Bartolomey

[GlennM]

Pyotr Bartolomey took part in the search Mar 13-23, 1959.
"I spent two weeks huddled down in a tent with Ivanov. He was asking me about everything and everybody.
After the first five bodies were found, he was summoned and we parted with the promise that we will continue the conversation. When Ivanov arrived back on the pass (as well as in Ivdel and Sverdlovsk) he was withdrawn, and didn't want to talk even to Maslennikov (the head of the search operation). Ivanov said to me – I can't talk to you, I am not allowed. It was obvious to me that he was told what happened, sworn to silence and he was afraid.

This reads like Ivanov was told something. I think what he was told is something like if you want to keep climbing higher as a civil servant, you should stick to the facts and not make up stories.

[SURI]

It was obvious to him that they were killed.

[GlennM]

If the testimony is not made up, and I have no reason to believe so, then Ivanov was advised to stop speculating. Why?

I am thinking that his speculation could filter all the way back to the home of the hikers by way of returning college students. Further, if we use the party game of telephone as an example, each retelling of the story gets filtered by each reporter's perception. It is conceivable that an unsubstantiated rumor of lights in the sky could morph into a botched Soviet military test.

It could also be that Ivanov was reminded of his role in the investigation and how his handling of it might play out in terms of career advancement. So, casual speculations with companions could have more gravitas because Ivanov was the one to say it. It matters little if it is factual or not, it is about who said what.

Then, there is the matter that Ivanov found out something of the truth. That truth would somehow involve the deep pockets of the Soviet government,meaning someone is going to lawyer up and go to court and sue the Bear. That, in turn will rile the populace and the lid could blow off the whole thing.  To give any credence to this idea, one would speculate that the debris were picked up and carted away before the first rescue and perhaps without the knowledge of the hikers being in the area. After all, the event need not happen in their midst, only in the vicinity.

[Ziljoe]

For me it just adds to a frustrating loop.

I'm in a lazy mood so I'll have to work from memory . Not one iota of all these post statements add up.

Ivanov seemed to be rarely at the pass . I tried trying to work out when he was there and for how long. Pytor says he , he himself was there from the 13-23 of March. That's 10 days by my math's and not two weeks.

Ivanov gives no details of him being at the pass for any length of time. He touches on things about a storm and being in the artic(?) in his 1990 article. But no descriptive writings about being in the tent , what he looked at , what he found etc.

We also have the statements about the light in the sky witnessed by other groups and they are not secret or withheld from the other hiking reports

I can't work out from Pyotr what two weeks he had with Ivanov and which tent he means? What date he was summoned and which day he came back?

Other sources imply that ivanov wasn't at the  pass more than maybe 3 days ?.