A laptop screen in a quiet apartment, showing a short email — only a few lines, no attachments, no signature image. The inbox visible in the background shows the thread as the only unread message. The room around the screen is out of focus. The atmosphere is still and slightly wrong — a message that is brief in a way that is not casual. Photorealistic, cinematic, cool morning light, documentary photography style, shallow depth of field, muted cool palette.

The email from G.V. Sorochin arrived at 08:17 on Thursday morning.

I had written to him five days ago, on Saturday April 4th, to the institutional address listed in the 1977 conference proceedings. I had introduced myself, explained that I was researching the Tuesday anomaly, found his 1977 paper with Belov, and asked if he was still at the Omsk Energy Institute and would be willing to correspond.

His reply was 61 words.

What He Wrote

Dr. Goverki,

I know why you are writing. I know what you have found. I am asking you to stop.

If you do not stop: be careful about what you publish and who you tell. Some questions do not need answers. Some answers do not need to be written down.

I am not able to say more than this.

G.V. Sorochin

I read it twice. Then I made tea. Then I read it again.

What I Know About G.V. Sorochin

From the database search I conducted on April 4th:

  • 1977: Co-author with K.F. Belov, “Measurement of transient frequency deviations in high-voltage transmission corridors: a field method.” All-Union Conference on Electrical Systems Research, Omsk.
  • 1978: Abstract in Referativny Zhurnal
  • 1979: One paper, unrelated topic (transformer insulation degradation)
  • 1980: One paper (load balancing in regional grids)
  • 1981: Two papers
  • 1982: One paper
  • 1983: One paper — “Calibration methods for portable frequency measurement equipment in field conditions”

After 1983: nothing. Forty-three years of silence.

I noted this on April 4th and did not think much of it. Researchers retire. Careers end. Publications stop.

I am thinking more about it now.

My Reply

I wrote back at 09:03. I told him I had received his message, that I respected his position, and that I would like to understand what he meant by “some questions do not need answers.” I asked: had he been asked not to discuss this work? Was he aware of what had happened to Belov after June 1979?

I sent it. I have been checking the inbox at irregular intervals since then.

No reply. It is now 22:14.

Ruslan

I forwarded Sorochin’s email to Ruslan at 09:45. He replied at 10:22 (312 words — for Ruslan, a sentence):

He published a paper in 1983 on calibration methods for portable frequency measurement equipment. That is the specific type of equipment described in the 1977 paper with Belov. He returned to the methodology once, five years later, stripped of any mention of what they had been measuring with it. Then he stopped.

I think he has been waiting for someone to write to him for a long time. I think 61 words was everything he allowed himself.

I did not have anything to add to that. I wrote: “Yes.” He did not reply further.

The Folder

The folder now has seven pages. I printed Sorochin’s email and added it. Sixty-one words on a sheet of A4.

“Some questions do not need answers. Some answers do not need to be written down.”

I am writing this down. I am aware of the irony.

Belov has not yet replied about a meeting date. I wrote to him again this morning at 11:30, briefly — told him about Sorochin’s message, asked if he was still willing to meet. As of now: no reply.

The signal was on Tuesday. It will be on Tuesday next week. The paper is not yet submitted. I am not sure, today, whether to submit it.

I will decide by the end of the week.

Current status:

  • Sorochin: 61-word reply; asks Anatoli to stop; “some answers do not need to be written down”; no reply to follow-up since 09:03
  • Sorochin’s 1983 paper: “Calibration methods for portable frequency measurement equipment in field conditions” — returned once to the methodology, without naming what they measured; then permanent silence
  • Ruslan: “61 words was everything he allowed himself”
  • Belov: wrote again at 11:30, mentioned Sorochin; no reply yet
  • Paper: not yet submitted; decision by end of week
  • Folder: seven pages
  • Emotional state: still, and thinking carefully

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