Experts Now Say That the Soviets Covered Up the Fact They’d Left an Astronaut in Space

American space exploration often pairs the names of two astronauts together: Neil Armstrong and Alan Shepard. These two were the pioneers in their fields and accomplished many amazing things in their lives. However, the Soviet Union also had its trailblazers. Yuri Gagarin is often called the first human to go into orbit!

What if someone told you that Gagarin wasn’t the first to accomplish going into space? Most people believe that space exploration started very darkly. Apparently, an early astronaut suffered a horrible fate, but the Soviet Union covered it all up! You can now read about this concerning story!

Gaining an Edge

Gagarin was the role model for the USSR after his journey to the stars for the first time. However, this is no surprise because he achieved something grand. When the 27-year-old cosmonaut entered orbit, the Soviets gained an edge in the Space Race against America!

Rumors and Hearsay

In the beginning, people weren’t convinced that Gagarin was the first person to go to space and orbit the Earth. Rumors began, which claimed that someone else had done that a few days beforehand. They went into orbit and returned to Earth, but they weren’t in good health.

Paranoid Times

At the time, Space Race stories were often greeted with suspicion and rumors because of the Cold War paranoia. The Soviets wanted to keep its space program a secret. Therefore, it’s likely that this story would have happened and been suppressed.

Big Questions

Throughout the years, conspiracy theories evolved about the Soviet space program. Some people believe that the Soviets sent people to space who never returned. It’s a frightening idea, but does it hold firm? Could men have died before Gagarin achieved his goals?

On Your Mark

There were many twists and turns in the Soviet space program, so some people thought it might be possible. The USSR was headed for a Cold War with the US after WWII ended. During that time, both sides stopped the Germans from using rocket technology.

The Race Is On

The countries split all of the elements of the German space program and set out to develop new abilities. However, it wasn’t a collaborative effort! The former allies wished to get the upper hand, and this created the Space Race.

Flying High

Animals were used for those initial trips into space. The US and USSR experimented with different creatures. Not counting whatever bacteria was on the rocket, the first live things were fruit flies because the Americans hoped to see how radiation affected living beings.

Monkey Business

Over time, more complex creatures went into space. The Americans sent Albert II, a rhesus macaque up there in 1949. He was the first mammal ever to leave Earth’s atmosphere. While he survived the launch, he ended up dying on the way home.

Pioneering Pups

The Soviets chose dogs for their space experiments of the time. Dezik and Tsygan were the two unfortunate pups forced into space in 1951. That spacecraft never made it into orbit, but the animals did live through the endeavor.

Sputnik 1

During 1957, the Space Race intensified, and the Soviets pushed ahead. In October of that year, they sent Sputnik 1 into space. It was an incredible feat that marked the first time a man-made satellite went into orbit!

The Space Dog Laika

The Soviets quickly built upon that achievement and created Sputnik 2, which launched one month after the first one. It held Laika, and this dog was the first creature to reach orbit. However, she didn’t survive the mission.

Laying the Full Groundwork

Everyone knew that Laika would die on her mission. Though it was grim, the Soviets sent two more dogs into orbit in 1960. They did make it through the journey, which was a step in the right direction for the Soviets and laid the groundwork for human beings.

Gagarin’s Launch

The Soviets sent Vostok 1 into space on April 12, 1961, and it left the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Yuri Gagarin was aboard and hoped to be a historical figure. In fact, he was dubbed the first human being to orbit the planet that day.

A Shaky Landing

While the mission went well, there was a problem with the landing that almost ended in a catastrophe. One malfunction caused the spacecraft to rattle significantly on its way back to Earth. Still, Gagarin ejected himself from it and landed alive.

Shepard’s Turn

Gagarin was famous because of his journey, and the Soviet Union bestowed many honors on him. Even the Americans heard about it. However, the US wasn’t happy that it wasn’t winning the Space Race. Therefore, Alan Shepard went into orbit one month later!

Pulling Ahead

The Soviets were pulling ahead in various areas. Valentina Tereshkova went up in 1963, and Alexei Leonov did a spacewalk first a few years later. Overall, it seemed like the Soviets would reach the moon before the United States. Then, things went wrong!

Vladimir Komarov

There were mechanical issues that prevented the Soviets from sending a man to the moon first and some other tragedies along the way. Vladimir Komarov had a terrible malfunction that caused his death in 1967. Now, there was a black mark because someone had died.

One Small Step

The Americans were also taking charge and fixing their issues, which made things worse for the Soviets. Finally, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin went to the moon on July 20, 1969, causing the US to win the Space Race and wiping out the initial lead for the Soviets.

The Grapevine

Secrecy was part of the Space Race because it occurred during the Cold War. Rumors spread like wildfire, and some are still around today because they were so persuasive. The main one is that the Soviets sent humans to die while in space.

Lost Cosmonauts

People started whispering about the Soviet cosmonauts who were lost at the beginning of the Space Race. Stories focused on people dying while returning or developing mental breakdowns from the expeditions. Rumors also spread that cosmonauts were abandoned in space.

A Secret Pioneer

Gossip was spreading already about how Yuri Gagarin prepared for the journey into space. One rumor claimed that he wasn’t the first person ever to go into orbit. Someone else in that country had done it a week prior!

The First Man in Space

The Daily Walker, a British communist newspaper, reported the alleged mission, titling the story “The First Man in Space.” Dennis Ogden claimed that a test pilot’s son was the cosmonaut. Though he survived, he was in poor health.

Wild with Joy

The report generated a buzz, though the Soviet Union contradicted those claims quickly. Then, Gagarin went into space, so that was the big story. Ogden focused on that and said that the country was wild with joy because of that trip, apparently forgetting about that first article.

Another Report

Ogden’s second article made up for the first. Could he have made a mistake initially and then save face by reporting on the trip by Gagarin? In actuality, someone else wrote the first article, using the name Vladimir Ilyushin as the cosmonaut in question.

The Father-Son Duo

Ilyushin was the test pilot who had won many flight records. His dad built the aircraft the Soviets used in WWII. Finally, the elder Ilyushin went into government, allowing his son to be the best candidate for space travel now.

Badly Injured

The conspiracy theory claims that Ilyushin Jr. went into orbit with no problems. However, things went wrong when he returned to Earth. That spacecraft went off its planned route, and he was injured. Some even believed he was comatose.

Anonymous Source

The Spokesman-Review said that this incident occurred on April 12, 1961. It claimed the vessel was recovered, though Ilyushin was mentally unbalanced and unconscious in a Moscow hospital. However, the source was anonymous yet “dependable.”

Claims and Counterclaims

Ilyushin was in the hospital at that time, so this lends credibility to the story overall. However, the Soviets claimed that he needed assistance because of a traffic collision. Could the secretive regime tell the truth about the man’s situation?!

Under the Rug

It’s possible that the Soviets lied about why Ilyushin was in the hospital. Overall, secrecy was prime then. However, some wonder why they would lie. The goal was to be successful in the Space Race, so the Soviet Union might have swept it all under the rug to hide a failed mission.

The Mysterious Photograph

That’s convincing enough for most to claim that a conspiracy existed, but was there evidence? Nothing is concrete. Ogden claimed he saw a photo with Ilyushin in cosmonaut clothing around the time of that flight, but it was never recovered. Likewise, Ilyushin died in 2010 and never confirmed that conspiracy.

Held in China

This conspiracy persisted. Elliot Haimoff released documentaries on the subject, which suggested that Ilyushin was sent to China after the space landing failed. The Chinese grabbed him and then sent him home later in 1962.

Disturbing Recordings

More evidence might support the conspiracy claims from Italian radio operators. Live Science says that there were many audio segments recorded from space, and one occurred while Ilyushin was supposedly on his mission.

Suspect Claims

While the tapes would be amazing to hear and might prove that the Soviets lied, there’s no evidence supporting that they’re real. No one can back up the operators’ claims, and there are no current methods available to verify them.

More Lost Cosmonauts

The conspiracy theories on lost cosmonauts include others. Mikhail Rudenko, a scientist for the Soviets, claims that the country held secret space flights in 1957, 1958, and 1959. Everything came out in 2011, though the names of the cosmonauts were never published.

Mars Skulls

The claims Rudenko made are reasonable and believable. However, the publication is completely sketchy. Pravda often makes pretentious claims relating to space. Therefore, it’s generally wise to take those stories with a grain of salt.

The Reason for Being Skeptical

Logic brings authenticity into question here. The Soviets claimed that Gagarin went into space for an ongoing mission. If the government tried to hide bad news, they wouldn’t be likely to publicly acknowledge the task before it had been completed.

Declassified Information

Official information on the space program for the Soviets has been declassified now. Most of those revelations revealed secrecy and chaos at the heart of it. However, nothing was there to back up the conspiracy of having lost cosmonauts in space, and it’s not realistic!

Genuine Horror

Clearly, some of these revelations are disturbing, as the conspiracies claim. People lost their lives trying to get into space. For example, a launchpad blew up and killed 100 people in 1960, and one person died in a fire while learning to become a cosmonaut.

Theory Dismissal

Dark incidents like those can’t be ignored, even when you dismiss the theories surrounding them. Bad things happened when the Soviets tried to win the Space Race and get to the moon. However, there’s no evidence to support the conspiracies as true.

No Neat Conclusion

The world is unlikely to have a neat conclusion about the stories or conspiracies surrounding the Soviet Union’s potential lies. However, everyone knows that the Space Race winner would have to be the Americans or the Soviets.