Many present the truth about Chernobyl as such: on April 26, 1986, a nuclear reactor at Chernobyl erupted, instantly terminating two people. Over the next few months, dozens more people succumbed to the effects of acute radiation syndrome (ARS). The world watched in horror as the city of Pripyat (then part of the USSR, now part of Ukraine) and surrounding villages fled permanently from the flood of radiation estimated to be more potent than the device dropped on Hiroshima. People didn't understand how a routine safety check could create such a catastrophe, and many were left wondering what really happened at Chernobyl.

Collectively, over 150,000 people in the region were immediately affected by the world's most devastating unintentional nuclear incident (ranked evenly with Fukushima). That number is nowhere near the millions who have been affected by the trickle-down effects of radiation; generations following the disaster have been plagued with various forms of genetic diseases and mutations.

The government maintained the incident was the result of a flawed reactor design, coupled with human error, insinuating the workers weren't sufficiently trained to handle any sort of emergency situation. However, the truth about Chernobyl remains muddied with various conflicting conspiracy theories, spanning everywhere from CIA involvement to, of course, aliens.

For over 30 years, the area remained largely abandoned, with any evidence of conspiracy being left to rust with time. Today, eerie ruins are open to those who dare to brave the still-questionable radiation levels. An amusement park sits untouched, schools stand empty, and strange, Soviet radio equipment rusts in the woods once razed by radiation. If the alleged ghosts of Chernobyl could speak, what would they have to say? Dive into the conspiracy theories of the devastating Chernobyl disaster.