Phantoms and Monsters

What Happened at Dyatlov Pass?
The Winsted Wildman: Connecticut's Bigfoot
Mountain Lion Captured On Oklahoma Trail Cam

Posted: 06 Jan 2010 06:17 PM PST

Phantoms and Monsters - Ten skiers, eight men and two women, set off on a skiing expedition to Otorten Mountain in the northern Urals on Jan. 28, 1959. Yury Yudin (the only surviving member), fell ill at the last stop before their destination and left the group. Little did he know it would be the last time he saw his friends alive.

At approximately 5:00 pm on February, the 2nd the group, led by Igor Dyatlov, pitched tents on the slopes of Otorten Mountains neighbour, Kholat-Syakhl. The site of the camp was unusual for an experienced cross country skier, considering that it was out in the open, rather than in woodland nearby.

Dyaltov was supposed to send a telegram back to the Ural Polytechnic Institute, where the skiers set off from, on February the 12th. This was the time the group had expected to be back from their expedition, and sent from Ural town, Vizhai. According to Yudin, Dyaltov told him (as he was left behind), to expect the group to be a day or two late, just in case. No telegram ever came, and on February the 20th, the relatives of the skiers raised the alarm to the army and the police, who in turn launched a search and rescue team.

What they found

On the 26th of February, rescuers found the camp. Strangely it was completely abandoned. Even more alarming, was the fact that searchers found that all the skiers personal belongings, including there shoes, and cold weather gear, still inside the their tents. The tent was half torn down, and partially covered with snow. There were some indicators that the tent had been sliced open from the inside. No evidence of a struggle was found either, yet it was clear the skiers had left in a hurry.

In the meter or so of snow, investigators found 9 sets of footprints, giving the impression that the only people present at the camp site, were in fact those that were meant to be there. What was strange about this, was that some of the tracks left, were left by people wearing socks, one shoe, or no footwear at all.

The Bodies

About five hundred meters down slope, at the edge of the nearby forest, the investigators found the first two of the bodies, under a very large pine tree. Georgy Krivonischenko, and Yury Doroshenko, were barefoot and dressed in their underclothes, and it was determined they had died from hypothermia.

Broken branches around the base of the tree and the bodies, indicated that one of them had climbed the tree. This was confirmed when broken branches to five meters on the tree were discovered. Possibly they were searching for the camp, or other members of the group, or maybe something more sinister. It was also evident that the duo had tried to start a fire, as charred remains of branches had been found.

Approximately half way between the edge of the forrest and the camp, three more bodies were found. Igor Dyatlov, Zina Kolmogorova, and Rustem Slobodin were discovered facing towards the camp. Officials determined that it was probable that the trio, were attempting to return to the camp. Although Slobodin's skull had apparently been fractured, doctors determined that it wasn't a fatal injury. Again, these three all died of hypothermia according to autopsies.

Two Months Later

This is where the story becomes extremely bizarre. Two months after the discovery of the first five bodies, the remaining four were found. Under four meters of snow, in a ravine, and 75 meters away from the pine tree mentioned earlier.

Nicolas Thibeaux-Brignollel, Alexander Zolotaryov, and Alexander Kolevatov, had all suffered serious injuries, and traumatic deaths. Thibeaux-Brignollel's skull had been crushed, and Dubinina and Zolatarev had numerous broken ribs. All four of the skiers had died from massive internal injuries, doctors compared to those found if someone had been hit car. However, unlike a car accident, the bodies showed no signs of external injury, including bruises or soft tissue damage. The most disturbing thing of all was that Ludmila Dubinina's tongue had been removed!!!

These four were a lot better dressed than the other five. It had appeared they had made it back to camp, or taken clothes from those that were deceased. Another point to be made, was that there were high levels of radiation found within the clothes when they were tested.

A few months later, the case was closed, and the files were allegedly sent to a secret military archive. The investigators found no evidence of wrong doing against one another. Also soon after area was closed off for three years to skiers and other adventurers.

Flying Spheres

Most of the details of the event, were attempted to be hidden from public view. One of the reasons for this was that, according to Lev Ivanov (head investigator), regional officials had been worried by reports from civilians, weather service employees and even the military of "flying spheres", in the area over February and March, 1959. Ivanov speculated that the spheres had something to do with the mysterious circumstances of the event.

NOTE: since this incident occurred in the Soviet Union, there is good reason to believe that many of the facts have been withheld. Was this a case of extraterrestrial involvement? What do you think happened?...Lon

Sources:
www.metafilter.com
en.wikipedia.org
www.abovetopsecret.com

__________________________

THE DYATLOV PASS MYSTERY

sfgate - In 1959, nine experienced Russian cross-country skiers - seven men and two women, including the leader, Igor Dyatlov - head to the Ural Mountains, to a slope called Kholat Syakhl (Mansi language for "Mountain of the Dead," ahem) for a rugged, wintry trek. On their way up, they are apparently hit by inclement weather, veer off course and decide to set up camp and wait it out. All is calm. All is fine and good. They even take pictures of camp, the scenery, each other. The weather isn't so bad. They go to sleep.

Then, something happens. In the middle of the night, all nine suddenly leap out of their tents as fast as possible, ripping them open from the inside (not even enough time to untie the doors) and race out into the sub-zero temps, without coats or boots or skis, most in their underwear, some even barefoot or with a single sock or boot. It is 30 degrees below zero, Celsius. A few make it as far as a kilometer and a half down the slope. All nine, as you might expect, quickly die.

And so it begins.

Why did they rush out, unable to even grab a coat or blanket? What came at them? The three-month investigation revealed that five of the trekkers died from simple hypothermia, with no apparent trauma at all, no signs of attack, struggle, no outward injuries of any kind. However, two of the other four apparently suffered massive internal traumas to the chest, like you would if you were hit by a car. One's skull was crushed. All four of these were found far from the other five. But still, no signs of external injuries.

Not good enough? How about this: One of the women was missing her tongue.

Oh, it gets better. And weirder.

Tests of the few scraps of clothing revealed very high levels of radiation. Evidence found at the campsite indicates the trekkers might've been blinded. Eyewitnesses around the area report seeing "bright orange spheres" in the sky during the same months. And, oh yes, relatives at the funeral swear the skin of their dead loved ones was tanned, tinted dark orange or brown. And their hair had all turned completely gray.

Wait, what?

The final, official explanation as to what caused such bizarre behavior from otherwise well-trained, experienced mountaineers? An "unknown compelling force." Indeed.

Here's the problem: All the convenient, logical explanations - avalanche, animal attack, secret military nuke test - fail. Russian authorities held a three-month investigation. Rescuers and experts picked through every piece of evidence. There were no signs of natural disaster. And if it was just an avalanche, why was the area closed off for three years following the event, and all related documents put in a secret Russian archive until 1990? If it was some sort of weird nuclear megablast (which I suppose may tint you orange, but won't turn your hair gray), what the hell happened to her tongue?

I love stories like this. I hate stories like this.

Sure, you want to go for the logical. Hell, who knows what hellish weaponry they were testing in the mountains in Khrushchev's Russia in the late '50s? Who knows what dark mysteries are buried in the landscape by the world's militaries as they test their dark deeds? The rule goes like this: Any weapon of horror and death man's mind can conceive, odds are gruesomely good the government or military has considered it. Or even built it.

This is both the joy and horror of stories like Dyatlov: They make your mind jump and bend and struggle. Logic fails quickly. Easy explanations don't work. Complicated ones feel incomplete. The creepiness takes hold, begins to burrow, make you squirm. Because the bizarre military-testing explanation? It fails, too.

So of course, you jump further. You reach for the paranormal, metaphysical, unknowable, to things like UFOs and spirits and ghosts, dark forces and mysticism and the occult, because, well, that's where the action is. That's where we get to touch the void, dance on the edge of perception, realize how little we truly know of anything.

After all, if you really think all there is to this world is what your five senses show you, if you think there's always got to be a logical, earthbound explanation for stories like Dyatlov, well, you might as well just join a megachurch and wipe your brain and your intuition and your deep, dark curiosity clean right now.

As Dyatlov himself might say, his skin orange and hair gray and eyes wide, you think you know, but you have no idea.

THIEVES! XNEWSNOW.COM and GETXNOW.COM are hotlinking paranormal sites and stealing bandwidth! These are dangerous viral sites...help us stop this now! Thanks...Lon

The Winsted Wildman: Connecticut's Bigfoot

Posted: 06 Jan 2010 09:31 AM PST

registercitizen - It seems as though nearly every area of the world has their legend of some wild man-beast who likes to terrorize the locals. There is Bigfoot of the Pacific Northwest, the abominable snowman of parts north, the Yeti of the Himalayas.

For some reason these creatures seem to prefer the cooler climates… perhaps because they are so hairy? I can't imagine what a sweaty Yeti must smell like. It can't be good.

Imagine if one of those creatures did prefer a little warmer weather though, and decided Connecticut was a good spot. Not too cold, not too hot, and you can go to the beach too, and scare small children. One of these man-beasts just might have decided that he liked the area and settled in Winsted.

The Winsted Wild Man made his first documented appearance in August of 1895, when the Winsted Herald reported that then Selectman Riley Smith, while traveling to Colebrook, stopped along the road to pick blueberries, accompanied by his bulldog. The dog became frightened of something, and ran to Smith, whining and cowering.

A bit later, Smith related, an extra-large buck-nekkid man, covered with thick black hair jumped out of the bushes, yelling like crazy, and ran for the woods. Riley was understandably a tad disturbed by the interruption to his bucolic little trip. Apparently he never lived it down either.

The next documented appearance of the Wild Man didn't occur until the 1970s, when two young men, Wayne Hall and David Chapman heard some very strange noises outside one morning in July 1972. Hall described it as a mix of frog and cat snarls and snorts.

The two men looked out the window in the direction of Crystal Lake, and in the dim light saw a large, furry, eight-foot tall "man" lope out of the woods, cross the road and head toward a barn. They watched the creature wander around the barn for a while, and then it crossed the road again, to disappear back in the woods. When asked if it might have been a bear, Chapman and Hall vehemently denied that possibility. They described it as big, hairy, walking upright and every once in a while it would scratch its head.

The creature was spotted again, two years later at Rugg Brook Reservoir, when some amorous couples had their soiree rudely interrupted by the large furry beast. The Wild Man allegedly rushed out of the forest and headed toward the car. Perhaps the foursome had been a little loud and disturbed his sleep. He appeared to be mighty angry.

This time the police were called in to investigate. When patrolman George Corso and one of the young men went back to the area to investigate no trace was found of the Wild Man.

So what exactly is the Wild Man of Winsted?

Is it some hairy mutant that survives on the fringe of society?

Is it an escaped gorilla?

A New England branch of the Bigfoot family?

Some guy in a gorilla suit?

Nobody knows for sure.
_______________________

THE WINSTED WILDMAN

One of the earliest published accounts of the wild man appeared in the August 21, 1895, edition of the Winsted Herald. Written by editor Lou Stone, well-known in the area for his fund of tall stories about unusual events, the article described what happened on one recent day to Selectman Riley Smith when he went to Colebrook on business. Along the road, according to Stone, Smith stopped to pick blueberries and "his bull-dog, which is noted for its pluck, ran with a whine to him and stationed itself between his legs. A second afterward, a large man, stark naked, and covered with hair all over his body, ran out of a clump of bushes, and with fearful yells and cries made for the woods at lightning speed, where he soon disappeared." Selectman Smith estimated that the odd creature was at least six feet tall and ran upright, like a human.

While the wild man may have made intermediate appearances between 1895 and the early 1970s, he again attracted press attention in late July, 1972, when reports came from Winsted that a strange, man-like creature had been spotted early one morning by two young men, on the Winchester Road near Crystal Lake Reservoir. It seems that Wayne Hall, 19, of the Winchester Road, and his friend David Chapman, 18, were at Chapman's house, sitting up late and talking, on the night of July 24. Early the following morning, the young men were startled by "weird noises outside." "It sounded like a frog and a cat mixed together," said Hall, "a real weird sound like when a frog blows up and makes a lot of noise." The two friends looked out the window in the direction of Crystal Lake and at some dis-tance saw what both described as a figure "about eight feet tall and covered with hair." Because of the distance and the dim light, however, they could make out only arms, legs and a head. No face was visible. As the two youths watched from the window, the wild man came out of the thick woods from the area of Crystal Lake, crossed the road and entered the shadows near a lighted barn where Albert Durant of Winsted kept race horses.

"It was kind of stooped," Hall reported, "but more upright. It was hairy; I would say black. It never crouched down; it was always upright. Once in a while, it would reach up and scratch its head." Asked if it might have been a large, black bear, he replied, "It was no bear." Chapman and Hall observed the monster for almost forty-five minutes as it alternately entered and emerged from the shadows around the Durant barn. Finally, it went back across the road and into the dark woods toward the lake.

A little more than two years later, in late September of 1974, the Winsted Wild Man was spotted again, this time when he came out of the woods early in the morning of September 27 and struck terror into the hearts of two couples who had been parking near the Rugg Brook Reservoir. Press accounts of the sighting quoted Winsted patrolman George Corso, who, while cruising about 2:30 a.m. on Main Street, had been flagged down by two obviously agitated Harwinton men and told about their very recent encounter with a six-foot, 300-pound creature covered with dark-colored hair, at the edge of the reservoir. "They were terrified," Corso reported, and when one of them persuaded the police officer to return with him to the spot where the wild man had been seen, the young man insisted that all the cruiser doors be locked before they left town for the three-mile drive to the reservoir. Although Corso thought that a creature as large as the one described could rip off the cruiser's doors whether they were locked or not, he humored the Harwinton youth anyway. "He was really shook," Corso explained.

As they drove toward the reservoir, the informant told the policeman that earlier in the evening, he and his friend and their dates had decided to park for a time by the lake. It had been a bright, moonlit night. After they stopped, one of the men got out of the car. Suddenly, he saw the creature emerge from the nearby woods and start to walk toward the car, its eyes eerie in the reflected moonlight. The young man leaped back into the car and the badly frightened foursome beat a hasty retreat.

When the squad car finally reached the reservoir embankment where the monster had last been seen, the young man suddenly shouted, "There it is now. Don't stop." Corso quickly turned the cruiser around, and though he carefully searched the area to the water's edge with his spotlight, saw nothing. Although he finally gave up the fruitless night search, after sunrise Corso returned to the scene of the sighting, along with a newspaper reporter. Neither could find any sign of what the couples had witnessed, not even a giant footprint in the brush-covered, hard-gravel surface of the reservoir bank. The police concluded that the parkers had probably seen a black bear, but everyone agreed that they had seen something very unusual. Winsted desk sergeant David Gomez remembered that the young man who made the initial report told him, before returning home to Harwinton, "I will never in my life go up there again."

WAS IT JUST A HOAX?

According to some, there never had been a wild man in Winsted. The original wire report had sprung from the overly fertile imagination of Lou Stone, a young reporter for the Winsted Evening Citizen. From there, mass psychology had done the rest.

Reportedly Stone came up with the idea because he needed to make $150 quickly, and he figured that the big-city papers would be unlikely to buy a story about actual events in Winsted.

He subsequently became well known as a teller of tale tales, but the Wild Man was his first hoax, and it remained his most famous.

Sources:
www.curbstone.org
www.museumofhoaxes.com
www.colebrookhistoricalsociety.org

Mountain Lion Captured On Oklahoma Trail Cam

Posted: 06 Jan 2010 09:57 PM PST

newsok - Ryan Ritter of Atoka couldn't believe what he was seeing on New Year's Day when he looked at the photos from his new trail camera.

Not only were there pictures of numerous deer and turkey, but the trail camera also had captured five photos of a mountain lion on two consecutive mornings.

"I was very shocked to see that on my camera," said Ritter, who admits he always has been skeptical about mountain lion sightings in the past.

"You hear a lot of stories all the time," said Ritter, owner of Ritter Express Pharmacy in Atoka.

"I am a believer now. Until those pictures I would have argued with anybody we didn't have any resident mountain lions, but obviously we do."

The mountain lion photographs were taken between 5 and 6 a.m. on Dec. 22 and 23. State wildlife officials say it's one of the rare instances of a confirmed sighting of a mountain lion in Oklahoma.

"We know we've got them, but we don't know where they are at or how many," said Alan Peoples, chief of the wildlife division for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. "It's kind of hard to monitor something so secretive and so rare as a mountain lion."

Ritter, who is an avid outdoorsman, manages 2,500 acres of family-owned land in southeastern Atoka County near the Muddy Boggy River for hunting and trapping.

He speculates the mountain lion must have been traveling the river bottom and followed deer and turkey scent to his corn feeder, where the trail camera was located.

Ritter, whose father was a state wildlife commissioner in the 1990s, said his family has owned that secluded piece of property since 1993 and never before detected any signs of a mountain lion.

The subject of mountain lions in Oklahoma is a hotly debated topic. The Wildlife Department receives two or three reports of mountain lion sightings every month, but rarely can they be confirmed, Peoples said.

Each year, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry's wildlife services division investigates between 100 and 150 reported cases of mountain lions killing livestock, said Jack Carson, agency spokesman.

Only one time could it be confirmed that a mountain lion was indeed the culprit. That was in 2006 when a mountain lion killed a goat in Cimarron County.

Never has there been a reported mountain lion attack on a person in Oklahoma, Peoples said.

But there have been documented cases of mountain lions in Oklahoma in recent years, he said.

A Dewey County rancher once found the remains of a dead mountain lion, and a cougar was killed by a motorist at the Purcell exit on Interstate 35 several years ago, Peoples said.

Many years ago, a mountain lion was killed on the Black Kettle National Grasslands. That cat is on display in a museum in Roger Mills County, Peoples said. In 2004, a mountain lion was struck by a train in Noble County near Red Rock.

That mountain lion had a radio collar around its neck that had been attached by researchers in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The cougar had traveled 661 miles. State wildlife officials think most mountain lions in Oklahoma are transients.

It used to be illegal to kill a mountain lion in Oklahoma, but 2½ years ago that law was changed. It is now legal to shoot a mountain lion in Oklahoma if the animal is deemed to be a threat to humans or livestock.

The law requires the carcass to be brought to the Wildlife Department, but no one has checked in a dead cougar yet. Peoples said he thinks if mountain lions were common in Oklahoma, a hunter would have shot one by now.

Meanwhile, Ritter's trail camera photos are the talk of Atoka. After capturing a rare photo of a mountain lion in southeastern Oklahoma, could the legendary Bigfoot be next?

"I don't think so," Ritter said. "I am a realist."

But Ritter said he will be more cautious now when he takes his 6-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter to the woods with him.

"I am already looking for a dog with a good sense of smell," he said.

___________________________

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

NOTICE: Thieves Stealing Bandwidth, Images From P&M, Wiki and Other Paranormal Sites (Hotlinking)

Hi...we have a situation where there are internet thieves stealing bandwidth and content from P&M, the Wiki and countless paranormal related blogs/sites. Roger (a reader and wiki member) would like some people to help him in this endeavor...basically, shutting these thieves down from stealing and making profits from our/your content. These are viral, dangerous websites and people who could care less about you and your hard work. If you have ideas, please post at the link/thread below...thanks. Lon

Thieves Stealing Bandwidth, Images From P&M and Wiki (Hotlinking) - Thread Link

There is an earlier thread at The Debris Field - Hotlinking

These are the culprits we are currently aware of (please select and paste the links...I don't want to hyperlink these):

www.xnewsnow.com

Also, this person, Theresa Morris at www.google.com/profiles/TJMorrisACIR has her website links listed in her profile.

I appreciate your help and any suggestions that you can make. Please go to the wiki and/or comment here. Comments posted here will be copied to the wiki thread as well. Thanks....Lon

********************

Are you interested in the paranormal, cryptozoology, UFOs and conspiracies? Go to Phantoms and Monsters Wiki and become a member of this unique network. Start a page on a subject or add your input to an existing page or thread.

*********************

Join me on Facebook

********************

Have you had a close encounter or witnessed something unusual?
Send us an email

********************

Anomalist Books - works on maverick science, unexplained mysteries, unorthodox theories, strange talents, and unexpected discoveries. Please check out their excellent and diverse catalog

***************