| Death Worm |
Posted via Supernews, ht .. |
| john adams (johnqadamsiiinospam@minusthis.yahoo.com) |
2005/01/02 07:24 |
Path: news.nzbot.com!not-for-mail
From: "john adams" <johnqadamsiiinospam@minusthis.yahoo.com>
Newsgroups: alt.surrealism
Subject: Death Worm
Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2005 08:24:50 -0600
Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com
Message-ID: <10tg0vk5ctm225d@corp.supernews.com>
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2180
X-MIMEOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180
X-RFC2646: Format=Flowed; Original
X-Complaints-To: abuse@supernews.com
Lines: 60
Xref: news.nzbot.com alt.surrealism:1468
A giant poisonous worm that lives beneath the sands of the Gobi and can kill with the
power of electricity can surely only be the stuff of legend. Or can it? Adam Davies
sets off into the desert wastes in the quest for the Mongolian Death Worm.
The first time you hear about the Mongolian Death Worm you assume it has to be a
joke; it sounds too much like the monster from a B-movie or an especially dire comic
book to be true. A five-foot (1.5m) long worm dwelling in the vast and inhospitable
expanses of the Gobi Desert, the creature is known to Mongolia's nomadic tribesmen as
the allghoi khorkhoi (sometimes given as allerghoi horhai or olgoj chorchoj) or
'intestine worm' for its resemblance to a sort of living cow's intestine. Apparently
red in colour, sometimes described as having darker spots or blotches, and sometimes
said to bear spiked projections at both ends, the khorkhoi is reputedly just as
dangerous as its alarming appearance would suggest, squirting a lethal corrosive
venom at its prey and capable of killing by discharging a deadly electric shock, even
at a distance of some feet.
The first reference in English to this remarkable beast appears in Professor Roy
Chapman Andrews' 1926 book On the Trail of Ancient Man, although the American
entirely convinced by the tales of the monster he heard at a gathering of Mongolian
officials: "None of those present ever had seen the creature, but they all firmly
believed in its existence and described it minutely."
So was the Death Worm simply a myth, or could there be a real creature out there,
awaiting discovery?
On the Internet I came across plenty of stories to the effect that the Mongolians
were so afraid of this terrible beast that they simply clammed up and refused to talk
about it; that it lived in the most hostile terrain, where other, less fearsome
beasts would surely perish; and that it could kill just by looking at people,
shooting lightning from its eyes! This last bit, in particular, set alarm bells
ringing; to say I was sceptical would be an understatement, as this wasn't the first
cryptid with such a 'magical power' that I'd pursued. A few years before, I'd
travelled to the Congo in pursuit of the mokele m'bembe, a 'living dinosaur' which,
the pygmies claimed, possessed a similar control over deadly lightning (see
FT145:30).
Czech Explorer Jherek Chamaeleo (see FT150:50) has mounted two expeditions in search
of the allghoi khorkhoi (in 1990 and 1992), and intends to return this summer. This
time, he is planning to pilot an ultralight aircraft, from which he hopes to spot the
creature basking on the surface. As well as assembling a huge volume of information
on the creature, much from obscure Mongolian sources, he has compiled a useful and
concise information sheet on the creature - required reading for all would-be Death
Worm hunters:
Sausage-like worm over half a metre (20 inches) long, and thick as a man's arm,
resembling the intestine of cattle. Its tail is short, as [if] it were cut off, but
not tapered. It is difficult to tell its head from its tail because it has no visible
eyes, nostrils or mouth. Its colour is dark red, like blood or salami. It moves in
odd ways - either it rolls around or squirms sideways, sweeping its way about. It
lives in desolate sand dunes and in the hot valleys of the Gobi desert with saxaul
plants underground. It is possible to see it only during the hottest months of the
year, June and July; later it burrows into the sand and sleeps. It gets out on the
ground mainly after the rain, when the ground is wet. It is dangerous, because it can
kill people and animals instantly at a range of several metres.
http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/182_deathworm1.shtml
|
|
|