The Mystery Of The Missing Cosmonauts

The Mystery Of The Missing Cosmonauts

by

Patrick Omari

In a world full of conspiracy theories it is hard to separate hysterical overreaction from fact at times. Occasionally however a conspiracy theory, or mystery comes along that seems plausible. The case of the missing cosmonauts is one of these.

Could it really be true that two brothers in Italy managed to record the deaths of Russian Cosmonauts in space that have remained hidden from the world since the space race? Let’s look at the evidence for this and take a balanced look at just how likely it was that this really occurred. The search for the missing cosmonauts is one of the most fascinating mysteries today. Unlike some there are actual recordings available adding strength to the arguments that this really happened. These fascinating recordings involve the sound of heartbeats, and what sounds like the dying breaths of a man. However, most compelling and disturbing is a very clear radio transmission from a woman who sounds distressed, saying the following; “Isn’t this dangerous? Talk to me! Our transmission begins now. I feel hot. I can see a flame. Am I going to crash? Yes. I feel hot, I will re-enter” These remarkable recordings were made by two brothers named Achille and Giovanni Judica-Cordiglia. Today they own one of the worlds most treasured collections of radio recordings documenting the space race. In the days before the internet listening in on radios was a hobby many people indulged in. During the space race the Judica-Cordiglia brothers were the masters amongst amateurs and achieved great success. On the 4th of October 1957 the Soviets announced that they had successfully launched the first artificial satellite into space named Sputnik 1. The brothers scanned the airwaves to pick up the identifying signal from the spacecraft, and sure enough found it. Their actual recording of the signal from Sputnik 1 is loud and clear. This proved that they had the capabilities to record activity in space. The fascination with recording that first signal spurred the brothers on as they began teaching themselves how to detect the Doppler effect in signals received from orbiting craft. They filled out books and charts full of radio frequencies to ensure they never missed anything taking place above the planet. Only a month later the Soviets announced the launch of Sputnik 2, this time with a passenger, a dog named Laika. Unfortunately for Laika this was to be a one-way journey as Sputnik 2 had no way of re-entering the earth. Before her death the brothers had tuned into the signal from the spacecraft and managed to pick up the heartbeat of Laika – a priceless recording. The success of the brothers was getting them noticed and they became known widely for their achievements. A concrete bunker from the Second World War close to their home was taken over and used for their observations. In it they constructed antennas and upgraded their equipment. Every time a space launch took place the brothers were eagerly listening in – by this time with many interested scientists, reporters and friends. However on the 28th of November 1960 the radio signals would take on an alarming twist. An observatory in West Germany reported that a strange signal was being received on a frequency that was used for Soviet space transmissions. The brothers instantly tuned in to try to make sense of what it could be. What they heard shocked them. Coming over the radio, on the Russian space frequency, was the international signal for distress, S-O-S repeated over and over again. The way the code was transmitted led the brothers to conclude that it was also being hand keyed. Stunned by what they were hearing the brothers immediately checked their Doppler calculations. To their surprise the signal was displaying no relative speed, it would appear that the spacecraft was heading straight out to space, away from the earth. The brothers continued to listen to the signal which grew ever weaker, finally vanishing. It appeared that what the brothers had recorded was a failed manned mission that had involved a spacecraft somehow leaving the orbit of earth and heading straight out into space. At least that was what the data was indicating. Both men had to wait for just two months before their next alarming experience occurred in February 1961. Whilst listening in to a Soviet space frequency they recorded what sounded like the breaths of a dying man. These transmissions were very clear and do sound exactly like a man slowly drawing breath. That same flight also involved another recording being made sounding exactly like a heart beating, however alarmingly sounded like it was failing. The brothers father – a cardiologist – listened to the recording which he concurred sounded like that of a failing human heart. Two days after this recording had been made the Soviets announced that a large unmanned spacecraft had failed during re-entry. The story of the heartbeat and breath was headline news across Italy and seemed to be causing huge amounts of interest. This exposure led a journalist at a press agency to contact the brothers from Moscow to let them know that there was to be a large space event occuring. When the brothers scanned the airwaves the next day they uncovered the radio transmissions of the first man in space, Yuri Gargarin. It was only five weeks after this historic event that the brothers were to uncover a transmission that would be the most shocking yet. In May 1961, whilst listening in to another space frequency, the brothers uncovered a woman’s voice speaking sternly and professionally and saying the following; “Isn’t this dangerous? Talk to me! Our transmission begins now. I feel hot. I can see a flame. Am I going to crash? Yes. I feel hot, I will re-enter” What this recording seemed to suggest was that there had been the failed spaceflight of a woman who had appeared to suffer a problem and was close to death. The audio recording – widely available on the internet – is upsetting as the voice does sound like it is becoming more distressed as the transmission continues. Just three days later the Soviet press agency made the announcement that a spacecraft the size of a bus had failed upon re-entry. There seemed to have been no announcement of its launch and no news of what its purpose was. This seems to be the final disturbing and mysterious recording that the brothers received on their equipment. They continued to record space transmissions for many years after the incidents occurred and today have one of the worlds most precious archives documenting the space race. So how likely was it that these transmissions really were the last moments of Russian Cosmonauts lives, and could the Russians really have kept their deaths a secret for so many years? There can be no denying that the early days of the Russian space programme were not largely successful. Their record of faliures is well known and any human travelling into space at this time would have had to entertain a high probability that they would be killed. Is it not reasonable to suggest that the Russians could have launched men into space before the famous first spaceflight of Yuri Gagarin that ended in their death? More fuel is added to the fire when we see evidence of the Russians painting out their cosmonauts from photographs which can be seen for yourself on the internet. It is also known that the death of one Cosmonaut during a training exercise was hidden by the Russians until 1986 when it was brought to public attention. This was only as a result of a journalist uncovering the mystery and not information planned to be released. The rumours do not end there either as there is also the case of Vladimir Ilyushin who insists that he was the first Russian in space, but a problem during re-entry saw him land in China where he was held as a prisoner for a year. It has been suggested that Yuri Gagarin was in fact taken to a staged landing site so that the Russian government could show a successful space mission and a young man on Russian soil once again. So with all these rumors and what seem like plausable evidence to prove these events took place what are the factors that could challenge them? Today due to the end of the cold war we have had the luxury of being able to examine and document the records of the Russian space programme. Detailed information on the early days of the space race in Russia are available and document the events at the time of the brothers recordings. The recordings of the breathing and the morse code were at a time when the Russians were still experimenting with dogs in space with varied success. They also launched dummies much the same as those used for car crash testing. Records show that only a few days after the brothers made their morse code recording the Russians launched Sputnik 6, carrying two dogs. This was a good mission until problems during re-entry saw the craft deliberately destructed resulting in the animals deaths. Only a matter of weeks after this disaster two more dogs were launched and safely brought back to the earth, despite technical problems preventing the spacecraft from reaching orbit. One other problem with the recordings is that at the time of the breathing and morse code the Russians do not appear to have had the ability to launch a spacecraft of the weight that would be required to carry a man. Today we are still no nearer knowing for certain what really happened during the Russian space programme. Both arguments for and against the missing cosmonauts paint a compelling picture. One fact we do have to entertain is why no other, far more sophisticated, tracking stations throught the planet ever picked up any of the signals the brothers recorded. However as time goes on and more information comes to light we may finally be able to piece together the puzzle of the missing Cosmonauts, until then I will certainly have an open mind on the entire subject.

Patrick is an expert Research and Travel consultant. His current interest is in

Manchester airport lounges

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