This is about a strange story that has been on Russian TV and in newspapers and magazines. Something mysterious always attracts attention of the media. It is about a Russian man who inherited a strange cup that heals people who drink from it. Is it really that mysterious or is there just something more down-to-earth to it? I will give first give you the story, translated via Google Translate (with I few corrections I made), and then give you my opinion about it.

The Story

Published in the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets of October 20, 2010. Article and Photos by Ekaterina Petukhova.

Life cup

A mysterious artifact by a nuclear physicist found at the site of the fall of the Tunguska meteorite

“No one on Earth has this. The water in it becomes alive. This is from there”. 102-year-old Kirill Kabanov, pointing a finger to the sky, and foreseeing his imminent death, handed a strange little thing to his great-grandson. The cup that the old man once brought from an expedition to Podkamennaya Tunguska  the place where the meteorite fell.

A few days after the great-grandson left the inheritance, the former keeper of the cup died. Several years passed, and the thing presented by his great-grandfather changed the life of an ordinary resident of Krasnodar Igor Podukhevych and his entire family. The special correspondent “MK” went to the capital of the Kuban - to hear firsthand the history of the miracle cup.

Igor Podukhevich with his great-grandfather find

Bowl with pictures

Igor Podukhevich met me at the gate of his house in the center of Krasnodar with the words: “Just don’t think that I am a magician or a psychic, in any case! I don’t believe in mysticism at all, I only believe in science. But science cannot explain what is happening. Come inside, see for yourself ... ”

A table in the courtyard is lined with five-liter jugs. “The very living water that I prepare with the cup. All bottles are made to order, people come and take 6-8 bottles. Once a week I pick up a cup from a bank safe where it is stored, and at home I charge water according to my great-grandfather’s prescription for 20 hours” the owner explains.

Igor’s wife carefully takes out the inheritance from the great-grandfather and wipes it with a towel. Rare sunlight breaking through a window plays on a dark gray metal. At first glance - an ordinary iron form, small in size, even smaller than a champagne glass. “And what is so surprising in him ...” - sitting with a cup in his hands opposite the four Podukhevich, I try not to show that I am somewhat disappointed. But then the little thing suddenly began to play. With each revolution, the cup began to “open” to me more and more new pictures. Like patterns on a frozen window, on the walls of the goblet appeared either a little girl in the image of an angel, then horsemen, then a house in the forest, or a woman with a baby in her arms ... The hosts only smiled.

Igor and I did not see any images for a long time. And when people said that they saw different pictures, we just looked at each other - maybe it seems to them ... Now we ourselves see everything, the cup opens its images to almost everyone. Some almost kneel in front of him, grabbing their heads and saying that this is the same Grail cup ... So, in the local newspapers they used the wording more than once, they say, the Grail cup was found in the Krasnodar Territory, ”says Irina Podukhevich. - But three years ago I myself laughed at my spouse. He insisted on drinking water from the cup. People come to him from everywhere to get help. I do not believe in all this, I am a skeptic. Although the fact that our daughter did not become disabled, and that I myself am still alive after a serious illness, is a fact ...

“At 97, my great-grandfather could do everything as if he was a young healthy man!”

“I don't like your cough at all.” We will have a long conversation. So while we sit, I drink my tincture from the cup in small sips.

Podukhevich puts before me a filled vessel.

Tell from the very beginning how the cup got into your family and what is so unusual about it? - I begin the conversation, drinking water from the great-grandfather's find.

My great-grandfather Kirill Kabanov was a nuclear physicist. In the early 60s, as part of the expedition, he ended up in the Podkamennaya Tunguska. Having returned home, to the Vinnytsia region in Western Ukraine, he brought with him a cup. He never parted with this thing, he drank all the time only from it, when he went to bed, he put it under his pillow. Relatives did not focus on this - you never know who has any quirks. The old man never told anyone before me that the cup was special. When I, already living in Krasnodar, came to my relatives in Western Ukraine, I was only amazed - where did my great-grandfather have such good health, considering what kind of profession he had.

I remember when Kirill Kabanov was 97 years old, we went fishing, so he threw a fishing rod, like a hefty guy, away from me. Then they began to chop wood. I started it myself, and the old man says: “Get away, I will chop, I do this every day.” After which he invited me to pick mushrooms. Although I am a strong man, I could not keep up with him in the forest. When they came home, I thought: well, that’s it, grandfather won’t get up now ... It wasn’t there: he went with me in the bathhouse in the back. And in the steam room at the table, he drank the equalizer on equal footing. So that’s briefly about him. Until the last day of his life — and he lived for 102 years — Kabanov was in good physical shape and sound mind, and did not need anyone's help.

The whole story began five days before the death of a nuclear physicist. In 2004, a bell rang in the Krasnodar house of Igor Podukhevich. “I am dying, come urgently, I need to convey something to you.” And Igor rushed to the Vinnitsa region.

“Igor, I have only a short time to live. And before leaving for another world, I want to reveal one secret to you and transfer one thing for further storage, ”the old man took out the cup with these words. He told me that he had found him during an expedition to the Podkamennaya Tunguska, but without any details. And then the great-grandfather said as a spell this: “Nobody has such a thing on Earth, it’s from there ... It’s a pity that he fell into my hands at the age of sixty, if earlier I would have lived fifty years more,” recalls Podukhevich. - As he was close to death, he taught me how to charge water with a cup. Of course, I listened to everything, took the goblet, but did not attach serious importance to what I heard. What is it - I was sure that the old man fell into insanity at the end of earthly life ... And yet, once he bequeathed it to me and appointed me as the next keeper of his relic, I had to take the goblet to my home.

Igor’s family just laughed at the inheritance that he got from his great-grandfather - the old man “went crazy” ... He put Podukhevich’s cup in the garage. When the owner of the house was going fishing and putting up gear in the garage, the cup served as an ashtray. For almost two years, there was no other use for it in the house. Everything changed in 2006.

Doctors were sure that the daughter would remain disabled

On January 2, 2006, a great misfortune happened in my family. Our only daughter Ilona had an accident. The car accident was of terrible force, a head-on collision, cars were on fire, while my daughter was sitting on the seat next to the driver. She survived by a miracle, but the diagnosis voiced by the doctor was simply murderous. - Igor cringe to this day, when he recalls the medical report. - In fact, she had six injuries incompatible with life. After several operations, the girl was barely put together.

On January 10, a medical consultation was held. The medical establishment told the parents: Ilona will not be able to stand on crutches until June and will remain disabled for life. In addition, several more operations are likely to be required soon. At his own risk, the father asked the doctors for permission to take the child home - because being home would help recovery. Reluctantly, the doctors agreed with the condition that at the end of March the patient would be taken by ambulance to the hospital of the Republican Clinical Hospital for a physical examination.

So with a half-dead daughter in our arms we ended up at home. I became completely gray-haired, my wife cried all the time. We were terribly afraid of losing our girl ... I don’t know what came into my head, but that evening I ran to the garage for the cup, remembering about my great-grandfather's stories about living water. I brought it up, began to wash and clean it. From that moment on, Ilona began to drink exclusively everything from the cup. My wife swore with me: you never know what kind of rubbish this is, and you still make a seriously ill child drink from it! But I was obsessed and didn’t listen to anyone. On February 28, in the middle of the night, I heard my daughter cry: “Dad, dad!” I ran into her room and saw that she herself got out of bed ... March 2, Ilona herself sat at the table, and after March 10 we went to the hospital, and she, on her feet, climbed without assistance to the third floor. Doctors could not believe their eyes. According to the results of the image, the surgeon said that the bones had grown together, as if it had been a year and a half after the accident. And the pancreas rupture did not show at all! Internal organs were in such a state, as if a terrible car accident had never happened. And just two months have passed! Ilona is now graduating from the university, there’s no disability at all”, Igor says emotionally.

“In nearly five years, I have hundreds of examples of how people recovered from various diseases by drinking water from a goblet,” Podukhevich claims. - Many cases of recovery are confirmed by official medical reports.

I spoke to people who took water from Igor, so that they shared their opinions on the healing properties of water. “I was tormented by severe gout. The right hand was inflated like a ball. And nothing helped. I am a serious person, I don’t particularly believe in otherworldly forces. But one acquaintance, when I was on the verge of despair, advised me to go to Krasnodar to a certain Podukhevych and drink some water from the goblet. When I came to him, I couldn’t even say hello; my arm hurt terribly. But literally a couple of months passed, when I drank water, and I got better. Puffiness subsided, bones even became visible on the wrist! And I have not seen them for a long time! Igor is a good fellow, he helps people great, ”Vladimir Starodubtsev from Tuapse shared with me.

The fact that the water that Podukhevich is preparing has power has been confirmed by another “patient” - Vladimir Khamaev from Timashevsk: “I have been drinking water for almost a year now. And thanks to this, he finally got rid of one unpleasant male illness. In addition, also from various sores on the little thing. I would love to drink water from a goblet constantly instead of tap water, but where can I get so much? I'm not the only one so needy. Therefore, I drink only the necessary rate - half a liter per day. "

“extraterrestrial origin”

When there were already a lot of cases of curing people after taking water from the cup, Podukhevich decided to turn to science. Perhaps there is a scientific explanation of what is happening - in addition to the well-known placebo effect, when people are cured by confidence in “healing” rather than the real effect of “medication” on the body. Various examinations and analyzes were done by dozens of prominent Russian scientists. We started by trying to figure out what material the cup is made of and in what way.

An expert study of the composition of the cup by the Saratov Forensic Science Laboratory showed that the basis of the material is pure silicon - 90.5%, the main impurity - nickel in the amount of 5.1%, and the other impurities: - 1.1% calcium, 1.5% iron, 0 , 89% osmium, and trace amounts of small amounts of neodymium (0.3%), selenium (0.1%), bromine (0.1%), phosphorus (0.1%) and cobalt (0.1%) ) So the conclusion of the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences is written in black and white: “... the sample taken from the “Cup” (powder-crystalline mass of 1.2 grams) has a steel-black color and metallic luster, its chemical composition consists of: the main material is silicon, impurities are potassium, nickel, iron, osmium, neodymium, selenium, bromine, phosphorus, cobalt. The analysis of the chemical composition was carried out using x-ray spectral microanalysis. In all likelihood, this sample is of an extraterrestrial nature (a different ratio of isotopes).”

I asked for these conclusions Dr. Olga TURKIN, doctor of geological and mineralogical sciences at the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy of the SB RAS .

The chemical composition that is defined for this sample does not correspond to natural terrestrial objects. And most likely, has an artificial origin. To prove that this sample is of extraterrestrial origin, it is possible using the isotopic composition. The isotopic composition of solids in the universe varies in some elements, but not in all. In particular, it differs in oxygen. For other elements, this depends on the age of the sample.

In addition, experts could not agree on how the cup could be made. Turning of the cup is not possible, which means that it could not be done this way. Although the mystery remains - how do ornate images appear and the rings on the object ... This is clearly not engraving, not “etching”, but a native ornament. There is another way to make such a vessel - casting. The restorer of metal products of the Krasnodar Historical and Archaeological Museum Alexander Emelyanov is sure that the product is made in this way: “There are sprue marks on the cup. Most likely, the bowl is made this way. ” But the military engineer from St. Petersburg Nikolai Lebedev, a researcher of the wonders of the Tunguska meteorite, has a different opinion. Lebedev believes that the cup was made according to the Czochralski method, that is, by growing crystals.

Igor Podukhevych also turned to scientists to find out if the properties of water change when it comes into contact with a cup.

In April 2009, a multi-element analysis of water was carried out at the Department of Organic Chemistry and Technology of Kuban State University. For the experiment, the product of bidistillation of water from the city water supply network was used. Eight water samples were taken - four for contact with the cup and four for contact with an ordinary piece of silicon, because the cup consists of more than 90 percent of it. So, the change in properties, if any, should be the same. After 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 120 minutes and 20 hours, the scientists did not find any changes in those samples in which silicon was located. The biggest changes occurred with the sample, which was in the “Cup” product for 20 hours,” says Igor with a gasp. - Just imagine: in comparison with the initial data, the copper content in this sample increased 25 times, zirconium - 10 times, molybdenum - 40 times, and the silver content 100 times decreased! How could the amount of copper, zirconium, molybdenum increase if these elements are not present in the goblet at all! As experts said, measurement error is excluded. But at the same time, science cannot give any objective reasons for these measurements ... I began to wonder where this thing came from - from God or from the devil. And he went to our church of All Who Sorrow, talked with his father Konstantin, told everything, showed the goblet. The priest delivered his verdict: in this vessel is the power of God, therefore he helps people. Since then, the water infused in the cup is drunk by both parishioners in the church and the priests themselves ...

With certain lighting on the cup, you can clearly see the eye, and sometimes something similar to the face of an alien.

Then, on the eve of death, I didn’t have the mind to ask my great-grandfather about everything properly. I behaved incorrectly, showing with all my appearance that I did not believe in it, that I was not interested in all of this. But much could be learned from the old man. Now I have no doubt that the cup has a mysterious healing and energetic power and the water that has been in it can cure many diseases. But at the same time, I don’t feel like the keeper of this cup, it’s hard for me. I also keep my great-grandfather's find in the bank in order to somehow protect myself and my family. Because more than once different people came to us with the intention of getting the unique thing ... - Igor Podukhevich is sad.

In addition, as the companions, relatives from Western Ukraine, hinted to me, now they do not leave the Podukhevych family alone, and they insist on selling the relic and sharing the money ... Needless to say, there is a war for the cup, just like in antiquity.

My Opinion

First and for all, the man claims that the scientists concluded that it was extraterrestrial in origin, "this sample is of an extraterrestrial nature". That is not true. The document he shows has the following text. I am giving first the Russian text from the Russian Academy of Sciences, and then the Google Translation:

Настоящим удостоверяю, что образец, представляющий собой скол неправильной формы размером 12х7х5 мм, имеющий стальноечерный цвет и металлический блеск, по своему химическому составу отвечает чистому кремнию. Анализ химического состава производился с использованием рентгено-спектрального микроанализатора.

По всей вероятности, данный образец имеет техиогеиную природу.

Заведующий Геолопiческим музеем ЙГМ СО РАН, кандидат геолого-минералогических наук, 1 Н.М.Подгорных

I hereby certify that the sample, which is a chip of irregular shape with a size of 12x7x5 mm, having a black steel and metallic sheen, in its chemical composition corresponds to pure silicon. The chemical composition was analyzed using an X-ray spectral microanalyzer.

In all likelihood, this sample is of a technological nature.

Head of the Geological Museum of the YSM SB RAS, Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, 1 N.M. Podgorny

So it is wrong for Igor to claim that the scientists said that the material is of extraterrestrial origin.

Pure silicon is grown in laboratories around the world for the microchip industry and other purposes. They grow it in 'boules', long cylindrical forms.

He is also wrong that is cannot be turned. Pure Silicon is indeed extremely brittle, but I have myself a silicon sphere I bought on Ebay, made in Germany. With the right tools it can be worked.

In my opinion, the cup was turned from a silicon boule. Another article mentions the sizes of the cup: 13.6 centimeters tall, maximum diameter is 6.3 centimeters, the wall thickness is 4 millimeters. The inside cavity can contain about 75 milliliters of water. Boule diameters in the 1980s was about 10 cm, nowadays they are 30 cm and going up to 45cm. So his grandfather might have gotten the cup when boule diameters where still small.

Silicon boules don't always turn out right, and what is rejected can be recycled. It is not unthinkable that an artistic scientist took such a rejected boule and made a cup out of it, and then made up a story that it came from Tunguska to avoid scrutiny from the communist party at that time.

Maybe his grandfather believed the story and also believed it could have healing effects... and a story is born.

I do not downplay that some people are actually healed by drinking the water. The power of autosuggestion, or in scientific terms, the placebo effect, is real and can be quite powerful. Those who truly believe in the miraculous powers of the cup will heal themselves. Those who were not healed, well, you don't hear of them. 

I short, those who healed themselves are very happy, even if they believe that it was due to the water from the cup. As for the cup itself, it is a truly marvelous piece of artwork, and unique in its kind.