posted on Apr, 17 2009 @ 01:59 PM
I don't see much of a mystery here, really. For one thing, there are *always* mysterious stories of relatively unknown areas - deep forest,
uncharted desert, the Antarctic, jungles, mountains, caves, etc. Unknown territory gives rise to scary monster stories. A valley in mysterious India
would be a great setting for some sort of mystery.
One point that makes me skeptical of this tale is the notion that someone in 1890 recorded the ravings of a person thought to be either delirious or a
lunatic. Somehow, even though no one believed this man's ravings, they were recorded for posterity and available 100 years later? Not likely. I
find it difficult to believe that *any* record of the man's treatment and death would survive for 100 years.
But OK, let's say it's all true. There is a host of natural explanations that don't involve any unknown forces or entities. The first thing I
thought of (from the original story) was radiation poisoning - the guy's burnt, hair fell out, etc. Maybe... but the other guys didn't fit that
pattern. What does sound likely is that there could be some sort of toxic gas that accumulates in the region.
In the US, there have been cases of sewer workers who descended into unventilated manholes and were almost immediately overcome by hydrogen sulfide
gas, dying within a minute or two. In one such instance, two men died immediately. Another one or two tried to rescue them, and also died. There is
nothing in these reports about "snake-like movements", but it is entirely possible that the stricken men had convulsions before they died.
At Lake Nysos in Cameroon, carbon dioxide was suddenly released, forming a dense, low-lying cloud that killed over 1500 people during the night.
Carbon dioxide is heavier than air, so it stays close to the ground.
This valley in India may be near a volcanic region, where gases can be released. However, it needn't be volcanic activity. Decaying vegetable and
animal matter would also release hydrogen sulfide, as well as methane and other gases.
Without a whole lot more information - including such things as the location of this valley - there isn't much to work with. But so far, nothing in
the story requires any extraordinary explanations/