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Terror on Dead Mountain: The Haunting Mystery of the Dyatlov Pass Incident · Aliens? Yes! But Maybe No | UFOs, UAPs & Alien Mysteries

• 0:03
  Josh: Aliens.
• 0:04
  Travis: Aliens.
• 0:07
  Josh: Yes.
• 0:09
  Travis: But maybe no.
• 0:10
  Travis: Welcome back to the show.
• 0:20
  Travis: This is Aliens? Yes! But Maybe No with Josh and Travis.
• 0:23
  Travis: I'm Travis.
• 0:24
  Travis: I'm Josh.
• 0:25
  Travis: And this is an otherworldly podcast as ambiguous as our title.
• 0:29
  Travis: Yeah.
• 0:30
  Travis: Yeah.
• 0:30
  Travis: Yeah, it is.
• 0:31
  Travis: Yeah, it is.
• 0:32
  Travis: No lie detected.
• 0:34
  Josh: Yeah.
• 0:35
  Josh: We uh tried to record earlier and my house almost blew up.
• 0:40
  Josh: So we had to cancel that.
• 0:41
  Travis: This is like when I got raided on our first podcast, right?
• 0:45
  Josh: Mm-hmm.
• 0:46
  Josh: Yeah.
• 0:46
  Josh: We were 10 minutes to recording.
• 0:48
  Josh: This is a week ago, and the house started smelling like gas.
• 0:52
  Josh: We had to call the fire department.
• 0:53
  Josh: You're like too many beans in this house.
• 0:55
  Josh: Not not that gas.
• 0:58
  Josh: Like gasoline.
• 1:00
  Travis: So yeah, we called the fire department.
• 1:02
  Travis: They came.
• 1:02
  Travis: It smelled like gasoline, like petrol.
• 1:05
  Travis: Yeah.
• 1:05
  Travis: That's uh for our overseas audience.
• 1:08
  Josh: Mm-hmm.
• 1:08
  Josh: I was really trying to create a scenario where I was carried out by the firemen.
• 1:15
  Travis: Oh, that's a lovely thought.
• 1:16
  Josh: Uh that did not happen, but I mean, I could probably I could probably get there.
• 1:21
  Travis: Yeah.
• 1:22
  Josh: Just stage a couple other things, get them to come back.
• 1:24
  Josh: Where you break your own legs just to do it.
• 1:27
  Josh: Yeah.
• 1:28
  Travis: That's how desperate you are to be carried out by a fireman.
• 1:32
  Josh: That's all I want.
• 1:33
  Travis: Very sweet.
• 1:34
  Josh: Yeah.
• 1:34
  Josh: It was surprising because the fire truck came up, lights were on.
• 1:39
  Josh: There was like six of them that came in.
• 1:42
  Travis: And then and then you just go, oh, yeah.
• 1:46
  Travis: Just collapse.
• 1:48
  Travis: Yep.
• 1:49
  Travis: Must be the vapor.
• 1:51
  Travis: Good thing you have your fainting lounge.
• 1:53
  Josh: Mm-hmm.
• 1:53
  Josh: My Chase Lounge.
• 1:54
  Josh: Yeah.
• 1:55
  Josh: Yeah.
• 1:56
  Josh: So yeah, last episode we did a mountain.
• 1:58
  Josh: Mount Shasta.
• 1:59
  Josh: Yeah.
• 2:01
  Josh: So what is this a theme?
• 2:02
  Josh: I what?
• 2:03
  Josh: I mean, this is kind of a mountain.
• 2:04
  Josh: Is this a spooky theme of mountains?
• 2:07
  Josh: This is yeah, I it's spooky mountain season.
• 2:10
  Josh: That's isn't that what October is for?
• 2:13
  Travis: Mm-hmm.
• 2:14
  Josh: Is that why we celebrate?
• 2:15
  Josh: Yeah.
• 2:16
  Josh: But this is a spooky mountain.
• 2:17
  Josh: Shasta was a weird mountain.
• 2:19
  Josh: This is spooky.
• 2:20
  Josh: You could also say spooky about Shasta.
• 2:22
  Josh: Yeah, there's spook.
• 2:24
  Travis: There's definitely spook.
• 2:25
  Travis: Yep.
• 2:26
  Travis: Plenty of it.
• 2:26
  Josh: This one's spooky in a different reason because we don't really know what happened.
• 2:31
  Travis: No, it's also in Russia, which I find to be like one of the most terrifying countries, just because it's so old and a lot of our really brutal fairy tales come from Russia.
• 2:44
  Josh: Yeah.
• 2:44
  Travis: Like it's it's just like toughen up is basically the moral to every Russian story.
• 2:50
  Travis: It's like you died because you weren't tough enough, or this thing happened because you weren't tough enough to get through it.
• 2:57
  Travis: Like Russians are very, very resilient.
• 3:00
  Travis: They seem to just keep getting shat on and finding a way to get through it.
• 3:05
  Travis: It's it's wild.
• 3:06
  Travis: Also, being a soft American, that is a very scary thing to think about.
• 3:11
  Travis: That's true.
• 3:12
  Travis: I'll just I guess I'll just give up.
• 3:14
  Travis: I'll just give up.
• 3:15
  Travis: These guys run through 10 feet of snow and fight bears and drink a lot of vodka.
• 3:20
  Travis: Like I had to put batteries into a zoom earlier, and now I'm just like, fuck, I'm beat.
• 3:25
  Josh: Yeah, I had to clean up my Roomba and take a break.
• 3:28
  Travis: Yeah, I need three cups of coffee just to get through the rest of the day.
• 3:31
  Travis: I know.
• 3:32
  Travis: Fucking soft.
• 3:33
  Josh: Yeah, and then like in northern Russia, what what what's going on there?
• 3:36
  Josh: What is that?
• 3:37
  Josh: Who knows?
• 3:38
  Josh: The Siberia?
• 3:39
  Travis: Yeah, that's where all the magnets come from.
• 3:41
  Josh: Dude, I don't know.
• 3:42
  Josh: I that is such a mystery.
• 3:44
  Josh: You know there's weird stuff going on up there.
• 3:46
  Travis: Mm-hmm.
• 3:47
  Josh: Ancient things.
• 3:48
  Travis: Oh, yeah.
• 3:48
  Travis: Oh, for sure.
• 3:49
  Travis: Especially deep down in the snow.
• 3:50
  Travis: Like, oh, yeah.
• 3:51
  Josh: What's going on down there?
• 3:52
  Josh: No, no one knows.
• 3:54
  Josh: We'll never find out.
• 3:55
  Josh: No, because it's cold as fuck.
• 3:57
  Travis: Why would you want to go?
• 3:57
  Travis: Yeah, we're not gonna go.
• 3:58
  Josh: You get I mean, there's parts you can't go.
• 4:01
  Travis: Yeah.
• 4:01
  Travis: I mean, it's the same with like Antarctica, but Antarctica is not a sovereign state.
• 4:06
  Travis: So we can send scientists there and do a bunch of really cold research.
• 4:10
  Travis: It's unreachable for, you know, a number of months during the year.
• 4:15
  Travis: So when scientists get dropped off there, they're just like, okay, well, hopefully you put in your order correctly and you got all of the things that you needed because we can't come back.
• 4:25
  Josh: Yeah.
• 4:25
  Josh: And this is, I mean, where this story takes place, we're kind of on the foot of that kind of climate and area of the world where probably shouldn't go there.
• 4:34
  Josh: Yeah.
• 4:34
  Josh: But some people did.
• 4:36
  Josh: Yep.
• 4:37
  Travis: Don't go there.
• 4:38
  Josh: So I say we hop into this because we've been teasing the spook for too long.
• 4:42
  Josh: So what are we talking about today?
• 4:44
  Josh: Today we are talking about Diat Love Pass and the Diat Love Pass incident.
• 4:49
  Josh: Okay.
• 4:50
  Josh: And you'll know what that is in just a second.
• 4:52
  Josh: Because it was definitely an incident and still is.
• 4:55
  Travis: As we were doing research for this, my wife is fam like not familiar, but has heard of it.
• 4:59
  Travis: And I've I'm an idiot baby just floating through life.
• 5:02
  Travis: But my wife was like, oh no, I've got a couple thoughts on this.
• 5:06
  Travis: So I'll share those later.
• 5:07
  Josh: I mean, yeah, my wife, Jordan, also our researcher, was kind of the same.
• 5:10
  Josh: We watched something years ago about this, and she was just spitting out facts from other things she's heard and listened to and watched.
• 5:17
  Josh: But we watched in a movie called An Unknown Compelling Force, the Diatlov Pass Incident.
• 5:22
  Josh: It was very well done.
• 5:23
  Josh: Yeah.
• 5:23
  Josh: Loved it.
• 5:24
  Josh: Yeah, the documentarian actually goes there and follows the path with them, interviews people all around the world.
• 5:30
  Josh: It's phenomenal.
• 5:30
  Josh: So we'll post that in the show.
• 5:32
  Travis: It's a little long if you've got time, though, to sit in front of, you know, a YouTube video and you're interested in the subject.
• 5:37
  Travis: I think it's well worth it.
• 5:38
  Josh: Definitely worth it.
• 5:39
  Josh: It's an hour and 46 minutes.
• 5:41
  Travis: Yeah.
• 5:41
  Josh: Without ads.
• 5:42
  Josh: Without ads.
• 5:44
  Josh: That's true.
• 5:45
  Josh: So in January 1959, 10 people set out on a winter hiking trip into the northern Ural Mountains.
• 5:51
  Josh: They packed skis, cameras, food, and one big tent that they would all share.
• 5:56
  Josh: The plan was to spend a little over two weeks out in the middle of nowhere, then head home.
• 6:01
  Josh: One hiker eventually got sick, or his body was, I think it was a nerve.
• 6:07
  Josh: Like a nerd?
• 6:08
  Travis: Excuse me, a nerd?
• 6:09
  Travis: He was like a nerd?
• 6:09
  Josh: No, it was a nerve.
• 6:11
  Josh: This is too hard for me, guys.
• 6:13
  Josh: No.
• 6:15
  Travis: Just kidding.
• 6:15
  Travis: You're a Uton.
• 6:17
  Josh: What a sweetie.
• 6:17
  Josh: Yeah.
• 6:18
  Josh: A nerve in his leg started going south, so he had to turn back pretty far into the trip, but the nine kept going.
• 6:25
  Josh: Over the next few months, searchers found their gear.
• 6:27
  Josh: Their warm clothes were still in the tent, which was slashed from the inside.
• 6:31
  Josh: Farther down the mountain, there was a burned-out fire.
• 6:34
  Josh: And then they found the hikers with inexplicable injuries and disfigurements.
• 6:39
  Josh: There were reports of weird lights in the sky and radioactive stuff showed up on some of their clothes.
• 6:44
  Josh: The original investigation ended up saying that the hikers were killed by a compelling natural force.
• 6:49
  Josh: So since then, people have blamed a lot of different things, like the Soviet weapons, aliens, Yeti, Avalanche.
• 6:57
  Josh: But with a lot of these long-lasting mysteries, nobody really knows or agrees exactly what happened that night.
• 7:04
  Josh: So we're going to start with the biggest piece of evidence, which is the hikers.
• 7:08
  Josh: They had their own photos and diaries.
• 7:10
  Josh: They show a group of friends traveling together, cracking jokes, fixing gear, and dealing with worse and worse weather as they kept hiking.
• 7:17
  Travis: Yeah.
• 7:18
  Travis: So 10 people leave Sveredlovsk.
• 7:21
  Travis: Only one exits.
• 7:23
  Travis: The group left Sverdlovsk on January 23rd, 1959.
• 7:27
  Travis: So we're talking like this is a long time ago.
• 7:30
  Travis: Yeah.
• 7:31
  Travis: So I want everybody to just kind of put their mind into that time.
• 7:36
  Josh: Your time travel caps?
• 7:37
  Travis: Yeah.
• 7:37
  Travis: Put your time travel cap on, set it to 1959, go 87 miles per hour and you're a DeLorean?
• 7:45
  Travis: 88.
• 7:46
  Travis: 88.
• 7:47
  Travis: God damn it.
• 7:48
  Travis: Uh Josh, fix that.
• 7:49
  Travis: Drop in the correct mile per hour so I don't sound like an idiot.
• 7:52
  Josh: Does the mile per hour correlate with the years?
• 7:55
  Travis: No, it's just how you get your DeLorean to travel to that time.
• 7:59
  Josh: Oh, okay.
• 7:59
  Josh: How you get into the riff.
• 8:01
  Travis: Yeah, how you get into it.
• 8:02
  Travis: So keep in mind that technology that we love and use today was not available back then.
• 8:10
  Travis: We're I'm talking about like no Gore-Tex.
• 8:12
  Travis: What?
• 8:13
  Travis: You know, it was all wool and leather and canvas.
• 8:17
  Travis: Okay.
• 8:18
  Travis: And we're talking the Ural Mountains.
• 8:21
  Josh: Hand handmade.
• 8:22
  Travis: Yeah.
• 8:22
  Travis: Handmade, hand stitched.
• 8:24
  Josh: Yeah.
• 8:25
  Travis: So this is like pretty like frontiers-y.
• 8:28
  Travis: Think maybe kind of like that.
• 8:30
  Travis: So most of the hikers were students or graduates of the Ural Polytechnic Institute.
• 8:35
  Travis: And they paid for the expedition, the institute.
• 8:37
  Travis: And a bunch of them had a hike together before.
• 8:39
  Travis: So these guys are like somewhat experienced.
• 8:43
  Travis: I guess you could say.
• 8:45
  Travis: I mean, just according to our hot DOS here.
• 8:48
  Travis: Yeah, this isn't their first trip.
• 8:49
  Travis: It's not their first trip, but like, was their first trip in in snow?
• 8:54
  Travis: Was it in like really inclement weather?
• 8:57
  Travis: Is this a way that they wanted to challenge themselves?
• 9:00
  Travis: Or were they just a bunch of like young, dumb folks that thought they could just take on the world?
• 9:05
  Travis: Yeah, there's let's do it.
• 9:07
  Travis: Which there's kind of as we go through this, I that's kind of where I fall.
• 9:11
  Travis: Okay.
• 9:12
  Travis: Spoiler for the end.
• 9:13
  Travis: Before I start my little section here, Russian is not my native tongue.
• 9:18
  Travis: I'm gonna fuck up a lot of things.
• 9:20
  Travis: So I'm gonna do the best I can with what I know.
• 9:23
  Travis: So that being said, just be cool, be kind, all right.
• 9:27
  Travis: Yeah.
• 9:27
  Travis: So the trip was headed into the northern Urals in the Russian part of the Soviet Union.
• 9:32
  Travis: The route included Mount Otorten and ran through remote river valleys and mountains.
• 9:37
  Travis: It was rated category three, the hardest level in the Soviet system back then.
• 9:41
  Travis: So that's pretty wild.
• 9:43
  Travis: So here in the States, we categorize rivers as well.
• 9:47
  Travis: A staircase being like a class five, I think, which is like one of the hardest forms of rapids to get through.
• 9:53
  Travis: Yeah.
• 9:53
  Travis: I don't know.
• 9:54
  Travis: That has nothing to do with mountains.
• 9:55
  Travis: I'm just saying, like, I've seen a staircase before from the banks, not in the river.
• 10:01
  Travis: That looks terrifying.
• 10:02
  Josh: Yeah, I imagine.
• 10:03
  Josh: I mean, my thought is that they slowly got to this point.
• 10:07
  Josh: I don't think they went from a small afternoon hill hike to a class three.
• 10:12
  Travis: They may have, though.
• 10:13
  Travis: I who knows?
• 10:14
  Travis: They're like, they're young folks.
• 10:15
  Travis: I just don't know them.
• 10:16
  Travis: So Igor Diatlov led the trip.
• 10:19
  Travis: He was a 23-year-old radio engineering student who had already planned wilderness trips.
• 10:24
  Travis: The rest of the group, Zanaida, Ludmilla, Yuri Doroshenko, Yuri Kurvashenko, Rustum, Alexander, Nikolai, Yuri Yudin, and Semyon.
• 10:34
  Travis: Semyon was the oldest at 38.
• 10:36
  Travis: He was a ski instructor and a World War II veteran.
• 10:38
  Travis: Most of the others were in their early 20s, though.
• 10:41
  Travis: Three Yuri's.
• 10:42
  Travis: Yeah.
• 10:43
  Travis: I mean, it's a popular name.
• 10:45
  Josh: And Igor Diatlov, the guy who led the trip, did they name the pass after him?
• 10:50
  Josh: I think so.
• 10:51
  Josh: Cool.
• 10:52
  Travis: That's it sounds like it.
• 10:53
  Travis: Yeah.
• 10:53
  Travis: Okay.
• 10:54
  Travis: So they took trains and trucks first, classic Russian travel.
• 10:59
  Travis: That's what you gotta do.
• 11:00
  Travis: Then they switched to skis.
• 11:02
  Travis: So I'm getting a little from this group.
• 11:05
  Travis: They were at least well off enough that they could afford going to university.
• 11:11
  Travis: Mm-hmm.
• 11:12
  Travis: And then also afford skis.
• 11:15
  Travis: And time off not working.
• 11:17
  Travis: Yeah.
• 11:17
  Travis: I mean, their their parents probably paid for their tuition, which was probably like $200.
• 11:23
  Travis: Maybe.
• 11:24
  Travis: Just saying.
• 11:25
  Travis: Like tuition is getting ridiculous now.
• 11:28
  Travis: Mm-hmm.
• 11:29
  Travis: We've got a little picture here in our dossier of them on their skis.
• 11:33
  Travis: They look like they are just loving it, enjoying life.
• 11:37
  Travis: They're about to take on the world.
• 11:39
  Josh: Yeah.
• 11:39
  Travis: Like very sweet.
• 11:40
  Josh: Yeah.
• 11:40
  Josh: And this whole thing was documented by diaries and photos.
• 11:43
  Josh: So there's tons of photos because they all had cameras.
• 11:45
  Travis: Just like another story about something very similar to this, Into the Wild.
• 11:49
  Travis: Yeah.
• 11:50
  Travis: Where a uh a guy goes up to Alaska and tries to just live.
• 11:55
  Travis: Survive him.
• 11:55
  Travis: Survive, yeah.
• 11:57
  Travis: Like Josh was saying, they kept a journal or diaries.
• 12:00
  Travis: Their diaries talk about singing on the way, chatting with workers in little towns, buying bread, and fixing gear.
• 12:08
  Travis: One stop, a few of them went to see a movie.
• 12:10
  Travis: Love to know what that movie was.
• 12:12
  Travis: That'd be cool.
• 12:13
  Travis: Yeah.
• 12:14
  Travis: We could probably find out.
• 12:15
  Travis: Do you think it was Avatar, the first one?
• 12:17
  Josh: I'm not going to make any generalizations, but probably.
• 12:20
  Travis: I mean, it's a pretty big movie.
• 12:21
  Travis: Yeah.
• 12:22
  Travis: Timeless.
• 12:23
  Travis: Uh another night Rustum played the mandolin while everyone else talked and packed.
• 12:28
  Travis: That's cool.
• 12:29
  Travis: Yeah.
• 12:29
  Travis: Somebody brought a mandolin.
• 12:30
  Travis: So these guys are like uh poetic, uh well-read university kids.
• 12:38
  Travis: Probably do drugs.
• 12:40
  Travis: No.
• 12:40
  Travis: Yeah, oh, definitely.
• 12:42
  Travis: I'm sure they definitely, I'm sure they definitely do drugs.
• 12:45
  Travis: You know, drink vodka.
• 12:46
  Travis: I'm sure there was plenty of spirit along the way.
• 12:49
  Travis: You think everyone does drugs?
• 12:51
  Travis: Everybody does drugs, Josh.
• 12:53
  Travis: Everybody does drugs.
• 12:54
  Travis: Yes, everybody does.
• 12:56
  Travis: I don't believe it.
• 12:57
  Travis: I know our listeners do drugs.
• 12:59
  Travis: There's nothing wrong with it.
• 13:00
  Travis: I think straight edge still exists.
• 13:03
  Travis: Sure, but there's a there's a reason that they're at the edge.
• 13:07
  Travis: Fine.
• 13:08
  Travis: There's nothing wrong with it.
• 13:09
  Travis: There's nothing wrong with doing drugs.
• 13:10
  Travis: I'm not casting aspersions on anybody.
• 13:12
  Travis: I'm not saying that what they are doing is wrong.
• 13:14
  Travis: Everybody lives in a world and likes to cope in their own way.
• 13:19
  Josh: Yeah, just think of a cool group of college-age kids that have like a adventurous spirit.
• 13:25
  Travis: They're very open.
• 13:26
  Travis: Open, adventurous, yep.
• 13:28
  Travis: And willing to try everything at least once.
• 13:31
  Josh: Damn.
• 13:32
  Travis: That's why they all sleep in the same tent.
• 13:34
  Travis: Gotta try everyone once.
• 13:36
  Josh: Yeah.
• 13:38
  Travis: So by January 28th, uh Yuri Udin's health problems got bad enough that he had to turn back.
• 13:43
  Travis: There are photos of him saying goodbye to the group leafing, and this is where it gets spooky.
• 13:49
  Travis: Leafing made him the only one of the original ten to make it home alive.
• 13:57
  Josh: Ugh I like it.
• 13:58
  Josh: I get chills.
• 13:59
  Josh: I got chills.
• 14:00
  Josh: I just got chills.
• 14:01
  Josh: I'm still I'm feeling the chills right now.
• 14:04
  Travis: I hope I put enough gravitas on that.
• 14:06
  Travis: It gave me chills saying it.
• 14:07
  Josh: I don't know if it was the way you said it or if it was the information itself, or maybe the combo, but it hit me.
• 14:13
  Josh: Yeah, why not both?
• 14:14
  Josh: Okay.
• 14:14
  Josh: So after Uden left, the group followed the Lasva and Aspia rivers.
• 14:20
  Josh: Their diary keeps mentioning deep snow, slow going, and strong wind as they climbed higher.
• 14:25
  Josh: On January 31st, the snow was so deep that they were only moving about one and a half to two kilometers an hour in some spots.
• 14:33
  Travis: That's wild.
• 14:34
  Travis: Yeah.
• 14:35
  Travis: So one and a half to two kilometers.
• 14:37
  Travis: So it's like 2.5 kilometers for every mile, right?
• 14:42
  Travis: So they were barely going.
• 14:44
  Travis: Barely, like probably just under.
• 14:48
  Travis: That's very slow.
• 14:50
  Josh: I mean, it makes sense though, with deep, deep snow and wind and your body's cold, like freezing.
• 14:55
  Travis: The fastest mile, I think, is just under four minutes.
• 15:00
  Travis: Maybe three.
• 15:01
  Travis: I mean, I think that's the goal.
• 15:02
  Travis: It's like cracking that three-minute mile.
• 15:04
  Travis: They think it's impossible.
• 15:05
  Travis: So just to give you an idea, like people can travel in ideal circumstances a mile and three minutes.
• 15:13
  Travis: This is taking them over an hour to do that same distance.
• 15:17
  Travis: Yeah.
• 15:17
  Travis: So that's how bad it is.
• 15:19
  Josh: Yeah.
• 15:19
  Josh: And because it was that bad, they had to take turns breaking the trail, which means one person would go ahead with a really light load and then they would switch and that person would go to the back carrying a heavy load, kind of like the geese flying in the triangle and swapping places.
• 15:33
  Josh: So near the ridge, the wind got strong enough that they dropped down into the Aspia Valley to camp.
• 15:40
  Josh: That camp was pretty comfortable.
• 15:42
  Josh: Diatlov wrote that it was warm inside the tent while the wind kept howling outside.
• 15:46
  Josh: And then the next day, February 1st, they set up a supply cache called a Labaz, which is just like a little building they built to make it so animals and insects and stuff wouldn't get to it.
• 15:57
  Josh: And then they started climbing towards the bass.
• 16:00
  Josh: So that afternoon they pitched a tent on the slope of the Holot Seacle.
• 16:03
  Josh: The name is usually translated as Dead Mountain or Silent Peak.
• 16:08
  Josh: Somewhere I would not go.
• 16:09
  Travis: No, Silent Peak sounds scary.
• 16:11
  Travis: It's like a that sounds like a video game.
• 16:12
  Travis: Dead Mountain sounds scary.
• 16:14
  Travis: Isn't that what Silent Hill basically is?
• 16:17
  Travis: Like a scary place to go?
• 16:19
  Travis: Ugh.
• 16:20
  Travis: Yeah.
• 16:20
  Travis: I don't like it.
• 16:21
  Travis: We're talking about the peak of Silent Hill.
• 16:23
  Travis: Like nobody ever gets to the top of the hill.
• 16:26
  Josh: And this is January, February, right?
• 16:27
  Josh: Do they have the same seasons that we do?
• 16:29
  Josh: Like this is the middle of winter.
• 16:30
  Travis: Yeah.
• 16:31
  Travis: This is northern latitude.
• 16:32
  Travis: So this is all the same season.
• 16:34
  Travis: The sun is hitting us in similar ways or avoiding us in similar ways.
• 16:39
  Travis: Not good.
• 16:39
  Travis: Very cold.
• 16:41
  Josh: So they pitched their tent on Dead Mountain, Silent Peak.
• 16:44
  Travis: Sounds great.
• 16:44
  Travis: Love it.
• 16:45
  Josh: Photos show the group digging into the snow to flatten out a spot for the tent.
• 16:50
  Travis: Yeah.
• 16:50
  Josh: And those are some of the last photos we know for sure came from this trip.
• 16:54
  Josh: The campsite was above the tree line out in the open, which is weird.
• 16:58
  Travis: I mean, if you're hiking a mountain, there's always going to be that spot where trees just are like, fuck this, item not gonna grow up there.
• 17:05
  Travis: It's too tough even for me.
• 17:07
  Josh: They weren't that far from a wooded tree area, but I imagine for like you were saying, how long it took them to travel, they're probably just like, no, we can't.
• 17:17
  Josh: I mean, you can go a lot faster downhill.
• 17:19
  Josh: I'm just saying.
• 17:20
  Josh: Maybe.
• 17:20
  Josh: It's called falling down, Josh.
• 17:23
  Josh: People have guessed at why they camped there.
• 17:26
  Josh: Maybe they wanted to keep the height they'd gained, or maybe daylight was running out.
• 17:30
  Josh: Nobody knows for sure.
• 17:31
  Josh: Those are guesses based on the route and the land and the evidence, but it is an odd thing.
• 17:36
  Josh: The group made a joke newspaper called the Evening O'Tortin, dating February 1st.
• 17:42
  Josh: It had gags about camp life, fake awards, and a line about a snowman living in O'Tortan.
• 17:47
  Josh: Oh, nice.
• 17:48
  Josh: And then decades later, that line got pulled into the Yeti theory, which we'll discuss.
• 17:53
  Josh: So whatever happened is usually dated on the night of February 1st to 2nd, 1959.
• 17:58
  Josh: And searchers didn't reach the campsite until more than three weeks later.
• 18:02
  Travis: Oh boy.
• 18:03
  Travis: Yeah.
• 18:03
  Travis: Just after Valentine's Day.
• 18:05
  Travis: Do they celebrate Valentine's Day in Russia?
• 18:07
  Travis: I'm sure they don't.
• 18:09
  Travis: Probably not.
• 18:10
  Josh: Probably when I when I think of them, I don't think of warmth and love and pink.
• 18:14
  Travis: It doesn't have to be warmth and it doesn't have to be pink for one.
• 18:17
  Travis: Like love can be any shade, right?
• 18:20
  Josh: Well, the the Valentine's Day colors.
• 18:22
  Josh: Like if you go to the Valentine's aisle.
• 18:24
  Travis: Oh, that's the hallmark thing.
• 18:26
  Josh: Yeah.
• 18:27
  Travis: It could be black as night.
• 18:29
  Josh: Very well could.
• 18:30
  Josh: It should.
• 18:31
  Travis: Yeah.
• 18:31
  Travis: So the search reaches the tent.
• 18:33
  Travis: So back home, families and friends were waiting to hear that the group was safe.
• 18:37
  Travis: The day of the expected telegram came and went, and worry turned into a real search.
• 18:42
  Travis: Naturally.
• 18:42
  Travis: So Djalovs was supposed to send a telegram from VJ around February 12th.
• 18:48
  Travis: When nothing came, relatives and other hikers pushed the institute to do something.
• 18:52
  Travis: So this is the Ural Polytechnic Institute.
• 18:55
  Travis: So around February 20th to the 21st, the search grew.
• 18:58
  Travis: It included students, experienced climbers, soldiers, plane crews.
• 19:02
  Travis: Wow, I mean, this is getting big to be a pretty big search, yeah.
• 19:06
  Travis: And some local natives called the Mancy.
• 19:09
  Travis: On February 26th, researchers found the tent on the slope of the mountain.
• 19:13
  Travis: Snow covered part of the tent and the canvas was damaged.
• 19:16
  Travis: Inside were food, gear, personal items, and a lot of hiking boots, winter coats, and outer clothing.
• 19:22
  Travis: Weird to find that inside the tent with nobody in there.
• 19:26
  Josh: Yeah, that's what you need.
• 19:27
  Travis: Yep.
• 19:27
  Travis: Their supplies were still at camp and footprints led down footprints.
• 19:31
  Travis: Uh-oh.
• 19:31
  Travis: Not even boot prints?
• 19:34
  Travis: Nope.
• 19:34
  Travis: Led downhill toward the forest.
• 19:36
  Travis: Searchers described about eight or nine sets of tracks, and that nearly all the hikers went out in their socks or other light foot coverings.
• 19:45
  Josh: Jeez, that's so weird.
• 19:47
  Josh: Yeah.
• 19:47
  Josh: Like that doesn't make I mean that doesn't make sense.
• 19:50
  Travis: I mean it does in a okay.
• 19:54
  Travis: So maybe this is where I start talking about some of my ideas.
• 19:58
  Travis: If you're gonna go out to use the restroom, Josh, are you gonna get totally covered up or because you know it's gonna be a quick trip?
• 20:06
  Travis: Or are you just gonna go out really quick and then use the restroom?
• 20:10
  Josh: I would definitely like in the snow, I would put on snow boots.
• 20:14
  Josh: At least snow boots and a coat, at least.
• 20:16
  Travis: Maybe.
• 20:17
  Travis: But I think that these are young folks and they're just like, I'm just gonna go out really quick.
• 20:21
  Travis: I won't be outside for very long.
• 20:23
  Travis: There also could have been a blizzard happening at the time, and we all know what happens in a blizzard.
• 20:28
  Travis: You lose sight, you can get lost really easily.
• 20:31
  Josh: So I think maybe they had all decided I don't I don't think all of them were going out to go to the bathroom at the same time in a blizzard with nothing.
• 20:39
  Travis: I I just Well, it might not have been a blizzard.
• 20:42
  Travis: Um it it was windy.
• 20:44
  Travis: Yeah, if they had if they had just gone out and we know how treacherous it was to get to this place, and they went out really quick thinking they were just gonna do a a quick pee, and they all went as a group to be safe.
• 20:57
  Travis: Maybe.
• 20:58
  Travis: And they're just like, we're all just gonna go and do this thing really quick and then get right back into the tent.
• 21:03
  Travis: And there's probably some peer pressure.
• 21:05
  Travis: Like, oh, don't put your boots on, we're gonna be outside for just a second.
• 21:08
  Travis: Oh, you little baby, don't put your boots on.
• 21:10
  Travis: Oh, maybe.
• 21:11
  Travis: Also, the way it ended for the guy in Into the Wild, I don't know what his actual name is, but it was played by Emile Hirsch in the movie Into the Wild.
• 21:22
  Travis: He'd eaten some really bad berries and had hallucinated and then was poisoned.
• 21:28
  Travis: So I don't think that we can rule out something like that happening to these folks.
• 21:32
  Travis: Because I don't think there was a toxicology report done in 1959, you know?
• 21:37
  Travis: They could have just eaten something bad and just had a bad reaction to it.
• 21:41
  Josh: Yeah, maybe.
• 21:42
  Josh: It's possible.
• 21:43
  Josh: That I mean, that that's the whole mystery about all of this.
• 21:46
  Josh: It's just like there's so many possibilities.
• 21:49
  Travis: So their supplies were still a camp and footprints led downhill toward the forest.
• 21:52
  Travis: Searchers described about eight or nine sets of tracks, and that nearly all the hikers went out in their socks or other light foot coverings.
• 21:59
  Travis: The tracks came together and split apart on the way down.
• 22:03
  Travis: The snow kept parts of the trail for several hundred meters, then it faded out.
• 22:07
  Travis: Some people read the pattern as an orderly retreat, but we can't really know how scared or calm the hikers were.
• 22:13
  Travis: In April, experts formally examined the tent.
• 22:15
  Travis: Forensic expert Genrietta Trichina found that the cuts were made from the inside.
• 22:21
  Travis: Someone inside used a blade on the canvas.
• 22:23
  Travis: Why they needed to get out that way was never answered.
• 22:26
  Travis: Yeah, that one's weird too.
• 22:28
  Travis: But I mean, like, what are we talking about?
• 22:30
  Travis: Looking at this tent, it's a canvas, did it have a zipper on it?
• 22:33
  Travis: I don't know when zippers were invented.
• 22:36
  Travis: I don't mean we had I don't I don't know.
• 22:39
  Travis: So this is all speculation.
• 22:41
  Travis: I think maybe if it was a zipper, their zipper could have been stuck and they needed to get out of the tent.
• 22:46
  Travis: They had to go to the bathroom really bad.
• 22:48
  Travis: Well, maybe not even the bathroom.
• 22:50
  Travis: Maybe it was like a really bad snowstorm or there was an avalanche and parts of their tent got covered in snow and they just needed to get out.
• 22:59
  Travis: It's possible.
• 23:00
  Travis: I'm I'm not gonna say like it was a monster or whatever, and it got inside their tent.
• 23:06
  Travis: Because, like, why would you leave the security of the tent for something like that?
• 23:11
  Travis: Why would you just run out?
• 23:12
  Josh: Yeah, there's the idea of gas, maybe there's some kind of chemical.
• 23:17
  Josh: There was the idea of mutiny.
• 23:20
  Josh: I mean, there's so many different ideas of what could possibly be.
• 23:23
  Josh: And it's interesting because this is so well documented.
• 23:26
  Josh: I mean, we have everyone has a diary, it's photographed.
• 23:29
  Josh: I I mean, it is it is bizarre.
• 23:32
  Josh: But we also learned in this documentary, a modern-day forensic criminologist looked at these cuts and was kind of second guessing if it was cut from the inside or not.
• 23:42
  Josh: Yeah.
• 23:42
  Josh: She thinks that maybe the investigation was rushed or altered.
• 23:46
  Travis: But maybe those cuts were there before.
• 23:48
  Travis: I mean, maybe they because this is all homemade stuff, those cuts could have been something that existed before this incident.
• 23:55
  Travis: It's canvas, and who knows how well prepared the stuff was on someone's pack.
• 23:59
  Travis: It could have gotten ripped in any number of ways.
• 24:02
  Josh: I mean, the thing is torn apart.
• 24:04
  Travis: Well, I mean, yeah, like after the fact, it's it's torn apart.
• 24:08
  Travis: Like we don't know that it was always that way or was never that way.
• 24:14
  Josh: So the search kept moving downhill towards the forest because they were up on the slope on the plain.
• 24:20
  Josh: About a kilometer and a half from the tent, near a big cedar tree, searchers found the remains of a small fire and two bodies on February 27th.
• 24:30
  Josh: So almost a month later.
• 24:32
  Josh: Yuri Doroshenko and Yuri Kravinoshenko were found near the fire.
• 24:37
  Josh: Both were missing articles of clothing, and some had been burned in the fire.
• 24:41
  Josh: Their bodies were also torn and burned.
• 24:44
  Josh: I heard the bottom of their feet were burned.
• 24:46
  Josh: They were thinking maybe they were so cold because they didn't have the right boots that they put their feet actually in the fire.
• 24:52
  Travis: Or at least close enough, because you don't even have to put it in a fire to get burned.
• 24:56
  Travis: But yeah, that's I I think that too, they were so cold and because the frostbite.
• 25:01
  Josh: Frostbite, yeah, they couldn't feel.
• 25:03
  Travis: Yeah, they couldn't feel, and they were just feeling so cold, so they they made a mistake.
• 25:06
  Travis: They like made a really rough mistake.
• 25:08
  Josh: So according to witnesses in the criminal case, this was actually out of the criminal case, it says next to the bodies was a fire.
• 25:15
  Josh: Nearby were more than 10 small fir branches cut with a finished knife.
• 25:20
  Josh: The lower dry branches of about five centimeter diameter had been cut from the cedar.
• 25:25
  Josh: Some of these were lying next to the fire, and the snow around was trampled.
• 25:29
  Josh: It's possible to conclude that other people had since been by the fire.
• 25:33
  Josh: We found various garments next to it rather than on the bodies, but we didn't find any other bodies.
• 25:39
  Josh: The trees near the fire had been cut with knives, but we found no knives with the bodies.
• 25:44
  Josh: The volume of work done here is making this number of cuts suggest there were more people here than only these two.
• 25:50
  Josh: Several wool and cotton socks were scattered around the fire.
• 25:53
  Josh: There was a woman's handkerchief burned through in several places and some fragments of woolen clothes.
• 25:58
  Josh: But we didn't find the actual clothes themselves.
• 26:01
  Josh: In particular, we found the cuff of a dark sweater there, not on the bodies.
• 26:05
  Josh: That's coming from like the actual criminal files.
• 26:09
  Josh: I've heard that when you get hypothermia, you get hot and you start taking clothes off.
• 26:14
  Josh: I've heard that.
• 26:15
  Josh: I don't know if that's true, but sure.
• 26:18
  Travis: I mean, your body's experiencing any number of things.
• 26:21
  Travis: So I don't know if you've ever touched something extremely cold.
• 26:25
  Travis: It feels like you're getting burned.
• 26:27
  Josh: Yeah, yeah.
• 26:28
  Travis: And you can get ice burns.
• 26:30
  Travis: That's like a thing that you can get.
• 26:32
  Travis: So I I mean, sure.
• 26:33
  Travis: Like whatever you heard sounds correct enough to me.
• 26:37
  Josh: So Igor Diatlov and Zanaida Kolmogorova were found in the first round of discoveries in late February.
• 26:44
  Josh: Their bodies were on the slope between the cedar and the tent with lacerations and bruisings all over their body.
• 26:49
  Josh: Rustum Sloboden was found along the same route on March 5th, face down in the snow with a skull fracture and his right forearm torn.
• 26:58
  Josh: Where they were found led investigators to think that they were trying to climb back up to the tent.
• 27:03
  Josh: The first five deaths, the two by the tree and the three climbing back up, were determined to be hypothermia caused by injury.
• 27:10
  Josh: So put together, the finds show the group was active in several places.
• 27:14
  Josh: They left the tent, walked to the trees, built a fire, someone climbed the cedar, three people ended up on the slope heading back towards camp.
• 27:22
  Josh: And all this happened in the dark in brutal winter weather with very little to no clothes.
• 27:26
  Josh: Winter clothes.
• 27:27
  Josh: The forest had wood and some shelter from the wind.
• 27:30
  Josh: The tent had clothes, food, and gear, and getting to one meant pushing through snow when they were already losing body heat.
• 27:36
  Josh: Yeah.
• 27:37
  Josh: That must have been scary, I would imagine.
• 27:40
  Travis: Yep.
• 27:40
  Travis: Pretty terrifying to just be up in the dark and the cold and feel because I'm sure they felt like this might be the end for them.
• 27:51
  Travis: So that had to have been scary on its own.
• 27:54
  Josh: And now you're so far and they probably knew they fucked up.
• 27:59
  Travis: I mean, they're so far from civilization, they don't have any way to communicate to anybody to ask for help.
• 28:04
  Josh: Yeah.
• 28:04
  Travis: So they're just up there, and the only communication they had is through like telegrams.
• 28:10
  Travis: Yeah.
• 28:11
  Travis: Back in civilization.
• 28:12
  Travis: And they're like, well, we're going to be back at this time.
• 28:14
  Travis: And when they don't hit that date, then search crews go out.
• 28:18
  Travis: So like these guys are isolated.
• 28:20
  Josh: Yeah, they knew they were 20 days probably from anyone reaching them.
• 28:25
  Travis: Yeah.
• 28:25
  Travis: This is going to be a controversial take, but I feel like this is a pretty rough.
• 28:30
  Travis: This is not the controversial part.
• 28:32
  Travis: This is a pretty rough place to live.
• 28:33
  Travis: There are people that are navigating the Mancy that are navigating their way through this.
• 28:38
  Travis: I am not ruling out cannibalism.
• 28:41
  Travis: Like they came across these bodies and cut out some of the softer tissue, tongues and eyes and ears and stuff, because it is hard to come across protein.
• 28:53
  Travis: I mean, we're talking about very northern latitudes.
• 28:57
  Travis: There's not a lot of game up here.
• 29:00
  Travis: And so they came across something that I feel like was an opportunity for them.
• 29:05
  Travis: And they weren't like carving into the bodies necessarily, but they were taking parts of the body that maybe were a little less offensive.
• 29:13
  Travis: That's that's just like an idea.
• 29:14
  Travis: I don't know, I have no way to prove that.
• 29:16
  Travis: But it was just a thought that crossed my mind as I was watching this documentary.
• 29:22
  Josh: Yeah, I mean, they did investigate for a long time, for the first like couple months, the Mancy, because there was some tribe.
• 29:29
  Josh: I mean, the Mancy are the natives of that area of Siberia, and there were some tribes around that time.
• 29:35
  Josh: But I don't from the research that I've done on them, I've done a little bit more.
• 29:39
  Josh: They were pretty kind, gentle people.
• 29:41
  Josh: And I don't think cannibalism was in their repertoire.
• 29:45
  Josh: I don't know that that's true.
• 29:47
  Josh: That's I mean, I don't I mean, everyone is.
• 29:52
  Travis: You can still be kind and brutal.
• 29:56
  Travis: Those are things that exist in the same sphere.
• 29:59
  Travis: Like these were bodies and maybe potential forms of nutrition.
• 30:04
  Travis: So to be kind to the other people of the tribe would be to get something from this.
• 30:11
  Travis: I don't know that's true.
• 30:12
  Travis: I am just floating an idea that I had while I was watching this document.
• 30:17
  Josh: Yeah, it's an idea.
• 30:18
  Josh: And there was also so the Monsi were one of the natives.
• 30:22
  Josh: They also had the Conti, which were a separate native group, a different tribe that were living in the Ural and Ob area.
• 30:30
  Josh: I mean, it's it's possible the natives were treated horribly.
• 30:34
  Josh: Yeah, as they always are.
• 30:36
  Josh: Yeah.
• 30:36
  Josh: Their religious practices were taken away from them.
• 30:40
  Josh: They were weren't allowed to practice or they'd be thrown in jail.
• 30:44
  Josh: They took all the children in their early 30s.
• 30:48
  Travis: Yeah, to re-educate.
• 30:49
  Josh: Yeah, they took all the children and put them in boarding schools and forbade them to speak the native language.
• 30:56
  Travis: Yeah.
• 30:56
  Travis: We s we see this on Australia, we see this in Canada, we saw this here in the US.
• 31:01
  Travis: It's just uh a fucked up part of our history, uh like human history.
• 31:06
  Josh: Yeah.
• 31:06
  Josh: So it I mean, there is not even generational anger, it's like the same generation.
• 31:12
  Josh: These people are still alive.
• 31:13
  Josh: So I imagine that anger is still in them.
• 31:16
  Josh: But they did the investigation and they didn't find anything.
• 31:19
  Josh: Sure.
• 31:20
  Josh: You carry that for a long time.
• 31:22
  Travis: I've carried stones in my heart for years.
• 31:24
  Travis: Oh, I know.
• 31:25
  Travis: I don't know what that means.
• 31:28
  Travis: Oh, I know.
• 31:29
  Travis: Whoa.
• 31:30
  Travis: Okay.
• 31:31
  Travis: Uh so there were reports of lights in the sky.
• 31:34
  Travis: While investigators were sorting out the deaths, they also heard about strange lights over the region.
• 31:39
  Travis: One report came from people whose job was watching the weather.
• 31:43
  Travis: A statement tied to weather technician Tokareva and station chief Piguzova describes something they saw on February 17th, 1959.
• 31:52
  Travis: Starting around 6:50 a.m., so early in the morning-ish.
• 31:55
  Travis: I mean, early if you're a tiny little baby, normal time for an adult.
• 32:00
  Travis: Uh nasty, folks.
• 32:02
  Travis: Uh star like light with a tail showed up, it grew into a ball with a haze around it, changed shape and slowly faded out.
• 32:10
  Travis: It lasted until about 7.05 a.m.
• 32:12
  Travis: So we're talking 15 minutes.
• 32:14
  Travis: Yeah.
• 32:15
  Travis: Which is a long time to see something in the sky, right?
• 32:18
  Travis: Like if something is traveling through the sky, that's a that's a long time.
• 32:22
  Josh: Yeah.
• 32:22
  Travis: And if it's really far out, that means it was traveling very fast.
• 32:27
  Josh: Well, and I was in the San Juan Islands recently, I think in August, humble brag.
• 32:31
  Josh: It was like 2 a.m.
• 32:32
  Josh: We were looking over the ocean and we saw this huge meteor, and it lit up, it turned into daytime instantly, and it only lasted seconds.
• 32:45
  Josh: It was very startling.
• 32:47
  Josh: Super wild.
• 32:48
  Josh: That does sound wild.
• 32:49
  Josh: Yeah, and it was huge.
• 32:50
  Josh: Where was this?
• 32:51
  Josh: It was seen over the entire northwest.
• 32:54
  Josh: Are we gonna are we gonna cover this on the show?
• 32:56
  Josh: Maybe later?
• 32:57
  Josh: No, but immediately after where I was at, I was on a deck of this cabin and some owls started hooting.
• 33:06
  Travis: Oh, classic owls showing up.
• 33:09
  Travis: I know.
• 33:10
  Travis: So I don't know.
• 33:11
  Josh: Did the government tell you that it was owls hooting?
• 33:13
  Josh: I think the owls are just pissed off that it got really bright.
• 33:15
  Josh: Because I mean it was it was brighter than daylight.
• 33:18
  Josh: I mean, it was massive.
• 33:20
  Travis: Owls are the vampire of the bird world.
• 33:22
  Josh: Mm-hmm.
• 33:22
  Travis: I've always said that.
• 33:23
  Josh: But it also birds aren't real, so but yeah, so 15 minutes of this would be startling.
• 33:29
  Travis: Yep.
• 33:29
  Travis: Uh so the date is more than two weeks after the night, the hikers most likely died.
• 33:34
  Travis: So the report puts an odd light in the sky during the search period.
• 33:38
  Travis: Whether it has anything to do with the deaths is unclear.
• 33:41
  Travis: One photo got tied into the light theories.
• 33:44
  Travis: It's called the frame 34.
• 33:45
  Travis: It comes from a roll of film linked to Yuri Kravychenko's camera.
• 33:49
  Travis: It shows some blurry bright shapes.
• 33:51
  Travis: People still argue about what it shows, where it was taken, and how it was made.
• 33:55
  Travis: Researcher Vladimir Borzhenkov thinks the frame was an accidental exposure that happened while the recovered camera was being handled.
• 34:04
  Travis: Others think it shows a light photograph during the trip.
• 34:06
  Travis: There's nothing recognizable in the picture.
• 34:09
  Travis: So it's hard to place it anywhere on the route.
• 34:11
  Travis: Frame 34 and photographic analysis.
• 34:13
  Travis: Later explanations for the lights included rockets, weather effects, and unidentified flying objects.
• 34:20
  Josh: Yeah, and we have the picture here.
• 34:21
  Josh: It's mainly black.
• 34:23
  Travis: It kind of looks like someone fire is what it kind of looks like to me.
• 34:27
  Travis: Like there's a fire off in the distance, and then it's slowly see how it slowly lightens up.
• 34:34
  Josh: Yeah.
• 34:34
  Josh: I mean, it could be that.
• 34:36
  Josh: It's very blurry and it's just like some blobs of light.
• 34:38
  Josh: It kind of looks like someone took the cap off of the lens and it was just barely off, and they took a picture and it just kind of was adjusting.
• 34:48
  Josh: But I don't know, I don't know.
• 34:49
  Josh: I'm not an expert.
• 34:51
  Travis: I mean, they were in a plane with nothing around them.
• 34:53
  Travis: So super dark.
• 34:55
  Travis: Even if there were trees around them, that would make it even darker.
• 34:59
  Travis: So the only light that that camera would pick up would be something like a fire.
• 35:03
  Travis: Or maybe in the night sky.
• 35:05
  Travis: A UFO.
• 35:06
  Travis: Yeah, but why are there no stars or maybe the stars are too small?
• 35:11
  Travis: This does not look like a picture of the sky to me.
• 35:15
  Josh: So we have the two found by the cedar tree and the fire, and then the three on the open slope, maybe heading back to the tent.
• 35:23
  Travis: Yeah.
• 35:23
  Josh: The search went on through March and April, and in early May, searchers found the last four bodies under deep snow in a ravine near the cedar.
• 35:32
  Josh: Their injuries made the case a lot more confusing.
• 35:35
  Josh: So Ludmilla Dubanina, Semyon Zolotaryov, and Nikolay I'm not even gonna Tibut, Tibot, Tibot, Brignol, Russian names.
• 35:48
  Josh: So Dubina, Semyon, Nikolai, and Alexander Kelavatov were found in or near a stream bed, buried under several meters of snow, like 12 feet.
• 35:59
  Josh: Nearby searchers found the cut branches that seemed to be part of an attempt at a shelter called the Diotlev Pass Den.
• 36:05
  Josh: A scene inspection dated May 6th record the area and where the bodies were found.
• 36:09
  Josh: Like really quick.
• 36:11
  Travis: So these guys were out in the woods, right, going through what they knew was going to be deep snow.
• 36:17
  Travis: So I would imagine they had done a little bit of research and knew that the best way to stay warm in really deep snow, if you don't have a shelter, is to dig a hole.
• 36:28
  Travis: Like you're going to dig into the snow and make a snow cave.
• 36:32
  Travis: So I think that would explain why they were buried so deep, as they had dug a hole and got in there to stay warm.
• 36:39
  Travis: Like they knew they had that much wherewithal about their situation to do that.
• 36:45
  Travis: Yeah.
• 36:45
  Travis: And it was four months later.
• 36:47
  Travis: I was a Boy Scout and we went up into the Ido wilderness and did this.
• 36:52
  Travis: And I remember it being fucking miserable.
• 36:55
  Travis: We all dug our little holes and we stayed the night, and I did not dig my hole appropriately.
• 37:04
  Travis: And so any sort of body heat that I was putting off started to melt the snow.
• 37:08
  Travis: And I woke up with my feet in the bottom of my sleeping bag in a puddle of freezing water.
• 37:15
  Travis: That sounds horrible.
• 37:16
  Travis: Like very ice cold water.
• 37:18
  Travis: It was miserable.
• 37:20
  Travis: But I made it.
• 37:20
  Travis: No frostbite.
• 37:22
  Josh: Yeah, I've seen Beer Grills do this.
• 37:23
  Josh: He's the reality TV, whatever survivalist.
• 37:27
  Travis: Sure.
• 37:27
  Travis: I just found out he bought an island in the Welsh area for his wife.
• 37:31
  Travis: Interesting.
• 37:32
  Travis: Nothing weird or unspeakable happens on isolated islands, right?
• 37:37
  Josh: Uh, not that's been released.
• 37:39
  Josh: Yeah.
• 37:40
  Josh: Okay, so they found the remaining bodies.
• 37:43
  Josh: Debonina had broken ribs on both sides of her chest and heavy internal bleeding.
• 37:48
  Josh: Medical examiner Boris Basra's Denny said she died from severe chest trauma that happened while she was still alive.
• 37:56
  Travis: Wild.
• 37:56
  Travis: Yeah.
• 37:57
  Josh: Zolotorov had several broken ribs on his right side.
• 38:01
  Josh: Nikolay had a serious skull fracture, and Alexander's death was blamed on the cold.
• 38:08
  Josh: So out of all these hikers, Nikolai Debonina and Semyon, they had all suffered severe enough bone fractures that they were comparable to fractures from a high-impact car accident, which doesn't make sense because they were in the middle of nowhere.
• 38:22
  Josh: So across all of these nine, six deaths were blamed on hypothermia and three for major injuries.
• 38:29
  Travis: Well, did we read earlier that they had been climbing trees?
• 38:33
  Travis: Yeah, I mean, at least one.
• 38:35
  Travis: Yeah.
• 38:35
  Travis: So they could have fallen out of the tree, which would kind of line up with these injuries, right?
• 38:42
  Josh: Maybe.
• 38:42
  Josh: I mean, some of the researchers and forensic experts were saying that some of these impacts were much greater, like 60 mile an hour.
• 38:51
  Travis: Well, they said that they couldn't have fallen from just walking, but nobody ever really talked about them falling out of the tree, which I think may have been the case.
• 39:00
  Travis: I don't know what they were doing up in the trees, maybe looking for a way out.
• 39:04
  Travis: You know, you always want to climb to the highest point you can to get your bearings.
• 39:10
  Travis: We would have to know why they left the camp.
• 39:13
  Josh: You know, if there's someone or something after them, then yeah.
• 39:17
  Travis: I think they just made a mistake.
• 39:18
  Travis: I think that this whole thing is wrapped up in kids being kids, young people being young people, and not thinking that they're in any danger whatsoever.
• 39:30
  Travis: And so they went off what they thought was going to be like a quick little hike and realized very suddenly how dangerous that was.
• 39:37
  Josh: I don't think that.
• 39:38
  Travis: Okay.
• 39:38
  Travis: At all.
• 39:39
  Travis: Yeah, yeah.
• 39:40
  Travis: I know you think you think it's aliens, probably.
• 39:42
  Josh: And I don't think a 15-20-foot fall would be comparable to a high impact.
• 39:48
  Travis: It 100% would.
• 39:50
  Travis: 100%.
• 39:51
  Travis: 20 to 15 feet?
• 39:53
  Travis: That is super high.
• 39:55
  Josh: Yeah, it's high, but I don't think it would compare to like a 60 mile an hour.
• 39:59
  Josh: Nobody says 60 mile an hour.
• 40:01
  Josh: I'm gonna continue.
• 40:02
  Josh: So Debonina's tongue and eyes and some of the soft tissue on her face were missing.
• 40:07
  Josh: Here we go.
• 40:08
  Josh: The autopsy said that was from her body decaying in the water because her and one of the others were on a riverbed, so their faces were in a stream that was 12 feet under snow.
• 40:20
  Josh: Later explanations also point to animals scavenging.
• 40:23
  Travis: Sure.
• 40:24
  Josh: Which are there gonna be a lot of animals up in that area?
• 40:26
  Travis: There might be.
• 40:27
  Travis: It's so cold.
• 40:28
  Travis: I mean, little guys, probably like boxes and uh little weasels.
• 40:35
  Josh: Maybe.
• 40:35
  Josh: I mean, it was negative 20 degrees Celsius.
• 40:38
  Josh: Sure.
• 40:38
  Josh: That's I mean, that's I wouldn't think that even insects would survive, but I know we we've talked about how there's life everywhere.
• 40:44
  Travis: Insects wouldn't survive in this, but bacteria does, and there are plenty of cases of penguins surviving the Antarctic.
• 40:51
  Travis: I mean barely.
• 40:52
  Travis: I know, barely.
• 40:53
  Travis: But they're doing them walk.
• 40:55
  Travis: Yeah, I know.
• 40:56
  Travis: They have terrible uh uh knees.
• 41:00
  Travis: Knees, yeah.
• 41:01
  Travis: I don't even think they have knees.
• 41:02
  Josh: They don't have knees, that's why they walk that way.
• 41:04
  Josh: It just sticks.
• 41:05
  Travis: So, like Ian Malcolm said, life finds a way.
• 41:08
  Travis: There are ways for Arctic foxes to live in this area, weasels, tiny little mammals with very thick fur coats, wolves roam this area, at least parts of Siberia.
• 41:21
  Travis: So there is a legitimate claim to animals finding these bodies.
• 41:27
  Travis: Also, just like how opportunistic people are in situations like this, they might just see it as an opportunity.
• 41:34
  Travis: Now, uh, might weigh out the idea of cannibalism if they're just there to get the tongues for the protein.
• 41:40
  Travis: Why didn't they take the clothes and some of the other fabric?
• 41:43
  Travis: Or maybe they did.
• 41:44
  Travis: Yeah, I I don't know.
• 41:45
  Travis: Who knows?
• 41:46
  Josh: We don't have a full accounting of their gear.
• 41:48
  Josh: Yeah.
• 41:49
  Josh: So some of the clothes on the ravine victims belong to other members of the group.
• 41:53
  Josh: So it looks like they shared and swapped clothes to stay warm, or I don't know what they did.
• 41:58
  Josh: Uh, they also use scraps of fabric for extra protection, including some wrapped around a leg, what they found.
• 42:04
  Josh: So it it's odd finding nine people with all these weird bruisings and cuts and markings and broken bones.
• 42:14
  Josh: One has a smashed skull.
• 42:16
  Travis: The smashed skull is is a little concerning, but a lot of these bruises and stuff could have been accrued just through traveling around up in this area.
• 42:23
  Travis: It's dangerous.
• 42:24
  Travis: Like you fall down, and I mean, some of them could have broken a leg or an arm.
• 42:30
  Travis: This happens a lot on these expeditions.
• 42:32
  Travis: There's plenty of precedent for it.
• 42:35
  Josh: One investigator mentioned that on majority of them there was bruising around their wrists and their legs where it maybe almost looked like they're tied up, which is kind of spooky.
• 42:45
  Josh: Means there's someone or something out there.
• 42:47
  Travis: Yeah, but like more like someone.
• 42:50
  Travis: So like they escaped from the tent tied up.
• 42:53
  Travis: All of them escaped through the tent and cut through and then ran tied up and then made a fire and climbed trees tied up.
• 43:01
  Travis: That doesn't make sense to me.
• 43:03
  Josh: Yeah, I don't know.
• 43:03
  Josh: I know there was open-air prisons called gulags out there around the time.
• 43:09
  Josh: And it was because if they tried to escape, there was no fences or anything, they just wouldn't survive.
• 43:15
  Josh: So if someone tied them up and kicked them out, it was basically them killing them without doing the final blow.
• 43:20
  Josh: You know, if they just sent them out into the middle of nowhere, because they're, I mean, you're guaranteed to tied them up and then just sent them out.
• 43:28
  Travis: I'm just saying what investigators have.
• 43:30
  Travis: And then these guys, though, were able to like start a fire and not burn through their restraints.
• 43:35
  Travis: I don't believe that for a second.
• 43:38
  Travis: That seems that seems wild.
• 43:40
  Josh: They weren't tied up when they were found, so they could have taken them off, but maybe that initial the bruising kind of maybe.
• 43:46
  Josh: Maybe.
• 43:47
  Josh: I don't know.
• 43:48
  Travis: I don't know, maybe, sure.
• 43:49
  Travis: All right, we're gonna get into the radioactive findings on their clothing.
• 43:54
  Travis: So after the May discoveries, the lab tests turned up one of the most repeated details in this case.
• 43:58
  Travis: Some of the clothing Clothing had radioactive contamination.
• 44:02
  Travis: Odd.
• 44:02
  Travis: Weird.
• 44:03
  Travis: The lab found higher than normal beta radiation on several samples.
• 44:07
  Travis: A brown sweater had a reported reading of 9,900 disintegrations per minute, measured over 150 square centimeters.
• 44:16
  Travis: I don't know what that means.
• 44:17
  Josh: I well, I mean, I think everyone else does.
• 44:19
  Josh: So Yeah.
• 44:20
  Travis: Well, uh, that explained to me.
• 44:22
  Travis: Uh a radiation new, but uh what that means.
• 44:26
  Travis: Uh it's probably like uh how dense the radiation reading is.
• 44:31
  Josh: It's high.
• 44:32
  Travis: No, that says it's uh higher than normal, but it's low.
• 44:35
  Travis: It's high for being Oh, look at look at this radiation scientist here.
• 44:40
  Josh: Yeah, it's high for being four months old as well as being near a river and having water saturation because water can wipe a lot of that away.
• 44:49
  Josh: Oh, I didn't I didn't know that.
• 44:51
  Josh: I looked it up.
• 44:52
  Josh: That's all I remember.
• 44:53
  Josh: But I do remember it is definitely high.
• 44:56
  Travis: Okay.
• 44:56
  Travis: So those numbers describe contamination on the clothes.
• 44:58
  Travis: How much radiation a person actually gets depends on other things like what the substance is, how much of it there is, and how long and in what way they were exposed.
• 45:08
  Travis: The lab couldn't fully identify the material, so the isotope, where it came from, and when it got on the clothes all stayed unknown.
• 45:15
  Travis: The brown sweater was worn by Dubanina, however, it was originally Yuri Krivoshenko's sweater who was found by the cedar tree.
• 45:22
  Travis: Yuri worked at the Mayak nuclear complex, so the clothes may have been contaminated at work and brought to the mountain.
• 45:28
  Travis: But to prove it, you'd have to trace each piece of clothing and its history.
• 45:32
  Travis: The clothing swaps made that super hard to trace.
• 45:35
  Travis: A piece of clothing found on one person might have belonged to someone else.
• 45:38
  Travis: Who was wearing it when it was found and where the contamination came from are two separate questions we don't truly have answers to.
• 45:46
  Josh: Yeah.
• 45:46
  Josh: So a clean, normal piece of everyday clothing should effectively have zero DPM.
• 45:52
  Josh: So it being 9,900 is very high and is really hard to find because it's science.
• 46:00
  Travis: We are not radiation people.
• 46:02
  Travis: We're not even scientists.
• 46:04
  Josh: No.
• 46:05
  Josh: So on May 28, 1959, investigator Lev Ivanov closed the case.
• 46:11
  Josh: But more than 30 years later, he published a very different story about what he thought happened.
• 46:17
  Josh: The original conclusion said the deaths came from an overwhelming force, the hikers couldn't survive.
• 46:22
  Josh: In English, that's often written as a compelling natural force.
• 46:26
  Josh: It didn't say what the force actually was.
• 46:28
  Josh: So in November 1990, Ivanov published an article, usually translated as Mystery of the Fireballs.
• 46:36
  Josh: It ran in a newspaper called the Leninsky Put on November 22nd and 24th.
• 46:41
  Josh: He wrote that he believed an unusual object or event in the sky played a part in the deaths.
• 46:46
  Josh: Ivanov also said senior officials told him to limit the investigation and its findings.
• 46:52
  Josh: Uh-oh.
• 46:53
  Josh: He tied together the light reports, the radiation, and the injuries and guessed at an unknown kind of energy.
• 46:59
  Josh: His later take went past what the original records show.
• 47:02
  Josh: The article covered his conclusion and what he remembered about the official pressure.
• 47:07
  Josh: So the idea of Soviet military involvement grew into a few different theories.
• 47:12
  Josh: Some say hikers ran into a missile or an experimental weapon by accident.
• 47:17
  Travis: Uh so we're also talking about like this was during the space race.
• 47:22
  Travis: So we, the United States, were involved in getting to space at this time.
• 47:28
  Travis: Getting to the moon specifically was our goal.
• 47:31
  Travis: The Russians had gotten to space first.
• 47:34
  Josh: So maybe, maybe they had stumbled across some sort of this was around the time that they were testing a lot of like missiles and rockets.
• 47:42
  Josh: Sure.
• 47:42
  Travis: And where better to test it than out in the middle of nowhere, right?
• 47:45
  Travis: Well, I mean that one of the guys was involved in nuclear testing.
• 47:49
  Josh: Yeah, actually, uh, surprisingly, two of them were.
• 47:52
  Josh: I think they mentioned it in the documentary post there was also a covered up big radiation leak in one of the places.
• 47:59
  Josh: It was, I think, the first big leak in the world, but it was completely hidden and covered up by the Soviets at the time because they didn't want that to get out.
• 48:08
  Josh: So, yeah, Soviet military involvement, possibly.
• 48:11
  Josh: Experimental weapon was seen.
• 48:14
  Josh: I don't know.
• 48:14
  Josh: Others say it was an operation followed by a cover-up.
• 48:17
  Josh: So the lights and the radioactive clothing and the injuries and military secrecy show up again and again in these stories.
• 48:24
  Josh: Just because I mean it's all kind of there.
• 48:26
  Josh: You can make a thousand stories by just those few things.
• 48:29
  Josh: A thousand and one, Shehara's odd, right?
• 48:32
  Travis: No, it's uh just one thousand.
• 48:35
  Travis: A thousand and one, though.
• 48:36
  Travis: Arabian Knights.
• 48:38
  Josh: I mean, yeah.
• 48:38
  Josh: Yeah, that's a thing.
• 48:40
  Josh: Mm-hmm.
• 48:40
  Josh: So each version needs a different chain of events.
• 48:43
  Josh: A weapons accident would mean a test or launch close enough to hit the campsite.
• 48:48
  Josh: A planned operation would mean people, orders, and a reason to go after this group.
• 48:53
  Josh: Matching launch record debris or official paperwork would make a lot of these a lot stronger, which they're not going to release any paperwork.
• 49:01
  Josh: Like if they're covering something up, there's not going to be any record debris or anything like that.
• 49:06
  Josh: It's definitely odd.
• 49:08
  Josh: I mean, it could be one of these things.
• 49:12
  Josh: Could be none of them.
• 49:13
  Travis: It could be none of them, too.
• 49:14
  Travis: That we've talked about.
• 49:15
  Travis: I mean, this is a very isolated experience that happened.
• 49:19
  Travis: So all we have is speculation because nobody was there.
• 49:23
  Travis: We have journal entries, sure, which can be interpreted any number of ways, these entries.
• 49:28
  Travis: There's a lot of environmental things that happen here.
• 49:32
  Travis: This is not a hugely explored part of the Ural Mountains.
• 49:36
  Travis: It's called the Dead Mountain or the Silent Peak or whatever.
• 49:39
  Travis: So there are reasons why people aren't going here.
• 49:42
  Travis: Very dangerous.
• 49:44
  Travis: Yeah.
• 49:45
  Travis: So another explanation says something came out of the forest.
• 49:49
  Travis: The Yeti theory leans on a far-off figure in one photo and the snowman joke and the group's own newspaper.
• 49:56
  Travis: This theory says the hikers ran into a large human-like creature.
• 50:00
  Travis: Supposedly it scared them out of the tent, and its strength explains the bad injuries.
• 50:04
  Travis: Yeti is the name most people use, along with comparisons to Bigfoot and Sasquatch, our beloved Bigfoot and Sasquatch.
• 50:11
  Travis: Photo usually listed as frame 17 from Tabot Brignol's camera, shows a far-off figure among the trees.
• 50:19
  Travis: There's so little detail that people read it different ways, including as a person in outdoor gear.
• 50:25
  Travis: Is this what we're looking at here?
• 50:26
  Josh: Is this the actual Yeah, this is the actual photo.
• 50:29
  Josh: Which I mean, it looks it's blurry woods and the snow, and then in the far off there's a blurry bipedal creature.
• 50:37
  Josh: But I mean that could be a human.
• 50:40
  Travis: Could be a human just covered in snow gear or whatever.
• 50:42
  Travis: Moving moving really slow through the snow.
• 50:45
  Josh: Or purposely posing to be a Yeti if they were joking about it.
• 50:49
  Travis: Sure.
• 50:50
  Travis: Yeah.
• 50:50
  Travis: I mean, I guess Yeti culture is thriving in rural Russia.
• 50:55
  Travis: Everywhere.
• 50:56
  Travis: Rural Soviet Union?
• 50:57
  Travis: Yeah.
• 50:58
  Travis: Yeah.
• 50:58
  Travis: Uh the evening O'Tortin leaflet gave the theory another popular detail.
• 51:03
  Travis: The snowman line sits next to jokes and fake reports about life on the trip and later retellings.
• 51:10
  Travis: That line sounds creepy because of how things ended.
• 51:13
  Josh: I don't think it was that.
• 51:15
  Josh: I think they were just being goofy, taking pictures.
• 51:19
  Travis: Just having fun.
• 51:20
  Travis: Yeah.
• 51:20
  Travis: And just like uh like an inside joke type thing.
• 51:22
  Travis: Yeah.
• 51:22
  Travis: And they're all gonna write about it.
• 51:24
  Travis: Yeah.
• 51:24
  Josh: So another explanation is the avalanche explanation.
• 51:27
  Josh: The Russian authorities reopened the case in 2019.
• 51:30
  Josh: The explanation they announced the next year was about snow bad visibility and the group trying to get to safety.
• 51:36
  Josh: So, and I mean that is one of the few things that like when I think about camping, especially in weather like that, the only thing that would make me leave my tent, other than government or people, would be an avalanche.
• 51:50
  Josh: So in July 2020, prosecutor Andrei Kurokov announced an avalanche explanation.
• 51:57
  Josh: In this version, the hikers left the tent, got lost in poor visibility, and died from the cold and their injuries.
• 52:02
  Josh: And this became the official result of that review.
• 52:05
  Josh: And then on January 28th, 2021, Johan Guam of EPFL, don't know what that is, and Alexander Poozrin published their own study.
• 52:16
  Josh: They modeled a small slab avalanche.
• 52:19
  Josh: They looked at the shape of the slope and the possible delay between setting up camp and the snow letting go and how much force it would take to cause serious injury.
• 52:27
  Josh: In their version, cutting into the slope to set up a tent weakened the snow holding up a layer above it.
• 52:32
  Josh: Then, when piled more snow on top of the campsite, the extra weight eventually made the slab let go.
• 52:38
  Josh: In their model, that could happen hours after the group settled in.
• 52:42
  Josh: The researchers also looked at what happened when dense snow hits people lying on a hard surface.
• 52:47
  Josh: Their simulation showed that even a fairly small slide could cause serious chest injuries.
• 52:52
  Josh: Whether that matches what really happened depends on guesses about the snow, how the tent was set up, and where the people were laying down.
• 52:59
  Josh: Follow-up trips to the area documented real slab avalanches.
• 53:03
  Josh: In a 2022 paper, the researchers described these findings and how quickly wind can erase the signs of a small slide, and that field work backed up the idea that local conditions could cause this kind of avalanche.
• 53:16
  Josh: The research gives us a pretty believable reason for an emergency at the tent, but the exact timing of the injuries and the walk to the forest and what happened at the cedar and the ravine are still being reconstructed.
• 53:27
  Josh: They're still trying to figure that out.
• 53:28
  Travis: So, I mean, it is a possibility.
• 53:30
  Travis: What that an avalanche is what got them?
• 53:33
  Travis: Yeah.
• 53:33
  Travis: I think that that played a part.
• 53:35
  Travis: I don't know if that was the end result necessarily.
• 53:37
  Travis: I think it was an accumulation of things.
• 53:39
  Travis: And an avalanche totally could have been maybe that's why they had to cut their way out of the tent, is because that that was the fastest way out.
• 53:47
  Josh: Yeah, like a rocket went up to attack a UFO, and then it caused an avalanche to come down.
• 53:54
  Travis: Yep.
• 53:55
  Travis: And just as this whole thing was happening, a guy jumped out really quick, action movie style, took a pic snapped a picture of the sky and this whole thing going down and was like, I hope uh future historians get this right, and then crumbled down the hill and then was able to make a fire and climb a tree.
• 54:14
  Travis: Yep.
• 54:14
  Travis: So the evidence keeps bringing us back to the same places the tent, the slope, the cedar, and the ravine.
• 54:20
  Travis: You have footprints heading downhill into the park, a small fire near the trees, and clothes swapped between friends trying to stay warm.
• 54:28
  Travis: The autopsies show different causes of death for different people, and tests found radiation on some of their clothing.
• 54:34
  Travis: People in the area even reported seeing strange lights in the sky.
• 54:38
  Travis: So over the years, researchers have tried to connect those clues to everything from infrasound and drug-induced mania, huh?
• 54:46
  Travis: To KGB murders and smoke from the stove.
• 54:49
  Travis: What we talked about today is really just the surface.
• 54:52
  Travis: This case is a giant maze.
• 54:53
  Travis: We didn't even get into the months of questioning the local Mancy tribe, the nearby gulag camps, or the Soviet file that lists the start of the investigation as February 6th, weeks before the tent was found.
• 55:05
  Travis: At the end of the day, before any of the theories or mysteries, these were just nine young people out in the wilderness, singing on the trail, telling jokes around the fire, and planning their futures together.
• 55:15
  Travis: Yuri Yudin was the only one who turned back early, heading home with swollen joints and carrying the memory of his friends for the rest of his life.
• 55:23
  Travis: He spent over fifty years wishing he'd stayed with them and searching for answers about what really happened on that mountain.
• 55:29
  Travis: When he finally passed away on April 27, 2013, his last wish was granted.
• 55:35
  Travis: He was laid to rest in Mikulovsky Cemetery alongside the rest of the hikers, finally at peace, buried with the friends he spent a lifetime missing.
• 55:44
  Travis: That's pretty sweet.
• 55:47
  Travis: Yeah.
• 55:47
  Travis: Yeah.
• 55:48
  Travis: But I would like uh I mean, yeah, it's a very complicated uh feeling to want to be with your friends, but it would have ended the same for him, right?
• 55:58
  Travis: Like he would have he would have died the same the same way.
• 56:02
  Josh: Yeah, it was a huge blessing, but it was I mean, just imagine losing nine of your friends and not knowing, not understanding, never getting answers, weird circum I mean, yeah, that would be hard.
• 56:15
  Travis: Yeah, it would be, it would be really hard.
• 56:16
  Travis: A hard thing to reconcile.
• 56:18
  Travis: Sounds like he never let it go.
• 56:20
  Travis: I mean, so much so that he wanted to be buried with his friends.
• 56:24
  Josh: Yeah.
• 56:24
  Travis: Like, was he married and he was just like, sorry, you will never fulfill me the way my nine friends fulfilled me.
• 56:31
  Travis: I want to spend the rest of my eternity buried with them, find your own spot.
• 56:36
  Josh: I I don't know, but I I do know there are interviews with him.
• 56:40
  Josh: He did a handful of interviews, and you can find those online and stuff.
• 56:44
  Josh: But I imagine that there's survivor guilt that comes along with this.
• 56:49
  Josh: Yeah.
• 56:49
  Josh: And that would be hard to live with.
• 56:51
  Josh: So, I mean, what do you what are your final thoughts?
• 56:54
  Josh: What do you think it's military, alien?
• 56:56
  Josh: Oh, I think I've like hinted at what my final thoughts are.
• 57:01
  Travis: I wasn't listening.
• 57:01
  Travis: I know.
• 57:02
  Travis: Uh, I think it was environmental.
• 57:03
  Travis: I think that some of the injuries could be explained by climbing up a tree, which we talked about in this.
• 57:09
  Travis: Also, it's pretty treacherous.
• 57:11
  Travis: You're going to be like whacking your way through stuff.
• 57:13
  Travis: They weren't on a really defined trail.
• 57:16
  Travis: They were just out hiking around.
• 57:18
  Travis: Uh, you fall down a lot when you're out hiking.
• 57:21
  Travis: And I imagine it's made even more dangerous hiking through snow.
• 57:25
  Travis: So there's going to be a lot of falling down, which could explain some bruising on the wrists and ankles.
• 57:31
  Travis: Like you're cutting your feet through the snow.
• 57:34
  Travis: An avalanche uh would explain why they had to get out of their tent so fast and make a smaller, like they had the wherewithal to understand they had to get out of that one situation and to not exacerbate how much worse it could get, they made a fire and then wanted to climb up a tree to see how far the avalanche had spread, or to see if they could still spot their campsite.
• 58:01
  Travis: And then on the way down, because they're so cold, you know, your hands get numb, your feet get numb, and you forget that you're on a branch or where your feet are, and so you just you fall down and now you're incredibly hurt.
• 58:13
  Travis: I also wouldn't rule out substances, alcohol, uh, any sort of drugs.
• 58:19
  Travis: I mean, if you're up in the mountains and maybe you come across some weird berries and you're desperate, you would eat them.
• 58:26
  Travis: Or maybe they had their own psychoactive drugs, they're college kids in the 60s.
• 58:31
  Travis: This is like when drug culture is really starting to show up.
• 58:35
  Travis: So maybe that.
• 58:37
  Travis: I don't see a lot of supernatural evidence in this story.
• 58:43
  Travis: I don't either.
• 58:44
  Travis: I s I see a lot of kids being very young and not prepared for a situation that they put themselves in.
• 58:51
  Travis: Kind of like, you know, the into the wild guy who went up to Alaska, thought he was brave enough and knew enough about survival that he could he could do it.
• 59:01
  Travis: I mean, he was on his way up, was taking advice from people on how to cure meat, and that was a like a big thing that he fucked up.
• 59:09
  Travis: Yeah.
• 59:10
  Travis: You know, was trying to cure this deer or elk that he had found, and it had gone bad, which eventually led him to eating berries that made him hallucinate and then overdose on those and die in this van or whatever.
• 59:22
  Travis: So I think that that is probably the case.
• 59:25
  Travis: I think that it was because it's Russia, because it's so dark and secluded, a little scary.
• 59:31
  Travis: I I think that it's built up a little bit.
• 59:33
  Travis: And and again, like we want to find answers to things that we don't understand, and so we start filling in the gaps.
• 59:40
  Travis: Yeah.
• 59:40
  Travis: That's what I think.
• 59:42
  Josh: I don't think that it's UFOs, just because that also doesn't line up like the remains and all that stuff.
• 59:49
  Josh: It doesn't line up with any story or anything we've heard before.
• 59:52
  Josh: Same with Yeti or a cryptid kind of thing.
• 59:56
  Josh: The military thing, it does make sense just because I mean, if there is an avalanche, I feel like they wouldn't go that far away with nothing.
• 1:00:06
  Josh: And they wouldn't just keep going.
• 1:00:08
  Josh: I mean, they were still within like I think sight of their campsite.
• 1:00:12
  Josh: It was like a like a kilometer and a half away.
• 1:00:16
  Josh: So I mean, it was pretty far, especially at how long it takes them to walk in those conditions.
• 1:00:21
  Josh: Um, and for them to walk that far in socks is just bizarre.
• 1:00:26
  Josh: It it makes it seem as though they didn't want to go back.
• 1:00:29
  Josh: And then maybe at after a certain amount of time, they're like, okay, it's safe to go back.
• 1:00:33
  Josh: And that makes me think that there was maybe someone there.
• 1:00:36
  Travis: I think maybe it was an avalanche and they ran out really quick and tried to get ahead of the avalanche, moving as fast.
• 1:00:43
  Travis: I mean, they were moving downhill.
• 1:00:45
  Travis: Like I said earlier, it's it's a lot easier to move downhill than it is to move uphill.
• 1:00:50
  Travis: And they uh had now changed the direction, and they thought, well, we are stuck here for the time being.
• 1:00:58
  Travis: Let's make the best of it that we can.
• 1:01:00
  Travis: We'll start a fire.
• 1:01:01
  Josh: Well, the the other thing is they have the picture of the tent from the searchers and the investigators, and we have pictures of them at their tent before all this happened.
• 1:01:12
  Josh: And there's not there is a little bit of snow on top of part of the tent, but the surrounding snow areas haven't changed at all.
• 1:01:21
  Josh: So there may have been a little bit of something that like tipped, and I don't think that would spook them enough to go that far and not come back immediately, or just step out and take a few feet, kind of observe.
• 1:01:33
  Travis: Well, they're we're we're talking about like how hard it was for them to get where they were.
• 1:01:37
  Travis: They're not just going to like, okay, let's immediately go back.
• 1:01:41
  Travis: It's dark, right?
• 1:01:42
  Travis: They had experienced this thing, maybe whatever it is, avalanche or person or monster or alien or whatever that caused them to leave.
• 1:01:51
  Travis: And they're not just going to immediately turn right back.
• 1:01:54
  Travis: They're going to sit, try to get warmed up, figure the situation out, make a plan.
• 1:02:01
  Travis: And I think that's what got them is just the harsh environment.
• 1:02:07
  Josh: I mean, it yeah, I I just think it being negative four degrees Fahrenheit or negative 20 Celsius is gonna be, I mean, you go back pretty quick.
• 1:02:18
  Josh: Not if you have a fire.
• 1:02:19
  Josh: I would not if like we made a walk two kilometers to build a fire.
• 1:02:23
  Josh: Like they I've it just for me, what I believe is I I feel like they were trying to escape something and it is most likely military.
• 1:02:30
  Josh: That's that's what I think.
• 1:02:33
  Josh: Because it was around the time of secrecy.
• 1:02:36
  Josh: The military was trying to make the investigation pampered and kind of try to push it away a little bit, and they were doing tests around that area.
• 1:02:46
  Josh: That's what I think.
• 1:02:47
  Josh: Like if it was the military, they would have just shot them.
• 1:02:50
  Josh: Yeah, I I don't know.
• 1:02:52
  Josh: But that's what's so wild about this whole story is that there's so many different layers, and it's so highly recorded that there's enough information that you can make so many different conclusions.
• 1:03:04
  Travis: I know, but why why would the military just let them run?
• 1:03:07
  Travis: And what was the military doing there?
• 1:03:08
  Travis: And why did they have to leave?
• 1:03:10
  Travis: And then they all died of hypothermia and injuries from falling down.
• 1:03:15
  Travis: Like that doesn't tell me military at all.
• 1:03:18
  Josh: There is also the idea of the Mancy or the native tribes around the area.
• 1:03:22
  Josh: That one is still up in the air for me.
• 1:03:24
  Josh: I mean, they are still, I imagine, angry.
• 1:03:28
  Josh: I mean, they were wronged horribly.
• 1:03:30
  Josh: And there were sacred areas to their tribes.
• 1:03:34
  Josh: Yeah, which we didn't even we didn't really talk about that.
• 1:03:36
  Josh: Maybe these hikers disrupted something that was sacred to them.
• 1:03:40
  Josh: When the Mancy were interviewed, they were saying that they don't practice that stuff anymore, but legally and for their lives, they have to say that.
• 1:03:48
  Josh: So I I just I don't know.
• 1:03:50
  Josh: The Mancy also helped with the searching, sure, which is a very kind thing to do.
• 1:03:56
  Travis: I don't think that that's necessarily a kind, I think that's a preservation thing.
• 1:04:00
  Travis: Like if the you don't help them, then they're going to make things very hard for you.
• 1:04:04
  Travis: So of course you're going to like help them navigate because that gets them in and out of your area as fast as possible.
• 1:04:10
  Josh: Right.
• 1:04:10
  Travis: Otherwise, they're just gonna stick around and fuck up your shit and start disrupting your sacred sites even further than they've already been disrupted.
• 1:04:19
  Travis: So to help them with the search is like, let's get them in and out as fast as possible, and then we can go on with our lives.
• 1:04:26
  Travis: They can go on with theirs, and maybe we will never have to cross paths again.
• 1:04:30
  Travis: Yeah, it could be, but but that's all speculation.
• 1:04:34
  Josh: Yeah, it's it's super hard, but that's just that's just my take.
• 1:04:38
  Josh: Yeah.
• 1:04:39
  Josh: Well, that's the olive pass.
• 1:04:41
  Josh: Still undecided.
• 1:04:42
  Josh: I mean, like Travis said, this is both of us just speculating, like no one knows.
• 1:04:47
  Josh: But we want to know what you guys think.
• 1:04:49
  Josh: And you guys should watch this video.
• 1:04:51
  Josh: There's a lot more research out there.
• 1:04:53
  Josh: Sure.
• 1:04:53
  Josh: If you're really interested, just dive in.
• 1:04:55
  Josh: It's fascinating and it's still unsolved.
• 1:04:58
  Josh: But yeah, get a hold of us with fan mail.
• 1:05:01
  Josh: There's a link in our show notes.
• 1:05:02
  Josh: Uh, you can just message us like a text on your phone.
• 1:05:06
  Josh: You just click the link.
• 1:05:07
  Josh: Fan mail, email.
• 1:05:08
  Travis: We're on Instagram.
• 1:05:09
  Travis: Snail mail.
• 1:05:10
  Travis: Uh nope.
• 1:05:11
  Travis: I don't want anybody to know my address.
• 1:05:13
  Travis: Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.
• 1:05:14
  Travis: Uh, one, two, three, aliens, yes, but maybe no street.
• 1:05:18
  Travis: Uh, care of Josh and Travis, any town USA.
• 1:05:23
  Travis: That's how you can find us in Snail Mail.
• 1:05:25
  Josh: We do have a fan mail.
• 1:05:27
  Travis: Oh, I love these.
• 1:05:28
  Josh: Me too.
• 1:05:29
  Josh: This is a guy named Brad Watts.
• 1:05:31
  Josh: Cool.
• 1:05:32
  Josh: He's retired living in West Texas.
• 1:05:34
  Josh: Brother of John Watts, the director of Spider-Man.
• 1:05:37
  Josh: Maybe.
• 1:05:37
  Josh: Maybe.
• 1:05:38
  Josh: He says, just recently discovered your podcast.
• 1:05:41
  Josh: Though I may not always agree with your findings, your banter is refreshing.
• 1:05:46
  Josh: I am ex USAF vet.
• 1:05:48
  Josh: Holy shit.
• 1:05:49
  Josh: And a UFO junkie for over 60 years.
• 1:05:51
  Josh: Personally met Travis Walton on several occasions.
• 1:05:54
  Josh: I was stationed in Arizona when his abduction took place.
• 1:05:58
  Josh: I had several UFO incidents.
• 1:05:59
  Josh: Come across my workstation on my duties in the 70s.
• 1:06:02
  Josh: Keep up your great work in asking those questions with an open mind.
• 1:06:06
  Josh: Keep it fresh and interesting.
• 1:06:08
  Travis: Well, thank you, Brad.
• 1:06:10
  Josh: Yeah, thank you.
• 1:06:11
  Travis: None of these things are findings that we're revealing to anybody.
• 1:06:16
  Travis: So this isn't like we're not dropping any information.
• 1:06:20
  Travis: We are just communicating research.
• 1:06:23
  Travis: So Yeah, we're learning this legitimately like a week before we record.
• 1:06:29
  Travis: So that's fine.
• 1:06:30
  Travis: Like you can disagree with the research that we found, but like they're not findings.
• 1:06:34
  Travis: It's not new information that we're dropping.
• 1:06:39
  Josh: I think he's talking about disagreeing with some of our conclusions or thoughts.
• 1:06:43
  Josh: Okay.
• 1:06:44
  Josh: You know, which is fine.
• 1:06:45
  Josh: That's what makes the world amazing.
• 1:06:47
  Josh: I mean, that kind of makes me think looking at where we are.
• 1:06:52
  Josh: I mean, we're almost 50 episodes in.
• 1:06:54
  Josh: I was a really all-in believer.
• 1:06:56
  Josh: And I think revisiting that kind of where we are would be interesting.
• 1:07:01
  Josh: Yeah.
• 1:07:01
  Josh: I I agree.
• 1:07:02
  Josh: For me, I'm actually surprisingly with more and more and more information, it's definitely become normalized, like the UFOs and UAPs and extraterrestrial life.
• 1:07:12
  Travis: Yeah, we've been to we've been to an event, even.
• 1:07:15
  Travis: Yeah.
• 1:07:16
  Travis: Surrounded ourselves with people and the community.
• 1:07:19
  Josh: But I I'm still right there.
• 1:07:21
  Josh: Like I believe aliens exist.
• 1:07:23
  Josh: I think that they are here.
• 1:07:26
  Josh: Agree.
• 1:07:27
  Josh: Or we are in contact with them.
• 1:07:29
  Josh: But I for some reason I actually feel slightly less believing a little bit the more I dig in.
• 1:07:37
  Travis: I think that's I think that's good.
• 1:07:38
  Travis: I think that having questions about things instead of just wanting to believe uh everything whole cloth, I think that shows a lot of growth, Josh.
• 1:07:50
  Travis: Well, thank you.
• 1:07:51
  Travis: I appreciate you being on this journey with me.
• 1:07:53
  Josh: Yeah, I I love this journey.
• 1:07:56
  Josh: I definitely think with the government's response as of late and just hearing about some of these stories that just seem like kind of obvious hoaxes or sci-fi writers.
• 1:08:06
  Josh: And then running the socials and seeing and following a lot of pretty extreme believers and what they actually believe.
• 1:08:15
  Josh: It's kind of deterred me a little bit, but I do believe that aliens are here.
• 1:08:20
  Josh: I believe that the government is in contact and they do know the truth.
• 1:08:24
  Josh: I think that there's a lot of people.
• 1:08:25
  Travis: I wouldn't say the government.
• 1:08:26
  Travis: I think that what we need to say is the military.
• 1:08:28
  Travis: I don't think that it's the government.
• 1:08:30
  Travis: I I think the military is in contact with them.
• 1:08:33
  Travis: I think the government, uh at least like 90% of the government, has no idea what the fuck is going on.
• 1:08:39
  Travis: There might be little pockets of like a government agency, but I think that that is getting their funding from the military and their tech from the military.
• 1:08:48
  Josh: I think that there's a slow disclosure, and I think not just the military, I think parts of the government.
• 1:08:53
  Travis: I think our government is doing like the alien lords' work of trying to release this information, and they're getting a lot of pushback on it.
• 1:09:01
  Travis: Because if something's come to light, there's going to be a lot of follow-up questions about the funding that the military has been receiving.
• 1:09:10
  Travis: Like we put trillions of dollars into the military, and now we are finally pushing back on what that funding looks like.
• 1:09:18
  Josh: Yeah.
• 1:09:19
  Travis: And I think the military they're not going to want to let go of that money.
• 1:09:23
  Josh: Yeah, there's going to be huge repercussions, and some of that is financial.
• 1:09:27
  Travis: But I when it just It's all, Josh, it's all financial.
• 1:09:31
  Travis: It's all financial.
• 1:09:32
  Travis: It's always going to come back to the money.
• 1:09:34
  Travis: To quote Tony Montana from Scarface, first you get the money, then you get the power, then you get the aliens.
• 1:09:42
  Travis: No.
• 1:09:43
  Travis: Yes.
• 1:09:44
  Travis: That's a direct quote from Scarface.
• 1:09:46
  Josh: When it comes to the alien stuff, I think they are trying to release it just really slowly so it's not catastrophic.
• 1:09:52
  Josh: They're easing us in.
• 1:09:53
  Josh: That's what's taking so long.
• 1:09:54
  Josh: But that's where I that's where I kind of lie.
• 1:09:56
  Josh: I'm still trying to process where I am on like the state of my belief with this because it has changed slightly, but I'm still a die hard believer.
• 1:10:04
  Josh: Okay.
• 1:10:05
  Josh: And where are you, Travis?
• 1:10:06
  Travis: Same as I ever was.
• 1:10:07
  Travis: Always just gonna question it.
• 1:10:09
  Travis: But I do believe that aliens, obviously, uh that's never changed.
• 1:10:12
  Travis: I just I don't believe some of the lore out there.
• 1:10:16
  Travis: I don't think that it makes sense.
• 1:10:18
  Travis: And uh like human beings are wont to do, we try to fill in the gaps of things we don't understand with just any sort of lore because our mind just wants to connect the dots and make things make sense to us down here, and sometimes they're just unexplainable.
• 1:10:34
  Travis: And so we're just like, that's the work of aliens, that's the work of the gods, that's just our our fate.
• 1:10:39
  Travis: Like we don't control it.
• 1:10:40
  Travis: So I don't like that.
• 1:10:42
  Travis: I I like being a master of my own fate and my situation, and I'm always just going to be very curious and skeptical.
• 1:10:51
  Travis: Like I have my own life experiences, everybody does, and that's those are very important, and that's how we all navigate our way through this life, right?
• 1:11:00
  Travis: Like we're all trying to figure things out.
• 1:11:03
  Travis: So I'm always just going to ask questions, I'm always going to push back a little bit on some things.
• 1:11:08
  Travis: Okay.
• 1:11:09
  Travis: I do believe aliens exist 100%, probably never be convinced otherwise.
• 1:11:14
  Travis: The universe is too big, too vast, too unknown to think that we are the only beings out there.
• 1:11:21
  Travis: In fact, to me, that is more terrifying to think that we are all alone on this tiny little speck of dust floating through the blackness of space.
• 1:11:31
  Josh: And same old Travis, the rock is what we call them on the streets.
• 1:11:35
  Travis: Yeah, I like I like to think that there are other people or other beings out there that are experiencing life in a similar but also different way.
• 1:11:45
  Josh: I think that's making music and art.
• 1:11:48
  Josh: Wow, that'd be cool.
• 1:11:49
  Travis: I love that idea.
• 1:11:50
  Travis: Like, I would love to see what music looks like from somebody.
• 1:11:53
  Travis: Do they express themselves in that way?
• 1:11:55
  Travis: Do they talk about art the way we do?
• 1:11:58
  Travis: Do they talk about us existing the way we are talking about us existing here?
• 1:12:03
  Travis: Are podcasts a thing?
• 1:12:05
  Josh: Are they listening to our show?
• 1:12:07
  Travis: Are they listening?
• 1:12:07
  Travis: Like, please let us know.
• 1:12:09
  Josh: Leave a five-star review.
• 1:12:11
  Travis: I mean, if yeah, you if you want it read, that's the only if you want it red.
• 1:12:15
  Travis: That's the only way.
• 1:12:16
  Travis: Like you're gonna have to do that.
• 1:12:17
  Travis: Yeah, uh, but I just I do like to think about that.
• 1:12:20
  Travis: Like, what does art look like to another culture?
• 1:12:22
  Travis: Yeah, I have no idea.
• 1:12:24
  Travis: It's fun to think about what is beautiful to them.
• 1:12:26
  Travis: Do they have do they wear clothes?
• 1:12:28
  Travis: Are they hopefully not?
• 1:12:29
  Travis: Are they are they?
• 1:12:31
  Travis: I mean, what we send out to the universe, that signal or whatever, has images of us not wearing clothes.
• 1:12:39
  Travis: So when they come here, they're gonna be like, what the fuck is this?
• 1:12:42
  Josh: The Arecibo message?
• 1:12:43
  Travis: Yeah.
• 1:12:43
  Travis: So do pe do do other civilizations have that sort of feeling of modesty or shame in their own, their own body?
• 1:12:53
  Travis: Do is is that something that they experience?
• 1:12:55
  Travis: I'd love to know that.
• 1:12:57
  Travis: I'd love to know what their their social environment looks like.
• 1:13:00
  Travis: Do they hate going out to see friends some nights and they just hope that their other friends cancel?
• 1:13:08
  Travis: You know, I think that's a universal thing.
• 1:13:11
  Travis: Is that a thing?
• 1:13:11
  Travis: Well, we don't know.
• 1:13:12
  Travis: I don't know.
• 1:13:13
  Josh: I don't know.
• 1:13:14
  Josh: Okay, well, that's the show.
• 1:13:17
  Josh: Those are our thoughts.
• 1:13:18
  Josh: That's where we are now compared to episode one.
• 1:13:22
  Josh: And now we get into our baseline quiz.
• 1:13:30
  Travis: My favorite part of the show.
• 1:13:32
  Travis: It's all my favorite part of the show, spoiler.
• 1:13:34
  Josh: Oh okay.
• 1:13:35
  Josh: So we have our quiz.
• 1:13:39
  Josh: This is gonna be our topic for next episode.
• 1:13:42
  Josh: Holy shit! Yes! And I have not looked at it yet.
• 1:13:49
  Josh: Oh, I just opened it up.
• 1:13:51
  Josh: We don't know what our topic is until we get this quiz.
• 1:13:55
  Josh: So the topic is I fucking love this.
• 1:14:01
  Travis: Face peelers.
• 1:14:02
  Travis: Hell yeah.
• 1:14:03
  Travis: That's what we're gonna talk about.
• 1:14:04
  Travis: So we're gonna talk about some metal guitar players that just peel your face off from rock and roll.
• 1:14:10
  Travis: Hell yeah.
• 1:14:12
  Josh: Josh.
• 1:14:12
  Josh: Okay.
• 1:14:13
  Josh: I already don't like it.
• 1:14:14
  Josh: Tell you that.
• 1:14:15
  Josh: Uh no, sounds bad.
• 1:14:16
  Josh: Sounds bad.
• 1:14:17
  Josh: Real bad.
• 1:14:18
  Josh: This is gonna be our, I guess, Halloween episode.
• 1:14:21
  Josh: Uh-huh.
• 1:14:23
  Josh: All right.
• 1:14:23
  Josh: Well, let's dive in.
• 1:14:24
  Josh: So the first question the face peelers reports that made international headlines in 2023 came from which country?
• 1:14:32
  Travis: That's wild.
• 1:14:33
  Travis: Like, I didn't hear about this.
• 1:14:35
  Josh: I didn't either.
• 1:14:36
  Josh: So is that A, Mexico, B, Peru, C, Brazil, or D, Chile?
• 1:14:42
  Josh: Oh man.
• 1:14:44
  Travis: I'm I'm going to Brazil.
• 1:14:45
  Travis: Brazil's a pretty tough place.
• 1:14:47
  Josh: Yeah.
• 1:14:47
  Josh: And we've had some things already happen there.
• 1:14:51
  Josh: I'm doing that too.
• 1:14:52
  Josh: But I mean, like, the cartel is pretty big in Brazil.
• 1:14:55
  Josh: The cartel is really big in South America, Mexico.
• 1:14:59
  Josh: South America.
• 1:15:00
  Josh: I mean, they're huge everywhere.
• 1:15:01
  Josh: Century.
• 1:15:02
  Josh: Yeah.
• 1:15:02
  Josh: Okay.
• 1:15:03
  Josh: Next one.
• 1:15:04
  Josh: These encounters were reported in the communities within which rainforest?
• 1:15:08
  Josh: A, the Congo, B, the Dane tree, C, the Amazon, or D, the Black Forest?
• 1:15:15
  Travis: Amazon, baby.
• 1:15:16
  Travis: That's where I'm going.
• 1:15:18
  Josh: Yeah, that's the only one I know for a fact.
• 1:15:21
  Josh: In South America.
• 1:15:23
  Josh: Okay, next one.
• 1:15:24
  Josh: Face peelers is the English translation of which Spanish name is a A Los Pelicares, B El Chupacabras, C La Lorona, or D El Sombreron.
• 1:15:37
  Josh: Uh well, you said I I think I remember you said Chupacabras a goat eater, right?
• 1:15:42
  Travis: Yep.
• 1:15:42
  Josh: Okay.
• 1:15:43
  Travis: Not that.
• 1:15:43
  Travis: Nope.
• 1:15:44
  Travis: Lorona is a think a ghost.
• 1:15:46
  Travis: Face sombrero is a head.
• 1:15:49
  Travis: Well, a hat.
• 1:15:50
  Travis: I'm gonna go Los Pelicares.
• 1:15:53
  Josh: Okay.
• 1:15:53
  Josh: You know, I really wish I knew Spanish right now.
• 1:15:56
  Josh: I'm gonna do the sombrero.
• 1:15:58
  Travis: El sombrero.
• 1:15:59
  Josh: Yeah.
• 1:15:59
  Travis: Okay.
• 1:16:00
  Josh: Next one.
• 1:16:01
  Josh: Besides their frightening appearance, what unusual ability did witnesses claim the figures had?
• 1:16:07
  Travis: Oh shit.
• 1:16:08
  Travis: So they've seen the face peelers?
• 1:16:11
  Josh: Yeah.
• 1:16:11
  Josh: So is it A, changing into animals, B walking through walls, C going invisible, or D hovering and flying?
• 1:16:20
  Josh: I'm so glad there's not all of the above.
• 1:16:23
  Travis: I'm gonna go because it's very elemental.
• 1:16:27
  Travis: I'm I'm that's my angle as elemental.
• 1:16:30
  Travis: So I'm going changing into animals.
• 1:16:32
  Josh: Okay.
• 1:16:32
  Josh: I was thinking walking through walls.
• 1:16:34
  Josh: Sure.
• 1:16:35
  Josh: We won't know that you're wrong till the end.
• 1:16:36
  Josh: That's true.
• 1:16:37
  Josh: All right, next one.
• 1:16:38
  Josh: An older regional legend describes a figure called the pishtako.
• 1:16:43
  Josh: Cool.
• 1:16:43
  Josh: What is it said to steal from its victims?
• 1:16:46
  Josh: Is that A, their shadows?
• 1:16:48
  Josh: B their body fat.
• 1:16:50
  Josh: C, their memories, or D, their voices.
• 1:16:53
  Josh: Well, one of those doesn't sound too bad.
• 1:16:55
  Travis: We've got a real Ursula situation with that last one.
• 1:16:58
  Josh: Yeah.
• 1:16:59
  Travis: I want it to be their memories.
• 1:17:01
  Travis: Yeah, I'm stuck between their shadows and memories.
• 1:17:04
  Travis: I don't like shadows.
• 1:17:05
  Travis: That would be But like what's the point?
• 1:17:08
  Travis: I don't know.
• 1:17:09
  Travis: Like the the amount like that doesn't gonna hurt me.
• 1:17:12
  Travis: Yeah, but like the amount of whatever magic it would take to steal your shadow is gonna affect you in weird ass ways.
• 1:17:19
  Josh: That's true.
• 1:17:20
  Josh: I think I'm gonna say memories.
• 1:17:22
  Josh: Okay.
• 1:17:23
  Josh: Is that what you're doing?
• 1:17:24
  Josh: Yeah.
• 1:17:24
  Josh: Oh yeah.
• 1:17:25
  Josh: Okay.
• 1:17:25
  Josh: And then last one, what unusual explanation was offered by a prosecutor for the reported flying attackers?
• 1:17:33
  Josh: Oh.
• 1:17:33
  Josh: Is that A, soldiers testing camouflage suits?
• 1:17:37
  Josh: B filmmakers staging a publicity stunt.
• 1:17:40
  Josh: C, illegal gold miners using jetpacks.
• 1:17:43
  Josh: Or D smugglers using trained birds.
• 1:17:47
  Josh: I mean, birds show up a lot.
• 1:17:50
  Travis: Yeah.
• 1:17:50
  Travis: I like that one.
• 1:17:51
  Travis: Camouflage suits seems kind of cool though.
• 1:17:54
  Travis: So I'm gonna I'm gonna do that.
• 1:17:55
  Travis: I think that that's that's fun.
• 1:17:57
  Josh: It does seem really cool.
• 1:17:58
  Josh: I'm gonna do the birds because that just I want to get it right.
• 1:18:02
  Josh: Birds show up a lot.
• 1:18:03
  Josh: Sure.
• 1:18:04
  Josh: And I want to win.
• 1:18:05
  Josh: All right.
• 1:18:06
  Josh: So that's the last one.
• 1:18:07
  Josh: I'm gonna submit.
• 1:18:08
  Josh: We're gonna view our accuracy.
• 1:18:10
  Josh: I probably did not win.
• 1:18:12
  Travis: Oh boy, I definitely did not.
• 1:18:14
  Travis: I mean, we'll see, I guess.
• 1:18:15
  Travis: Yeah, we'll see.
• 1:18:16
  Travis: You you are seem equally as upset about your answers as I did.
• 1:18:21
  Josh: The face peelers reports that made international headlines in 2023 came from we both said Brazil.
• 1:18:26
  Josh: It was Peru.
• 1:18:28
  Josh: So wrong, both of us.
• 1:18:31
  Josh: These encounters were reported in communities within which rainforest.
• 1:18:34
  Josh: We both said the Amazon, that's correct.
• 1:18:37
  Josh: Nailed it.
• 1:18:37
  Josh: Perfect.
• 1:18:38
  Josh: And next one, Face Peelers is the English translation of which Spanish name.
• 1:18:43
  Josh: I said El Sombreron.
• 1:18:45
  Josh: I said Los Pelicaras.
• 1:18:47
  Josh: I was right.
• 1:18:48
  Josh: It is Los Pelicores.
• 1:18:49
  Josh: Okay.
• 1:18:50
  Josh: Next one.
• 1:18:51
  Josh: Besides their frightening appearance, what unusual ability did witnesses claim the figures had?
• 1:18:56
  Josh: I said walking through walls.
• 1:18:58
  Josh: I said changing into animals.
• 1:19:00
  Josh: It was hovering and flying.
• 1:19:02
  Travis: Which was kind of revealed later in the very last question.
• 1:19:06
  Travis: It was.
• 1:19:07
  Travis: If I would have just read ahead a little bit.
• 1:19:09
  Josh: I know.
• 1:19:10
  Josh: Next one.
• 1:19:11
  Josh: An older regional legend describes a figure called the Pishtaco.
• 1:19:15
  Josh: What is it said to steal from its victims?
• 1:19:17
  Josh: Uh weird.
• 1:19:18
  Josh: I said their memories.
• 1:19:20
  Travis: I said their memories.
• 1:19:21
  Josh: You said the memory?
• 1:19:22
  Josh: Okay, so it was actually their body fat, which I thought was kind of a nice one.
• 1:19:27
  Travis: Hey, I mean, depends.
• 1:19:29
  Travis: But how?
• 1:19:29
  Travis: That's the it's probably through your butt.
• 1:19:32
  Travis: No.
• 1:19:32
  Travis: Just suck it out through your butt.
• 1:19:34
  Josh: Or lacerations, or I don't know.
• 1:19:37
  Travis: I mean, that's a lot.
• 1:19:38
  Travis: You'd have to have like multiple.
• 1:19:40
  Travis: It's not like your body fat is just like a loose string that you could just find the end of and just suck out like a spaghetti.
• 1:19:48
  Josh: Yeah, no, it'd be different.
• 1:19:49
  Josh: Right?
• 1:19:50
  Travis: You would you'd have to have like different parts to suck out body fat.
• 1:19:54
  Josh: Well, we'll find out.
• 1:19:55
  Josh: All right.
• 1:19:57
  Josh: And then last, what unusual explanation was offered by a prosecutor for the reported flying attackers.
• 1:20:03
  Josh: I said smugglers using trained birds.
• 1:20:06
  Josh: What did you say?
• 1:20:08
  Travis: It's the best one.
• 1:20:09
  Travis: Uh soldiers using camouflage suits.
• 1:20:12
  Travis: Because I thought I like that.
• 1:20:13
  Josh: And it was illegal gold miners using jetpacks.
• 1:20:17
  Josh: Using jetpacks at fucking rules.
• 1:20:19
  Josh: No way.
• 1:20:21
  Travis: I fucking love that.
• 1:20:22
  Travis: But I don't know how this ties in.
• 1:20:24
  Travis: I get I can't wait to find out how this ties into face peelers.
• 1:20:27
  Josh: Hopefully, all every it is all.
• 1:20:28
  Travis: No, I'm just saying, like I want to know how illegal gold miners with jetpacks ties into people getting their face peeled off.
• 1:20:36
  Josh: Wow.
• 1:20:36
  Josh: And people were scared enough where they said they were being attacked.
• 1:20:40
  Travis: Yeah.
• 1:20:40
  Josh: So these are illegal gold miners attacking people with jetpacks.
• 1:20:44
  Josh: Okay.
• 1:20:44
  Travis: Well, can't wait to find out more about this.
• 1:20:48
  Travis: This is gonna be fun.
• 1:20:49
  Josh: Yeah, this is gonna be scary and funny.
• 1:20:51
  Travis: Like no other episode we've ever had.
• 1:20:53
  Travis: No, scary and funny.
• 1:20:55
  Travis: As far as our episodes go, they're neither scary nor funny.
• 1:20:58
  Josh: They are.
• 1:20:59
  Josh: Don't be so hard on yourself.
• 1:21:00
  Josh: Come on.
• 1:21:01
  Josh: Thank you for listening.
• 1:21:03
  Josh: Thank you for being you in a world where they're telling you don't.
• 1:21:09
  Josh: I don't know where I'm going with that.
• 1:21:10
  Josh: But thank you, Jordan, for making the quiz and giving these notes and our topics.
• 1:21:16
  Josh: Yeah.
• 1:21:16
  Travis: And our theme song.
• 1:21:17
  Travis: And our theme song, everything.
• 1:21:19
  Travis: At least 50% of the hosts will to live.
• 1:21:23
  Josh: Yeah.
• 1:21:23
  Josh: Yeah.
• 1:21:23
  Josh: I just did the math real quick.
• 1:21:25
  Josh: So we will chat at you next episode.
• 1:21:28
  Josh: Okay.
• 1:21:28
  Josh: Thanks for listening.
• 1:21:30
  Josh: Bye.
• 1:21:30
  Josh: Bye.