Russia lied about how the first man in space died

Russia lied about how the first man in space died
Yuri Gagarin made history in 1961 when, aged just 27, he became the first man to journey into space.
His single Earth orbit on April 12 lasted 108 minutes and was one of the Soviet Union's most enduring Cold War victories.

Seven years later, the Russian cosmonaut was killed in a crash during a training flight - an event that has been shrouded in mystery ever since.

Among the conspiracy theories were that he was murdered on the orders of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev for an unspecified offence or disloyalty to the party; Gagarin had committed suicide; or that the plane had actually hit a UFO.

Kremlin archives declassified in early 2011 concluded that his MiG jet had swerved to avoid a weather balloon, causing the plane to go into a tailspin and hit the ground, killing him instantly.
But after 40 years of secrecy,  the real cause of Gagarin's death can be revealed, courtesy of fellow cosmonaut Aleksey Leonov.
Leonov, who was the first man to make a spacewalk, in 1965, had been part of an official committee set up to investigate the accident.

More importantly, he had been there on that fateful day in March.
And now, following the release of a newly declassified report - which Leonov has been allowed to make public - the 79 year old can finally reveal the actual chain of events; something he has wanted to do for 20 years.

Leonov says “That conclusion is believable to a civilian – not to a professional,” and reveals that the truth is that another fighter jet, a Sukhoi Su-15, flew much too close to Gagarin's MiG.
"We knew that a Su-15 was scheduled to be tested that day, but it was supposed to be flying at the altitude of 10,000 meters or higher, not 450-500 meters. It was a violation of the flight procedure."
When the Su-15 flew so close to Gagarin's plane, the passage caused the MiG to go into an uncontrollable spin, similar to that scene in Top Gun, I bet at least half of you are picturing right now. Leonov explains to Russia Today:
"While afterburning the aircraft reduced its echelon at a distance of 10-15 meters in the clouds, passing close to Gagarin, turning his plane and thus sending it into a tailspin – a deep spiral, to be precise – at a speed of 750 kilometers per hour"
The involved and intense 40+ year cover up was mostly to hide that such a lapse in air-traffic logistics could have happened so close to Moscow and to someone so important.

One of the conditions of finally allowing Leonov to reveal the truth is that the Su-15's pilot remains anonymous. As Leonov wisely points out  "I was asked not to disclose the pilot’s name. He is a good test pilot…It will fix nothing.

Sources and further reading:
http://rt.com/news/gagarin-death-truth-revealed-674/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22940068
Image: Yuri Gagarin & Aleksey Leonov