The Mongolian Death Worm

The Mongolian Death Worm is a creature said to inhabit the Gobi desert, it has been described as a bright red, subterranean, worm that is 2 to 5 feet long and as wide as a man’s arm. 


It has the ability to spit out a yellow corrosive acid, and to be able to kill its victims from afar, by emitting an electrical charge. According to legend, when about to attack it will raise half its body out of the sand and spray its victim with acid. Its main prey is livestock and humans. It is said to hibernate for most of the year, and awaken in June and July.  Many have theorized that the death worm is attracted to the color yellow. The inhabitants of the Gobi call the creature Allghoi khorkhoi, meaning ‘intestine worm’ due to its bright red appearance.

An elderly man named Nyama claimed to have seen the Death Worm at least three times, the first in 1965, when he saw the creatures head protruding from the ground. The following year he saw it again, this time in the process of eating a mouse. The third time, in 1972 he claimed to have killed a Death Worm by throwing a rock at it. However, Russian scientist, who had been studying snakes in the area, promptly took the body. Needless to say, the specimen has never been seen again. 

The Mongolian Death Worm would appear to be a cryptid rather than a supernatural creature, therefore it can be killed by conventional means, demonstrated by Nyama.  

In 1990 Cryptozoologist, Ivan Mackerle was on an expatiation in the Gobi, where he uncovered an intriguing account. Sugi, the expedition interpreter, spoke of an incident from his childhood. A group of geologists had been visiting the area where Sugi lived, one of them was poking an iron rod in the ground when he suddenly collapsed, his colleges rushed to his aid only to find him dead. As they examined the ground he had been poking with the rod, they saw the sand begin to churn violently, out of the ground came a large Death Worm. 

There have been thousands of eyewitness sightings, many have organized expeditions in attempts to find the Mongolian Death Worm, and all have been inconclusive. Scientists speculate that the Death Worm is some kind of misidentified snake or lizard, however they fail explain or why or how the creature spit acid or emit an electrical current.  

What is the Mongolian Death Worm, is it simply a misidentified snake or lizard? Or is it an undiscovered worm with a taste for human flesh? If so, why would Russian scientists keep a possible specimen a secret? You decide!

And if you ever see a Mongolian Death Worm, tell us all about it—just don’t poke it with an iron rod...