In Search of the Mongolian Death Worm
Tue, Sep 16, 2008
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Trudging gingerly across the arid sands of the Gobi desert, Czech explorer Ivan Mackerle is careful not to put a foot wrong, for he knows it may be his last. He scours the land and shifting valleys for tell-tale signs of disturbance in the sands below, always ready for the unexpected lurch of an alien being said to kill in one strike with a sharp spout of acidic venom to the face. A creature so secretive that no photographic evidence yet exists, but the locals know it’s there, always waiting in silence for its prey, waiting to strike – the Mongolian Death Worm.
Reported to be between two and five feet long, the deep-red coloured worm is said to resemble the intestines of a cow and sprays a yellow acidic saliva substance at its victims, who if they’re unlucky enough to be within touching distance also receive an electric shock powerful enough to kill a camel… or them.
Given the latin name Allghoi khorkhoi, the Mongolian Death Worm was first referred to by American paleontologist Professor Roy Chapman Andrews (apparently the inspiration for the Indiana Jones character) in his book On the Trail of Ancient Man, in 1926 but he didn’t appear to be entirely convinced about the whole idea. Even though locals were desperate to relay events of when the dreaded worm struck, Andrews writes: “None of those present ever had seen the creature, but they all firmly believed in its existence and described it minutely.” But it wasn’t to stop other inquisitive adventurers taking up the investigative mantle when Andrews was no longer interested, or able to pursue the matter.
Only a few years ago, in 2005, a group of English scientists and cryptozoologists spent a month in the hostile Gobi desert searching for the fabled creature, and although they spoke to a number of Mongolians in the area, all of whom regaled wondrous stories of the worm, no one could verify they had seen the creature first-hand. Even still, after four weeks the team had gathered enough verbal evidence to be convinced that the worm really does exist. Lead researcher, Richard Freeman, said: “Every eyewitness account and story we have heard describes exactly the same thing: a red-brown worm-like snake, approximately two feet long and two inches thick with no discernable head or back (tail).”
Intrepid explorer, Ivan Mackerle
Today, it is Ivan Mackerle, a self-made cryptozoologist who travels the world in search of scientific evidence that proves creatures like the Loch Ness monster and Mongolian Death Worm exist. As a boy he read the stories of the Russian paleontologist Yefremov, who wrote about a worm, which resembled a bloody intestine, that could grow to the length of a small man and mysteriously kill people at great distance, possibly with poison or electricity.
Mackerle says: “I thought it was only science fiction. But when I was in university, we had a Mongolian student in our class. I asked him, ‘Do you know what this is, the Allghoi khorkhoi?’ I was waiting for him to start laughing, to say that’s nothing. But he leaned in, like he had a secret, and said, ‘I know it. It is a very strange creature.’”
So Does the Mongolian Death Worm really exist, and what if it does?
This insistence by locals that worm is a reality will continue to fuel inquisitive minds and as long as open-mindedness remains a fair virtue, we’re prepared to wait a little longer for empirical proof of its existence.
Just remember, if you do decide to go Death Worm hunting in the Gobi desert, don’t wear yellow, seemingly that’s the color that sends our wrinkly friend into one its trademark electrifying, spitting freak outs. Don’t say we didn’t warm you.
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11 Trackbacks For This Post
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En busca del gusano de la muerte mongoles Says:
September 16th, 2008 at 7:39 pm[...] En busca del gusano de la muerte mongoleswww.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/mongolian-death-worm/… por mezvan hace pocos segundos [...]
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Mongolian Death Worm | reallygoodmagazine.com Says:
September 17th, 2008 at 5:15 pm[...] Reported to be between two and five feet long, the deep-red coloured worm is said to resemble the in… [...]
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Buy: Modern Mythical Creatures | Buy Or Don't Buy Says:
September 17th, 2008 at 7:22 pm[...] for me, frightened dumb people are still roaming the earth. The latest ‘mythical creature’ report comes in a familiar form. I’ve fought these things in Zelda and other games, and have seen [...]
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Op zoek naar de ‘Mongolian Deathworm’ - Sargasso Says:
September 17th, 2008 at 7:40 pm[...] Op zoek naar de ‘Mongolian Deathworm’17-09-2008 om 20:40 door Grobbo De wormen van Duin schijnen te bestaan Dieren, Mongolië, Natuur, Raarrr, Waan v/d Dag Terug naar het [...]
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theremin chronicles » mongolian Says:
September 17th, 2008 at 9:14 pm[...] don’t know about you, but i think if bigfoot encountered the mongolian death worm, the worm would definitely [...]
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links for 2008-09-17 | Nerdcore Says:
September 17th, 2008 at 9:38 pm[...] In Search of the Mongolian Death Worm | Environmental Graffiti Trudging gingerly across the arid sands of the Gobi desert, Czech explorer Ivan Mackerle is careful not to put a foot wrong, for he knows it may be his last. He scours the land and shifting valleys for tell-tale signs of disturbance in the sands below, always ready for the unexpected lurch of an alien being said to kill in one strike with a sharp spout of acidic venom to the face. A creature so secretive that no photographic evidence yet exists, but the locals know it’s there, always waiting in silence for its prey, waiting to strike – the Mongolian Death Worm. (tags: cryptozoology animals weird) [...]
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Mongolian Death Worm? « Life, love and philosophy Says:
September 18th, 2008 at 4:31 am[...] In Search of the Mongolian Death Worm [...]
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Interesting Links 91 » Hemmy.net - A source of varied interests Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:46 pm[...] Real Superpowers – (Cracked) Star Sower – (English Russia) In Search of the Mongolian Death Worm – (Environmental Graffiti) Banzai Wild Waves Water Park Box Picture Vs Reality – (Consumerist) Top 10 Most Unusual Rings Of [...]
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Weekly Weird News Says:
September 30th, 2008 at 6:35 pm[...] And in cryptozoology: Beware of the Mongolian Death Worm! [...]
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My Natural Furniture » Blog Archive » In Search of the Mongolian Death Worm Says:
October 28th, 2008 at 4:21 am[...] Graffiti has more. Link -via [...]
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mental_floss Blog » Morning Cup of Links: Mongolian Death Worm Says:
June 22nd, 2009 at 3:40 pm[...] Search of the Mongolian Death Worm. Reported to be between two and five feet long, the deep-red coloured worm is said to resemble the [...]
September 16th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Is this real? It’s wicked cool. I want one as a pet.
September 16th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Uhm… is that a Mongolian Death Worm or are you just glad to see me?
September 16th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Now there is a guy with clearly WAY too much spare time on his hands. Gimme a break!
Jiff
http://www.datools.net.tc
September 17th, 2008 at 8:18 am
OMG!!! Its a Gohaul !!!
September 17th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Shai-Hulud!
September 17th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Why is the guy looking towards the sky in the pic above?
September 17th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
OGMZZZZ!!!!!! It’s Shai-Hulud!!!!!
September 17th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Something new in this world )) Cool.
September 17th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
so its a creature that literally noone has ever seen. and the author is debating whether or nor it exists. when admittedly there is not even one witness. who is buying this crap? 9/11 was an inside job, right? read a book.
September 17th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
What’s the big deal? I’ve been growing them in my rose bed for years. Haven’t seen a squirrel, raccoon, skunk, rabbit or possum in the garden for years plus the worms taste like beer brats with just a couple of minutes of grilling.
September 17th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Goa’uld
September 17th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Thats what she said!
September 17th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
@@ “Why is the guy looking towards the sky in the pic above?”
Haha, that’s great. He’s looking for the even more fabled version of the worm, the Flying Mongolian Death Worm.
September 17th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
if it’s not real, then what is the first picture on the top?
September 17th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
“Why is the guy looking towards the sky in the pic above?”
Haha, that’s great. He’s looking for the even more fabled version of the worm, the Flying Mongolian Death Worm.
September 17th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Yes, the Mongolian Death Worm, a new paradigm of locative art.
September 17th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Allghoi khorkhoi ain’t Latin; it’s what the indigenous people call it the local tongue.
And Wikipedia sez it’s about as real as Bigfoot:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_Death_Worm
September 17th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
There is only ZUUL!
September 17th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
I opened a can of peanuts with a Mongolian death worm inside it. Fucking thing almost bit my head off. I immediately returned those peanuts to the store for a full refund.
September 17th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
The image at the top is a conch egg case and a crab claw.
September 17th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
gotworms?
filthyrichmond.blogspot.com
September 17th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Jackal, jackal, is it a jackal? Jackal, jackal it looks like a jackal, is it a jackal?
September 17th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
I think you mean warn you, not warm you.
September 17th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
In this time, the most precious substance in the universe is the spice Melange. The spice extends life, the spice expands consciousness, the spice is vital to space travel.
September 17th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Only thing wrong with this is that Indiana Jones was an archaeologist, not a paleontologist. Common mixup, dinosaurs and humans…
September 17th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Cool but very much probably false. BTW the Gobi desert is mostly grass, contrary to the fact that it’s called a desert and most people think that inherently means large tracts of only sand.
September 17th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
You didn’t warm me for sure. It’s freezing here.
September 17th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
SARLACC AINT SHIT!! Tried to eat me, put me down. Well GUESS WHAT?!? I”M BACK! motha fuckin boba fett, most bad ass bounty hunter in the galaxy. you can’t touch this. mongolian death worm? thats what theyre callin you now? SARLACC GOIN DOWN!!
September 17th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
It was filmed last month see website
http://www.myblog.110mb.com
September 18th, 2008 at 2:57 am
So yellow will provoke this creatures into attacking us eh?
Well if they are so damn hard to find, why dress up some animal in yellow stick it out there and wait?
September 18th, 2008 at 9:04 am
I give proof of further sightings.
http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Dungeon_Worm
September 18th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
This sounds an awful lot like the famed “Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka”.
September 19th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Nah. Acid spitting, cow-killing electric shock? Huh uh.
September 20th, 2008 at 3:36 am
I was really hoping it was real!
September 20th, 2008 at 7:02 am
How can a worm tell if you are wearing yellow?
September 20th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Big Foot, The Loch Ness Monster, Snorkling Jiffy-John Voyeurs, Vampires, Werewolves, and now The Death Worm.
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:16 pm
I’ve killed these before
…in Zelda 3…;;
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:00 am
“Today, it is Ivan Mackerle, a self-made cryptozoologist who travels the world in search of scientific evidence that proves creatures like the Loch Ness monster and Mongolian Death Worm exist.”
in search of … the Loch Ness monster.
I’m done reading.
September 27th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
looks like those big worm monsters you find in Final Fantasy 10 (in the desert near al bhed ‘Home’) & 12 (think they’re called Sandworms?). Heh.. maybe they modelled them on this? :P
to those who think the picture in the article with the guy has him looking at the sky, I think he’s probably looking at the top of a sand dune or something~
November 11th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
pics or it didn’t happen
December 4th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
I was married to her and she lives in a small town in Texas
January 3rd, 2009 at 10:33 pm
who the heck would even want to find this worm? i mean its not like eneyone would know they found it or somthing because once they found it it would kill them. the desert it lives in is off limits to everyone because the rumers about it got locals all upsett about.
January 7th, 2009 at 3:13 am
Weird! Great article. It is crazy the weird type of insects we have on this planet.
January 25th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
This guy found some weird little monster things while in mongolia, scroll down to about the middle of the page
http://danzanravjaa.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/09/index.html
Here’s another one
http://bizarrecreatures.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html
Scroll down to almost the bottom
February 10th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
“Captain, they put creatures in our ears….”
“Khhhhaaaannnnnnnnn….!!!”
February 13th, 2009 at 8:18 am
I’m waiting to see Kevin Bacon Break into “Footloose” any moment now…
February 18th, 2009 at 10:11 am
That is so cool. You know I envy some guys. They get to travel and explore
things like this very very awesome.
later…
February 19th, 2009 at 3:01 am
watch the episode of lost tapes, the one about the death worm, you will be scared out of your mind, the mongolian death worm is no laughing matter, two men actually died because of this creature, if you want details, watch the episode, i swear, true story, i’m not even joking.
April 2nd, 2009 at 3:44 pm
all of yall are so stupid this thing can KILL you
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:49 pm
if you want to watch a video on this and more creatures like bigfoot go to animal planet dot com go to tv shows and click lost tapes and you can watch video of encounters with creatures
April 13th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
i am a compete believer in cryptos i even want to be a cryptidzoologist and in lost tapes on animal planet they have an episode on them but i most definitely believe in them
April 26th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Lots of things in caves, underground and underwater we dont have evidence of that do exsist.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:40 pm
omg!!!!! this thing sounds awsom i soooo want one, i think im gunna go find a cupple an give um 2 my friends well roole the world!!!!!!!! lol jk jk jk but i rly want one……..hehe……hehe…..hehe…..o and dose eneyone know wear i can find a mashete and buzooka?????
May 1st, 2009 at 12:46 pm
omg dont eney of you who say this isent real heve eney littel bit of and emagenashion???? ( and yes i know i cant spel )
May 1st, 2009 at 6:23 pm
I WORE BLACK ONCE AND BARRY THE BLOODSUCKING WORM TRIED TO SUCK THE MONEY OUT OF MY WALLET
May 1st, 2009 at 6:25 pm
I WORE BLACK ONCE IN DC AND BARRY THE BLOOKSUCKING WORM TRIED TO SUCK THE MONEY OUT OF MY POCKETS
May 1st, 2009 at 6:34 pm
ONCE YOU GET PAST THE STINK, SPIT, AND JUICE THEY TASTE GREAT
May 22nd, 2009 at 6:34 pm
OMFG THTAS INTERSESTING I THINK ITS SO WEIRD AND AWSOME ONE DAY I WILL INVESTIGATE AND IF I DIE IM SO SENDIING CLUES OUTR ASSA GHOST BEWAAARREEE LOL
June 3rd, 2009 at 3:13 am
The first photo is a photoshopped whelk egg case.
June 6th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
ive seen this worm before i think it was a baby one becasue it shocked my finger real good, and you mispelled warn
June 18th, 2009 at 2:10 am
Who belives this shit?! I <3 cryptdids, but this is so fake. I mean come on! An acid spitting intestine worm? These mongolians have shit for imagination.Try something new that everybody will actually belive. Like bigfoot.
June 20th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Up, the picture above is of a standard organism in my region. The ‘worm-like” aspect of the animal is just the egg casings for a typical gastropod from the marine environment called a “whelk” in common English. The claws were obviously added for effect…
July 4th, 2009 at 3:48 am
That’s a goa’uld!!
July 24th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
I hope when they are done finding this thing, that they head to Australia and capture footage of the rare and potentially dangerous Australian Drop Bear… they can leave you scratched to pieces if you get tangled up with one in the underbrush!
July 26th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
If you dont believe this shit, then why are you on here!
YOUR pathatic.
Grow up.
July 31st, 2009 at 7:53 pm
they show no pictures of the actual worm. just old paintings and such….
August 6th, 2009 at 6:31 am
Uhm… now I know where the makers of “Stargate” got their concept of the Goa’uld larvae. Creepy! :-))
August 7th, 2009 at 12:49 am
If it has never been photographed what is the picture at the top of the page?
August 12th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
yeah.. gonna have to say that’s a shellfish egg case in the top picture.
August 20th, 2009 at 1:31 am
Allgoi khorkhoi is not Latin…. Actually you should have written
“olgoi khorkhoi”. Both are mongolian words. “Olgoi” means tube. “Khorkhoi”
means insect.
August 21st, 2009 at 9:27 am
Part of the article says “Given the latin name Allghoi khorkhoi”. It is not latin dumbass. It’s mongolian. fuckhole..
August 24th, 2009 at 4:02 am
The mongolian death worm http://www.monsterssightings.com/desert-monster-sightings/mongolian-death-worm.html reportedly spits acid. If this animal truely exists hunting it could be dangerous.
September 2nd, 2009 at 10:12 pm
If anyone believes this, try reading Dune…
September 5th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
omg didnt noe it existed
September 5th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
SG-1 is on HULU. See lots of these in action.
September 11th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Amazing, looks like something from alien.
September 13th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
what a fuck is this? that’s not mongolian worm ….
September 14th, 2009 at 8:16 am
Piece of shit. Complete imagination of the author. Author – drink acidic venom!
September 20th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
….wtf….r u retarded….u obviously have no life =/
October 8th, 2009 at 6:55 am
if it was real… it was terrible)
October 8th, 2009 at 7:02 am
This is so awful thing(
October 10th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
I”ll give you a mongolian death worm if you one …
October 14th, 2009 at 4:59 am
i’ve watched the video last night in discovery channel.. its quite amazing and fascinating… is it real or just another fictional idea like the big foot and swamp monster?… but for sure chupakabra is real… isn’t it?…
October 15th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
I bet the locals are only playing a trick on the researcher. i mean, really, who would belive that a cow intestine is going around killing people with yellow spit and electricity. i cant believe the researcher would be convinced of something like that. when they leave the locals are probably crackin up!!!
October 28th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Snakes anyone? God people are thick.
October 28th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
well i watched a tape prooving that the death worm is definately real see these two men were doing a contest and got lost and they had a heltmet cam so they put it on the bike and it taped everything one of the guys got spat at bythe worm and his leg had acid all over and was decaying soon the thing came and pulled him under the sand and the other guy ran for it within site of the camera and he got spat at too but on his face
October 28th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
oh and they were never discovered after the tape ran out
October 29th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Walk without rhythm, and you won’t attract the Worm.
Someone better catch one soon. I want my krysknife!
October 30th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
OMG! It’s Amorbis!!!