CHERNOBYL - 23 YEARS ON
ELENA FILATOVA - AN ELABORATE HOAX WITH GENUINE PHOTOGRAPHS
In the early hours of Saturday 26th April 1986 the CHERNOBYL DISASTER (what an understatement!) occurred. Many people died as a result. Exactly how many depends on whose figures you believe, varying from less than four dozen to many thousands. The area around the reactor is contaminated with radiation, and it will be between 600 to 24,000 years (depending on who you believe) before it is safe to inhabit again.
In the days following the explosions, the area was evacuated. People had to leave all their belongings behind as they fled. The whole place is a gradually decaying radio-active time capsule.
ELENA FILATOVA, (pictured right), now in her thirties, made a website claiming she had recently gone into the
deserted zone near the reactor on her motorbike and taken some dramatic photographs.
The six photographs below appear on the website. (Click on each one to see it clearly)
1 2 3 4 5 6
PICTURE 1: The deserted highway into the "ghost town" of Chernobyl. These street lights went out for ever in 1986.
PICTURE 2: On the roof of a high building looking at the town. Not a single human being is in any of the buildings in this once-busy town. The reactor plant can be seen in the distance.
PICTURE 3: This ferris wheel was built for the Mayday celebrations and was due to open on 1st May 1986. No one ever rode on it.
PICTURES 4, 5 & 6: The town's kindergarten. On the website, Elena cannot find any words to describe this. Neither can I.
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However, it now transpires that Elena Filatova's story was a hoax. Apparently she cannot even ride a motorcycle, and actually went with her husband and a friend on a guided tour of the safer parts of the area. So what were her motives? Not for financial gain, as the whole thing is on a website for the world to view for free. But whatever was on her mind she has succeeded in making the world remember what happened at Chernobyl. Click these underlined links and form your own opinions:
Elena Filatova's website - the pictures are real, spooky and gripping, but the story is a shameless hoax.
The guided tour that Elena went on, and that you too can go on, if you're that way inclined.
What Wikipedia has to say about Elena Filatova and her website.
A superb 360-degree panoramic photo from a Chernobyl rooftop (be patient it takes a minute or so to load!)
Some interesting information about Elena. (Scroll about a third of the way down and read a post by "Pulse")
Friends of Chernobyl's Children - a UK-based charity that provides breaks in England with much-needed medical care for children living in the fallout zone. This is definitely real. Please visit this site and make a donation.
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