Have there been any recent sightings of Mongolian Deathworm!?
The first reported sightings of the Mongolian Death Worm was by British explorer, Roy Chapman Andrews in the 1920s. At the time, it was reported as a strange creature with a wide head and thick body.
Most of the sightings of the Mongolian Death Worm have taken place in the the western or southern Gobi Desert. The majority were reported by local nomads and other travelers, occurring during the summer months.
The creature, known to Mongolian nomadic tribesmen as the allghoi khorkhoi (sometimes given as allerghoi horhai or olgoj chorchoj) and roughly translates into English as “intestine worm” for its resemblance to a sort of living cow’s intestine.
— Operation Deathworm
The reports have ranged from sightings of a small worm-like creature to descriptions of a giant, red or orange worm up to five and a half feet long, with a wide head and thick body. Sightings often include descriptions of the creature emitting a foul smell and a loud, buzzing sound – which has given rise to stories that it can kill with electric shocks or venom.
There have been occasional claims of sightings of the deathworm in recent years, although these claims are often based on anecdotal evidence or personal testimonies. Given the lack of evidence, it is generally considered that the deathworm is a folklore creature, rather than a real animal, and that reports of sightings are possible hoaxes, misidentifications, or misinterpretations of natural phenomena.
Sources:
- Live Science – Mongolian Death Worm: Elusive Legend of the Gobi Desert – https://www.livescience.com/46450-mongolian-death-worm.html
- Wikipedia – Mongolian Death Worm – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_death_worm
- Skeptoid Podcast – Olgoi-Khorkhoi: The Mongolian Death Worm – https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4344
