Original subtitles

Tonight on "expedition files,"

deep in the wilds of Siberia, nine young adventurers are

violently killed by someone or something.

Finally, we may know how.

In Egypt, the discovery of king tut's tomb is said to unleash

a deadly curse.

But could the legend be real?

And explorer Kenny veach investigates area 51,

then disappears off the face of the earth.

Now, for the first time ever, I'll share new revelations

about history's most bizarre deaths.

In the corridors of time...

Are mysteries that defy explanation.

Now, I'm traveling through history itself...

On a search for the truth.

New evidence,

shocking answers.

I'm Josh gates,

and these...

Are my "expedition files."

While none of us like to think about death, the fact is that

it comes for us all.

We hope when it does that it's peaceful, at the end of

a long life, surrounded by our loved ones, but the hand of

fate often has other plans.

Some of us will die strange, horrifying,

and even unexplainable deaths.

Tonight, we peer into three files chronicling the most

mysterious deaths in history.

The settings for our stories could not be more different,

taking us from the icy mountains of Siberia to

the burning sands of Egypt, to the vast mojave desert.

But in each of these shocking cases, one question remains

starkly the same... "how did these people die?"

We begin in 1959 with a not-so-warm welcome

to the siberian wilderness of the Soviet union.

Deep in the ural mountains, hundreds of miles from

civilization, this frigid tundra doesn't even

have a name.

That is, until this man, Igor dyatlov, leads eight other

adventurers on an expedition through the desolate

ural mountains.

In a matter of days, every one of them will be dead,

in a manner so disturbing, that many will label these the most

violent, unexplained deaths of the 20th century.

What happens next will be debated by investigators for

more than 50 years.

Theories include a secret weapon test,

a murderous rampage, a yeti attack, or even

a ufo encounter.

Tonight, we will share remarkable new discoveries that

could unmask the culprit and reveal the truth of

the infamous dyatlov pass incident

for the very first time.

Like most mysteries, this story begins innocently enough.

January 23rd, 1959.

Buoyed by youth, camaraderie, and adventure,

ten college students venture into the siberian wilderness.

Led by 23-year-old engineer Igor dyatlov, they're on a 16-day

journey deep into the ortorten mountains.

And let's be clear, although they're college kids,

they are also well-trained and well-experienced hikers.

And they bring along several journals and five cameras to

document their trek, not knowing that their words

and photos will soon serve as a trail of breadcrumbs in

a terrifying mystery.

Their journey is immediately intense, as they hike and ski

through the punishingly cold siberian wilderness.

But their mood remains high, as team member

lyudmila dubinina writes in her diary.

But despite their high spirits, after five days, one member of

the team is injured and can't continue.

Yuri yudin begins to experience extreme joint pain, and on

January 28th, leaves the group to head back to civilization.

As Yuri parts ways with his comrades, they head deeper

into the foreboding wilderness.

This is the last time that he will ever see

his friends alive.

As the nine hikers reach higher altitudes, they begin to

experience the skin-shredding weather that only the infamous

sub-zero siberian climate can inflict.

Showing remarkable fortitude, the team battles on.

Dyatlov writes...

On their seventh day, with temperatures plummeting to

25 degrees below zero, they pitch camp along

the shoulder of a barren and exposed slope that

the local mansi tribesmen call "dead mountain," a fateful name

since it is here that our horrifying mystery

is about to unfold.

On the slope of the mountain, they cut into a thick slab of

ice and set up camp for the night.

No one knows exactly what transpired after

they hunkered down,

only that night fell, bringing with it dizzying cold

temperatures and powerful winds the group described as,

quote, "the draft of an airplane taking off."

No more diary entries were recorded after that day.

A tragedy beyond understanding was about to take place.

When the hikers don't arrive at their exit point on the day

they're due, concern grows.

A search party is dispatched to check on them.

Searching the urals is no easy task, particularly when you're

searching an area covering hundreds of square miles.

After a multi-day hunt, the rescuers finally discover

the missing hikers' tent.

It's mostly intact, but there's no one inside.

And shockingly, given the negative 35-degree

conditions, the students have left behind their warm winter

clothing, shoes, food, and an unused stove.

Strangest of all, the tent has been cut open from the inside

as if to facilitate a quick escape.

But what were the hikers running from?

And where are they now?

And then the searchers find them.

Almost a mile from the tent, the search party discovers

the frozen bodies of two of the hikers, wearing only

underwear, and near the remains of a campfire.

Horribly, their bare feet are burned, suggesting they were so

cold that they were willing to force their naked feet directly

into the fire for warmth.

Three more of the victims are found frozen to death on a path

leading back to the tent.

Searchers continue to scour the area, but the other

students are nowhere to be found.

It isn't until three months later, when the spring thaw

begins, that the missing hikers are all found huddled together

in a snow den.

Had they hid there on their own, or were they placed

there by someone or something?

The injuries alone are the stuff of nightmares.

Chest wounds, broken ribs, fractured skulls.

Two were missing their eyes, and one, her tongue.

An autopsy concludes most of the hikers likely died from

internal bleeding.

Their multiple broken bones point to some sort of

physical attack. The mystery is only deepening.

What caused their horrific deaths?

One theory immediately presents itself.

Perhaps a blizzard triggered an avalanche, causing these

brutal injuries.

But experts say that's unlikely.

The slope of the hill next to the campsite is under

30 degrees.

It's not steep enough to create the force required for

a typical snow avalanche.

Speculation quickly shifts elsewhere.

Some theorize that the hikers stumbled upon a secret military

operation and were perhaps killed by soldiers.

1959 was the height of the cold war.

On orders from the kremlin, Russia had launched one of

history's most drastic political, moral,

and economic wars, a cold war.

The arms race in a full sprint, the Soviets were surely engaged

in secret military testing.

Could the hikers have stumbled across something they were

never meant to see?

Might the Soviet military have accidentally killed the hikers

with some kind of weapons test?

Surely, if they had, the Soviets would have been

inclined to Bury the entire scandal.

Others suggest something stranger still.

Local legend talks of a cryptid that lives in these parts,

something the local tribe refers to as the menk.

But we would call it big foot.

Could the adventurers really have encountered

the mythical menk?

Some of the last photos taken by the group seem to lend

credibility to the theory, such as this image.

Then, in another final photo, bright lights and massive lens

flares imply lights in the sky.

Did the hikers encounter something from out of

this world?

And in recent years, a new theory has gained

traction... infrasound.

Sound waves below the level of normal human hearing are known

to cause sensations of confusion and fear.

Could wind coursing over the siberian mountains have

created this infrasound phenomenon?

And could it have sent the hikers running from

their tent into the unforgiving elements?

But this theory does little to explain the hikers'

perplexing injuries.

Decades passed with no answers as to the cause of this strange

and disturbing tragedy.

But shocking new evidence might show that one of these theories

about how these young explorers died might actually be true.

Coming up, the archaeological find of

the century brings with it a deadly curse.

And later, the unsettling mystery of an adventurer

who goes missing near area 51.

Something about that cave just spooked me.

For 65 years, the world has wondered what caused the savage

deaths of nine young explorers deep in

the siberian wilderness.

I became fascinated by this enduring mystery.

Let's go.

And traveled to the dyatlov pass in 2019.

Every step of this journey is just leading us further

and further into the unknown.

This just feels like the end of the world.

I investigated many theories on that trip, including one in

which people believe the group ran into

a cryptozoological monster.

In some areas, it's known as the almas.

Here, it's known as a menk,

a hulking six to eight foot tall bipedal primate covered in

reddish-brown fur.

As evidence, many people have pointed to one photo from

the hikers' cameras, which shows the blurry image

image of someone or something.

But by examining the pictures before and after it on

the camera roll, we proved that the blurry photo is one of

the other hikers emerging from the woods.

And no mention of a yeti ever appears in their diaries.

At an abandoned gulag, we investigated the theory that

an escaped prisoner killed the hikers.

Look at this. That's a boot.

Unbelievable.

But no prisoners were reported missing, and it's unthinkable

that a fleeing convict wouldn't have grabbed the hikers' money

or warm clothes.

I mean, I think we can discount that theory out of hand.

- Absolutely. - Don't you?

100 percent, mathematically, no way.

But incredibly, before leaving Russia, I uncovered remarkable

evidence of a possible government cover-up.

This is a document that shouldn't exist.

Do these documents prove that the accepted timeline of events

here is wrong?

Is this a smoking gun?

It's possible.

In the end, our investigation made an impact.

The questions I raised, alongside the impending 60th

anniversary of the deaths, prompted the Russian government

to officially reinvestigate the dyatlov mystery.

The Russians asked a team of Swiss scientists to reexamine

a previously ruled out theory that the hikers fell victim to

some kind of avalanche.

Swiss investigator Alexander puzrin may have proven that

a smaller avalanche, known as a slab avalanche, may have been

the cause after all.

We started exploring the slab avalanche hypothesis.

But if this theory that a small avalanche fell on the tent is

correct, how can we explain the massive injuries

the campers sustained?

Imagine the horror of waking up and being partially buried in

your tent,

your comrades all around you screaming in pain.

Injured but running on adrenaline, you frantically cut

your way out of the tent into the violent elements.

You have only minutes to make life or death decisions.

What do you do?

The Swiss team has seemingly brought fascinating new insight

to a mystery that's haunted the world for half a century.

It's a remarkable theory, but questions remain.

Questions like, "how can an avalanche explain the deeply"

"disturbing fact that some of the bodies were missing

their tongue, nose, and eyes?"

Well, that may be the easiest explanation of all

scavenging animals,

known to feed on carcasses.

Grim, yes, but it's nature's way.

So is the slab avalanche theory enough to explain

the mysterious deaths of Igor dyatlov and his intrepid

friends once and for all?

Given the strange nature of this mystery, for some,

perhaps no single theory will ever be enough.

But if we take the time to look at the dyatlov incident,

it does seem that the murder weapon is right in front of us,

an unforgiving mountain in a frigid wilderness where

it's always easier to die than it is to live.

Still, for decades, the story of the hikers has

been remembered for their demise.

Yet, these remarkable young adventurers deserve to be

remembered for so much more than that.

In their final, desperate moments,

we can understand that truly, this is a story of youth,

of friendship, and of true bravery at the ultimate cost.

In our next file, the deaths are just as

mysterious, but the temperature is a whole lot warmer.

Welcome to the valley of the kings, or under it, rather.

The date is February 1923.

The daring British egyptologist leading this group is hoping to

make a name for himself as he approaches a mysterious

golden shrine.

His name, Howard Carter, and he is just one step away

from discovering the sarcophagus of the long

lost pharaoh tutankhamen, better known as king tut.

Carter is joined by his business partner,

lord carnarvon, the wealthy British nobleman

bank-rolling the years-long expedition.

As they prepare to enter the tomb, they're on the edge

of the greatest archaeological find, well, maybe ever.

Little do they know, their discovery of a lifetime

will be linked to a series of mysterious deaths,

including their own.

It's 1923, about 18 miles from the city of Luxor.

Egyptologist Howard Carter has spent five long years searching

for the tomb of king tut. Time and money are running out.

His financier and business partner, lord carnarvon,

agrees to fund one last season of digging.

This is the final chance for this self-taught egyptologist.

On November 4th, Carter gets lucky at last.

He hits pay dirt when a 12-year-old local water boy

stumbles over a low hill, dropping his jar but revealing

a hidden stair.

Over the next 24 hours, Carter and his team uncover

16 steps leading down to a wall.

What they find on the other side

of the wall is astounding

a room packed with the treasures of a pharaoh,

hundreds of artifacts, chariots, and weapons.

Never before has such a complete royal Egyptian tomb

been found.

Carter has discovered the antechamber containing

the pharaoh's riches.

But there is one thing missing... the sarcophagus of

the king buried here.

He believes the shrine might be behind the next wall.

However, before they continue, Carter, lord carnarvon,

and the crew have a hearty lunch in the tomb of ramses xi.

The photo of this lunch will take on tremendous significance

as the years go by.

Many of the guests at this table will mysteriously die

before the decade is through.

After they finish eating, Carter and his team break

through another wall in the antechamber.

On the other side, there's an open area leading to

the door of a burial chamber.

Carter's team is ready to break through to the next room.

But in Carter's way stands a lock made of rope and a Clay

seal of Anubis, the god of the underworld, that hasn't

been touched by human hands in over 3,000 years.

Carter doesn't think twice about cutting it open.

Under four outer shrines, the crew finds

a quartzite sarcophagus.

Inside is a series of nested, gilded coffins.

And at the center lies a mummy, hidden behind a now-famous

golden mask. King tut has been found.

The tutankhamen discovery makes news around the world.

But it doesn't take long before very bad things

start happening.

Just days after the discovery, lord carnarvon falls ill,

developing a nasty blood infection.

His condition worsens.

Less than two months after entering tut's burial chamber,

carnarvon dies from pneumonia and blood poisoning.

His death makes worldwide headlines.

A new mania takes hold

fear of the pharaoh's curse.

But is it merely a catchy tabloid headline?

One person who promotes the curse is the master of

whodunnit murder mysteries, sir Arthur con an Doyle,

creator of Sherlock Holmes.

For all of Sherlock's cold calculating reason, con an Doyle

is a spiritualist and a firm believer in powers beyond

the grave, an idea present in some of his short stories.

The day after carnarvon's death, con an Doyle tells us reporters

the death may have been due to elementals... primitive spirits

invoked by ancient Egyptian priests to guard tombs,

and that this must have been a peculiar element of

an Egyptian curse.

World leaders even get in on the panic.

After reading about lord carnarvon's death,

Italy's dictator Benito Mussolini frantically orders

a mummy he had received as a gift to be removed from

his private home in Rome.

There is one man who is certainly skeptical

of the curse, the man who discovered

the tomb, Howard Carter himself.

Though Carter is distraught by the death of his friend

and patron, he calls the curse "Tommy rot."

In other words, nonsense.

Carter gets back to work.

But then, rather inconveniently, other people

connected to the discovery of the tomb start dying.

George j. Gould,

an American financier and railroad executive,

falls sick after visiting the monument, and dies from

pneumonia one month after lord carnarvon.

Two other men who helped with the excavation,

including carnarvon's own half-brother, die from pneumonia

in the years following.

Newspapers sensationalize tut's curse and report when

a premature death strikes anyone who enters the tomb.

Multiple men are later killed by gunshot,

including an Egyptian prince who was shot in the head

by his wife.

One man is smothered to death with a pillow in a gentlemen's

club, and archeologist Hugh Evelyn white dies by suicide,

reportedly leaving a note that says, "I have succumbed to

a curse which forces me to disappear."

The curse of king tut is one of

the great unsolved mysteries of the 20th century.

But is the curse real, or is it just a series of

unfortunate tragedies?

In 2003, two London physicians, sharif and tariq El-tawil,

publish a letter in the lancet medical journal proposing

a possible origin for the notorious curse.

The unexpected culprit? Fungus.

It is believed that a toxic fungus could have festered for

centuries in the tomb.

Just waiting for Carter's crew to breathe it in.

This could explain the deaths that were caused by respiratory

diseases and pneumonia.

Some say that toxic fungus is the true culprit in the curse

of king tut's tomb.

But there's one problem with that theory.

It doesn't explain the death of the very first man inside,

Howard Carter,

who was killed by something more deadly than any curse

you could conjure.

Despite rumors of a curse on king tut's tomb,

archaeologist Howard Carter continues to catalog

and examine the tomb until 1932.

That's a solid decade of getting on the wrong side

of the pharaoh. What happens to him?

Well, nothing for a long time.

Carter, the man most responsible for the excavation

and the first one into the tomb, does die relatively

young at age 64, passing away from lymphoma.

That isn't a condition a fungus could cause.

If there were a curse on king tut's tomb, did it miss

its main target?

Or could there be some other unseen force at play?

In 2024, a scientific paper makes a different case for

the pharaoh's curse... poisonous radon.

Bioarchaeologist rosalyn Campbell has studied the theory

and believes it makes sense.

Radioactive gas could explain the mysterious deaths.

So the symptoms of radon poisoning can be very similar

or identical to the symptoms of different types of cancers.

One of the things that we know about limestone is it emits

radon, which is a radioactive gas.

And in the valley of the kings, all of the tombs are cut into

the naturally occurring limestone that makes up

this valley.

Normally, this isn't necessarily a huge problem,

but if you're in an area with a lot of limestone and very

poor ventilation, then you are being exposed to potentially

unsafe levels of radon that can cause serious health problems.

Tutankhamen's tomb is actually unusually small for

a royal tomb.

They would have been in daily contact with a lot of this

limestone that was emitting radon gas.

And we do see, for example, various other people who worked

in that tomb also were diagnosed with cancer.

And Howard Carter died of lymphoma.

So radon might have caused very serious health concerns over

the years and eventually led to the death of these individuals.

The curse of the tomb of king tut has fascinated

and frightened adventurers for over a century.

Did Howard Carter and his team die because of

an honest-to-goodness Egyptian curse?

Well, the newest evidence suggests the shocking string of

deaths may have been caused by a hidden earthly power, be it

fungus or radioactive gas.

Still, that doesn't explain the visitors who were

shot, smothered, or committed suicide.

Today, though, most of the tomb's 5,000 artifacts are

housed at the grand Egyptian museum.

Tutankhamen himself is sealed in an airtight case, with no

signs of danger for visitors.

It seems he and his curse are now safely at rest.

Our next file takes us to another extreme landscape,

but one that's a little closer to home, just north of.

Las Vegas, near the infamous area 51.

You know, the top secret military base that may or may

not be hiding ufo wreckage and alien corpses.

Anyway, it's here that a lone explorer made a strange

discovery that captured the attention of millions on

social media.

But then, Kenny veach vanished without a trace

leaving the world to wonder what happened to him.

It's November 10, 2014.

That's Kenny veach, inventor, dad,

loving boyfriend, and extreme hiker.

I just came across

these gigantic, sweet pine nuts, or pinyon nuts,

whatever you want to call them.

This is the kind of food that saves your life.

It's on one of these extreme hikes that he finds a cave that

will change his life.

And he shares his extraordinary discovery on social media.

I found a hidden cave.

The entrance to the cave was shaped like a capital m.

But as I began to enter this particular cave, my whole body

began to vibrate.

Suddenly, I became very, very scared.

Kenny is certain something in the cave is causing

the terrifying vibrations,

which become more intense as he enters.

He finally gives up, running away from the cave

all the way home.

Kenny's posts about the terrifying experience

quickly gain a following.

But commenters suggest he is exaggerating or was

just dehydrated.

Kenny feels challenged to prove them all wrong.

I talked to some people on YouTube, and I told them,

"hey, I'm coming out here, you know, because they kind of

called my hand."

And something about that cave just spooked me.

Closer I got to it, the crazier my body felt.

I got to relocate it. If I do, I'm going in there.

I'm gonna put on my light, walk in there,

see if I find anything. We'll see.

Kenny spends an arduous day looking for the cave,

with no luck.

It's a big freaking mountain range.

He posts a video of his failed search, but with a promise to

not give up.

I'm going again this weekend.

I'll be hiking solo for three days.

I plan on covering about 40 miles.

Kenny's growing fan base encourages his risky return

to the desert.

Although, there is one dissenting voice that gets

everyone's attention, an ominous warning not to enter

the cave, adding that if he does,

Kenny will not get out.

On November 10, 2014,

Kenny straps on his gun and ventures into

the mojave desert on another three-day quest

to find the m cave.

This time, he's sure he'll locate it.

But, four days later, Kenny's girlfriend reports

him missing.

No one will ever see Kenny veach again.

The discovery of tutankhamen's tomb a hundred years ago set

off a worldwide frenzy of "tut-mania."

It revolutionizes egyptology,

and Egyptian motifs find their way into artwork,

architecture, music, movies, and even fashion.

Tut-mania even finds its way to the white house in the form of

Herbert hoover's Belgian Shepherd named,

you guessed it, "king tut."

It's amazing to think that tutankhamen only ruled for

10 years, had an uneventful reign,

and did not leave an heir.

But 3,000 years later, he's become so famous that he's

the one Egyptian king that almost everyone across

the world can name.

Now that's one heck of an afterlife.

Kenny veach has gone missing in the desert during his search

for a mysterious cave.

The red rock search and rescue teams are dispatched,

and his car is quickly located.

Ground teams scour every peak and canyon, but they

find nothing.

Then, eight days after Kenny was reported missing,

they find his cell phone, which miraculously

still has battery life.

It is found right next to the derelict mine where

he filmed his previous attempt to find the strange

m-shaped cave.

The authorities lower a camera into the mineshaft,

expecting the worst. No trace of Kenny is found.

After many heartbreaking weeks, the official search is called

off, and Kenny veach is assumed dead.

But how did he die?

It's possible that Kenny had an accident.

Perhaps he was bitten by a snake,

or succumbed to the elements.

But Kenny was an experienced outdoors man who should not have

fallen into misfortune so easily.

Some have even suggested that he might have

committed suicide.

But if he was dead in the desert, why has no one ever

found his remains, his clothes,

or his camping supplies?

The one thing authorities did find, Kenny's cell phone,

raises more questions than answers.

Those following Kenny's disappearance find the cell

phone discovery odd.

Why did it take eight days to find the phone in such

an obvious spot?

And how could the phone reportedly have a charged

battery after more than a week?

Some believe the phone was placed there,

but by who and why?

The fact that area 51 is nearby helps fuel the speculation.

Many believe that Kenny got too close to a restricted area,

perhaps uncovered a secret that the government could not allow

to go public.

Some propose that the vibrations Kenny felt were

the result of a nonlethal weapon.

Some have suggested even alien technology.

So we've got a guy missing, trying to figure out what

the truth is.

Ever since Kenny vanished, investigative vlogger

Sean horlacher has been obsessed with solving the case.

So Kenny was talking about finding these caves.

He's talking about it a lot.

And I believe that's where he got noticed, to where

he started getting watched.

They knew he was going out there, so I believe

the government just flew a couple guys out at night

and covered it up.

So this time, as I'm walking through, I'm looking

for, you know, not a cave this time.

I'm looking for a cover up.

We were all looking for a real cave that was still open.

I don't think that's the case anymore.

That changes everything.

One of the things that drew me to this case was,

Kenny witnessed something that the government did not want

the general public to know about, and may be why Kenny's

not here anymore.

It's right here.

I think this is a clever little coverup.

That's not a normal piece of the landscape.

This and this aren't really matching up.

This is, like,

looks like it might have been the top of the cave right here.

And then this was put here, this was put here, this was

put here. This was put here.

This was put here.

And then, down here,

you have this seam.

And it's got this white stuff in here,

sort of like a sealant.

This is a freaking covered-up m cave.

Perhaps the most convincing evidence that this is the m cave

was the physical effects Sean experienced after being close

to the barricaded entrance.

Something's hitting me right now.

I start getting sick, like deathly ill.

This is where that cave was that Kenny witnessed,

but it's covered.

Intrigued by Sean's discovery, I've gone back through Kenny's

final video before he disappeared.

The kind of cave I'm looking for is deep, and it's dark.

I wanted to see if he recorded this same strange rock

formation, or perhaps it was still an open cave.

And there it is.

It seems Kenny really was at the exact same strange place

Sean found.

Even more haunting, listen to what Kenny says, as he seems to

pause here, 10 years ago.

It's about level with the ground, like right in

an area, like this.

So I really got to keep my eyes peeled, because I don't want to

pass it.

If this is the m cave, it's as if Kenny instinctively

knew where it should be.

Whatever happened that day in the desert, there is one thing

we can sincerely say... wherever Kenny is,

we hope he's at peace.

I'm Josh gates.

Until next time, travel adventurously.