The Death Of Yuri Gagarin...!

Sometimes I think that we forget the fact that famous foreign figures have been killed in mysterious ways.

While their names are not as familiar to us, the fact that their deaths are clouded in mystery should attract a little more attention than it does. Here is a case in point.

The Death Of Yuri Gagarin

Photo credit: SAS Scandinavian Airlines

In 1968, just seven years after Yuri Gagarin’s historic flight in 1961, he was flying in a training jet with a flight instructor when his plane crashed, killing both. The official Soviet inquest report into his death said that Gagarin had tried to avoid a bird, and the aircraft had subsequently spun out of control. That explanation has been widely challenged by everyone from his fellow cosmonauts to the KGB, who conducted a separate, secret inquest into Gagarin’s death.

Alexei Leonov was in the area where Gagarin crashed that day and reported hearing two sonic booms just seconds apart. Leonov also noticed an Su-15, a new fighter jet that was being tested that day, flying lower than it was supposed to. The official inquest made no mention of the Su-15, but Leonov believes the Su-15 pilot could have accidentally killed Gagarin by flying too close to his aircraft and causing Gagarin’s aircraft to enter into a spin.

The KGB, on the other hand, believed that flight controllers might have killed Gagarin by giving him poor weather information. Other theories range from sabotage to Gagarin being drunk on the day he piloted his spacecraft. Whatever the truth, the mystery remains.

I'm not saying that we should dwell on the fact that famous folks from other countries die, but the strange circumstanses surrounding his death are worth a second look. Am I right ?

Coffee out on the patio today. I hope the rain is gone for a couple of days.