Mongolian Death Worm

Infobox Paranormalcreatures
Creature_Name = Mongolian Death Worm

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Image_Caption = An interpretation by Belgian painter Pieter Dirkx
Grouping = Cryptid
Sub_Grouping = Worm
AKA = Allghoi, Khorkoi
Country = Mongolia
Region = Gobi Desert
Habitat = Desert
First_Reported =
Last_Sighted =
Status = UnconfirmedThe Mongolian Death Worm is a cryptid reported to exist in the Gobi Desert. It is generally considered a cryptozoological creature; one whose sightings and reports are disputed or unconfirmed.

It is described as a fat, bright red worm, 2 to 5 ft long (0.6 to 1.5 meters).

The local name is "allghoi" (or "orghoi") "khorkhoi" (хорхой), which means "blood filled intestine worm" because it is reported to look like the intestine of a cow. It is the subject of a number of extraordinary claims by Mongolian locals - such as the ability of the worm to spew forth sulfuric acid that, on contact, will turn anything it touches yellow and corroded (which would kill a human) [http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/column.php?id=98249, and numerous other sites] , and its purported ability to kill at a distance by means of electric discharge.

Investigations

One investigator of that animal is Czech author Ivan Mackerle, who said in Fate Magazine (June 1991) that it reportedly kills its victims by electrocution. British zoologist Karl Shuker brought it to the general attention of the English speaking public in his 1996 book "The Unexplained" [cite book
title=The Unexplained
author=Karl Shuker
publisher=London: Carlton Books
date=1996
isbn=1-85868-186-3] , followed a year later by his "Fortean Studies" paper on this subject, which was reprinted in "The Beasts That Hide From Man" in which it was hypothesized that the death worm was an Amphisbaenid [cite book
title=The Beasts That Hide From Man
author=Karl Shuker
publisher=NY: Paraview
date=2003
isbn=1-931044-64-3] . Loren Coleman also included this animal in "Cryptozoology A to Z". [cite book
title=Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature
author=Jerome Clark
publisher=NY: Simon and Schuster
date=1999
isbn=0-684-85602-6] .

A joint expedition in 2005 by the Centre for Fortean Zoology and E-Mongol investigated new reports and sighting of the creature. They found no evidence of its existence, but could not rule out that it might live in the deep Gobi Desert along the prohibited areas of the Mongolian/Chinese border.

The most recent expedition was in 2006-2007, conducted by the reality-television series, "Destination Truth".

Mentions in texts

The worm is mentioned in a short story of Ivan Yefremov and in the 2007 novel "Spook Country" by William Gibson.

ee also

*Cryptozoology
*List of cryptids
*Minhocão
*Sandworm (Dune)
*Tremors (film)

References

External links

* [http://www.deathworm.co.uk/ Progress of a 2005 Expedition] Expedition Report at Cryptoworld
* [http://www.virtuescience.com/mongolian-death-worm.html The Mongolian Death Worm: Original Theories]
* [http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0503-rhett_butler.html 2005 general update]
* [http://www.e-mongol.com/travel_expedition_%20Deathworm2005.htm 2005 Expedition Report on Mongolian web site]
* [http://www.newanimal.org/deathworm.htm The Cryptid Zoo: Mongolian Death Worm]

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