Valley of Death

The area we are going to discuss can be described as an expanse of continuous swamps alternating with impenetrable taiga, covering more than 100,000 square kilometers.
It is also surrounded by curious rumors about the presence of metallic objects of unknown origin scattered throughout the region.

In ancient times, there were brave local hunters who spent the night in these structures. But afterward, they would fall seriously ill, and those who stayed there several nights in a row died rapidly.
The Yakuts used to say that the place was "very bad, swampy, and not even animals go there!"

The exact locations of these structures were known only to the elderly, who had spent their youth hunting and frequently visited these areas. They led a nomadic lifestyle, and knowledge of the terrain — where one could go and where one must not — was a matter of survival.

Their descendants adopted a sedentary way of life, and over time, this knowledge was lost.

Today, the only indications of the presence of these structures are fragments of local paleo-toponymy and scattered rumors. But each of these toponyms refers to hundreds, even thousands of square kilometers.

In 1936, near the Olguydakh River (which means “place with a cauldron”), a geologist, guided by the elders, came across a smooth, reddish metallic hemisphere of large diameter protruding from the ground, with such a perfectly sharp edge that “it could cut a fingernail.” The wall thickness was about 2 cm. It rose from the ground by about one-fifth of its diameter and tilted in such a way that one could ride a reindeer under it. He sent a description of his discovery to Yakutsk.

Here are excerpts from a letter received from another person who visited the "Valley of Death." Mikhail Koretsky from Vladivostok writes:

“I’ve been there three times. The first was in 1933, when I was just 10 years old — I went there with my father for seasonal work. Then again in 1937 — this time without my father. The last time was in 1947, as part of a group of young men.
The 'Valley of Death' stretches along the right tributary of the Vilyuy River. In essence, it’s an entire chain of valleys following its floodplain. All three times, I was accompanied by a Yakut guide. We didn’t go there out of curiosity — we went because in that remote area, one could pan for gold without worrying about being robbed or shot in the back at the end of the season.
As for the mysterious objects, there are likely many of them, because over three seasons I saw seven such ‘cauldrons.’ All of them struck me as completely mysterious: first of all, the size — from six to nine meters in diameter.

Second, they were made of an unknown metal. You mentioned in your writing that they were copper, but I’m certain they’re not copper. The reason is that not even a sharpened chisel could dent them (we tried more than once). The metal does not chip or forge. A hammer would certainly leave visible dents on copper. But this 'copper' is also covered with a layer of unknown material resembling emery. However, it is not an oxide film or scale — it can’t be scraped or scratched off either.”

(*It should be noted that unusual geochemical anomalies have been discovered near the epicenter of the Tunguska explosion. In particular, the soil in this region is enriched with rare-earth elements — lanthanides such as samarium, europium, thulium, terbium, and ytterbium — as well as barium, cobalt, copper, titanium, and other elements. Geochemist S.V. Dozmorov, who worked in Omsk, suggested that the exploded object might have contained superconducting ceramics based on a combination of barium–lanthanide–copper. Such ceramics maintain superconductivity at the temperature of liquid nitrogen (–196°C) and could be used to manufacture highly efficient energy storage devices. Naturally, such materials must be artificial. — Editor’s note, V.U.)

Returning to Mikhail Koretsky’s letter:

“We never encountered any deep underground shafts with rooms. But I noticed that the vegetation around the 'cauldrons' was anomalous — very different from the surroundings. It was much lusher: large-leaved burdock, extremely long vines, strange grass growing one and a half to two times taller than a person.
We once spent the night inside one of the ‘cauldrons’ with our entire group (six people). We didn’t feel anything strange and left calmly without any unpleasant incidents. No one got seriously ill afterward. Except for one of my acquaintances, who lost all his hair three months later. As for me, on the left side of my head (the side I slept on), I developed three small sores, each the size of a match head. I’ve been treating them my whole life, but to this day they haven’t gone away.
All our attempts to break off even a small piece of those strange ‘cauldrons’ failed. The only thing I managed to take with me was a stone — but not just any stone: it was half of a perfect sphere, six centimeters in diameter. It was black in color, had no visible tool marks, and was incredibly smooth, as if polished. I picked it up from the ground inside one of the cauldrons.
I brought this Yakut ‘souvenir’ with me to the village of Samarka in the Chuguyevsky District of the Primorsky Krai, where my parents lived in 1933. It just sat there until my grandmother decided to renovate the house. We needed to insert glass into the windows, but there wasn’t a single glass cutter in the village. I tried using the edge of that half-sphere — and to my surprise, it cut with remarkable ease. After that, all our relatives and neighbors used it as a diamond substitute for glass cutting.
In 1937, I gave the stone to my grandfather. That fall, he was arrested and taken to Magadan, where he lived without trial until 1968 and died. Now no one knows what became of that stone…”

In his letter, Mikhail Koretsky emphasizes:

In 1933, his Yakut guide told him that five to ten years earlier, he had discovered several spherical ‘cauldrons’ (they were perfectly round), which protruded from the ground higher than a man’s height. They looked brand new. Later, however, the same hunter saw them shattered and scattered.
Koretsky noted that, having visited one of the cauldrons twice, it had noticeably sunk into the ground over the course of just a few years.

Researchers from the city of Mirny, A. Gutenev and Yu. Mikhaylovsky, reported that in 1971, an old Evenki hunter told them about something he had seen in the interfluve area between Nyurgun Bootur (meaning "Fiery Warrior") and Ataradak (meaning "Place with a Triangular Spike"). Protruding from the ground there, he said, was exactly what had given the place its name — a "very large" three-sided iron spike.

And in the interfluve region of Khelyugir (meaning "Iron People") there is an iron burrow, inside of which lie "thin, black, one-eyed people in iron clothing." He said he could take people there, that it wasn’t far — but no one believed him. He has since passed away...

Another one of the objects, it seems, was buried during the construction of the Vilyuy Dam, slightly downstream from the Erbiye rapids.
According to a builder of the Vilyuy Hydroelectric Station, when the diversion canal was constructed and the main riverbed was drained, a domed metallic "bald patch" was revealed. Plans were pressing, and the authorities, after a quick inspection of the find, gave the order to continue construction without delay.

Yakut legends contain many references to explosions, fiery whirlwinds, and the ascent of blazing spheres. All of these phenomena are somehow connected to the mysterious metallic structures found in the “Valley of Death.”

Some of these structures are large, round “iron houses” standing on numerous side supports. They have neither windows nor doors — only a "spacious hatch" at the top of the dome.

Some of them have almost completely sunk into the permafrost — only a barely noticeable bulge, like an arch, remains visible on the surface.
Eyewitnesses who do not know each other but have seen this “rumbling iron house” describe it in exactly the same way.

In the 1950s, this area—likely due to the extreme uninhabited nature of its northern edge—attracted the attention of the military. A series of nuclear explosions was conducted there.

One of these explosions occurred under highly mysterious circumstances. To this day, foreign experts remain puzzled by the event.

According to a report broadcast by the radio station Deutsche Welle in September 1990, during the testing of a 10-kiloton nuclear device in 1954, the explosion, for unknown reasons, exceeded the calculated yield by 2,000 to 3,000 times, reaching a power of 20 to 30 megatons, as recorded by seismic stations around the world.

The cause of such a drastic discrepancy in explosive power remains unexplained. TASS issued a statement claiming that a compact hydrogen bomb had been tested in flight mode, but it was later revealed that this statement was inaccurate.

Following the tests, the area was declared a restricted zone. Secret operations continued there for several years.

Let us attempt to peer into the distant past, as reflected in epic traditions…

According to legends passed down by word of mouth, in those distant times when it all began, this land was inhabited not by numerous tribes, but by nomadic Tungus people.

One day, their distant neighbors witnessed the region suddenly becoming engulfed in an impenetrable darkness, and the surrounding lands were shaken by a deafening roar.

A hurricane of unprecedented force arose, and the ground trembled under powerful shocks. Lightning tore across the sky in all directions.
When everything subsided and the darkness cleared, a stunning sight appeared before their astonished eyes.

Amidst the scorched earth, a tall vertical structure gleamed in the sunlight — visible from many days’ journey away…

Centuries passed. Life went on as usual... Nothing foreshadowed any major events, but one day, a small earthquake occurred, and the sky was pierced by a thin “fiery whirlwind.” At its peak, a blinding fireball appeared. Accompanied by “four consecutive thunderclaps,” the sphere traced a fiery trail and followed a shallow trajectory toward the earth. It disappeared beyond the horizon — and then exploded.

The nomads were concerned, but did not abandon their lands — fortunately, this “demon,” having caused them no harm, had exploded over a neighboring, warlike tribe.

Several decades later, the same event repeated: a fiery sphere flew off in the same direction and once again destroyed only the neighbors. Seeing this “demon” as if it were their protector, they began to create legends about it, naming it “Nyurgun Bootur” (“Fiery Hero”).
But some time later, something happened that struck terror even into the most remote corners…

From the vent, with a deafening roar and thunder, a gigantic fiery bolide burst forth — and exploded right there. A powerful earthquake followed. Some hills were split by fissures over one hundred meters deep.
After the explosion, for a long time there remained a seething “sea of fire”, above which a disk-shaped “rotating island” hovered. The effects of the explosion spread over a radius of more than a thousand kilometers.

But there were cases when Tong Duuray encountered Nyurgun Bootur directly above the site of his emergence, after which the area remained lifeless for a long time.

Overall, the patterns of these events were quite varied: sometimes, several “fiery heroes” would emerge simultaneously from the vent, travel some distance, and explode in one location. The same scenario occurred during the emergence of Tong Duuray as well. Soil strata indicate that the intervals between such explosions did not exceed 600 to 700 years.

The legends vividly portray these events, but the lack of a written language prevented them from being recorded in documented form. It seems that this gap was filled by the historical chronicles of other peoples.

CHRONICLES OF OTHER PEOPLES

In total, several explosions occurred at intervals of approximately 600–700 years, or rather, a complex of events, including their precursors. All of these were meticulously preserved in epic material, in oral traditions and legends. What is particularly interesting is that similar legends emerged even in the equatorial regions of the planet, where gigantic fireballs suddenly appearing in the sky and exploding are said to have destroyed centers of ancient civilizations.

According to the results of archaeological research conducted in the Upper Vilyuy region by S.A. Fedoseeva, a discontinuous, wave-like pattern of settlement in this area can be traced back to around the 4th millennium BCE. But by the 1st millennium CE, the historical trajectory abruptly ends—coinciding with the estimated timing of the last explosion, believed to have occurred in September 1380. The dense cloud it raised obscured the sun over Europe for several hours, and strong earthquakes were recorded in geologically active zones.

This event is mentioned in written historical sources. In Russian chronicles, it coincides with the Battle of Kulikovo:
“...the darkness cleared only in the latter half of the day. A wind of such strength was blowing that an arrow shot from a bow could not fly against it...”

This factor turned out to be favorable to the victory of the Russian forces.
But Tungus legends describe these explosions far more vividly. Judging by their accounts, it was something far worse than modern nuclear weapons — by many times.

If we take the year 1380 as a reference point and trace events further into the past, several striking moments emerge. For example, in the year 830, the Maya civilization that inhabited the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico was destroyed. Many of their cities were obliterated by a single blow of titanic force.
Some biblical accounts are also reminiscent of Yakut legends — such as the Plagues of Egypt and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. In one of the oases of the Arabian Desert, an ancient city was destroyed and literally incinerated. According to legend, this occurred following the explosion of a massive fireball that suddenly appeared in the sky. In the Indian site of Mohenjo-Daro, archaeologists discovered a ruined city. The signs of catastrophe — including a melted stone wall — clearly indicate an explosion comparable to a nuclear blast.

Similar events are also described in 14th-century Chinese chronicles, which mention how far to the north, a huge black cloud rose above the horizon, covering half the sky and hurling large stone fragments. Stones also fell from the sky onto Scandinavia and Germany, where several cities caught fire. Scientists determined that the falling objects were ordinary rocks and suggested that they may have been the result of a volcanic eruption.

But could the true cause of these disasters have been Tong Duuray, erupting from the “vent” over the course of many centuries?
If Nyurgun Bootur, upon appearing, was said to cover half the sky, Tong Duuray was described as far larger, and as he ascended, he would completely vanish from sight.

It is worth noting that in the “Valley of Death”, during certain periods, a heightened level of radiation has been recorded — for which experts have yet to find an explanation.