U S S R A C A D E M Y O F S C I E N C E S
21 February 1958
No. 1-680
No. 1-680
To the TsK KPSS [Central Committee of the Communist Party]
Regarding the yeti
We wish to report that the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences, at its meeting on January 21, 1958, considered the question of the yeti. ["snezhnyi chelovek"]
After hearing the reports of a number of scientists concerning some data that permit the possibility that the so-called "yeti" may exist on USSR territory in the mountainous regions of the Pamirs, as well as several statements denying that possibility, the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences, in order to take appropriate action for deciding the question, ordered a Commission under the chairmanship of corresponding member S. V. Obruchev to prepare materials for a request to be presented to the Government about the protection of the appropriate mountain regions of Pamir against amateur expeditions and hiking groups.
In addition, the Commission was ordered to submit proposals for the organization, this year, of a well-equipped expedition to the Pamirs in order to study the yeti question from all sides, as well as for a joint expedition to the Himalayas with India and China.
The Commission has not yet examined the extant materials concerning the possibility of the yeti's being found in the Pamirs, but the announcements that have been published in the press over the course of the previous month regarding encounters with the yeti in this region of the USSR cannot be considered entirely truthful. At the same time, the existence of a large number of stories, spread among the local population, about encounters with the yeti, as well as the physico-geographical resemblance between the Pamirs, Karakorum, and the Himalayas, permit the possibility that the yeti may have migrated west from its primary habitat in the Himalayas and reached the Pamirs.
Consequently, the commission has concluded that a full expedition must be organized for a full-scale scientific examination of the two most unreachable and poorly studied sectors of the Pamirs, the basin of Sarez Lake and the basin of the river Muk-Su (including the river Baliand-Kiik). Aside from studying the question of the yeti, the expedition should provide materials to determine the botanical, zoological, and physico-geographical characteristics of the region. The commission has submitted a plan of operations and a budget to the Presidium.
Because of the wide range of discussion about the question of the yeti's existence in the Pamirs, it is likely that, starting this year, a large influx of tourists, hikers, and amateur scientific groups to this mountain region will take place. In the belief that the appearance of a large number of people in the regions of the yeti's possible habitation, combined moreover with poaching activity, represents a serious danger to the work of the planned expedition, the Commission has deemed it necessary to create a forbidden zone in the basin of Lake Sarez and the Muk-Su river.
After discussing the question of the yeti's range of habitation in foreign countries, the Commission has determined that, aside from the southern slope of the Himalayas in Nepal (for which we possess the most detailed and reliable materials), reports of encounters with the yeti and its footprints are available for two regions of the People's Republic of China--for the southern border of Tibet (the northern slope of the Himalayas) and the mountainous country adjoining the Soviet Pamirs from the east (the Sarykolsk ridge or Mustag-ata in Xinjiang).
With this in mind, the Commission considers it useful to raise the question of organizing complete Soviet-Chinese expeditions for a full-scale study of the Himalayas between the southern border of Tibet and the Sarykolsk ridge in Xinjiang before the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Reporting the above, the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences requests instructions.
After hearing the reports of a number of scientists concerning some data that permit the possibility that the so-called "yeti" may exist on USSR territory in the mountainous regions of the Pamirs, as well as several statements denying that possibility, the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences, in order to take appropriate action for deciding the question, ordered a Commission under the chairmanship of corresponding member S. V. Obruchev to prepare materials for a request to be presented to the Government about the protection of the appropriate mountain regions of Pamir against amateur expeditions and hiking groups.
In addition, the Commission was ordered to submit proposals for the organization, this year, of a well-equipped expedition to the Pamirs in order to study the yeti question from all sides, as well as for a joint expedition to the Himalayas with India and China.
The Commission has not yet examined the extant materials concerning the possibility of the yeti's being found in the Pamirs, but the announcements that have been published in the press over the course of the previous month regarding encounters with the yeti in this region of the USSR cannot be considered entirely truthful. At the same time, the existence of a large number of stories, spread among the local population, about encounters with the yeti, as well as the physico-geographical resemblance between the Pamirs, Karakorum, and the Himalayas, permit the possibility that the yeti may have migrated west from its primary habitat in the Himalayas and reached the Pamirs.
Consequently, the commission has concluded that a full expedition must be organized for a full-scale scientific examination of the two most unreachable and poorly studied sectors of the Pamirs, the basin of Sarez Lake and the basin of the river Muk-Su (including the river Baliand-Kiik). Aside from studying the question of the yeti, the expedition should provide materials to determine the botanical, zoological, and physico-geographical characteristics of the region. The commission has submitted a plan of operations and a budget to the Presidium.
Because of the wide range of discussion about the question of the yeti's existence in the Pamirs, it is likely that, starting this year, a large influx of tourists, hikers, and amateur scientific groups to this mountain region will take place. In the belief that the appearance of a large number of people in the regions of the yeti's possible habitation, combined moreover with poaching activity, represents a serious danger to the work of the planned expedition, the Commission has deemed it necessary to create a forbidden zone in the basin of Lake Sarez and the Muk-Su river.
After discussing the question of the yeti's range of habitation in foreign countries, the Commission has determined that, aside from the southern slope of the Himalayas in Nepal (for which we possess the most detailed and reliable materials), reports of encounters with the yeti and its footprints are available for two regions of the People's Republic of China--for the southern border of Tibet (the northern slope of the Himalayas) and the mountainous country adjoining the Soviet Pamirs from the east (the Sarykolsk ridge or Mustag-ata in Xinjiang).
With this in mind, the Commission considers it useful to raise the question of organizing complete Soviet-Chinese expeditions for a full-scale study of the Himalayas between the southern border of Tibet and the Sarykolsk ridge in Xinjiang before the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Reporting the above, the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences requests instructions.
Academician A. N. Nesmeyanov, President of the USSR Academy of Sciences
Academician A. V. Topcheev, Chief Scientific Secretary of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences
Academician A. V. Topcheev, Chief Scientific Secretary of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences
Красота!
ReplyDeleteDid they get the budget? Did they find anything? I can't stand the suspense...
ReplyDeleteThe expedition apparently took place, but they didn't find anything despite a lot of effort. A bit of a letdown.
ReplyDelete