造成这一现象的部分原因是，苏联对此的最初反应是诡秘的。 当时的苏联领导人戈尔巴乔夫在1986年5月14日，也就是事故发生几周后才对此发表电视讲话。
In part, this is because the initial Soviet response was secretive: Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader at the time, addressed the issue on television only weeks later, on May 14, 1986.