Canada's Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps compete in the pairs short program during the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Beijing on December 7, 2023. (Photo by Tingshu Wang/Reuters)

“Smudge” an orphaned echidna puggle is held by Veterinary nurse Sarah Male ahead of its feeding on November 07, 2022 in Sydney, Australia. Echidnas, sometimes known as spiny anteaters, are native to Australia. A baby echidna was found orphaned by the side of the road and is being cared for at Sydney's Taronga Zoo hospital. The care is intensive with several feedings per day, and the echidna is housed in temperature-controlled environment to aid its recovery and growth. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

The Belgian rider Wout van Aert crashes during an ascent on the 11th stage of the Tour de France in Col de Néronne, France on July 10, 2024. (Photo by Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP Photo)

In this image taken with a slow shutter speed, Spain's tennis player Rafael Nadal gestures during a training session at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall, in Malaga, southern Spain, on Friday, November 15, 2024. (Photo by Manu Fernandez/AP Photo)

Dale Steil wears face paint and lights before Game 5 of the Western Conference finals in the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Dallas. (Photo by Gareth Patterson/AP Photo)

MotoGP Ducati Lenovo Team rider Marc Marquez (R) of Spain and his girlfriend Gemma Pinto (L) celebrate his World Champion 2025 title after the race at the Motorcycling Grand Prix of Japan in Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, 28 September 2025. (Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA)

Photo: Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870 – 1924) lying in state in the Kremlin. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). 1924

Important! For the same article in Russian language click here.

Something quite intriguing is happening within Russian-speaking internet during the last few – should you type a fully academic inquiry (at least, according to Russian academic requirements) in national search engines for "Lenin's mausoleum" – the first thing you get (even in top 10 searches) is website pages talking about black magic and occult. Website authors view this construction differently, but unconditionally agree on one thing: the mausoleum of the "leader of the world proletariat” – the essence of a magical artifact, a sort of “energy vampire”. It was built with a certain purpose: to drain the energy out of miserable Soviet citizens on one hand; and to poison the anthroposphere of one-sixth part of the earth with its vibes (the exact territory that was occupied by the former Soviet Union), depriving the Russian people of will to resist on the other hand. Complete nonsense? No doubt. Nevertheless, an intriguing one. Well, probably because some oddities do exist in mausoleum's history. These oddities are the thing we are going to discuss this time. First, let me refresh you memory on the subject.

“Just hanging out”. As full autumn hits the valley of Hallingdal in Norway, this bear chills out in a tree which seems to barely cover its weight. Photo location: Flå, Hallingdal, Norway. (Photo and caption by Jorgen Tharaldsen/National Geographic Photo Contest)