Nitric acid toxicity

[GlennM]

There is a hypothesis that a failed Soviet missile launch is the cause of the tragedy. The missile used nitric acid as a propellant. Upon detonation the acid aerosolized and was carried toward the tent and the hikers. For me, there are some indications this might be true. They are:
Igor`s reported brown skin color at burial. Nitric acid will discolor skin turning it yellow. I know this from experience.
Aerosolized nitric acid is a severe irritant if breathed in, causing swelling and corrosion of the respiratory tract. This would drive anyone away from the source.
I am much less certain that the skeletal injuries were blast effects, but it fits the situation.
I speculate that the exposure to nitric acid would cause everyone to snow scrub any of it off their exposed skin. This of course, speeds hypothermia.
I speculate that having a warming fire at the cedar only increases the pain of those exposed to nitric acid on or in their bodies.
I speculate that if anyone climbed the cedar, it was to see what the results of the rocket blast did to the tent and whether is was safe to return for supplies.
The rescue dogs didnt want to leave the helicopter.
Finally, I predict nitric acid would kill foliage downwind and shouldmbe evidenced by changes in the pines at or near the cedar.

What argues against the nitric acid contamination surely has to do with the condition of the tent, and the lack of reports by the rescuers of acidic irritation. I would think all the deceased would have nitric acid burns. I think that during autopsy, the pungency and reactivity of nitric acid would have been noted. But, wasnt tissue samples sent for analysis and never reported?

[amashilu]

https://forum.dyatlovpass.com/index.php?topic=1396.msg22222#msg22222

This is a theory that was explored by some of the presenters at the February 2023 conference. It is definitely worth discussing again.

[GlennM]

Eurocentric twirls down into physical symptoms, which is good. I prefer to consider aerosolized acid as opposed to acidified water, though both are undesirable. The significant thing for me is what causes 9 people to leave their shelter together. I suggest that acid vapor will qualify. Further, if they are inhaling those fumes, it makes no sense to run down the hill, since that exacerbate the irritiation, hence they walk, not run from the tent.

To rule this hypothesis in or out, what could possibly survive 6 decades later? I think perhaps rocket debris. I think comparisons to acid rain effects might work. Specifically, does the forest near the cedar look measurably different from the forest at Ortoten? Of course, if the Soviet released records of an aborted launch that fits the timeline, that would be telling. If there are areas of permafrost on or near 1079, then pH testing at depth would be useful too.

[Ziljoe]

It is an interesting theory and it's why I liked the wolverine spray idea.

The possibility for leaving the tent does lend to some sort of irritant, perhaps ingested or in the air.

Although I lean towards a snow cave collapse ,causing the damage to the ravine 4, I remain confused and stuck as to why their heads lie directly in the path of the stream.

I thought along similar lines that if they had been sprayed by the wolverine that they needed to wash their faces or drink.

 I also wondered if they were making their own fire works. That thinking comes from , stopping off at the shop/pharmacy, one of the Yuri's experimented with making fireworks, Lyuda Dubinina anger at something that would be over in a couple of days, and the camera on the tripod.

The small slits at the ridge of the tent are an annoyance as I can't begin to think why they are there , other than perhaps venting .

It would certainly change some things in our theories if the reason the went down the slope was to get fresh running water as opposed to the idea that it was for shelter and warmth or even escape anything? .

[GlennM]

An air burst of an errant missile should produce both a plume or cloud of material in the air and a deposit and possibly another plume of contaminates on the ground. Wolverine spray would certainly be much more intense and localized. It would certainly be a motivator.

I too believe the snow cave collapse is probable, followed by extra snow buildup thereafter. What would ice cold flowing water make better? Something that needed dilution is a possibility. That might tie into chemical burns. But again there is thirst and the 50/50 chance they could have fallen the other way.

Venting may be the reason for the slits in the tent. It may address the several problems of uncontrollable heat from the tent stove, CO2 buildup and humidity as the clothes dry out. On their first night out on the trail, it became clear that sleeping next to the stove was not all that desirable.

Curious too is the effort by authorities to bury the deceased at Ivdel, and not at home. The families were being played off against each other to make it seem like it was an OK solution. That stopped when it was proposed that all the families be brought together and decide. For me, the significance of this, when considering the acid or wolverine spray theory is that a quick group burial without a lot of ceremony hides secrets. Even so, when the bodies were returned home, the authorities broke up the proceedings in order to keep everything low key.

The deceased were brought home and viewed. It must have been hard for them all, but Igor's sister remembers his hair and complection. Dark skin white hair. Bleach would neutralize acid, but the skin would already be discolored. Bleach might whiten hair, yes?

[Ziljoe]

An air burst of an errant missile should produce both a plume or cloud of material in the air and a deposit and possibly another plume of contaminates on the ground. Wolverine spray would certainly be much more intense and localized. It would certainly be a motivator.

I too believe the snow cave collapse is probable, followed by extra snow buildup thereafter. What would ice cold flowing water make better? Something that needed dilution is a possibility. That might tie into chemical burns. But again there is thirst and the 50/50 chance they could have fallen the other way.

Venting may be the reason for the slits in the tent. It may address the several problems of uncontrollable heat from the tent stove, CO2 buildup and humidity as the clothes dry out. On their first night out on the trail, it became clear that sleeping next to the stove was not all that desirable.

Curious too is the effort by authorities to bury the deceased at Ivdel, and not at home. The families were being played off against each other to make it seem like it was an OK solution. That stopped when it was proposed that all the families be brought together and decide. For me, the significance of this, when considering the acid or wolverine spray theory is that a quick group burial without a lot of ceremony hides secrets. Even so, when the bodies were returned home, the authorities broke up the proceedings in order to keep everything low key.

The deceased were brought home and viewed. It must have been hard for them all, but Igor's sister remembers his hair and complection. Dark skin white hair. Bleach would neutralize acid, but the skin would already be discolored. Bleach might whiten hair, yes?

Interesting as always Glennm.

My thoughts on running water, ice col or not , might be that these hey thought they needed it. Without a heat source to melt snow there would be no liquid water? . I'm just trying to look at things from a different angle.

I'm personally ok with them burning the bodies. Seems inoccent enough and the colouring of the skin ties in with exposed hypothermia..

I believe Zinas body was put in the university before being buried?

[GlennM]

Happy New Year, my friend.

[Arjan]

First of all: Happy New Year

Thank you for raising this post!

The autopsy report of Zinaida and the last three photos of Zinaida in the mortuary show, that Zinaida may have been alert to toxic gases during her tour from the tent to the ravine/cedar.

The autopsy report of Zinaida states:
- 'Under the checkered shirt on the left side of the chest is a military style defensive mask'.

The second photo of Zinaida in the mortuary shows the military style defensive mask:



This kind of military style defensive mask is certainly not an adequate PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) that meets the European PPE-directive, but Zinaida may well have thought: 'Better some protection than no protection'.

Remark: Out of prudency, I have only included the military style defensive mask on the photo

Additional remark:
Personally I think that Zinaida and Rustem have stayed the fatal night (for the other seven group members) in the tent covered under blankets etc.: it had been a cold night for both, but doable.
The next morning Zinaida and Rustem had descended to the ravine/cedar to look for the fate of the others: Zinaida and Rustem had placed the other group members in the postures as the seven had been found by both search parties.

 

[GlennM]

Hello all. As grist to the mill, it appears that during the post mortem exams tissue samples were sent away for radiological analysis. However, the case was officially closed just before the results were returned. Beta ( electron) emission was measured at twice the permissible dose by 1959 standards. I offer this as an insight into what the failed rocket launch might be carrying as a payload.

 I imagine an air burst rocket explosion carrying a plume of irradiated and acidified vapor toward 1079. The acid drove the hikers into the cold to meet their fates. The fallout kept the area off limits for the next three years.

[Ziljoe]

Hi Glenn.

I believe the readings may have been higher but were possibly reduced due to the running water in the stream. There was a great discussion about it in another thread. Ryan is knowledgeable and pointed to the fact that all the clothes were contaminated , Ryan proposes that the contamination may have happened after, that's based on the fact that all of the ravine 4 clothes were contaminated?. If you haven't read it, it's worth a read .

https://forum.dyatlovpass.com/index.php?topic=1319.0

I don't think the area was off limits after the the incident though. There doesn't seem to be any official record of this . The Mansi kept herding their deer and their were summer rafting hikes . My understanding is that it was just the UPI and tourist going there was not promoted , especially in winter. I believe people were possibly sacked and blamed for the hikers deaths due to them not doing things properly, getting official planned route, assessing their equipment etc .

[GlennM]

Ziljoe,
Teddy's response points out that a geiger counter is not typical rescue gear. This suggests that in anticipation of contamination from a burst missile, the authorities came both suspicious and prepared. But then again, you do not coverup a radioactive contamination incident by bringing a detector to the site. Whether Ryan is right or not, the radiation existed and it was measured. By comparison,  if the USA and Russia were having a tense time and some USA hikers succumbed to winter conditions in the Rocky Mountains, there would be no reason to have a geiger counter out there with the rescue team.  So, all behavior is motivated. In the burst rocket scenario, it makes some sense and it adds to a supposition that the last photo of the blurry light was more than an artifact. The area may well have been off limits owing to it being 45 miles from civilization ( and emergency help) due to an abundance of caution by the authorities, but it also makes a convenient reason to allow decay and flushing of Strontium or whatever the emitter was. A simple slab slide is so much more convenient, but the nitric acid/ radiation cloud does have its merits at best or just one more rabbit hole on the forum at worst.

[Ziljoe]

Hi Glenn.

I'm certainly not disagreeing, I'm only trying to work out , or rather remember the contradictions with the reporting of certain said event's.

The measurements of the clothing did take place, that seems to be a fact, but it was only decided to measure the ravine 4? , 3 months after the initial discovery of the other 5 hikers?.

From memory, the clothes were said to be glowing where the were stored but I don't think clothes glow from radioactive contamination. It's this reported glow that is the reason for taking the readings? ( I could be wrong and need to re-read) 

Another person at the search area( I've forgotten) mentions a different type of measuring device , more to do with exposure to any radiation over length of time , it was described as a dosimeter, I don't know if this has been confused by individuals at the time or in translation to English but a Geiger counter and dosimeter are different.

I think we can agree that there was rocket/missile testing , we have a number of statements relating to lights and objects in the sky. I think this is where one of the other forum members suggested that this is where misleading information by the authorities came from. The west was listening into activities during the search and perhaps certain false information was released to those listening in, or perhaps there was some missile contamination and the case was closed suddenly to cover this up?

I agree it has merits and covers some of the oddities for sure.

[Ziljoe]

Here's some if the confusion


Interview with Stanislav Bogomolov

https://forum.dyatlovpass.com/index.php?topic=642.msg9141#msg9141

Perhaps they took along a Geiger counter/dosimeter for the very fact that lights and objects in the sky had been observed prior to the search?. The search party all stayed in the area and drank the streams for three months, so I don't think there was a huge concern, or at least inside knowledge of a failed rocket? 

[GlennM]

Ziljoe, do you think there is any sort of link between the presence of metal detectors and geiger counters on site? Could there be a prospecting component to this which would be parallel to the recovery effort? I am thinking that searchers might just bring along tools they are familiar with as a matter of course.

[Ziljoe]

GlennM, no , not that I can think of. Metal detectors seem a reasonable idea to search for bodies. From the link that teddy put up it looks like the sappers arrived after the first 4 hikers were found. Perhaps the thinking was the rest of the hikers would be found on the slope. All be it ,under some snow? Not sure how good 1959 metal detectors were...I'm still not sure about the Geiger counter , it may have been in their kit bag of tools.

I'm not sure about a prospecting component, but I have feeling you have a thought!

Interested as always.

[GlennM]

Unless the tent was fogged with nitric acid vapor, i would think that the eye, skin and upper respiratory distress would be minimal. This is owing to dilution and dispersion.  If someone was caught outside the tent in the plume, I could understand them trying to outrun it.  I cant believe others would cut themselves out of the tent in order to share the misery.  I understand that the wind was quite strong during the critical hours, so a lingering chemical contamination does not fit unless it came down more like a spray of heavy mist..I would think the missile scrap would have acid corrosion. I do not recall anyone finding metal and reporting atypical corrosion.

 You suggest the detector might just have been there in a tool bag. True enough and certainly plausible. The fact that the counter was used on the victims is interesting irregardless of why it was on the scene. Who would think to scan frozen dead people for contamination.?  It seems goofy,,especially when there is no mention of rescuers scanning themselves.

According to reports on Dyatlov.com, there was a bright explosion, though noiseless from a great distance that seemed to be in the general direction of the hikers on 1079. Sasha had injuries consistent with a blast. However if he was knocked off his feet at the tent, I would expect a blown down tent. I'd not expect him to walk a mile in his condition. For the nitric acid angle, some things fit,,some do not. And the beat goes on.

[Ziljoe]

I don't think there's much support for any kind of wreckage at the site. I think some people found bits of rockets in later years and some said that one side of the trees were burnt. Explanations for this have been the weather , blowing ice crystals off the tree bark or the way some trees die on one side. 

Here's the rocket part.

https://dyatlovpass.com/rocket-2

I thought you were suggesting the detector might be in the sappers bag of tools in the previous post and I too suppose it could be just part of the equipment they have. I'm searching for the actual quote about the Geiger counter being used in the search but I can only find conflicting waffle of lev Ivanov.

I don't recall any counter being used on the victims , only on the ravine 4 clothes. Where does it say they scanned frozen dead people? This is bit I get confused at, so many things said in early and later years.
As said by one of the witnesses, who only speculated  there was a counter, he implies it was a dosimeter .

Lev ivonov  talks about  , fireballs and UFO's around 1990. Then authors jump on the UFO craze of the time and add a host of confusion , probably for financial gain.

Ivanov’s reason for appointing a examination, seems to come from the  strange observations in February 17 and March 31. Lev Ivonov almost seems to working from his own theory and doing his own investigation?.




Tagil Worker's Newspaper (Nizhny Tagil), February 18, 1959

UNUSUAL CELESTIAL PHENOMENON

At 6:55 of local time yesterday, in the east-southeast, at an altitude of 20 degrees from the horizon, a glowing ball appeared the size of the apparent diameter of the moon. The ball moved towards the northeast. At 7:00 a flash appeared inside it, and the very bright core of the ball became visible. It began to glow more intensively, and was enshroud in a luminous cloud, enlongated toward the south. The cloud spread to the whole eastern part of the sky. Shortly thereafter, a second outbreak occurred, it looked like a sickle of the Moon. Gradually, the cloud increased, in the center there remained a luminous point (the luminescence was variable in magnitude). The ball moved in the direction northeast-east. The greatest height above the horizon 30 degrees was reached at about 7:05. Continuing the movement, this unusual celestial phenomenon faded and fell apart.
Thinking that it was somehow connected with the satellite, I turned on the receiver, but there was no signal reception.

A. Kissel,
Deputy Head of Communications


Sheet 227

17 III To Tempalov from K. Piguzova
16. III.59
To the Chief of the Ivdel Police Station 17. II. 59, 6 h. 50 m. local time in the sky appeared not unnatural phenomenon. Moving star with a tail. The tail looked like dense cirrus clouds. Then the star was freed from the tail, became brighter than the stars and flew away. It gradually began to swell, forming a large ball, enveloped in a haze. Then inside this ball the star caught fire, from which first a crescent was formed, then a small ball formed, not so bright. The big ball gradually
began to fade, became like a blurry spot. At 7 h. 05 m. it disappeared altogether. A star moved from the south to the northeast.

Meteorological technician Tokareva (signature)
Chief GMS Piguzova (signature)

Sheet 264

PROTOCOL
witness testimony

On April 7, 1959, the prosecutor of the Prosecutor's Office of the city of Ivdel in the Sverdlovsk Region, Jr Counselor of Justice Tempalov interrogated in the office as a witness, in compliance with Article 162-168 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR

Surname, name and middle name Savkin Aleksandr Dmitrievich
Year of birth 1926
Place of birth: Tyumen Oblast, Abatskiy region village of Tihvinka
Address: city of Ivdel, Military unit 6602 "C"
Political affiliation: member of the CPSU
Nationality: Russian
Citizenship: USSR
Passport or other documents: personal identification card №7919
Education: 9th grade
Place of work, position (profession): serviceman
Criminal record: no
Warned on the responsibility for the first part of Art. 92 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR for refusing to testify and under Art. 95 Criminal Code of the RSFSR for giving knowingly false testimony.

Signed: Savkin



The witness testified: On February 17, 1959, at 6:40 in the morning, while on duty on the south side, a ball of bright white light appeared that periodically enveloped in cloud white dense fog inside this cloud was a bright-luminous point the size of a star. Moving towards the north direction the ball was visible for 8-10 minutes.

I personally wrote the interrogation protocol
April 7, 1959. Savkin

Prosecutor Mr. Ivdel Tempalov (signature)


Sheet 260

Prodanov, Vishnevskiy, 31.03.59, at 9.30 local time.
31.3 04oo Meshcheryakov who was on watch noticed in the southeast direction a large fire ring, which for 20 minutes moved towards us, hiding behind height 880.
Before hiding behind the horizon from the center of the ring appeared a star, which gradually increased to the size of the moon, began to fall down separating from the ring.
This unusual phenomenon was observed by all the personnel raised in alarm.
We ask you to explain this phenomenon and if it is safe, since under the circumstances it left us with anxiety.

Avenburg Potapov Sogrin



Sheet 265

PROTOCOL
witness testimony

On April 7, 1959, the prosecutor of the Prosecutor's Office of the city of Ivdel in the Sverdlovsk Region, Jr Counselor of Justice Tempalov interrogated in the office as a witness, in compliance with Article 162-168 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR

Surname, name and middle name Malik Igor Nikolaevich
Year of birth 1939
Place of birth: Tyumen Oblast, Abatskiy region village of Tihvinka
Address: city of Ivdel, Military unit 6602 "C"
Political affiliation: member of VLKSM (Komsomol)
Nationality: Ukrainian
Citizenship: USSR
Passport or other documents: military id №009321
issued by unit 6602 on 16/XI-58
Education: 6th grade
Place of work, position (profession): serviceman
Criminal record: no
Warned on the responsibility for the first part of Art. 92 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR for refusing to testify and under Art. 95 Criminal Code of the RSFSR for giving knowingly false testimony.

Signed: Malik



The witness testified: on February 17 at 6:40 am while attending my duties I noticed a moving ball of bright white color that appeared on the south side. The ball was brightly white, in a dense white fog. The misty cloud grew thicker and brighter, and the ball inside was glowing with bright white light and was moving northward. The ball was visible for 10-15 minutes after which the ball could not be seen in the north.

I personally wrote the interrogation protocol.
April 7, 1959.
Malik (signature)

Prosecutor Mr. Ivdel Tempalov (signature)


The testimonies of Novikov, Avenburg, Malik were exactly the same. The same ball was seen on March 31. We saw a similar ball on the night of the death of the hikers, that is, from the first to the second of February, students-hikers of the Geological Faculty of the Pedagogical Institute. Witness G. Atamanaki - saw this ball over Otorten on the night of the 1st of February



Below is reported to have been said Lev Ivanov, here he seems to take the mystery on by himself. In separate and later interviews, Ivanov  seems to contradict and change his mind about several facts. However ,  On 31 March 1958, the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union approved a decision to halt nuclear testing, conditional on other nuclear powers doing the same. Khrushchev then called on Eisenhower and Macmillan to join the moratorium.
This took to time to organise and was over the following 3 years.The nuclear test ban  is well documented and it would be a major failure if tests were being carried out by the Soviet Union.

Is there a possibility that secret underground testing was happening close to the northern Urals ? Did Ivanov get too close to the truth with radiation testing and was causing to much attention along with the newspaper of "fire balls in the sky" .
Coincidentally, this moratorium takes 3 years which matches the alleged ban on the northern Urals.



"When, together with the regional prosecutor, I reported the initial data to the first secretary of the regional party committee, L. P. Kirilenko, he gave a clear command - all the work should be classified and not a single word of information should be leaked. Kirilenko ordered the hikers to be buried in closed coffins and the relatives to be told that they died from hypothermia.

Khrushchev was informed about the event at the very beginning, and the latter, as it is known from the publication of one of the participants in the search party, the correspondent of the newspaper, spoke out against any reports on this issue, until all the hikers were found and full investigation is carried out. And when they found the rest of the bodies and revealed such details about which I spoke above, now Kirilenko did not inform Khrushchev. And the matter on such a high level died out by itself. All appeals of relatives were swept under the rug. Such was the order in the country then, and it wasn't up to us to change it.

fact is that when the investigation was underway, a tiny note appeared in the Tagil Worker newspaper, during the period when the students were on Mt Otorten, a fireball was seen in the sky of Nizhniy Tagil, or, as they say now, an unidentified flying object. This luminous object moved silently towards the northern peaks of the Ural Mountains. The author of the article asked: what could it be? For the publication of such a note, the editor of the newspaper was penalized, and I suggested that the regional committee doesn't take this topic any further. The second secretary of the regional party committee A. F. Yestokin took control over my investigation

At that time, we still knew very little about unidentified flying objects, we did not know about radiation either. The ban on these topics was caused by the possibility of even accidentally deciphering information about missile and nuclear technology, the development of which at that time was really just beginning, and in the world there were times called the "Cold War".

But I couldn't just drop the investigation, I’m a professional criminalist and I have to find a clue. I nevertheless decided, despite the ban, to continue working on this case maintaining the highest degree of secrecy, because other versions, including criminal intend, animals attacks, a fall during a hurricane, etc., were excluded by the evidence.

It was clear to me in what sequence did they die - all this from thorough study of the bodies, the clothes, other data. All that remained was the sky and its contents - energy unknown to us, which turned out to be higher than human forces.

Having conspired with scientists of the UFAN (Ural branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences), I conducted very extensive research on clothes and individual organs of the deceased for "radiation". And for comparison, we took clothes and internal organs of people who died in car accidents or who died a natural death. The results were amazing. For non-experts, the results of the analysis will not say anything, and I will only say these: the brown sweater of one of the hikers who had bodily injuries - gave 9900 decays per minute, and after washing the sample - 5200 decays, that is, these data indicate the presence of radioactive "dust" which was washed away. I must say that before the discovery of these corpses, they were intensively washed by melting water under the snow - entire rivers flowed there. Consequently, the radiation "dust" contamination at the time of the death of the hikers was much higher.

As a prosecutor who at that time had to deal with some secret defense issues, I rejected the version of the atomic weapon test in this zone. It was then that I began to closely engage in "fireballs.""

[amashilu]

This is a quote from the US State Dept. web page on the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty:

"In March 1958 the Soviet Union announced that it was discontinuing all tests and appealed to the parliaments of other nuclear powers to take similar action. It added, however, that the Soviet Union would "naturally be free" to resume testing if other nuclear powers did not stop their tests."

The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was subsequently signed 5 years later, 1963.

Thus, if (secret) nuclear testing was involved in the deaths of the DP4 in February 1959, it would mean that this occurred during the time when the Soviet Union had already declared it was "discontinuing all tests" and was urging other countries to follow its lead.

If it became known that not only were they violating their own public declarations about having stopped testing, but had killed 9 of their own engineering students in doing so, this would bring quite a bit of horror and shame to them world-wide.

It makes sense that this would go all the way up to Krushchev; would it also be enough of a motivation for trying to hastily bury the bodies, close the case, and "lose" some of the evidence?

[Ziljoe]

There are a number of variations that we could conclude. But there's good motive to cover things up.

I'm thinking along the lines that they were  told to close the case because it may have looked like there was testing. All the talk of lights in the sky would be basically rockets and missile testing.
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_crisis

The west was alarmed at Sputnik,October 4, 1957.


The Sputnik crisis was a period of public fear and anxiety in Western nations about the perceived technological gap between the United States and Soviet Union caused by the Soviets' launch of Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite.[1] The crisis was a significant event in the Cold War that triggered the creation of NASA and the Space Race between the two superpowers. The satellite was launched on October 4, 1957, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. This created a crisis reaction in national newspapers such as The New York Times, which mentioned the satellite in 279 articles between October 6, 1957, and October 31, 1957 (more than 11 articles per day).[

Eisenhower made the argument that Sputnik was only a scientific achievement and not a military threat or change in world power. He believed that Sputnik's weight "was not commensurate with anything of great military significance, and that was also a factor in putting it in [proper] perspective".[7]

In 1958, Eisenhower declared three "stark facts" the United States needed to confront:

The Soviets had surpassed America and the rest of the "free world" in scientific and technological advancements in outer space.
If the Soviets maintained that superiority, they might use it as a means to undermine America's prestige and leadership.
If the Soviets became the first to achieve significantly superior military capability in outer space and created an imbalance of power, they could pose a direct military threat to the US.[11]
Eisenhower followed this statement by saying that the United States needed to meet these challenges with "resourcefulness and vigor".[

The outcome of sputnik in the west is below. The United States went into overdrive with fear and I'm sure the Soviet's heard about this too. The arms race escalates as a result.

United States
edit
The week after Sputnik went up, we were digging ourselves out of this avalanche of money that suddenly descended.

— John Jefferies, at High Altitude Observatory in 1957[16]
The launch spurred a series of US initiatives[17] ranging from defense to education. Increased emphasis was placed on the US Navy's Project Vanguard to launch an American satellite into orbit. There was a renewed interest in the existing Explorer program, which launched the first American satellite into orbit on January 31, 1958.[18] In February 1958, Eisenhower authorized formation of the Advanced Research Projects Agency, which was later renamed to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), within the Department of Defense (DoD) to develop emerging technologies for the US military. On July 29, 1958, he signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, the creation of NASA.[17]


Less than a year after the Sputnik launch, Congress passed the National Defense Education Act (NDEA). It was a four-year program that poured billions of dollars into the US education system. In 1953, the government spent $153 million, and colleges took $10 million of that funding, but by 1960, the combined funding grew almost six-fold because of the NDEA.[19] After the initial public shock, the Space Race began, which led to the first human launched into space, Project Apollo, and the first humans to land on the Moon in 1969.[20]

Campaigning in 1960 on closing the "missile gap",[21] Eisenhower's successor, John F. Kennedy, promised to deploy 1,000 Minuteman missiles.
 

The UK's response below which lead to US–UK Mutual Defence Agreement of 1958. But here's the twister, the Soviet's were wanting a test-ban but the UK was delaying until they had done their tests in November 1958.

United Kingdom
edit
In Britain, the launch of the first Sputnik provoked surprise, combined with elation at experiencing the dawn of the Space Age. It was also a reminder of the decline in the British Empire's world influence. The crisis soon became part of the broader Cold War narrative.[27] The Daily Express predicted that "The result will be a new [U.S.] drive to catch up and pass the Russians in the sphere of space exploration. Never doubt for a moment that America will be successful".[28] The crisis contributed to the US–UK Mutual Defence Agreement of 1958.

It would seem the Soviet Union is trying to do the opposite


Khrushchev and a moratorium: 1958–1961
edit
In the summer of 1957, Khrushchev was at acute risk of losing power, as the Anti-Party Group composed of former Stalin allies Lazar Kaganovich, Georgy Malenkov, and Vyacheslav Molotov launched an attempt to replace Khrushchev as General Secretary of the Communist Party (effectively the leader of the Soviet Union) with Nikolai Bulganin, then the Premier of the Soviet Union. The attempted ouster, which was foiled in June, was followed by a series of actions by Khrushchev to consolidate power. In October 1957, still feeling vulnerable from Anti-Party Group's ploy, Khrushchev forced out defense minister Georgy Zhukov, cited as "the nation's most powerful military man." On 27 March 1958, Khrushchev forced Bulganin to resign and succeeded him as Premier. Between 1957 and 1960, Khrushchev had his firmest grip on power, with little real opposition.

Khrushchev was personally troubled by the power of nuclear weapons and would later recount that he believed the weapons could never be used. In the mid-1950s, Khrushchev took a keen interest in defense policy and sought to inaugurate an era of détente with the West. Initial efforts to reach accords, such as on disarmament at the 1955 Geneva Summit, proved fruitless, and Khrushchev saw test-ban negotiations as an opportunity to present the Soviet Union as "both powerful and responsible."[55][56] At the 20th Communist Party Congress in 1956, Khrushchev declared that nuclear war should no longer be seen as "fatalistically inevitable." Simultaneously, however, Khrushchev expanded and advanced the Soviet nuclear arsenal at a cost to conventional Soviet forces (e.g., in early 1960, Khrushchev announced demobilization of 1.2 million troops).[/i]

On 31 March 1958, the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union approved a decision to halt nuclear testing, conditional on other nuclear powers doing the same. Khrushchev then called on Eisenhower and Macmillan to join the moratorium. Despite the action being met with widespread praise and an argument from Dulles that the US should reciprocate,[53] Eisenhower dismissed the plan as a "gimmick"; the Soviet Union had just completed a testing series and the US was about to begin Operation Hardtack I, a series of atmospheric, surface-level, and underwater nuclear tests. Eisenhower instead insisted that any moratorium be linked to reduced production of nuclear weapons. In April 1958, the US began Operation Hardtack I as planned.[38][58][59] The Soviet declaration concerned the British government, which feared that the moratorium might lead to a test ban before its own testing program was completed.[60] Following the Soviet declaration, Eisenhower called for an international meeting of experts to determine proper control and verification measures—an idea first proposed by British Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd.[2][60]

There is much more detail in here.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_Nuclear_Test_Ban_Treaty#Khrushchev_and_a_moratorium:_1958%E2%80%931961

A lot of history for sure. Nuclear tests , fallout of these tests harming citizens, secret nuclear facilities in the south Urals. It's all here.

I'm not saying the DP9 came across some nuclear test, rather , the investigation was just closed to keep such talk away from west listening in. There may have been activity in the area that was meant to be secret ?.

Ivanov talks a lot about a missiles etc, would the authorities want this released to the west?

[amashilu]

Great posts here, Ziljoe.

[Partorg]

The testimonies of Novikov, Avenburg, Malik were exactly the same. The same ball was seen on March 31. We saw a similar ball on the night of the death of the hikers, that is, from the first to the second of February, students-hikers of the Geological Faculty of the Pedagogical Institute. Witness G. Atamanaki - saw this ball over Otorten on the night of the 1st of February

In case this has not yet been discussed in Dyatlovpass: Celestial phenomena 02/17/1959 and 03/31/1959. up to a minute coincide with test launches of the 8K71 (R-7) ICBM along the highway Baikonur - Kamchatka Peninsula.
The time of observation by students of the Pedagogical Institute of the phenomenon in the sky over Otorten has not been precisely established. But according to indirect data (severe frost at the time of observation and the next day after it), it can be assumed that the glow was observed on the night of February 4-5   It was on these dates that the minimum temperature for February occurred, and it was on the night of February 4-5 that the Burmantovo weather station (77 km southeast of Pereval) recorded the Aurora Borealis.

All information about “fireballs” and mysterious outbreaks on February 1st and in the Pass area exists only at the level of a phenomenon that in Russian phraseology is called a “damaged telephone” or “OBS” - one grandmother said...

Atmanaki saw his ball not on the 1st, but on the same February 17th

Sheets with a wafer profile were first used in the fuel tanks of the UR-100 (SS11 Sego) ICBM, which was first tested in 1965.

[Ziljoe]

Thank you amashilu.

It's gone off topic a bit but GlennM got me looking at different things. ( Thanks Glennm) Although I lean towards a natural reason to leaving the tent , I still agree with many that the investigation is poorly concluded and unfinished. It's all a bit schizophrenic as are many of the ever changing statements by the same witnesses over the years.

If some of the more senior investigators were in the know about the potential of radioactive fall out, then a dosimeter may be the better tool , I understand this measures the exposure and if you had previous knowledge that an area was already radioactive, the dosimeter tells you what radiation dose you have absorbed, a Geiger counter can't do that.

[Ziljoe]

The testimonies of Novikov, Avenburg, Malik were exactly the same. The same ball was seen on March 31. We saw a similar ball on the night of the death of the hikers, that is, from the first to the second of February, students-hikers of the Geological Faculty of the Pedagogical Institute. Witness G. Atamanaki - saw this ball over Otorten on the night of the 1st of February

In case this has not yet been discussed in Dyatlovpass: Celestial phenomena 02/17/1959 and 03/31/1959. up to a minute coincide with test launches of the 8K71 (R-7) ICBM along the Baikonur - Kura test site (Kamchatka Peninsula)
The time of observation by students of the Pedagogical Institute of the phenomenon in the sky over Otorten has not been precisely established. But according to indirect data (severe frost at the time of observation and the next day after it), it can be assumed that the glow was observed on the night of February 4-5   It was on these dates that the minimum temperature for February occurred, and it was on the night of February 4-5 that the Burmantovo weather station (77 km southeast of Pereval) recorded the Aurora Borealis.

All information about “fireballs” and mysterious outbreaks on February 1st and in the Pass area exists only at the level of a phenomenon that in Russian phraseology is called a “damaged telephone” or “OBS” - one grandmother said...

Atmanaki saw his ball not on the 1st, but on the same February 17th

Sheets with a wafer profile were first used in the fuel tanks of the UR-100 (SS11 Sego) ICBM, which was first tested in 1965.

Thank you Partorg,

Please please correct any inaccuracies I post. I am only copying and pasting. I think the flights were posted on some other thread.

As Partorg states. The parts of the rockets found were after 1965.

[Partorg]

Ok. Counter-request: do not pass over with delicate silence those places in my scribble that are not entirely clear and require clarification.

[Partorg]

The memory began to betray. Wafer tanks were used for the first time on the UR-200, and not on the UR-100 UR-200 was tested 2 years earlier - in 1963

[GlennM]

I've watched numerous missile launches in the `60's from USA Vandenburg AFB. I think that the report of a starlike bright light persisting for 5 minutes does not fit with my observations. The light is brightest nearest the ground and diminishes with altitude. True, there is smoke, but the smoke trails the light. It does not envelope it. Next, the fireball moves in an arc. It increases altitude and diminishes in size unless the missile goes off course and has to be destructed in flight. That is something to see! The explosion is most certainly less than 5 minutes duration, but for an instant it is a big flash. Too, if the rocket is large enough to achieve orbit, its roar may be heard 30 miles away.

If a liquid propelled Russian rocket was detonated in the upwind vicinity of 1079, there would likely be a bright flash and perhaps smoke in the form of a lingering haze. A relatively nearby detonation would send any sane person scrambling, tent be damned.

The acidic residue of the explosion could pass by the tent and blow into the forest beyond. The running water is constantly refreshed and so the rescuers would be unaffected.  The effects of acid on the hikers would be much more troublesome as I've speculated before.  But, these chemicals are not particularly radioactive. Perhaps where the ravine 4 succumbed there was naturally occurring radiation in the stream and embankment. Was not this area interesting to geologists in search of pitchblende ore, a source of Uranium?

What we need here for this nitric acid thread is the proverbial smoking gun!

[Ziljoe]

Having read some more, we have the following rocket twilight effect the video explains why it happens at sunset and sunrise. It could be what's being observed by the wittness on the ground. If it is, we have rockets , nitric acid used as an oxidiser perhaps?


Video of rocket launches high in the atmosphere.
https://youtu.be/Y1Hfiirwgys?si=4h_kWn8f-VyQV0J-

On a slightly different note
. it would seem the Soviet Union didn't have a large amount of ICBMs or at least a lot less than the west thought. (I'm still reading about rockets and spies) . Just like the Dyatlov pass , there are slight variations between authors but there definitely was a game between the Soviet Union and the west.


The missile gap

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_gap

"In the United States, during the Cold War, the missile gap was the perceived superiority of the number and power of the USSR's missiles in comparison with those of the U.S. (a lack of military parity). The gap in the ballistic missile arsenals did not exist except in exaggerated estimates, made by the Gaither Committee in 1957 and in United States Air Force (USAF) figures. Even the contradictory CIA figures for the USSR's weaponry, which showed a clear advantage for the US, were far above the actual count. Like the bomber gap of only a few years earlier, it was soon demonstrated that the gap was entirely fictional."

Although US military and civilian agencies were well aware of Soviet satellite plans, as they were publicly announced as part of the International Geophysical Year, US President Dwight Eisenhower's announcements that the event was unsurprising found little support among a US public that was still struggling with McCarthyism.

So just after Sputnik

"Political opponents seized on the event, helped by Eisenhower's ineffectual response, as further proof that the US was "fiddling as Rome burned." Senator John F. Kennedy stated "the nation was losing the satellite-missile race with the Soviet Union because of… complacent miscalculations, penny-pinching, budget cutbacks, incredibly confused mismanagement, and wasteful rivalries and jealousies."[1] The Soviets capitalized on their strengthened position with false claims of Soviet missile capabilities, claiming on December 4, 1958, "Soviet ICBMs are at present in mass production." Five days later, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev boasted the successful testing of an ICBM with an impressive 8,000-mile (13,000 km) range.[2] Coupled with the US's failed launch of the Titan ICBM (Inter Continental Ballistic Missile) that month, a sense of Soviet superiority in missile technology became prevalent."


However, we have this character Oleg Penkovsky  that speaks to the west during these times about the Soviet's ICBM program. 

Oleg Penkovsky, cold war spy below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleg_Penkovsky

Oleg Vladimirovich Penkovsky (Russian: Олег Владимирович Пеньковский; 23 April 1919 – 16 May 1963), codenamed Hero (by the CIA) and Yoga (by MI6)[1] was a Soviet military intelligence (GRU) colonel during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Penkovsky informed the United States and the United Kingdom about Soviet military secrets, including the appearance and footprint of Soviet intermediate-range ballistic missile installations and the weakness of the Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile program. This information was decisive in allowing the US to recognize that the Soviets were placing missiles in Cuba before most of them were operational. It also gave US President John F. Kennedy, during the Cuban Missile Crisis that followed, valuable information about Soviet weakness that allowed him to face down Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and resolve the crisis without a nuclear war.

There is a lot of conflicting information about the exact details of what went on. There's other information about Russian missiles being made to look like they were inaccurate as well as the actual  numbers of Soviet ICBMs. It was the medium range missiles that were being shipped to Cuba and that's what Oleg Penkovsky informed Kennedy.

The Soviet's were deliberately trying to give the Impression that their missiles were inaccurate , the reason for this is so American missile silos remained virtually defenseless, and in the event of a crazy development of events, they(the Soviet's )could suddenly destroy them. The Americans had being listening into unencrypted telemetry data and believed all of this to be the case. It would seem the Soviet's were double bluffing and the west was believing it, or up to the 1970s at least.

In the 70s, a miss calculation about an American  satalite over Russian territory caught the Soviet's out. Apparently the  Russian's had been digging and filling in holes to give the impression that the ICBMs were inaccurate every time the satalite came over. The Soviet workers got the timing wrong one day and the west photographed them at it, filling in holes and digging new ones etc. Following this, the Soviet's just stopped digging the holes and started encrypting the data and withheld their informants and agents from transmitting about inaccurate missiles.

The connection I'm seeing with the Dyatlov pass is, the Soviet's at that time may have used the DP9 incident to give the same impression. The Soviet's wanted the west to think that their missiles couldn't hit their intended targets. ? The Soviet's had their spies in the west too and would get inside information of what the west was thinking . Not that any of this solves the mystery of the hikers deaths but it may explain some of the secrecy, talk of rockets , lights in the sky and radioactive readings etc. Is it this information that the Soviet's wanted leaked? 


Sorry Glennm, gone off topic
Certainly food for thought though. 

[GlennM]

Ziljoe, a nice piece of research and a springboard for discussion. The Soviet ploy of inaccurate missiles tied to the DP9 tragedy must surely depend on the West being able to know of the incident during and the supposition that an errant missile caused it. This might have been fed to military intelligence in the West, but I don't think the DP9 tragedy was a news item in the West.

Of course, in this case it would be ironic that a defective rocket actually precipitated the evacuation of tent and all that followed. It is a conundrum.  The chance of a rocket versus an avalanche caused tragedy are both suspect. We do know that the hikers were in the snow, we can only guess that a acid plume from an exploded rocket happened at all. Slab slip still makes sense.though.

[Ziljoe]

Thanks Glennm.

No ,I don't think the DP9 incident was a news item in the west either. But they had agents and double agents on both sides.  False secret information can be supplied to find out where it pops up with informants giving feedback. Whether that's just listening in to communications or significant to military intelligence ,who knows.

It's all the chat around rockets and missiles that it gets interesting. The Soviet's are playing games with the west , the last thing the Soviet intelligence will want , is uncontrolled news and gossip from inside that might jeopardise their work or where the west is to look for missile / rocket/ or nuclear testing?.

The story that was put in the newspaper at the time  ,about lights in the sky saw the editor getting told not to.

 I'm not drawing any conclusions yet but there's a lot at stake at a bigger scale for the Soviet's and how they are going about their national defense. I'm just wondering if the DP 9 case plays on the rocket misinformation , or if it's rocket case that plays on the DP 9?, If that makes sense? 


I totally get the irony of a rocket causing the incident, that crossed my mind for sure.

[GlennM]

Search futurism.com
Find in videos, chinese rocket parts residential area



https://twitter.com/AJ_FI/status/1739684413644972475?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1739684413644972475%7Ctwgr%5Ec5e7de7b47c5886f1191e7c1336b2b0d215a17cf%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffuturism.com%2Fthe-byte%2Fvideos-chinese-rocket-parts-residential-area