Conspiracy theory about Soviet cosmonauts

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lost Cosmonauts</span>

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Lost Cosmonauts

<p>The <b>Lost Cosmonauts</b> or <b>Phantom Cosmonauts</b> are subjects of a <a href="/en/Conspiracy_theory" title="Conspiracy theory" class="wl">conspiracy theory</a>, which alleges 
that <a href="/en/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union" class="wl">Soviet</a> and <a href="/en/Russia" title="Russia" class="wl">Russian</a> space authorities have concealed the deaths of some  <a href="/en/Cosmonaut" title="Cosmonaut" class="mw-redirect wl">cosmonauts</a> in <a href="/en/Outer_space" title="Outer space" class="wl">outer space</a>. Proponents of the Lost Cosmonauts theory argue that the Soviet Union attempted to launch <a href="/en/Human_spaceflight" title="Human spaceflight" class="wl">human spaceflights</a> before <a href="/en/Yuri_Gagarin" title="Yuri Gagarin" class="wl">Yuri Gagarin</a>'s first spaceflight, and that cosmonauts onboard died in those attempts. Soviet military pilot <a href="/en/Vladimir_Ilyushin" title="Vladimir Ilyushin" class="wl">Vladimir Ilyushin</a> was alleged to have landed off course and been held by the <a href="/en/Chinese_government" title="Chinese government" class="mw-redirect wl">Chinese government</a>. The <a href="/en/Government_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Government of the Soviet Union" class="wl">Government of the Soviet Union</a> supposedly suppressed this information, to prevent bad publicity during the height of the <a href="/en/Cold_War" title="Cold War" class="wl">Cold War</a>.</p>

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<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt12">Conspiracy theory about Soviet cosmonauts</div>

<p>The evidence cited to support Lost Cosmonaut theories is generally regarded as inconclusive, and several cases have been confirmed as hoaxes. In the 1980s, American journalist <a href="/en/James_Oberg" title="James Oberg" class="wl">James Oberg</a> researched space-related disasters in the Soviet Union, but found no evidence of these Lost Cosmonauts.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="#cite_note-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span> Since the <a href="/en/Fall_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Fall of the Soviet Union" class="mw-redirect wl">fall of the Soviet Union</a> in the early 1990s, much previously restricted information has been made available, including information on <a href="/en/Valentin_Bondarenko" title="Valentin Bondarenko" class="wl">Valentin Bondarenko</a>, a would-be cosmonaut, whose death during training on Earth was <a href="/en/Censorship_of_images_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Censorship of images in the Soviet Union" class="wl">covered up by the Soviet government</a>. Even with the availability of published Soviet archival material and memoirs of Russian space pioneers, no evidence has emerged to support the Lost Cosmonaut theories. Ilyushin, who died in 2010, also never gave any support to conspiracy theories.</p>



The Lost Cosmonauts or Phantom Cosmonauts are subjects of a conspiracy theory, which alleges 
that Soviet and Russian space authorities have concealed the deaths of some  cosmonauts in outer space. Proponents of the Lost Cosmonauts theory argue that the Soviet Union attempted to launch human spaceflights before Yuri Gagarin's first spaceflight, and that cosmonauts onboard died in those attempts. Soviet military pilot Vladimir Ilyushin was alleged to have landed off course and been held by the Chinese government. The Government of the Soviet Union supposedly suppressed this information, to prevent bad publicity during the height of the Cold War. The evidence cited to support Lost Cosmonaut theories is generally regarded as inconclusive, and several cases have been confirmed as hoaxes. In the 1980s, American journalist James Oberg researched space-related disasters in the Soviet Union, but found no evidence of these Lost Cosmonauts. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, much previously restricted information has been made available, including information on Valentin Bondarenko, a would-be cosmonaut, whose death during training on Earth was covered up by the Soviet government. Even with the availability of published Soviet archival material and memoirs of Russian space pioneers, no evidence has emerged to support the Lost Cosmonaut theories. Ilyushin, who died in 2010, also never gave any support to conspiracy theories. 