## 1 Introduction
This strongly contradicted the theoretical concepts of the time. Figure 1: Attenuation length \(L(E_{h})\) of hadronic component in EAS cores observed with ionization calorimeter: crossed circles show the experimental data; Monte Carlo simulation results are shown with empty circles (\(\sigma_{h\to c}\approx 0\)) and empty squares (\(\sigma_{h\to c}\approx 0.3\cdot\sigma_{h\text{-}nucleus}\)). An ionization calorimeter with a thickness in the order of six (or more) mean free paths for the interaction of hadrons can help to study these very interesting effects. In high-mountain experiments with XRECs, carried out by the _Pamir_ Collaboration, a significant azimuthal effect was discovered, which is expressed in the form of a tendency for the coplanar arrival of the high-energy particles or narrow electromagnetic subcascades in the central regions of \(\gamma\)-ray-hadron families, i.e. groups of energetic (\(E_{h}\gtrsim 10\) TeV) hadrons, \(\gamma\)-rays, electrons, and positrons near the axes of relatively \"young\" EASs. The word \"young\" means that the maximum of the cascade development of these showers has not yet been reached by the time of its registration at the observational level, and the number of most energetic particles (MEP) in these showers is higher than the mean number. These so-called \(\gamma\)-ray superfamilies with measured energies \(\sum E_{\gamma}\gtrsim 500\) TeV are mainly initiated by the lightest particles of the primary cosmic radiation (PCR), namely by protons and helium nuclei with energies \(E_{0}\gtrsim 10^{16}\) eV (\(\sqrt{s}\gtrsim 5\) TeV). The high-mountain XREC experimental data [11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16] were first accumulated by the _Pamir_ Collaboration on \(\gamma\)-ray superfamilies with measured energies \(\sum E_{\gamma}\gtrsim 700\) TeV [11; 12; 13; 15; 16] and by the Mt. Canbala Collaboration \(\sum E_{\gamma}\gtrsim 500\) TeV [14]. The overall picture is complemented by two superfamilies with ultrahigh energies, \(\sum E_{\gamma}\gtrsim 1\) PeV detected using the emulsion technique at very high altitudes in the stratosphere on board a balloon (the _Strana_[17; 18; 19]) and a jet aircraft \"Concorde\" (JF2 af2 [20; 21]). Both superfamilies have a very high coplanarity of the most energetic particles. As established, the characteristics of showers observed in the stratosphere are much more sensitive to the parameters of the first interactions of PCR particles in the atmosphere (due to the much thinner atmospheric layer above the detectors exposed at these altitudes). The characteristics of showers studied at mountain level or, even more so, at the sea level are heavily polluted by secondary interactions of shower hadrons. It should be noted that some deviations of experimental azimuthal effects from those in simulated events were observed in \(\gamma\)-ray families with lower measured energies \(\sum E_{\gamma}\gtrsim 100\) TeV [22; 23; 24]. It is very interesting that the alignment effect discovered earlier in cosmic ray experiments with the X-ray emulsion technique has been studied on the basis of data obtained on the Big Ionization Calorimeter [2; 3; 4; 5] at the Tian Shan combined cosmic-ray installation. If there is some process in the hadron-nucleus interactions, this leads to the alignment of secondary particles. If so, this effect can also be detected using other detectors that do not have such a high lateral resolution as X-ray emulsions. Other things being equal, in this case it will be required that the interaction occurs at a greater distance from the detector, or that (at the same distance) the energy of the particles under consideration is correspondingly lower. For many years, the BIC with an area of 36 m\({}^{2}\) has been operating at the Tien Shan high-mountain station of the Lebedev Physical Institute for many years  
Figure 2: Distribution of hadron-initiated cascade origin points in deep uniform lead XREC 110-cm thick obtained by the _Pamir_ experiment. \(E_{h}\geq 6.3\) TeV. as part of a complex installation for the study of EAS.