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That's alll bi rds 19 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: dot com. Welcome to Unexplained extra with me Richard McClean smith. 20 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:18,200 Speaker 1: For the weeks in between episodes, we look at the 21 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: stories that, for one reason or other, didn't make it 22 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:25,200 Speaker 1: into the show. For the last episode, when the snow melts, 23 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: we took an in depth look into the unsettling mystery 24 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: often referred to as the Datlov Pass incident. The incident 25 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:37,759 Speaker 1: details the mysterious deaths of nine hikers as they attempted 26 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: a challenging trek through the Ural Mountains in Russia. The hikers, 27 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,680 Speaker 1: eight students of the Ural Polytechnic Institute in what was 28 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: once known as Serdlovsk in Russia, and their friend Sascha Koliatov, 29 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,920 Speaker 1: had been making their way towards O'tauton Mountain on February 30 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: the first, nineteen fifty nine, when they made camp on 31 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 1: a mountain called Kolatsiak. That night, the hikers, for some 32 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: inexplicable reason, were seemingly compelled from the sanctuary of their 33 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:10,400 Speaker 1: tent and driven to their deaths in the snow and 34 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:20,240 Speaker 1: subzero temperatures outside. There have been numerous attempts over the 35 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:24,080 Speaker 1: years to unravel the mystery, with theories involving everything from 36 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 1: secret weapons testing, UFOs, the wrath of ancient gods, to 37 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 1: the possible involvement of Mansie tribesmen or KGB, as well 38 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:38,960 Speaker 1: as natural disasters such as high winds and avalanches. But 39 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:42,239 Speaker 1: what seems key to any theory were the two startling 40 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: revelations discovered by investigators at the time. One was that 41 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:50,080 Speaker 1: none of the group had been found with shoes and 42 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: in many cases were woefully underdressed, and the other that 43 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: they appeared to have cut their way out of their 44 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: own tent. The revelations would suggest that most likely something 45 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,480 Speaker 1: unseen had induced a heightened level of fear in the group, 46 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 1: causing them to take immediate and evasive action, and possibly 47 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: under the influence of sheer blind panic. It is of 48 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 1: course possible that only one or two of the members 49 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 1: had reacted in such a way, leaving the others no 50 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:23,400 Speaker 1: choice but to attempt a rescue, and in some ways 51 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:26,080 Speaker 1: it seems unlikely that every member would panic in the 52 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:30,400 Speaker 1: same way, and yet not one of them had taken 53 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 1: the time to even put on their shoes, which suggests 54 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: whatever it was had them all in its grip. It 55 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: goes without saying that in any normal circumstances, the group 56 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: were well aware of the dangers of being outside in 57 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: minus twenty to thirty temperatures without the requisite clothing. The 58 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 1: effects of extreme cold are immediate, beginning with the constriction 59 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:58,720 Speaker 1: of the blood to preserve the body with sufficient winchell, 60 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:03,800 Speaker 1: frostbite is only a matter of minutes away. Basic muscle 61 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 1: functions become progressively more and more reduced, until fingers can 62 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:13,800 Speaker 1: no longer be moved, and then arms and legs. Hyperthermia 63 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,280 Speaker 1: sets in when the body temperature reaches thirty five degrees. 64 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:22,599 Speaker 1: Soon you become devastatingly disorientated, from which there is only 65 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: a downward spiral of confusion. At thirty two degrees you 66 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:32,400 Speaker 1: begin to lose consciousness, before probable death around twenty eight degrees. 67 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 1: All this they would have known, But fear has little 68 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 1: respect for the intricacies of survival and reason. As perhaps 69 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: the most primitive of all our emotional reactions, how we 70 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:50,920 Speaker 1: respond to fear are less intensely conditioned, otherwise goes beyond 71 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:56,360 Speaker 1: past experience and personality, bypasses the ego and head straight 72 00:04:56,760 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: to the id. For even the most high, highly trained 73 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:04,279 Speaker 1: and prepared soldier, not until you are actually presented with 74 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,960 Speaker 1: a genuine flight or fight experience do you know how 75 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:13,120 Speaker 1: you will respond, but more importantly, the response is completely 76 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: beyond your control. And if the hikers were inside the 77 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:22,480 Speaker 1: tent when whatever happened at first occurred, it wasn't something 78 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:26,719 Speaker 1: they saw that terrified them so, but something they must 79 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 1: have heard. Are you always taking care of your family? 80 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:37,040 Speaker 1: Do you often take care of others and not yourself? 81 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: Now it's time to take care of yourself, to make 82 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 1: time for you. You deserve it. Tele adoc gives you 83 00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: access to a licensed therapist to help you get back 84 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:50,600 Speaker 1: to feeling your best, to feeling like yourself again. With 85 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:53,640 Speaker 1: tele adoc, you can speak to a licensed therapist by 86 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: phone or video. Therapy appointments are available seven days a 87 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:00,840 Speaker 1: week from seven am to nine pm local time. If 88 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:05,240 Speaker 1: you feel overwhelmed sometimes maybe you feel stressed or anxious, 89 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:08,560 Speaker 1: depressed or lonely, or you might be struggling with a 90 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:13,320 Speaker 1: personal or family issue, teledoc can help. Teledoc is committed 91 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:17,039 Speaker 1: to facilitating great therapeutic matches, so they make it easy 92 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:21,440 Speaker 1: to change counselors if needed. For free teledoc therapy is 93 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: available through most insurance or employers. Download the app or 94 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:30,080 Speaker 1: visit teledoc dot com. Forward slash Unexplained Podcast Today to 95 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:40,640 Speaker 1: get started, that's teladoc dot com slash Unexplained podcast. In 96 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:44,920 Speaker 1: the early nineteen eighties, British engineer Vic Tandy worked as 97 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:49,200 Speaker 1: an engineering designer for a company manufacturing anesthetic and intensive 98 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:54,040 Speaker 1: care equipment. The company operated out of a makeshift lab 99 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:57,200 Speaker 1: made from two back to back garages, which some of 100 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:02,600 Speaker 1: the employees claimed was haunted. It was certainly easy to 101 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:05,599 Speaker 1: see how being surrounded by all the eerie pieces of 102 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 1: equipment that twitched and rasped with lives of their own 103 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 1: might leave you feeling more than a little spoot. But 104 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 1: as for actual ghosts, Vic was a confirmed man of 105 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:20,960 Speaker 1: science and had little time for such nonsense. That was 106 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: until the night Vic found himself working alone in the 107 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:27,840 Speaker 1: lab when he began to feel a strange sense of unease. 108 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:33,920 Speaker 1: Although he was cold, he started to sweat profusely before 109 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 1: being hit by a profound and sudden low that swept 110 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: over him, followed by the distinct impression that he was 111 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: being watched, And then he saw it, a figure moving 112 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: from out of the shadows into his peripheral vision. It 113 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: was gray and silent, and moved just as he would 114 00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:58,680 Speaker 1: expect a person to move. Only there was nobody else 115 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 1: in the room and all the doors were locked. Vic 116 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:08,400 Speaker 1: was terrified. Finally, having built up enough courage, he turned 117 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 1: to face the apparition, at which point it vanished. A 118 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 1: somewhat disturbed Vic put the event down to tiredness and 119 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:22,200 Speaker 1: went home. The following day, Vic, who was a keen fencer, 120 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 1: had brought a blade into the lab that needed fixing. 121 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 1: After securing the foil blade in a vice, Vic went 122 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: to look for some oil, returning a short time later 123 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 1: to find something very strange occurring. The blade was wildly 124 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 1: oscillating up and down completely of its own accord. Unsurprisingly, 125 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:46,040 Speaker 1: especially after the events of the previous night, it gave 126 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:50,720 Speaker 1: Vic a nasty fright. However, unwilling to believe that something 127 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:54,200 Speaker 1: ghostly had occurred, Vic resolved to find out just what 128 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:58,959 Speaker 1: exactly was going on. For the blade to be vibrating 129 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:01,920 Speaker 1: like that, it had to be receiving energy varying in 130 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:05,160 Speaker 1: intensity at a rate equal to the resonant frequency of 131 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:10,080 Speaker 1: the blade. Any energy of this type might otherwise be 132 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 1: referred to as sound. Vic eventually discovered that the lab 133 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:18,760 Speaker 1: seemed to be harboring a low frequency sound wave that 134 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:21,840 Speaker 1: was being reflected back and forth by the opposite ends 135 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:26,480 Speaker 1: of the garage, with the wave bouncing back into itself. 136 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:29,800 Speaker 1: It created a concentration of energy in the middle of 137 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:35,160 Speaker 1: the room with a frequency of roughly nineteen hertz. What 138 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:38,920 Speaker 1: Vic had been experiencing was the very real and very 139 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:44,680 Speaker 1: physical effects of infrasound. Vic looked around the room for 140 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:48,880 Speaker 1: a possible source and noticed a newly installed extraction fan 141 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:52,800 Speaker 1: wearing away at the back. When he turned the fan off, 142 00:09:53,400 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 1: the blade stopped vibrating. The phenomenon had first been discovered 143 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:09,439 Speaker 1: by French scientist Vladimir Gavre in very similar circumstances. Working 144 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:12,280 Speaker 1: in his lab in the nineteen sixties. Gavrou and his 145 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:15,840 Speaker 1: assistants had started to experience pain in their ears and 146 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:21,640 Speaker 1: noticed lab equipment shaking without any obvious reason. He too 147 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:25,080 Speaker 1: discovered that a large extractor fan had been creating an 148 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:30,480 Speaker 1: infrasound wave. Infrasound is essentially any sound that registers at 149 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 1: a frequency less than twenty herds, which, although inaudible to 150 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:37,360 Speaker 1: most human ears, can none the less induce feelings of 151 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:45,080 Speaker 1: intense panic, dread, nausea, and, in extreme cases, hallucinations. However, 152 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:49,480 Speaker 1: many animals with more sensitively evolved hearing have no such 153 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:53,920 Speaker 1: problems with the frequency, with many including elephants and whales, 154 00:10:54,360 --> 00:11:00,360 Speaker 1: relying heavily on such frequencies for communication. Remarkably, during the 155 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:04,240 Speaker 1: two thousand and four Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, many 156 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:08,079 Speaker 1: animals were witnessed fleeing the affected areas some time before 157 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:12,360 Speaker 1: the devastating waves began to hit. It is highly likely 158 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:16,640 Speaker 1: that they had sensed the impending danger through infrasound generated 159 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:21,200 Speaker 1: by the earthquake. Could this same sound have caused such 160 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:24,960 Speaker 1: fear and panic in the Diatlov team? And imagine the 161 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:28,160 Speaker 1: effects of such a noise if it was combined with 162 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:32,880 Speaker 1: something audible, something that would have come suddenly and threateningly 163 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:35,839 Speaker 1: roaring from out of the dark, as if a jet 164 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:47,200 Speaker 1: engine had been ignited next to the tent. In Donnika's 165 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:51,640 Speaker 1: fantastic book Dead Mountain, perhaps the most comprehensive account of 166 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:55,240 Speaker 1: the Diatlov Pass incident, it is just such a scenario 167 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:58,560 Speaker 1: that he concludes may have led the students to their deaths. 168 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:04,200 Speaker 1: After extensively reviewing the evidence, Ike postulates that an obscure 169 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 1: natural phenomenon known as a von Carmen vortex street may 170 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:13,080 Speaker 1: have occurred on the night of February the first such 171 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:15,880 Speaker 1: phenomena can be created when the flow of wind is 172 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:20,080 Speaker 1: sufficiently disrupted by blunt bodies, resulting in the creation of 173 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:25,680 Speaker 1: extremely loud and violent tornadoes. It is ICA's belief that 174 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:28,320 Speaker 1: such an event could have been created by high speed 175 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:33,360 Speaker 1: winds pummeling into the smooth rounded mountain of Colatsiacle, sending 176 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:36,920 Speaker 1: vortices roaring down the mountain side right next to the 177 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 1: Diatlov team's tent. Perhaps this is the same terrifying sound 178 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:45,479 Speaker 1: that would later give rise to stories of the compoland 179 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:49,880 Speaker 1: and their nausea inducing screams, or the chilling sound of 180 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:53,280 Speaker 1: Baba Yaga's pestle and mortar as she hurtles through the 181 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:57,680 Speaker 1: forest in search of her next victim to devour. And Yet, 182 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 1: could the broken bones and other devastating injuries found on 183 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:04,760 Speaker 1: a number of the hikers merely be the result of 184 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:10,079 Speaker 1: falls sustained in the panic. Lev Ivanoff had not been 185 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:12,800 Speaker 1: able to say anything at the time, but as the 186 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 1: years went by, he would finally begin to open up 187 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:20,600 Speaker 1: his thoughts, collected in an extraordinary interview given in nineteen 188 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:25,040 Speaker 1: ninety I suspected at the time and I am almost 189 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:29,200 Speaker 1: sure now. He said that these bright flying spheres had 190 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:33,760 Speaker 1: a direct connection to the group's death. Only those who 191 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:37,679 Speaker 1: were inside the orbs no more than me. But whether 192 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:41,040 Speaker 1: there were people inside that time or any other time 193 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:49,480 Speaker 1: is as yet unclear. If you enjoy listening to Unexplained 194 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:52,360 Speaker 1: and would like to show your appreciation, you can now 195 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:55,840 Speaker 1: help support us by going to Unexplained podcast dot com 196 00:13:56,040 --> 00:14:00,520 Speaker 1: forward slash support. All donations, no matter how large or small, 197 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:09,280 Speaker 1: are massively appreciated. All elements of Unexplained are produced by me, 198 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:12,960 Speaker 1: Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes, 199 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:14,959 Speaker 1: but feel free to get in touch with any thoughts 200 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:17,480 Speaker 1: or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. 201 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:20,320 Speaker 1: Perhaps you have an explanation of your own you'd like 202 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:23,520 Speaker 1: to share. You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast 203 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:44,560 Speaker 1: dot com or on Twitter at Unexplained Pod. Now, it's 204 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:47,840 Speaker 1: time to take care of yourself. To make time for you, 205 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,560 Speaker 1: Tell a doc gives you access to a licensed therapist 206 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:54,960 Speaker 1: to help you get back to feeling your best. Speak 207 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:58,920 Speaker 1: to a licensed therapist by phone or video anytime between 208 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:02,600 Speaker 1: seven am to nine pm local time, seven days a week. 209 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:08,040 Speaker 1: TELEDOC Therapy is available through most insurance or employers. Download 210 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:11,760 Speaker 1: the app, or visit teledoc dot com forward slash Unexplained 211 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:17,280 Speaker 1: podcast Today to get started. That's t e ladoc dot 212 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:19,400 Speaker 1: com Slash Unexplained Podcast