Metal fragment with «waffle» design supports the rocket launch theory

Similar «waffle» design is used on rocket tanks for durability. Photo: Yuri Kuntsevich

There are many versions of what happened at Dyatlov Pass on February 2, 1959. People blame aliens, infra sound. Researchers speculated about avalanche and testing of a experimental rockets that fell in the zone where allegedly the nine hikers from the Ural Polytechnic Institute turn out to be. And suddenly, the latest version found an indirect confirmation. At least, according to the participants of the expedition, which returned a few days ago from the Dyatlov Pass. There they found a metal object that could be part of the spacecraft.

– This is an aluminum structure with an area of ​​more than one square meter, – said Yuri Kuntsevich, the head of the memory fund of the Dyatlov group. – We found it about four years ago, but they brought it only now. It was heavy and we did not had the means to drag it down until we brought strong men to the pass. We have already explained that this is the wall from the fuel tank of the rocket. However, we will also conduct an analysis of the metal in order to understand what exactly this fragment is.

This fragment was found in 2014, but was only now taken down from the pass. Photo: Yuri Kuntsevich

The detail is now in Yekaterinburg in the Dyatlov Foundation. They assume that this could be a fragment from the UR-100, a Soviet two-stage intercontinental ballistic missile. In the meantime, we decided to ask the experts what kind of a fragment it might be.

– Judging by the photo, according to the «waffle» design, it looks like a wall of some capacity from the rocket. This design is specially made for strength. Because if, let's say make a thin-walled cylinder, it will not take external pressure during takeoff, it will start to move. And with such «waffle» design for the surface, it becomes a rigid carrier, – explained Sergei Buldashev, chief designer of the «Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering».