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In Search of the Mongolian Death Worm


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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.

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Pictures in OP link

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B???

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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.

Stopped reading here.

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Having initially thought that the creature might be a zoological reality, however, Mackerle has begun to suspect that the "worm" might be a psychological phenomenon, possibly caused by the extreme heat of the Gobi.

"The death worm could be - I don't want to say 'hallucination' - but some sort of psychological problem," he says.

With no new method for hunting the Allghoi khorkhoi, Mackerle says he has no plans to return to Mongolia but, now 62, his appetite for adventure remains as strong as ever.

Next up? Mackerle is planning a trip to India, to explore temples and caves that might explain legends of a subterranean kingdom called Agharta.

http://prague.tv/articles/zine/ivan-mackerle-interview

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Stopped reading here.

Technically all cryptozoologists are self made because it isn't actually a profession, though some people can be looked at as professional, it's still not looked at as an actual job.

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Technically all cryptozoologists are self made because it isn't actually a profession, though some people can be looked at as professional, it's still not looked at as an actual job.

True enough. Anyone with a degree would be a biologist (or some other accredited title pertaining to the field). You'd think cryptozologists would wise up to this so they aren't instantly labeled as the quacks they are.

Edited by KRS-One
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...gosh, here I was think explicitly cryptozoological threads belong in the cryptozoologocal section! What a quaint belief!

--Jaylemurph

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From the OP link:

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).”

This brings up the question again of whether eyewitness and verbal evidence is actually scientific evidence? If a researcher has a scientific degree and background, but believes that stories are evidence that make him non-scientific?

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From the OP link:

This brings up the question again of whether eyewitness and verbal evidence is actually scientific evidence? If a researcher has a scientific degree and background, but believes that stories are evidence that make him non-scientific?

Though non scientific.....It is said in ancient scriptures and as they said that verbal evidence was enough for him to be convinced about the creature....We really dont know peoples mind...lol

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B???

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wow, a worm that we cant prove is alive. i think its a darn good chance its somewhere out there along with some other crazy cool things.

keep looking, youl find something. lol

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Seems like a tough environment for a creature of that size, especially if it really is a "worm". Keeping enough fluid to maintain hydrostatic cell pressure in a creature like that would be pretty difficult in desert conditions, you'd think.

edit: If it was real. Which is isn't.

edit2: Petition to rename the forum: "Ancient Mysteries & Alternative History: wow, a worm that we cant prove is alive."

Edited by KRS-One
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with verbal evidences only? i don't think this worm exist, go here in the Philippines, ask anyone about a "tikbalang" (half horse and half human) the "sigbin" (some kind of a scarry, fast moving animal who eats charcoal) and more others and you may have more verbal evidences here that this "creatures" exist. I think it's one of the night time stories of the Mogolian parents to prevent their children from playing and exploring the dessert. "Don't go out there, there's a big worm that electrecutes and can kill you from a distance.." scary...

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next thing you know we'll find legends of a sandworm and fremen riding them. Sounds a bit too much like "arrakis' to me ;-)

This said, this threat should be in the Crypto section and not here.

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Mongols drink so-called "kumys", which is a specially fermented horse or camel milk. After this thing they tend to tell the stories, of which one made its way to Soviet science fiction of 1940s, so the novel by Efremov appeared, called Olgoi-Khorhoi, describing precisely the personal encounter with this death worm. Already in the 60s mad enthusiasts were going to Gobi to catch the beast, but were catching nothing on top of a nice desert tan or bad cold.

Efremov was translated in a couple of dozen languages(even in Mongolian), so the disease became spread worldwide, and now every Mongol knows there is a worm of death in the sands, which was somehow missed in Genghis-khan times. Easy to check - go to Mongolia and ask a question, then follow the description, it would be a replica of Efremov's story.

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i wont say it does exist but, i think it is so possible that there is a red poisonous worm that we haven seen much. it could have migrated, maybe died out, poss never lived. but its a fricken worm, how hard is that to believe possible. maybe its not a worm but snake that was different somehow. compared to a lot of the other things i read about on this site the worm i would give a good chance...

possible Gravoid sighting :D

Edited by Eaglelox
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wow, a worm that we cant prove is alive. i think its a darn good chance its somewhere out there along with some other crazy cool things.

keep looking, youl find something. lol

Man, that guy is 62 years old. Anything 'crypto-' has to with some kind of external sign. Well, he has a couple. Take some water.

Speaking of water, do you think the Gobi desert was once the ocean? Go to the bottom of the ocean miles down and you'll probably find some of those worms. That is if they haven't drowned yet.

Edited by greggK
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  • 2 weeks later...

Here is another article on the same subject:

The Truth Behind the Mongolian Death Worm

It has much more detail than the OP, plus more photographs from an expedition -- plus -- a possible explanation as to what exactly this worm may be.

Link to story

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featu...eath-worm/13543

Anyway, it's an enjoyable read, :tu:

Karlis

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Seriously,the Mongolian Death Worm, name that makes you expect a fierce creature and it gets killed by some guy who throws a rock at it? You're sure the name is correctly translated from Mongolian? Sounds to me like it should be 'Mongolian death by rock worm" rather.

“There was the friend of park ranger who had seen the Death Worm three times: the first in 1965 when he saw its head poking out of a hole in the sand; the second the next year when he saw one eating a mouse. The third time was in 1972, when he actually killed a worm by throwing a rock at it, but this time some Russian scientists who were researching snakes in the area took the body away. So it’s likely that a Death Worm specimen today lies forgotten in the vaults of some Russian museum, just as there are other unknown species preserved in museums around the world.”

The article is a nice read, till we go over to the "dragon in well" part, what the hell does that have to do with anything?

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Seriously,the Mongolian Death Worm, name that makes you expect a fierce creature and it gets killed by some guy who throws a rock at it? You're sure the name is correctly translated from Mongolian? Sounds to me like it should be 'Mongolian death by rock worm" rather.

I thought they were called Graboids!

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Hmm..

firstly, it's nieve to say this thing doesn't exist just because it hasn't been properly catalogued. When you blink does the whole world disappear for a second?

secondly, we already have creatures catalogued that can produce an electrical shock powerful enough to kill an adult human - eg the electric eel or knifefish.

Some beetles have acidic defences such as this one is described to have.

keep in mind im not saying it DOES or DOES NOT exist, rather it COULD exist.

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Heh, death worms, sounds like Frank Herbert was actually a Prophet, instead of a historian/writer, this makes Eurepodes(I think this is who said it), 'that Historians are Prophets in reverse.', then it would make even more sense, that instead of seeing the future he saw our ancient past......Hmmm, I feel Orion Von Koch returning. Then it would mean Dune was our past, not our future.

EA

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