think about it. 258 00:12:58,445 --> 00:13:00,686 He was supposed to be on that expedition with them, 259 00:13:00,781 --> 00:13:03,022 but because of his bad back, he ends up going back. 260 00:13:03,174 --> 00:13:07,452 And now, he's the only one alive, of all of his friends. 261 00:13:07,603 --> 00:13:10,196 So when he gets to that crime scene 262 00:13:10,348 --> 00:13:14,441 he acts with genuine shock and surprise. 263 00:13:14,461 --> 00:13:18,688 - Yuri notices something the police couldn't have. 264 00:13:18,706 --> 00:13:21,024 That some of the clothes found on the bodies of those 265 00:13:21,042 --> 00:13:24,618 in the ravine belonged to some of the other students. 266 00:13:24,638 --> 00:13:26,696 Fishburne: It's another bizarre detail, 267 00:13:26,714 --> 00:13:30,141 in a case full of them. 268 00:13:30,293 --> 00:13:34,220 The clothing is sent to a laboratory for analysis. 269 00:13:34,372 --> 00:13:36,039 While they await results, 270 00:13:36,132 --> 00:13:40,059 investigators tried to verify Yudin's alibi. 271 00:13:40,211 --> 00:13:42,987 - Yudin's story of a bad back checks out. 272 00:13:43,139 --> 00:13:45,657 Yudin was in his native village of Yemel'yashevka 273 00:13:45,808 --> 00:13:48,642 with his family on February 1st and February 2nd. 274 00:13:48,662 --> 00:13:51,237 The same dates that investigators calculate 275 00:13:51,331 --> 00:13:53,164 as the time of death. 276 00:13:53,391 --> 00:13:55,241 Fishburne: If Yudin's not the killer, 277 00:13:55,393 --> 00:13:58,819 who else could be? 278 00:13:58,913 --> 00:14:01,397 The only other known group of people in the area 279 00:14:01,416 --> 00:14:03,416 are the Mansi. 280 00:14:03,568 --> 00:14:05,751 - The Mansi have helped with the investigation. 281 00:14:05,904 --> 00:14:07,753 And they're the ones that pointed the investigators 282 00:14:07,906 --> 00:14:10,406 to the four bodies in the ravine. 283 00:14:10,425 --> 00:14:13,167 Fishburne: Despite that, Lev Ivanov 284 00:14:13,186 --> 00:14:15,578 starts looking into the group. 285 00:14:15,597 --> 00:14:20,083 ♪ ♪ 286 00:14:20,101 --> 00:14:23,677 - So Ivanov thinks that the Mansi are upset 287 00:14:23,771 --> 00:14:27,348 that a group of outsiders set up camp on Height 1079, 288 00:14:27,442 --> 00:14:29,701 also known as Kholat Syakhl, 289 00:14:29,928 --> 00:14:33,705 which roughly translates to Dead Mountain. 290 00:14:36,692 --> 00:14:41,195 - The explorers are violating sacred Mansi territory, 291 00:14:41,214 --> 00:14:42,772 and even more sacrilegious, 292 00:14:42,790 --> 00:14:44,698 there are two women in the group. 293 00:14:44,718 --> 00:14:47,443 And for the Mansi, women are forbidden to even 294 00:14:47,462 --> 00:14:50,780 step foot on sacred land, let alone look at it. 295 00:14:50,798 --> 00:14:52,539 Maybe that's why the eyes are removed 296 00:14:52,634 --> 00:14:53,892 from a couple of corpses. 297 00:14:55,787 --> 00:14:58,712 Fishburne: Ivanov interrogates multiple tribe members. 298 00:14:58,806 --> 00:15:03,309 While they deny involvement, they offer a new detail. 299 00:15:03,403 --> 00:15:06,404 - Several people tell the same crazy-sounding story 300 00:15:06,631 --> 00:15:08,072 that the Mansi saw lights in the sky 301 00:15:08,299 --> 00:15:10,408 or burning fireballs in the sky, 302 00:15:10,559 --> 00:15:12,985 on the very night that the hikers died. 303 00:15:13,138 --> 00:15:15,396 Police recovered a camera from the campsite, 304 00:15:15,490 --> 00:15:17,415 and the last photo on this camera 305 00:15:17,566 --> 00:15:20,401 had an image they didn't understand. 306 00:15:20,495 --> 00:15:23,496 It looks like flares or streaks in the night sky. 307 00:15:23,648 --> 00:15:25,239 It's hard to tell, 308 00:15:25,258 --> 00:15:27,091 but could this corroborate the lights in the sky 309 00:15:27,243 --> 00:15:29,652 that were supposedly seen that night? 310 00:15:29,745 --> 00:15:31,988 There are no timestamps on the photo, 311 00:15:32,006 --> 00:15:34,581 and if this is the last thing the hikers photographed, 312 00:15:34,676 --> 00:15:36,159 you can't help but wonder 313 00:15:36,177 --> 00:15:38,394 if this has something to do with the incident. 314 00:15:39,940 --> 00:15:41,347 Fishburne: Without a confession 315 00:15:41,441 --> 00:15:43,924 or any evidence that points to the Mansi, 316 00:15:43,944 --> 00:15:47,278 Ivanov has no proof. 317 00:15:47,430 --> 00:15:50,673 - So that's where things remain for a while, at a standstill. 318 00:15:50,692 --> 00:15:52,784 No new evidence, and no new suspects. 319 00:15:52,935 --> 00:15:56,454 Nothing to explain what happened to the nine hikers. 320 00:15:56,681 --> 00:15:58,681 Fishburne: Until several weeks later, 321 00:15:58,700 --> 00:16:01,209 when laboratory results come back. 322 00:16:04,372 --> 00:16:06,798 - And just when you thought it was done, 323 00:16:06,949 --> 00:16:10,209 here's a new chance to find some new leads 324 00:16:10,303 --> 00:16:13,120 and to keep investigators moving forward. 325 00:16:13,214 --> 00:16:15,698 The analysis of the ripped clothing 326 00:16:15,717 --> 00:16:17,642 that was found in the ravine comes back, 327 00:16:17,793 --> 00:16:21,871 and it reveals an incredible new clue. 328 00:16:21,964 --> 00:16:24,223 - The analysis shows there's some unusually 329 00:16:24,317 --> 00:16:27,710 high levels of radioactivity on some of the items. 330 00:16:27,729 --> 00:16:32,973 ♪ ♪ 331 00:16:33,067 --> 00:16:34,492 Fishburne: But how could clothes 332 00:16:34,643 --> 00:16:38,571 from alleged murder victims be radioactive? 333 00:16:38,723 --> 00:16:41,148 The answer could turn the course of the investigation 334 00:16:41,167 --> 00:16:43,576 in an entirely new direction. 335 00:16:43,670 --> 00:16:44,836 - But that's not what happens. 336 00:16:45,063 --> 00:16:46,412 Instead of following this new lead 337 00:16:46,564 --> 00:16:48,006 and getting to the bottom of the mystery, 338 00:16:48,157 --> 00:16:51,175 authorities go ahead and do the exact opposite. 339 00:16:52,904 --> 00:16:56,514 On May 28, 1959, three months into this investigation, 340 00:16:56,741 --> 00:16:58,591 and after finding this new evidence, 341 00:16:58,743 --> 00:17:03,429 Lev Ivanov abruptly closes the case unsolved. 342 00:17:03,581 --> 00:17:05,915 The Soviet government seals off the entire area 343 00:17:05,933 --> 00:17:07,174 known as the Dyatlov Pass 344 00:17:07,268 --> 00:17:10,920 and prohibits anyone from going there. 345 00:17:10,938 --> 00:17:13,589 Fishburne: Ivanov's report marks a change. 346 00:17:13,608 --> 00:17:16,092 He now states that all nine deaths 347 00:17:16,110 --> 00:17:19,871 were caused by an unknown elemental force 348 00:17:20,022 --> 00:17:22,832 which they were unable to overcome. 349 00:17:24,711 --> 00:17:27,436 But while Lev Ivanov seems to want this 350 00:17:27,455 --> 00:17:29,288 to be the final word, 351 00:17:29,382 --> 00:17:31,382 it won't be. 352 00:17:38,058 --> 00:17:40,040 Fishburne: When nine hikers die 353 00:17:40,134 --> 00:17:44,120 under mysterious circumstances during the Dyatlov expedition, 354 00:17:44,213 --> 00:17:48,066 the public is eager to find out why. 355 00:17:48,293 --> 00:17:50,551 But lead investigator Lev Ivanov 356 00:17:50,570 --> 00:17:53,905 abruptly closes the case, after three months, 357 00:17:54,132 --> 00:17:56,649 just as he received shocking evidence. 358 00:17:56,743 --> 00:18:00,653 The victim's clothing shows radioactivity. 359 00:18:00,805 --> 00:18:01,895 - This is a crazy detail 360 00:18:01,915 --> 00:18:03,639 that definitely deserves some digging, 361 00:18:03,658 --> 00:18:06,309 so as soon as a case like this is shut down, 362 00:18:06,327 --> 00:18:09,003 people immediately think that it's a coverup. 363 00:18:12,150 --> 00:18:15,167 Fishburne: The question is why? 364 00:18:15,261 --> 00:18:17,929 ♪ ♪ 365 00:18:18,156 --> 00:18:21,674 - The USSR wants to be the dominant superpower, 366 00:18:21,768 --> 00:18:23,935 so they're doing a lot of covert things at this time. 367 00:18:24,162 --> 00:18:25,770 They're doing research experiments. 368 00:18:25,997 --> 00:18:27,105 They're doing military experiments. 369 00:18:27,256 --> 00:18:28,856 They have spy operations going on. 370 00:18:30,593 --> 00:18:33,260 Government coverups are happening every day. 371 00:18:33,279 --> 00:18:35,688 - The Soviet population understands 372 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:37,281 that there are secret tests, 373 00:18:37,433 --> 00:18:42,345 but also they accept the rule of the government. 374 00:18:42,363 --> 00:18:46,624 That this is secrecy they cannot know about. 375 00:18:46,851 --> 00:18:47,700 - I mean, it's not hard for people 376 00:18:47,852 --> 00:18:49,352 to put two and two together. 377 00:18:49,370 --> 00:18:50,962 You got the Dyatlov deaths and now the appearance 378 00:18:51,189 --> 00:18:52,855 of unusually high levels of radiation 379 00:18:52,874 --> 00:18:53,856 on some of the clothes. 380 00:18:53,949 --> 00:18:54,966 People are starting to think 381 00:18:55,193 --> 00:18:57,710 that this is linked to the military. 382 00:18:57,862 --> 00:18:59,528 Fishburne: At the victims' funerals, 383 00:18:59,622 --> 00:19:01,380 friends and family remark 384 00:19:01,532 --> 00:19:05,476 that the cadavers have an unnaturally orange appearance. 385 00:19:05,628 --> 00:19:07,628 - The bodies all appear withered, 386 00:19:07,647 --> 00:19:10,148 and some of them have third-degree burns on them, 387 00:19:10,375 --> 00:19:13,967 which is a sign of radiation poisoning. 388 00:19:14,061 --> 00:19:16,654 Fishburne: The family of group leader Igor Dyatlov 389 00:19:16,805 --> 00:19:20,658 say they are certain the military was somehow involved. 390 00:19:20,885 --> 00:19:24,996 But exactly what are they covering up? 391 00:19:25,147 --> 00:19:28,073 - Don't forget the Mansi said that they saw fireballs 392 00:19:28,226 --> 00:19:31,060 in the sky that night, 393 00:19:31,078 --> 00:19:34,397 so one idea is that it's a case of a weapons test 394 00:19:34,415 --> 00:19:36,007 that goes wrong. 395 00:19:36,234 --> 00:19:38,918 The rocket fails to go into orbit and lands 396 00:19:39,070 --> 00:19:41,253 really close to where the Dyatlov hikers 397 00:19:41,406 --> 00:19:43,072 are camped out for the night. 398 00:19:43,090 --> 00:19:45,832 And it sends shockwaves, which frightens them, 399 00:19:45,852 --> 00:19:48,911 and it has them running out of the tent. 400 00:19:49,004 --> 00:19:50,521 - A different hypothesis. 401 00:19:50,748 --> 00:19:54,174 Some think that it was the Soviet government 402 00:19:54,194 --> 00:19:56,360 or its military that killed them, 403 00:19:56,512 --> 00:19:58,029 because they witnessed something 404 00:19:58,256 --> 00:20:01,348 they were not supposed to have witnessed. 405 00:20:01,367 --> 00:20:03,592 - And there's one other little detail 406 00:20:03,611 --> 00:20:05,778 that seems to prop up this coverup theory. 407 00:20:05,930 --> 00:20:09,874 It's presumed that one of the hikers is actually a KGB spy, 408 00:20:10,101 --> 00:20:12,710 and his name was Semyon Zolotaryov. 409 00:20:12,937 --> 00:20:15,104 ♪ ♪ 410 00:20:15,197 --> 00:20:18,274 Fishburne: Zolotaryov is the only person on the expedition 411 00:20:18,292 --> 00:20:20,276 who is not a student. 412 00:20:20,369 --> 00:20:23,370 In fact, he's 38 years old 413 00:20:23,389 --> 00:20:25,448 and mysteriously added to the group 414 00:20:25,466 --> 00:20:28,467 by Communist officials at the last minute. 415 00:20:28,619 --> 00:20:31,136 - A lot of things about Zolotaryov are a bit unusual. 416 00:20:31,289 --> 00:20:32,471 For one, he's single, 417 00:20:32,565 --> 00:20:35,716 which is kinda weird in Russia at this time. 418 00:20:35,810 --> 00:20:39,070 Additionally, he's got all these very cryptic tattoos 419 00:20:39,221 --> 00:20:40,571 on his body. 420 00:20:40,798 --> 00:20:42,147 And at the start of the journey, 421 00:20:42,300 --> 00:20:44,242 this older gentleman 422 00:20:44,393 --> 00:20:48,821 tells the students to call him by a fake name: Sasha. 423 00:20:48,973 --> 00:20:51,474 - We do know that Semyon Zolotaryov 424 00:20:51,567 --> 00:20:54,568 is not who he pretends to be. 425 00:20:54,662 --> 00:20:57,313 There's too much in his biography 426 00:20:57,331 --> 00:20:59,406 that is not consistent. 427 00:20:59,500 --> 00:21:03,577 Even when he talks about his service in World War II, 428 00:21:03,671 --> 00:21:09,082 he mixes up dates when he served in one unit or another. 429 00:21:09,102 --> 00:21:11,769 And in my opinion, having studied this case, 430 00:21:11,996 --> 00:21:15,940 he was a top-notch KGB operative. 431 00:21:16,167 --> 00:21:18,091 - So the theory is that the KGB 432 00:21:18,111 --> 00:21:19,777 is spying on the Russian military, 433 00:21:19,928 --> 00:21:22,505 to see what is going on in these mountains. 434 00:21:22,598 --> 00:21:26,175 And unfortunately, these hikers just got caught in the middle 435 00:21:26,268 --> 00:21:29,453 of an interagency conflict. 436 00:21:29,605 --> 00:21:34,033 - So Zolotaryov is found out to be a spy agent, 437 00:21:34,185 --> 00:21:36,519 on behalf of the KGB. 438 00:21:36,612 --> 00:21:39,297 So the group, although innocent, 439 00:21:39,448 --> 00:21:41,465 are killed because of him. 440 00:21:45,305 --> 00:21:47,713 Fishburne: When Zolotaryov's body is recovered, 441 00:21:47,807 --> 00:21:49,623 the film in his camera has been destroyed 442 00:21:49,642 --> 00:21:51,717 by water damage. 443 00:21:51,811 --> 00:21:54,812 His motivation and his potential KGB ties 444 00:21:54,963 --> 00:21:57,222 remain a mystery. 445 00:21:57,375 --> 00:22:00,709 - Whether the KGB was connected to the case or not, 446 00:22:00,803 --> 00:22:02,728 we don't know, but the idea of 447 00:22:02,822 --> 00:22:06,139 the military being involved in the whole mess 448 00:22:06,233 --> 00:22:09,068 is very much popular 449 00:22:09,220 --> 00:22:13,814 and one of the top hypotheses in this Dyatlov Pass incident. 450 00:22:13,908 --> 00:22:15,224 - Even the university, 451 00:22:15,317 --> 00:22:16,817 the Ural Polytechnic Institute, 452 00:22:16,911 --> 00:22:20,004 which sponsored the hike, thinks this is what happened. 453 00:22:21,749 --> 00:22:23,507 Fishburne: And in 1990, 454 00:22:23,659 --> 00:22:27,994 another familiar voice joins the chorus claiming a coverup. 455 00:22:28,014 --> 00:22:31,423 - Lev Ivanov published an article 456 00:22:31,517 --> 00:22:37,021 with a strange title "The Mystery of the Fireballs." 457 00:22:37,172 --> 00:22:42,008 And he hinted that he was under pressure to close the case 458 00:22:42,103 --> 00:22:46,680 and not to continue to look into the cause of the death. 459 00:22:46,774 --> 00:22:48,849 - Communist Party officials were incredibly worried 460 00:22:48,943 --> 00:22:51,685 that these reports would leak out to foreign nations, 461 00:22:51,704 --> 00:22:53,612 and on top of that, Ivanov believes 462 00:22:53,764 --> 00:22:55,522 that it's these secret tests 463 00:22:55,541 --> 00:22:57,625 that ultimately leads to the deaths of these hikers. 464 00:23:01,363 --> 00:23:04,623 Fishburne: Sole survivor Yuri Yudin also believes 465 00:23:04,775 --> 00:23:06,700 the government was involved 466 00:23:06,719 --> 00:23:08,702 and reveals a key piece of evidence 467 00:23:08,796 --> 00:23:11,947 before his death in 2013. 468 00:23:11,966 --> 00:23:15,059 - Yuri says that when he was helping the investigators 469 00:23:15,286 --> 00:23:17,711 with the inventory of the items left 470 00:23:17,730 --> 00:23:20,564 by the hikers, things didn't add up. 471 00:23:20,716 --> 00:23:24,068 He found things that did not belong to anyone, 472 00:23:24,295 --> 00:23:27,146 like a military cloth, a pair of glasses, 473 00:23:27,298 --> 00:23:31,150 also an extra pair of skis. 474 00:23:31,244 --> 00:23:35,413 And his gut feeling was that this was staged. 475 00:23:38,325 --> 00:23:40,976 Fishburne: Even Boris Yeltsin thinks authorities 476 00:23:40,995 --> 00:23:42,311 are hiding something. 477 00:23:42,404 --> 00:23:44,146 When he's made President of Russia, 478 00:23:44,165 --> 00:23:47,258 after the fall of the USSR, in 1991, 479 00:23:47,409 --> 00:23:51,745 he promises to investigate the Dyatlov Pass incident. 480 00:23:51,764 --> 00:23:54,673 - He was very much interested in the case, as well, 481 00:23:54,825 --> 00:23:57,101 because he was himself 482 00:23:57,328 --> 00:23:59,419 a graduate of the same institution, 483 00:23:59,513 --> 00:24:03,590 Ural Polytechnic, and because people appealed to him. 484 00:24:03,609 --> 00:24:05,609 - He uses all of his political power 485 00:24:05,761 --> 00:24:07,336 to try to find information, 486 00:24:07,429 --> 00:24:09,672 things that happened in 1959 487 00:24:09,765 --> 00:24:12,341 that can shed light on this event. 488 00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:14,193 Now the closest missile launch site 489 00:24:14,345 --> 00:24:15,511 to the Dyatlov Pass 490 00:24:15,604 --> 00:24:17,955 is actually located in Kazakhstan, 491 00:24:18,182 --> 00:24:20,849 and it's called the Baikonur Cosmodrome. 492 00:24:20,868 --> 00:24:24,462 Yeltsin's investigators dig into the records of Baikonur, 493 00:24:24,613 --> 00:24:28,190 to see if there were any missile launches in 1959 494 00:24:28,209 --> 00:24:31,043 during that window of the hikers' death. 495 00:24:31,195 --> 00:24:34,863 - He assured people that there were no rockets during the day 496 00:24:34,882 --> 00:24:37,308 when the hikers perished. 497 00:24:37,459 --> 00:24:39,535 - It's tough to know if he actually did look into this, 498 00:24:39,628 --> 00:24:41,795 but if what he's saying is true, 499 00:24:41,889 --> 00:24:43,872 there were no missile tests 500 00:24:43,891 --> 00:24:46,984 that happened in the area during that time. 501 00:24:47,135 --> 00:24:50,971 - Whatever Yeltsin's involvement with the case was, 502 00:24:51,065 --> 00:24:55,326 it didn't bring us any closer to finding the truth. 503 00:24:57,312 --> 00:24:58,478 Fishburne: Yeltsin's findings 504 00:24:58,498 --> 00:25:00,331 seem to end the coverup theory, 505 00:25:00,482 --> 00:25:03,334 but they don't stop the public from asking questions. 506 00:25:03,485 --> 00:25:06,337 And a shocking new one is about to emerge. 507 00:25:11,177 --> 00:25:11,509 [tense tone] 508 00:25:11,660 --> 00:25:12,993 ♪ ♪ 509 00:25:13,012 --> 00:25:14,403 Fishburne: After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, 510 00:25:14,421 --> 00:25:17,330 the Dyatlov Pass case files are finally made public, 511 00:25:17,350 --> 00:25:20,425 giving amateur investigators a fresh chance 512 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:22,261 to solve the mystery. 513 00:25:22,413 --> 00:25:24,170 Digging deep into the evidence, 514 00:25:24,190 --> 00:25:28,192 they find an intriguing photo taken by one of the hikers, 515 00:25:28,343 --> 00:25:31,177 and it leads to a shocking new theory 516 00:25:31,272 --> 00:25:32,771 and a surprising suspect. 517 00:25:32,865 --> 00:25:39,352 ♪ ♪ 518 00:25:39,372 --> 00:25:41,038 - There's a number of people in Russia 519 00:25:41,189 --> 00:25:42,373 who believe that yeti, 520 00:25:42,524 --> 00:25:44,783 or snezhnyy chelovek, in Russian, 521 00:25:44,935 --> 00:25:47,619 is the culprit in this case. 522 00:25:47,772 --> 00:25:50,939 In one of the photographs found at the site, 523 00:25:51,033 --> 00:25:53,217 there is a very unusual creature 524 00:25:53,444 --> 00:25:55,778 that was detected in the photograph, 525 00:25:55,871 --> 00:25:57,555 and it's very interesting. 526 00:26:00,042 --> 00:26:03,969 This was the last frame of the photographs Nikolay Thibeaux 527 00:26:04,121 --> 00:26:05,896 took at the site, 528 00:26:06,048 --> 00:26:08,381 and I don't think he had enough time 529 00:26:08,401 --> 00:26:10,901 to think what he photographed, 530 00:26:11,128 --> 00:26:14,054 but it's there, historical evidence. 531 00:26:14,073 --> 00:26:17,466 What you see in the picture is a humanoid-like being. 532 00:26:17,559 --> 00:26:19,318 It's big. It's about 10 feet. 533 00:26:19,412 --> 00:26:23,639 It's hulking, much like the yetis or snowman have, 534 00:26:23,657 --> 00:26:26,491 and it looks like it's looking at the group, 535 00:26:26,586 --> 00:26:27,826 observing them. 536 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:32,481 ♪ ♪ 537 00:26:32,499 --> 00:26:35,075 There were so many stories 538 00:26:35,094 --> 00:26:38,078 coming from different parts of the Soviet Union, 539 00:26:38,097 --> 00:26:40,747 and this photograph could definitely serve as a proof 540 00:26:40,766 --> 00:26:43,826 that the yeti is out there. 541 00:26:43,844 --> 00:26:45,919 The yetis are huge beings. 542 00:26:46,013 --> 00:26:48,180 About 10 feet in size. 543 00:26:48,332 --> 00:26:49,832 People are afraid of them, 544 00:26:49,850 --> 00:26:53,593 because they could crush with their arms and legs 545 00:26:53,613 --> 00:26:57,506 a human being and do it very quickly. 546 00:26:57,524 --> 00:26:59,265 Fishburne: Even the Dyatlov students 547 00:26:59,360 --> 00:27:03,362 themselves make reference to a yeti prior to their trip. 548 00:27:03,514 --> 00:27:05,271 - Before they hike into the mountains, 549 00:27:05,366 --> 00:27:07,182 the students, the hikers 550 00:27:07,201 --> 00:27:09,701 published a satirical newspaper. 551 00:27:09,854 --> 00:27:13,088 And they write a headline that reads: 552 00:27:19,138 --> 00:27:21,972 "Latest evidence indicates that the yeti lives 553 00:27:22,124 --> 00:27:26,551 in the Northern Urals, near Mount Otorten." 554 00:27:26,704 --> 00:27:28,053 It's quite possible that 555 00:27:28,205 --> 00:27:30,814 while they wanted to express themselves 556 00:27:30,966 --> 00:27:34,634 and show no fear by placing jokes in that newspaper, 557 00:27:34,654 --> 00:27:36,487 they knew that something was out there, 558 00:27:36,638 --> 00:27:39,064 and it could be yeti. 559 00:27:39,216 --> 00:27:42,734 ♪ ♪ 560 00:27:42,828 --> 00:27:44,662 Fishburne: Supporters of the yeti theory 561 00:27:44,889 --> 00:27:47,406 also point to photos of the bodies 562 00:27:47,500 --> 00:27:52,577 that show what appears to be abject terror 563 00:27:52,730 --> 00:27:56,581 with clenched fists ready for a fight. 564 00:27:56,676 --> 00:28:02,346 - Of course, seeing a horrible creature like a yeti 565 00:28:02,573 --> 00:28:04,907 by their tent, that would have frightened them. 566 00:28:04,925 --> 00:28:08,744 ♪ ♪ 567 00:28:08,762 --> 00:28:10,429 Fishburne: But that's not the only creature 568 00:28:10,581 --> 00:28:13,081 that could get such a reaction. 569 00:28:13,100 --> 00:28:17,528 - We have to account for many predators that live in the area 570 00:28:17,755 --> 00:28:20,422 that could have attacked the hikers, 571 00:28:20,441 --> 00:28:26,611 and among them are bears, wild dogs, wolverines, 572 00:28:26,764 --> 00:28:29,281 even the Siberian tiger. 573 00:28:29,375 --> 00:28:31,875 - But the most likely culprit in the animal attack theory 574 00:28:32,027 --> 00:28:34,694 is a brown bear. 575 00:28:34,788 --> 00:28:38,290 - The autopsy report listed fractured skulls, broken chest, 576 00:28:38,442 --> 00:28:41,793 scratches and cuts, and even missing flesh. 577 00:28:41,946 --> 00:28:44,629 A brown bear would be capable of doing this, 578 00:28:44,782 --> 00:28:47,040 but the problem with the brown bear theory 579 00:28:47,134 --> 00:28:49,634 is that they were in hibernation around this time. 580 00:28:49,729 --> 00:28:53,638 - That's all the more reason if a bear wakes up early 581 00:28:53,733 --> 00:28:57,901 and is hungry, it would seek out nine campers 582 00:28:58,128 --> 00:28:59,570 that just happen to be in that area. 583 00:29:03,133 --> 00:29:05,225 Fishburne: After decades of public speculation 584 00:29:05,244 --> 00:29:08,228 about animal attacks, homicide, 585 00:29:08,322 --> 00:29:10,230 coverups, and much more, 586 00:29:10,324 --> 00:29:15,068 in 2019, public fascination with the Dyatlov case 587 00:29:15,162 --> 00:29:19,739 prompts Russian authorities to finally reopen the file. 588 00:29:19,759 --> 00:29:22,909 A young prosecutor, Andrei Kuryakov, 589 00:29:22,928 --> 00:29:24,503 takes the lead. 590 00:29:24,655 --> 00:29:28,265 - Andrei Kuryakov sits down with a list of 75 theories. 591 00:29:28,492 --> 00:29:30,416 Thanks to the growing public interest, 592 00:29:30,436 --> 00:29:33,161 this case has gotten bigger and bigger. 593 00:29:33,255 --> 00:29:35,347 Not sure if the yeti has made the list, 594 00:29:35,441 --> 00:29:37,924 but Kuryakov certainly has his work cut out for him. 595 00:29:37,943 --> 00:29:40,352 But it seems he's up for the task. 596 00:29:40,446 --> 00:29:42,671 Fishburne: As Kuryakov starts researching, 597 00:29:42,689 --> 00:29:46,450 he notices a detail that leads to a new theory. 598 00:29:51,865 --> 00:29:55,608 ♪ ♪ 599 00:29:55,702 --> 00:29:58,353 - It turns out that the weather on the 1st of February, 600 00:29:58,372 --> 00:30:02,858 in 1959, is pretty extreme, for that mountain, 601 00:30:02,951 --> 00:30:05,193 with winds up to 65 miles an hour 602 00:30:05,287 --> 00:30:07,954 and temperatures down to 30 degrees. 603 00:30:08,048 --> 00:30:11,975 And this has Kuryakov thinking, "Could it be an avalanche?" 604 00:30:12,127 --> 00:30:15,720 Fishburne: Andrei Kuryakov organizes a 2020 expedition 605 00:30:15,873 --> 00:30:18,707 to the Dyatlov Pass to test his theory. 606 00:30:18,725 --> 00:30:21,226 ♪ ♪ 607 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:24,062 And he's about to find one key piece of evidence 608 00:30:24,156 --> 00:30:27,157 that the original investigation got wrong. 609 00:30:31,997 --> 00:30:35,073 Fishburne: 60 years after the Dyatlov tragedy, 610 00:30:35,225 --> 00:30:38,818 prosecutor Andrei Kuryakov returns to the crime scene 611 00:30:38,838 --> 00:30:41,246 with new technology 612 00:30:41,398 --> 00:30:44,341 hoping to prove the killer was an avalanche. 613 00:30:50,182 --> 00:30:52,574 - So they used photogrammetry to really pinpoint 614 00:30:52,667 --> 00:30:54,518 the location of the tent, 615 00:30:54,669 --> 00:30:56,578 and then they take photos of the current landscape 616 00:30:56,671 --> 00:30:58,021 and compare 'em with the old ones. 617 00:30:58,248 --> 00:31:00,340 And they notice a huge discrepancy 618 00:31:00,359 --> 00:31:02,934 of what they originally investigated. 619 00:31:03,028 --> 00:31:06,421 - The location where the tent was pitched in 1959 620 00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:08,348 is actually several hundred feet away 621 00:31:08,367 --> 00:31:11,093 from where they originally thought it was pitched. 622 00:31:11,111 --> 00:31:14,279 - The location of the tent is the #1 factor in determining 623 00:31:14,431 --> 00:31:15,855 if an avalanche took place, 624 00:31:15,875 --> 00:31:17,708 and it looks like the original investigation 625 00:31:17,859 --> 00:31:19,117 might have made a mistake. 626 00:31:19,211 --> 00:31:20,711 ♪ ♪ 627 00:31:20,862 --> 00:31:22,045 Fishburne: The risk of an avalanche 628 00:31:22,197 --> 00:31:24,047 depends on the degree of incline. 629 00:31:24,274 --> 00:31:26,699 On average, it takes a 30-degree incline 630 00:31:26,719 --> 00:31:28,218 to trigger one. 631 00:31:28,445 --> 00:31:30,295 - Using the old incorrect data, 632 00:31:30,447 --> 00:31:33,465 investigators prior to 2019, 633 00:31:33,559 --> 00:31:36,727 thought that the slope above the tent was about 15 degrees, 634 00:31:36,954 --> 00:31:38,620 so they've ruled out the avalanche theory 635 00:31:38,639 --> 00:31:40,805 this entire time. 636 00:31:40,900 --> 00:31:42,566 Fishburne: The newly-calculated location 637 00:31:42,793 --> 00:31:47,145 has a much steeper slope of around 28 degrees. 638 00:31:47,297 --> 00:31:48,906 - It's still not 30 degrees. 639 00:31:49,057 --> 00:31:52,725 An avalanche still may not be possible, 640 00:31:52,745 --> 00:31:55,061 but with the right weather conditions, 641 00:31:55,155 --> 00:31:57,472 it's much more likely. 642 00:31:57,565 --> 00:31:59,082 When they analyze the weather conditions, 643 00:31:59,234 --> 00:32:01,143 they find that there's a special phenomena here 644 00:32:01,161 --> 00:32:03,420 called katabatic winds. 645 00:32:05,907 --> 00:32:09,927 Katabatic winds travel at hurricane speeds. 646 00:32:10,154 --> 00:32:14,339 In effect, they act as a huge snowplow. 647 00:32:14,491 --> 00:32:17,267 These winds can take tons and tons of snow, 648 00:32:17,419 --> 00:32:20,679 and it's very likely that these winds could have 649 00:32:20,831 --> 00:32:25,333 deposited huge amounts of snow above the hikers' tent. 650 00:32:25,352 --> 00:32:27,352 And that's when they become even more confident 651 00:32:27,504 --> 00:32:29,171 in their avalanche theory. 652 00:32:29,264 --> 00:32:32,174 They think that this mountain is a death trap 653 00:32:32,192 --> 00:32:33,191 just waiting to spring. 654 00:32:33,285 --> 00:32:39,790 ♪ ♪ 655 00:32:39,941 --> 00:32:42,367 Fishburne: Once the weather expedition is complete, 656 00:32:42,461 --> 00:32:47,113 Andrei Kuryakov presents his findings to the public. 657 00:32:47,132 --> 00:32:50,041 - Kuryakov theorizes that it's sometime after the tent 658 00:32:50,135 --> 00:32:51,860 was set up around 7:00 p.m., 659 00:32:51,953 --> 00:32:55,121 a wind storm kicks off into high gear. 660 00:32:55,140 --> 00:32:57,808 - Sometime between 1:30 and 5:30 a.m., 661 00:32:58,035 --> 00:33:00,477 a small avalanche is triggered above the tent 662 00:33:00,704 --> 00:33:03,146 where they had cut into the slope. 663 00:33:03,373 --> 00:33:05,965 - That new snow up above is too heavy, 664 00:33:05,985 --> 00:33:08,318 and it crashes down onto the tent. 665 00:33:08,470 --> 00:33:10,970 After that initial snow dump, the hikers, 666 00:33:11,064 --> 00:33:12,380 fearing more is to come, 667 00:33:12,399 --> 00:33:13,898 cut their own way out of the tent 668 00:33:14,051 --> 00:33:18,144 and run to a rocky ridge 150 feet away. 669 00:33:18,238 --> 00:33:20,998 - This is, at the time, standard avalanche protocol-- 670 00:33:21,149 --> 00:33:24,559 The idea of being able to find a safe place 671 00:33:24,652 --> 00:33:26,411 behind a high, rocky ridge 672 00:33:26,563 --> 00:33:29,489 that would redirect the snow away from them. 673 00:33:29,508 --> 00:33:31,824 Fishburne: But here, Kuryakov's theory 674 00:33:31,844 --> 00:33:34,177 takes an interesting twist. 675 00:33:34,404 --> 00:33:37,681 - He doesn't actually think a bigger avalanche ever hit. 676 00:33:37,832 --> 00:33:39,349 He thinks that they hurried out of the tent, 677 00:33:39,576 --> 00:33:41,018 but it never came. 678 00:33:41,245 --> 00:33:44,021 And the problem is that the hikers got disorientated, 679 00:33:44,172 --> 00:33:46,857 and they couldn't find their way back to the tent. 680 00:33:47,084 --> 00:33:48,933 - So the investigator tests his theory. 681 00:33:49,086 --> 00:33:50,769 He blindfolds a man and a woman. 682 00:33:50,921 --> 00:33:53,255 Makes 'em walk 90 feet away from the tent, 683 00:33:53,348 --> 00:33:55,090 and then challenges them to find their way back, 684 00:33:55,108 --> 00:33:57,092 and they can't. 685 00:33:57,110 --> 00:33:58,443 Fishburne: And what about their strange 686 00:33:58,595 --> 00:34:00,278 lack of clothing? 687 00:34:00,430 --> 00:34:01,872 - Kuryakov thinks that some of them 688 00:34:02,099 --> 00:34:05,116 were partially undressed when they fled the tent, 689 00:34:05,210 --> 00:34:06,785 but he thinks the others may have suffered 690 00:34:06,937 --> 00:34:09,621 from a phenomena called paradoxical undressing. 691 00:34:09,773 --> 00:34:11,381 And this is where people, 692 00:34:11,608 --> 00:34:13,608 in their final stages of hypothermia, 693 00:34:13,701 --> 00:34:15,794 feel as if they're burning hot, 694 00:34:15,946 --> 00:34:18,138 which leads them to take their clothes off. 695 00:34:21,134 --> 00:34:22,951 Fishburne: According to Kuryakov, 696 00:34:22,969 --> 00:34:26,045 sometime between 4:30 and 7:30 a.m., 697 00:34:26,065 --> 00:34:28,714 the hikers freeze to death. 698 00:34:28,734 --> 00:34:30,734 - The two young men found in their underwear 699 00:34:30,961 --> 00:34:33,386 under the cedar tree died first. 700 00:34:33,405 --> 00:34:35,072 The other members of the group 701 00:34:35,223 --> 00:34:37,240 cut the clothes off of their dead friends, 702 00:34:37,392 --> 00:34:40,077 in a last-ditch effort to survive. 703 00:34:40,228 --> 00:34:42,079 At some point, the group splits up, 704 00:34:42,230 --> 00:34:44,989 and three of them-- Dyatlov, Kolmogorova, 705 00:34:45,084 --> 00:34:47,733 and Slobodin--head back towards the tent. 706 00:34:47,753 --> 00:34:50,837 Sadly, they freeze to death before making it back. 707 00:34:54,151 --> 00:34:56,668 Fishburne: But what about the final four? 708 00:34:56,820 --> 00:34:59,245 - And this is where the theory gets really weird. 709 00:34:59,339 --> 00:35:02,432 You can never believe this group had such bad luck. 710 00:35:02,659 --> 00:35:05,084 The last four dig down a snow shelter-- 711 00:35:05,178 --> 00:35:06,845 Basically a snow chamber 712 00:35:06,939 --> 00:35:08,421 where they can hide from the elements 713 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:10,498 and share body heat. 714 00:35:10,517 --> 00:35:12,776 But the one spot they decide to dig in 715 00:35:13,003 --> 00:35:16,338 is above a stream through a hollowed-out icy tunnel. 716 00:35:16,356 --> 00:35:19,432 They dig down, and the tunnel collapses. 717 00:35:19,451 --> 00:35:21,009 They fall into the icy stream 718 00:35:21,027 --> 00:35:23,120 and are buried under 15 feet of snow. 719 00:35:27,701 --> 00:35:30,276 Fishburne: As he concludes the press conference, 720 00:35:30,295 --> 00:35:33,538 Kuryakov declares that the Dyatlov Pass mystery 721 00:35:33,690 --> 00:35:35,465 is finally solved. 722 00:35:35,692 --> 00:35:37,617 - The Russians are outraged at Kuryakov 723 00:35:37,636 --> 00:35:40,119 and loudly reject his theory. 724 00:35:40,213 --> 00:35:43,715 The families of the dead are especially critical of him. 725 00:35:43,867 --> 00:35:48,386 - Let's be clear. The public hates the avalanche theory. 726 00:35:48,538 --> 00:35:51,297 It doesn't account for so many key facts 727 00:35:51,316 --> 00:35:54,376 and details of the case. 728 00:35:54,394 --> 00:35:57,879 - People were making fun of it and disregarded it 729 00:35:57,972 --> 00:36:01,116 because they know this is another set of coverups. 730 00:36:08,058 --> 00:36:09,908 Fishburne: The Dyatlov Pass incident 731 00:36:10,002 --> 00:36:13,503 has spawned many theories over the years. 732 00:36:13,655 --> 00:36:18,583 But in a case full of strange details and unusual twists, 733 00:36:18,735 --> 00:36:21,920 none have fully aligned with the facts. 734 00:36:22,072 --> 00:36:23,905 - You can say maybe it's a bear attack, 735 00:36:23,998 --> 00:36:26,758 but the bears are hibernating. 736 00:36:26,910 --> 00:36:29,352 You say it's an avalanche, 737 00:36:29,504 --> 00:36:32,672 but what about their clothes testing positive for radiation? 738 00:36:32,766 --> 00:36:34,599 What about the Mansi tribe's testimony 739 00:36:34,693 --> 00:36:37,602 of fireballs in the sky? 740 00:36:37,754 --> 00:36:40,680 What about Semyon Zolotaryov, the possible KGB agent 741 00:36:40,774 --> 00:36:43,441 that was planted among the hikers? 742 00:36:43,593 --> 00:36:45,851 There are just so many details to account for, 743 00:36:45,946 --> 00:36:52,042 and there isn't just one theory that makes total sense. 744 00:36:52,269 --> 00:36:54,769 Fishburne: But what if there is? 745 00:36:54,788 --> 00:37:00,050 ♪ ♪ 746 00:37:00,201 --> 00:37:03,461 - So theory after theory after theory comes out, 747 00:37:03,613 --> 00:37:06,464 and after a while, people just stop 748 00:37:06,616 --> 00:37:09,284 looking at all the evidence one piece at a time, 749 00:37:09,377 --> 00:37:10,301 and they just say to themselves, "Well, what if 750 00:37:10,395 --> 00:37:11,953 it's not just one thing? 751 00:37:11,972 --> 00:37:15,065 What if all of these theories are partially right?" 752 00:37:15,292 --> 00:37:17,292 ♪ ♪ 753 00:37:17,310 --> 00:37:19,627 So in other words, it's an avalanche, 754 00:37:19,721 --> 00:37:22,297 and it's a murder, and it's a coverup, 755 00:37:22,390 --> 00:37:26,743 and it's an animal attack, all in one. 756 00:37:26,970 --> 00:37:28,803 - If you start with the fireballs 757 00:37:28,822 --> 00:37:31,731 reported by Mansi during the time, 758 00:37:31,825 --> 00:37:36,753 it could be part of a nuclear experiment we don't understand. 759 00:37:36,980 --> 00:37:39,071 Maybe a new type of nuclear weapons 760 00:37:39,091 --> 00:37:40,757 that the KGB, of course, 761 00:37:40,908 --> 00:37:45,169 did not want to leak out to its enemies in the West, 762 00:37:45,322 --> 00:37:47,246 and they covered it up. 763 00:37:47,340 --> 00:37:49,157 Apart from Semyon Zolotaryov, 764 00:37:49,250 --> 00:37:50,750 the others students-- Those poor students 765 00:37:50,844 --> 00:37:52,660 did not know they were heading 766 00:37:52,679 --> 00:37:56,088 into this special testing area. 767 00:37:56,108 --> 00:37:58,850 This could explain the radioactivity 768 00:37:59,002 --> 00:38:02,170 that was found in their clothing. 769 00:38:02,188 --> 00:38:03,947 ♪ ♪ 770 00:38:04,098 --> 00:38:08,118 Fishburne: A nuclear test may also explain the avalanche. 771 00:38:08,345 --> 00:38:10,194 - Those nuclear weapons emit shockwaves. 772 00:38:10,347 --> 00:38:11,696 Those shockwaves are the catalyst 773 00:38:11,848 --> 00:38:13,515 for the avalanche to collapse on the tent, 774 00:38:13,533 --> 00:38:16,017 and it could have caused those blunt force injuries 775 00:38:16,036 --> 00:38:17,352 on their own. 776 00:38:17,445 --> 00:38:19,354 So in the span of an instant, 777 00:38:19,447 --> 00:38:21,113 the explosion startles the hikers. 778 00:38:21,207 --> 00:38:24,208 It starts the avalanche. It showers them in radiation. 779 00:38:24,303 --> 00:38:28,138 The shockwaves hit them with the force of a speeding truck, 780 00:38:28,365 --> 00:38:31,141 which causes injuries, and it causes them to rush 781 00:38:31,292 --> 00:38:33,310 and escape down the side of a mountain. 782 00:38:35,055 --> 00:38:38,222 Fishburne: From there, the coverup. 783 00:38:38,317 --> 00:38:42,485 - If any of the hikers would have survived, 784 00:38:42,637 --> 00:38:45,322 the military could have taken care of them, 785 00:38:45,473 --> 00:38:48,066 because they didn't want eyewitnesses to something 786 00:38:48,218 --> 00:38:50,643 that is top secret. 787 00:38:50,737 --> 00:38:53,388 - And even if they were dead, 788 00:38:53,481 --> 00:38:55,406 the lead investigator, Lev Ivanov, 789 00:38:55,500 --> 00:39:00,562 was forced to close short the investigation, 790 00:39:00,580 --> 00:39:03,840 so nothing is leaked out. 791 00:39:04,067 --> 00:39:06,401 - And finally, the animal attack theory, 792 00:39:06,419 --> 00:39:09,070 of course, accounts for injuries 793 00:39:09,089 --> 00:39:11,089 that hikers had sustained, 794 00:39:11,183 --> 00:39:14,092 because the animals had access to the bodies 795 00:39:14,186 --> 00:39:16,335 for a period of time, 796 00:39:16,355 --> 00:39:18,246 and they did what animals do. 797 00:39:18,264 --> 00:39:21,841 They ate into the hikers' cadavers. 798 00:39:21,860 --> 00:39:24,194 - What if it's a combination of all of these things 799 00:39:24,421 --> 00:39:26,196 that could have happened to these nine hikers? 800 00:39:26,347 --> 00:39:27,589 That's what the Soviet authorities 801 00:39:27,607 --> 00:39:29,849 are trying to cover up. 802 00:39:29,943 --> 00:39:34,596 - No matter how the hikers died, if there was a coverup, 803 00:39:34,614 --> 00:39:40,602 their blood is on the hands of the Soviet government. 804 00:39:40,620 --> 00:39:46,608 The Dyatlov Pass incident is the greatest mystery 805 00:39:46,701 --> 00:39:49,386 and unsolved case in Russia, 806 00:39:49,537 --> 00:39:52,780 but the government doesn't make 807 00:39:52,799 --> 00:39:55,374 any more efforts to solve it. 808 00:39:55,468 --> 00:39:58,286 So it is all up to us now, 809 00:39:58,379 --> 00:40:01,472 amateur researchers and investigators, 810 00:40:01,566 --> 00:40:03,716 from all over the world, 811 00:40:03,810 --> 00:40:06,236 to uncover what really happened. 812 00:40:06,463 --> 00:40:11,816 ♪ ♪ 813 00:40:11,968 --> 00:40:16,154 Fishburne: In 2020, the Dyatlov Group Memorial Foundation 814 00:40:16,248 --> 00:40:20,065 published a letter in support of the all-in-one theory. 815 00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:21,826 For the families of the students killed 816 00:40:21,978 --> 00:40:23,478 on the mountain that night, 817 00:40:23,496 --> 00:40:28,407 that small vindication will have to suffice, for now. 818 00:40:28,501 --> 00:40:31,486 Because when it comes to the truth of this mystery, 819 00:40:31,504 --> 00:40:35,156 the secrets are buried incredibly deep. 820 00:40:35,175 --> 00:40:36,766 I'm Laurence Fishburne. 821 00:40:36,918 --> 00:40:41,688 Thank you for watching "History's Greatest Mysteries."