12 Craziest Unsolved Mysteries

3. Dyatlov Pass Incident

Forget the ropey horror film the director of Die Hard 2 just put out inspired by it, the real life events of the Dyatlov Pass Incident are terrifying enough on their own - even more so when you consider that nobody has been able to come up with a reasonable explanation for them. The facts, as we know them, are thus: on the night of February 2, 1959, nine hikers in the northern Ural mountains of Russia died. There was evidence that members of the group had torn their way out of their tents in a frenzy, trudged barefoot through the snow, freezing to death in temperatures as low as ˆ’30 °C. There were no signs of a struggle in any of the bodies when they were recovered, two victims had fractured skulls, two suffered broken ribs, and one was missing parts of her face. These eight men and women had set off from the nearby Ural University, intending to reach a mountain ten kilometres from where they met their eventual fates. All were experienced in long expeditions and ski hikes. From what investigators could piece together from diaries left behind by the victims, they had to diverge their path a little due to worsening weather conditions, setting up camp in the area which would later become known as the Dyatlov Pass after the group's leader, Igor Alekseievich Dyatlov. After that point, things get a little fuzzy. It was a good week before the group were reported missing, and another week until volunteers, teachers, students, and later members of the army came across an abandoned tent. It was badly damaged, covered in snow, and full of the occupant's belongings - but the occupant was nowhere to be seen. Scouring the surrounding area, the found the remains of several fires and the bodies of the hikers, many of them barefoot and wearing only their underwear, despite the below-freezing conditions. Clearly they had all died of hypothermia, but why? Why had they freaked out so much that they tore their way out of their tents, why did they run so far from the camp, and why did they do so whilst half-naked? Guess what: we don't know. There are theories suggesting they had escaped an avalanche, necessitating the abandonment of their gear, but if that was the case they would have died in a lot less time than it would take to get to where their bodies were eventually found. And what happened to the snow that had collapsed on them, in that case? Bear in mind this was Communist Russia, and things get weirder. Parts of the investigation seemed suspect, elements of it covered up - like the fact that many of the group's belongings were found to carry traces of radiation. Had they fallen victim to a secret government weapons test of some sort? Was it an avalanche? Was it aliens? Who knows? (It wasn't aliens).