The disappearance of an entire expedition is always a mystery. Trained people, polar explorers, tropical explorers, pioneers - disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Traces of some groups were never found.
La Perouse Expedition
On August 1, 1785, the Comte de La Perouse set out on a risky trip around the world on the ships Boussole and Astrolabe to systematize the discoveries made by Cook and establish trade relations with native tribes.
During the first year of his journey, La Perouse rounded Cape Horn, visited Chile, Easter Island, and in July 1786 reached Alaska.
The following year, the explorer arrived on the shores of Northeast Asia and discovered the island of Kelpaert there.
Then the expedition moved to Sakhalin - finding a strait that now bears the name of the count. At the end of 1787, La Perouse was already off the coast of Samoa, where he lost 12 people in a skirmish with savages.
In the winter of 1788, the expedition transmitted the last message to their homeland through British sailors. Nobody saw them again. Only in 2005 was it possible to reliably identify the site of the shipwreck, but the fate of La Perouse is still unknown. Most of his records also perished with him.
"Terror" and "Erebus"
These two British ships, with 129 people on board, left Greenhithe Wharf one morning in May 1845. Under the leadership of Sir John Franklin, they intended to explore the last blank spot on the map of the Canadian Arctic and complete the discovery of the Northwest Passage.
For 170 years now, the fate of this expedition has haunted scientists and writers.
But all that was discovered during this time was only a few graves and two wintering camps.
Based on the findings, it was concluded that the ships were frozen in ice, and the crew, suffering from scurvy, pneumonia, tuberculosis and terrible cold, did not disdain cannibalism.
Walking across Australia
On April 4, 1848, the German explorer Ludwig Leichhardt set out with eight companions. He planned to cross the Australian mainland from east to west on foot in three years.
However, after the agreed time, none of the members of this expedition showed up. In 1852, the first team set out on the search, followed by the second, then the third, and so on for seventeen years in a row.
Until one tramp wandering around the mainland accidentally mentioned that he lived for several months on the banks of the Muligan River with a certain Adolf Klassen.
When he found out that this was one of those whom they had been looking for for so long, he went in search of him, but died on the way.
And only after for a long time it turned out that Klassen had lived in captivity among savages for almost thirty years. They killed him around 1876. She died with him last hope learn about the fate of Leichgard and his expedition.
In search of Arctida
In 1900, Baron Eduard Vasilyevich Toll set out on an expedition on the schooner Zarya to search for new islands in the Arctic. Toll also firmly believed in the existence of the so-called Sannikov Land and wanted to become its discoverer.
In July 1902, the baron, accompanied by astronomer Friedrich Seeberg and two hunters Vasily Gorokhov and Nikolai Dyakonov, left the schooner to reach the coveted Arctida on sleighs and boats.
Zarya was supposed to arrive there in two months.
However, due to poor ice conditions, the ship was damaged and was forced to leave for Tiksi. The next year, under the leadership of then-lieutenant Kolchak, a rescue expedition was assembled.
They discovered Toll's site, as well as his diaries and notes. It followed from them that the researchers decided not to wait for “Dawn” and continued on their own. Other traces of these four people never found.
Hercules
This is a small hunting vessel, on which in 1912, experienced polar explorer Vladimir Aleksandrovich Rusanov, together with members of his expedition, went to the island of Spitsbergen in order to secure Russia’s right to extract minerals there before other countries.
Everything went well. But for unknown reasons, Rusanov decided to return through the northwestern tip of Novaya Zemlya, and if the ship survived, then go east to the first island he encountered. A telegram with his intentions was the last news from Hercules.
Only in 1934, on one of the islands near the shore of Khariton Laptev, a pillar with the carved inscription “Hercules 1913” was discovered. And on the neighboring island things from Hercules were found: a nautical book, notes, pieces of clothing, etc. But the bodies of the expedition members were never found.
Main goal "Z"
In 1925, in the vast expanses of the poorly studied region of Mato Grosso, an expedition from three people: Colonel Percival Fawcett, his son Jack and their friend Reilly Reymilom. They all went in search of someone lost city, which Fossett himself called "Z".
Much of this expedition is shrouded in mystery. It was financed by a certain group of London entrepreneurs called the Glove.
The colonel himself, in case of loss, asked not to look for them, since all expeditions would suffer the same fate.
The latest report from the research team described them slogging through bushes, climbing mountains, and crossing rivers, and how it was all basically very boring.
More about these three people no one heard anything. Now there are various rumors, starting with the fact that they were all eaten by Indian cannibals, which are not uncommon here, and ending with the fact that Fawcett found the city of “Z”, met its inhabitants and did not want to go back.
Leontiev Group
In the summer of 1953, communication with the Tuvan expedition of Lev Nikolaevich Leontyev was interrupted. At the site of her last stop, searchers found a still smoldering fireplace, tents and complete set equipment.
However, there were no people or horses in the camp. The only hoof prints led from the forest to the camp. All nearby expeditions set out to search. But they ended in failure. Leontyev’s group is still listed as missing, and many theories related to its disappearance are still circulating on the Internet.
Disappearances of entire expeditions
In 1848, an expedition led by Ludwig LEICHARDT, which included about a hundred people and pack animals, disappeared. Their goal is to cross the Central Australian Desert. Nobody saw their traces anymore... A century and a half later, in 1975, a certain forester Matthias Zak appeared in Darwin (Northern Territories) with photographs of native rock paintings, which depicted white man and animal. A new expedition began to prepare for the amazing caves where Matthias photographed. But then the forester himself disappeared... POSSIBLE REASON FOR THE DISAPPEARANCE: There is too little data for an investigation.
On June 8, 1924, during a storm, climbers George Lay-Malory and Andrew Irvine disappeared, with only 1,000 feet (300m) left to reach the summit of Everest. Because of the snow curtain, those remaining below in the camp, at the base, could no longer monitor the progress of the climbers. As you know, Everest was officially conquered in 1953. But maybe these two missing people captivated him a full 20 years earlier. 26-year-old Lay-Malory had already participated in two attempts to conquer Everest, they said about him: “George - living embodiment eternal challenge. Conquering Everest became his main goal." 22-year-old Irwin had virtually no climbing experience, but was an expert at using bulky breathing apparatus in the rarefied mountain atmosphere. The day before the storm, they set up camp at 26,000 feet (8.6 km) and sent Sherpa porters to the base with the message that the conquest would take place tomorrow morning. But they came out later; something delayed them. Perhaps this small delay cost them their lives. POSSIBLE CAUSE OF DISAPPEARANCE: The bodies were never found. In 1933, only the ice ax of one of the missing was found; perhaps the climbers fell into a crack or were covered by an avalanche? The greatest peak in the world also keeps this secret...
In 1925, in the little-explored region of Mato Grosso in Brazil, an expedition led by archaeologist, geographer and Lieutenant Colonel Percy Fawcett disappeared forever. The missing expedition, which began on April 20, ironically was looking for an entire missing city. Fawcett, his son Jack and friend Rayleigh Rimel had previously devoted all their leisure time to searching for ancient burials and treasures, and Fawcett was also convinced of the existence of lost Brazilian cities. His group set out from Quababa light, planning to replenish their food supplies by hunting along the way. On May 30, the last message was received from him: “We walked for many miles through thickets of low-growing, difficult-to-pass bushes, we crossed, sometimes ford, sometimes swim, an innumerable number of rivers, we climbed steep cliffs, we were tormented by insects ... nothing awaits us for another two weeks interesting." Since Foset planned to travel for 2 years, the rescue expedition was sent only in May 1928. The search ended in complete failure. POSSIBLE REASON FOR THE DISAPPEARANCE: The rescuers heard plenty of versions about the fate of the expedition; for example, more than one hundred travelers in the area received reports that they had seen a feral Fawcett, who allegedly turned into a crazy old man and lived among the Indians. No evidence was obtained to support one version or another...
In the summer of 1953, the expedition of Lev Nikolaevich LEONTIEV (SOPS expedition) did not get in touch in Tuva, and rescuers were sent to its site. In the last camp they discovered, coals were still smoldering in the fire pits, tents and equipment were intact, but the people themselves and their horses were missing. Horse tracks leading from the forest to the camp were clearly visible, but absolutely no traces of people or horses were found from the camp. The forces of all neighboring expeditions were sent to search (I heard this story from the participants of this geological party, I. Teymyan and A. Mkhitaryan). The search ended in nothing, L. Leontyev and his companions are still considered missing... POSSIBLE REASON FOR THE DISAPPEARANCE: Too few traces...
Places of frequent disappearances
There are simply a huge number of such places on Earth. We already mentioned Gallipoli and Cocos Island above, and there are many more similar “man traps” among hundreds of anomalous, cursed and prodigal places. The Bermuda Triangle alone is worth it. In total, the Kosmopoisk catalog contains at least half a thousand places with a similar bad reputation; we plan to explore most of the most interesting of them personally...
In December 1900, on the island of Flannan, 3 watchmen of the Eilean Mor lighthouse (Western Scotland) disappeared completely without a trace... When the ship Hesperus, transporting food, landed on the island, there were no signs of life on the shore. His passenger Joseph Moore, a lighthouse keeper from a nearby island, was alarmed; he noticed that the lighthouse on the island had not been lit for 11 days since December 15, 1900. Moore and the crew searched the entire lighthouse and island, but found nothing unusual, except for the disappearance of the raincoats belonging to two of the three keepers. The pier was slightly damaged by the storm, and perhaps all three were washed away by a giant wave, but is it possible to imagine that 3 experienced sailors behaved so carelessly that they went to the pier in a storm? And why then didn’t the third one put on a cloak?.. POSSIBLE REASON FOR THE DISAPPEARANCE: There are no answers to all the questions yet...
In 1935, an expedition once again disappeared on the island of Enwaitinet, this is a small piece of land in the middle of Lake Rudolf in northern Kenya (not far from the border with Ethiopia), which has long been a bad rumor; local residents do not settle on it, calling it a “cursed place.” The name of the island, which is only a few kilometers long and wide, means “Irrevocable” in the language of the El Molo tribe. The English expedition of Vivian Fouch worked on the island; two people went there one day - Martin Shefles and Bill Dyson. After a couple of days, they let them know with light signals that everything was fine, but on the 15th day, concerned about the lack of signals from Dyson, scientists sent three rescuers to the island. They found no traces of their comrades. The plane flew around the island for two days, and 200 local residents turned over all the stones for the promised reward.
No traces were found. POSSIBLE CAUSE OF DISAPPEARANCE: There are no answers to all questions yet...
In 1945-1950, 6 people disappeared at Long Pass in Vermont, but the body of only one of them was found. On November 12, 1945, 75-year-old Middie Rivers disappeared while hunting deer. She knew the area of the pass near Glastenbury Mountain very well. After she failed to return from a hunt on November 12, 1945, police, soldiers, scouts and local residents combed the forest, but in vain... In December 1946, 18-year-old Bennington College student Paula Welden told her roommate that she was going for a walk. The last person to see her was a local newspaper columnist who told her how to get to Long Pass. The search did not lead to any results, and soon rumors about a “mad killer” began to appear in newspapers... On December 1, 1949, James Telford (the third victim) disappeared. He was also seen at the pass... At the beginning of 1950, Frida Langer, an experienced woman familiar with the mountains, disappeared in the same area. And it was her body that was found on May 12, 1951 open area forests. By the way, the body lay in a prominent place; it could not have been missed during earlier searches... On November 6, 1950, Martha Jones disappeared. At first, everyone decided that she had simply run away to her boyfriend in Virginia. But this version was not confirmed, and the search that began also did not lead to anything... On December 3, 1950, Frank Christman (sixth) disappeared. He went to see his friend who lived 3 miles away. The friend did not wait for Frank... All 6 cases are united only by the same area, as well as the complete absence of traces of possible versions. Who or what is responsible for these deaths?.. POSSIBLE CAUSE OF DISAPPEARANCE: The case of the “mad killer of Long Pass” was never completed. Vermont forests know how to keep secrets... By the way, cases of disappearances continued there later.
In March 1966, in a well-known anomalous area in the southwest of China in the Sichuan province, in the Heizhu ravine (also called the “Valley of Death”), people disappeared without a trace - an expedition of military cartographers in full force. The search came to nothing. However, these were not the first and not the last victims. In 1976, in the same Chinese Heizhu Valley, most of a group of forest inspectors disappeared. Those who managed to get out of the forest spoke of a strange fog that thickened almost instantly, in which unusual sounds were heard and the sense of time was lost. Soon an expedition of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, led by Yang Yun, was sent there. Rescuers and scientists walked around the valley and the slope of Mount Ma'an, but did not find the remains of the missing. But the instruments recorded spontaneous releases of deadly poisonous vapors from cracks in the earth, which turned out to be a product of the rotting of certain tree species. Of course, this could well be the cause of people’s deaths, but... where did their remains go? POSSIBLE REASON FOR DISAPPEARANCE: Too few traces... One way or another, the only indisputable conclusion made by the commission is that it is not recommended to enter the area.
Stalker's Handbook - Ivan Anatolyevich Sobolev
In the summer of 1953, the expedition of Lev Nikolaevich LEONTIEV did not make contact in Tuva and disappeared without a trace. In the last camp they discovered, coals were still smoldering in the fire pits, tents and equipment were intact, but the people themselves and their horses were missing. Horse tracks were clearly visible leading from the forest to the camp, but absolutely no traces of people or horses were found from the camp. The forces of all neighboring expeditions were sent to search, but the search ended in nothing.
February 1-2, 1959 on the slope of the Mountain of the Dead, the entire group of 9 tourists, led by Igor DYATLOV from the Ural Polytechnic Institute, died under mysterious circumstances. It was possible to establish that the group abandoned their tents, equipment, and belongings and tried to escape from something unknown. In attempts to explain the death of experienced hikers, a wide variety of versions have been put forward - from ball lightning that flew into a tent to the harmful effects of a UFO. There are no witnesses, everyone died, an autopsy showed that all the dead had apparently intact heads that were flattened inside in an incomprehensible way. Later, under mysterious circumstances, photographer Yuri YAROVOY, who was photographing the bodies of the victims, died in a car accident along with his wife.
Diagram of the site of the death of the Dyatlov group. After reading this guide to the end, you... you can easily spot on the diagram several fundamental errors in the actions of the group, which ultimately led to its death
In 1960, after a spherical luminous object flew over Lake Baikal, all 30 people from the local geophysical laboratory of the USSR Academy of Sciences died from an unknown cause. Possible reason was prompted by the appearance of a similar ball 4 years later near the same area.
In 1848, an expedition led by Ludwig Leichhardt - about a hundred people, mules and camels - disappeared without a trace in the Central Arabian Desert...
June 8, 1924 during snow storm Climbers George Lay-Malory and Andrew Irwin disappeared while climbing Everest. Their bodies were never found...
In 1925, Percy Fossett's expedition, searching for an ancient Indian city, disappeared in Mato Grosso (Brazil). In May 1928, a rescue expedition was sent to this area, but no traces of Fossett and his companions could be found. There were rumors that the disturbed Fossett was seen among a tribe of savages, but these stories were never confirmed...
In the summer of 1953, communication with L.N.’s expedition was unexpectedly interrupted. Leontyev, who conducted research in Tuva. In the parking lot, rescuers found a fireplace with still smoldering coals, tents and equipment. Neither people, nor horses... True, on the ground one could see the prints of horse hooves leading from the forest towards the camp... And nothing more! Long searches ended in vain...
In the winter of 1959, a group of students from the Ural Polytechnic Institute - eight boys and one girl, all experienced tourists - began skiing to the top of Mount Otorten, locally called “Kholat Syakhyl” (“Mountain of the Dead”). They were led by Igor Dyatlov, who was considered a strong professional in his field.
The group did not get in touch at the appointed time. Soon, a rescue team pulled out the frozen corpses of the dead from under the snow. Some died from hypothermia, others suffered severe injuries: it was as if their bones had been crushed. Some died from a broken heart... Fear was frozen on the faces of the dead...
Much has been said and written about this case. Among other versions there was also “anomalous”. The Mountain of the Dead was considered sacred by local residents - the Mansi. They once performed sacrifices on its slope. There was a ban on this place for outsiders.
However, the young people dared to break it, for which the Khanty-Mansi shamans punished them. The corpses were not even shown to the relatives - they said that their eyes were gouged out, and the bodies themselves were mutilated: the shamans, using witchcraft, allegedly put the tourists into a trance, and then mocked those who “desecrated” the sacred land...
Traces of radioactive contamination were found on the clothes of several of the victims. Maybe they found themselves in a nuclear testing zone? The mystery has not been solved to this day...
This is not the only tragedy associated with Dead Man Mountain. From 1960 to 1961, 9 more people died here - pilots and members of geological expeditions. By the way, according to an old legend, the mountain got its name after 9 Mansi found their deaths on its slope (the number 9 is clearly not accidental!) Since then, shamans have forbidden people to go there...
In March 1966, in the Heizhou ravine, located in the Chinese province of Sichuan (this place is better known as Death Valley), a full expedition of military cartographers disappeared... In 1976, part of a group of forest inspectors disappeared in the same ravine. The comrades saw how they were enveloped in a strange fog, from which some incomprehensible sounds were heard...
The Chinese Academy of Sciences sent an expedition consisting of rescuers and scientists to this area. The instruments recorded there the presence of toxic fumes emitted by rotting trees... But even if we assume that people were poisoned by the poisonous “fog,” then where did their remains go? Doesn't add up...
Of course, not in all cases the causes of disappearance or death can be associated with the intervention of certain irrational forces. But adventure lovers should be aware of the dangers that await them and be careful not to repeat the sad experience of their predecessors.
News edited Adele - 24-03-2011, 10:19
The disappearance of an entire expedition is a mysterious phenomenon. But this happened more than once: trained people, polar explorers, tropical explorers, pioneers disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Traces of some groups were never found.
La Perouse Expedition
On August 1, 1785, the Comte de La Perouse set out on a risky trip around the world on the ships Boussole and Astrolabe to systematize the discoveries made by Cook and establish trade relations with native tribes.
During the first year of his journey, La Perouse rounded Cape Horn, visited Chile, Easter Island, and in July 1786 reached Alaska.
The following year, the explorer arrived on the shores of Northeast Asia and discovered the island of Kelpaert there.
Then the expedition moved to Sakhalin - finding a strait that now bears the name of the count. At the end of 1787, La Perouse was already off the coast of Samoa, where he lost 12 people in a skirmish with savages.
In the winter of 1788, the expedition transmitted the last message to their homeland through British sailors. Nobody saw them again. Only in 2005 was it possible to reliably identify the site of the shipwreck, but the fate of La Perouse is still unknown. Most of his records also perished with him.
"Terror" and "Erebus"
These two British ships, with 129 people on board, left Greenhithe Wharf one morning in May 1845. Under the leadership of Sir John Franklin, they intended to explore the last blank spot on the map of the Canadian Arctic and complete the discovery of the Northwest Passage.
For 170 years now, the fate of this expedition has haunted scientists and writers.
But all that was discovered during this time was only a few graves and two wintering camps.
Based on the findings, it was concluded that the ships were frozen in ice, and the crew, suffering from scurvy, pneumonia, tuberculosis and terrible cold, did not disdain cannibalism.
Walking across Australia
On April 4, 1848, the German explorer Ludwig Leichhardt set out with eight companions. He planned to cross the Australian mainland from east to west on foot in three years.
However, after the agreed time, none of the members of this expedition showed up. In 1852, the first team set out on the search, followed by the second, then the third, and so on for seventeen years in a row.
Until one tramp wandering around the mainland accidentally mentioned that he lived for several months on the banks of the Muligan River with a certain Adolf Klassen.
When he found out that this was one of those whom they had been looking for for so long, he went in search of him, but died on the way.
And only after a long time it became clear that Klassen had lived in captivity among savages for almost thirty years. They killed him around 1876. The last hope of learning about the fate of Leichgard and his expedition also died with him.
In search of Arctida
In 1900, Baron Eduard Vasilyevich Toll set out on an expedition on the schooner Zarya to search for new islands in the Arctic. Toll also firmly believed in the existence of the so-called Sannikov Land and wanted to become its discoverer.
In July 1902, the baron, accompanied by astronomer Friedrich Seeberg and two hunters Vasily Gorokhov and Nikolai Dyakonov, left the schooner to reach the coveted Arctida on sleighs and boats.
Zarya was supposed to arrive there in two months.
However, due to poor ice conditions, the ship was damaged and was forced to leave for Tiksi. The next year, under the leadership of then-lieutenant Kolchak, a rescue expedition was assembled.
They discovered Toll's site, as well as his diaries and notes. It followed from them that the researchers decided not to wait for “Dawn” and continued on their own. No other traces of these four people were ever found.
Hercules
This is a small hunting vessel, on which in 1912, experienced polar explorer Vladimir Aleksandrovich Rusanov, together with members of his expedition, went to the island of Spitsbergen in order to secure Russia’s right to extract minerals there before other countries.
Everything went well. But for unknown reasons, Rusanov decided to return through the northwestern tip of Novaya Zemlya, and if the ship survived, then go east to the first island he encountered. A telegram with his intentions was the last news from Hercules.
Only in 1934, on one of the islands near the shore of Khariton Laptev, a pillar with the carved inscription “Hercules 1913” was discovered. And on the neighboring island things from Hercules were found: a nautical book, notes, pieces of clothing, etc. But the bodies of the expedition members were never found.
Main goal "Z"
In 1925, in the vast expanses of the poorly studied region of Mato Grosso, an expedition of three people disappeared: Colonel Percival Fawcett, his son Jack and their friend Reilly Reymilom. They all went in search of a certain lost city, which Fossett himself called “Z”.
Much of this expedition is shrouded in mystery. It was financed by a certain group of London entrepreneurs called the Glove.
The colonel himself, in case of loss, asked not to look for them, since all expeditions would suffer the same fate.
The latest report from the research team described them slogging through bushes, climbing mountains, and crossing rivers, and how it was all basically very boring.
Nobody heard anything more about these three people. Now there are various rumors, starting with the fact that they were all eaten by Indian cannibals, which are not uncommon here, and ending with the fact that Fawcett found the city of “Z”, met its inhabitants and did not want to go back.
Leontiev Group
In the summer of 1953, communication with the Tuvan expedition of Lev Nikolaevich Leontyev was interrupted. At the site of her last stop, searchers found a still smoldering fire, tents and a full set of equipment.
However, there were no people or horses in the camp. The only hoof prints led from the forest to the camp. All nearby expeditions set out to search. But they ended in failure. Leontyev’s group is still listed as missing, and many theories related to its disappearance are still circulating on the Internet.
On the same topic:
The Amber Room and other missing relics of Russia Library of Ivan the Terrible and other missing relics of Russia
