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From nightmare-inducing critters to the legendary Gobi Desert Monster, these creatures will send shivers down your spine! Plus, uncover the real history behind unicorns—you won’t believe the truth!
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00:02All righty, folks. Gather around and let me tell you about the Mananengal, a real charmer of a
00:08mythical creature from Filipino folklore. She's often described as a lady who likes to snack on
00:13sleeping pregnant women. But here's the twist. During the day, she's all dolled up and looking
00:19like a total babe. But come nightfall, she detaches her torso and spreads her massive
00:24bat-like wings to fly off into the darkness in search of her next victim. And she doesn't just
00:29stop at pregnant ladies. Nope. Sometimes she'll use her good looks to lead a stray man and take
00:35them to her secret hiding spot where she'll feast on their heart, intestines, and other
00:41internal organs all night long. Yikes. If you're ever faced with a Mananengal and want to stop her
00:47from reattaching her body before sunrise, just sprinkle some salt, ash, or crushed garlic on
00:53the remaining half of her body. Easy peasy, right? So keep an eye out for this winged wonder and don't
00:59forget the garlic. Okay, so check this out. In German folklore, there's this crazy creature
01:05called an alp. Basically, it's like a vampire mixed with an incubus. And it wears this dope
01:11hat called a tarn cap that gives it all kinds of powers. This dude is all about preying on women
01:18at night by messing with their dreams. Oh, and it's into breast milk and sucking the blood
01:23of men and kids. The alp can shapeshift into all kinds of stuff like cats, pigs, dogs, snakes,
01:30and even butterflies. And it's got this evil eye that can totally mess you up with bad luck or sickness.
01:36But don't worry. You can protect yourself by hiding a broomstick under your pillow,
01:40pointing your shoes towards the door, hanging iron horseshoes from the bedpost,
01:45or putting a mirror on your chest. And if all else fails, just leave the lights on all night
01:51and shove a lemon in its mouth if you catch it napping during the day.
01:56Meet the Pontia Nuck, a spooky ghost from Malay mythology. Legend has it that she was a woman who
02:03passed away while giving birth, and now she's out for revenge. She's not your average ghost either.
02:09She's got long black hair, sharp fingernails, and a blood-smeared white dress. But watch out,
02:15because she's also a master of disguise. She can transform into a beautiful woman to lure in her
02:21prey before ripping out their insides. If you're ever out at night and hear the cries of babies or
02:27feminine laughter, beware. That could be the Pontia Nuck coming to get you. And if the sounds are quiet,
02:34she might be right around the corner. So keep your wits about you, and don't fall for any too good
02:40to be
02:40true ladies. Hey, did you know that according to Irish legend, every family has their very own
02:47banshee? This banshee lady is supposed to let out a piercing wail or shout when someone in the family
02:52is about to kick the bucket. Talk about a not so subtle warning, but don't let her eerie cry trick
02:58you.
02:59This banshee lady is said to be drop-dead gorgeous with long flowing locks and crimson eyes from all
03:05her crying. She's also known for wearing a gray shawl over her green threads. Fashionable and spooky?
03:13We're into it. Some people even say that this banshee can transform into a sweet singing young lady
03:18who foretells the doom of the family. Yikes. And if that's not enough to give you goosebumps,
03:25she's also been spotted hunched over in the woods, crying her eyes out at night. Sounds like a real
03:30party animal, doesn't she? So next time you hear a blood-curdling scream in the middle of the night,
03:36just remember, it might just be your friendly neighborhood banshee giving you a heads up.
03:41Now let me tell you about the Kalupiluit. These creatures are like the boogeyman of the arctic.
03:47They live near the ice flows and are known for snatching up kids who get too close to the water.
03:51But don't worry, it's just a myth to keep children safe. Now, the appearance of these
03:57critters varies from story to story, but they all have some things in common. They've got slimy green
04:03skin, long hair, and long fingernails. Their hands are webbed like a fish, and they wear these fancy
04:10parkas made out of eider duck feathers. Oh, and watch out for their flippers. One of them can emit a
04:16sound
04:16that'll paralyze you. But don't fret. You can outsmart them. Some clever Inuit hunters figured
04:22out that if they asked the Kalupiluit to shapeshift into a seal or whale, they could easily finish it
04:28and bring home a tasty catch. Yum. Some stories say that these creatures use kidnapped children to
04:34keep their hair looking fabulous. Talk about dedication to hair care. Others say that the
04:39kids are just devoured or used to fuel the Kalupiluit's youth. But here's a wild tale for you.
04:44There was once a grandma who couldn't feed her grandson, so she called upon a Kalupiluit to take
04:50him away. The tribe eventually got back on their feet, and a young couple went to rescue the boy.
04:56They found him tethered to seaweed by the Kalupiluit. But every time they got close,
05:00she dragged him back underwater. They ended up waiting until sunrise to cut him loose.
05:07Yeah, the Kalupiluit may be spooky, but they're just looking out for the kiddos.
05:12Then who knows? Maybe they'll give you some hair care tips if you're lucky enough to meet one.
05:17Let me present to you the scariest horse-like monster in all of Scotland. The Nuklavi, or Nukalavi.
05:24This bad boy has a skinless body, a head ten times bigger than a human's, and a breath so poisonous
05:30it
05:31can destroy animals and crops. So it's got wicked powers that can cause chaos all over the islands.
05:37But fear not, because there's an old spirit known as the Sea Mither who can control this
05:42terrifying beast during the summer months. The Nuklavi has roots in Norse and Orcadian folklore,
05:48and was first documented by the mysterious Joe Ben using some fancy Latin manuscripts back in the 16th
05:54century. Ernest Marwick, an Orcadian writer and folklorist, thinks that this evil sea creature
06:01is similar to the Norwegian Nuk, the Nuggle of the Shetland, and the shape-shifting Kelpie or water
06:06kelpie. So if you're ever out and about in Scotland and come across this scary guy, just remember,
06:12call on the Sea Mither and run for your life. This dude is South African Tokolosha. It may look like
06:19a gremlin, but trust me, it's way more mischievous. Apparently, witches and shamans can summon them
06:25with their magical powers, but there are ways to keep these troublemakers in check. One way is to give
06:32them some curdled milk, apparently it's their favorite, and trim their hair so they can see. If that doesn't
06:38work, you can call in a witch doctor to use some good old-fashioned magic to exercise them away.
06:45Now, according to South African folklore, these tokolosha are mostly invisible and can suck on a
06:50stone to stay that way. So if you want to keep them away from your home, scatter some special blessed
06:56salts, aka tokolosha salts, along your door frames and window sills. Or if you're feeling extra cautious,
07:03put some bricks under your bed's legs. Better safe than sorry, right?
07:09Have you heard of the Chimera? She's a total monster, literally. This fire-breathing female
07:16hybrid is made up of all sorts of animal parts. Think lion-like body, goat-like head, and a tail
07:22that
07:22ends in a snake's head. According to Greek mythology, the Chimera is the child of Typhon and Echidna,
07:28and her sisters are Cerberus and Lernean Hydra. Sounds like a family reunion, huh? But don't worry,
07:35our hero Bellerophon was up for the challenge. The King of Lycia sent him on a mission to defeat
07:41the fearsome Chimera, and Bellerophon was the greatest hero monsters were scared of. The Chimera
07:47was no match for Bellerophon and his trusty Pegasus. Even though the King was secretly hoping the Chimera would
07:53take out Bellerophon instead. In the end, justice prevailed, and the Chimera was defeated.
07:59In July 1990, four Czech guys decided to go on an adventure to find the Mongolian Death Worm,
08:06a creature that might have inspired the monster you've seen in the movie Doom. They say it lives
08:11somewhere deep in the Gobi Desert. So they flew to Mongolia, hopped into an ATV, and hired some local
08:17guides to help them. All that to meet a creature that is up to six feet long, can spit acid
08:23that
08:23could melt anything, and is capable of shooting electricity at those it doesn't like. Legend says
08:30that these friendly guys spend most of their days hiding underneath the sandy dunes. But they'd like
08:36to come out during the wetter months of June and July. So the timing for a spotting was simply perfect.
08:42But the crew needed to figure out how to lure the creature. Sadly for them, no one knew what the
08:49giant worm liked to eat. So they built a thumper, which is a machine that made rhythmic pounding
08:54noises. They were hoping it would call the worm out of the ground. For two months, they searched the
09:00vast desert, crossing dunes and rocky plains, looking for any sign of the creature. But, alas, it didn't
09:07really work out. Ivan McCurley, who was the leader of the 1990 expedition, came back to Gobi Desert
09:14again. He once tried to attract the mega worm with blasts, and the second time he used a small airplane
09:20to scout the dunes. Over the years, groups from America, Britain, and New Zealand organized big
09:26expeditions to the Gobi Desert to try and find the creature. Many others came from all around the world
09:32on their own and found nothing. The people in the West first found out about the mega worm
09:38of the Gobi Desert thanks to an American paleontologist, Roy Chapman Andrews. This brave
09:44man was probably the inspiration for Indiana Jones. In 1926, he wrote about the creature in his book.
09:51At a meeting with Mongolian leaders, Andrews heard detailed descriptions of the creature,
09:56even though none of them had ever seen it themselves. One of them described it as looking
10:01like a sausage, about two feet long, with no head or legs. According to him, the worm was so venomous
10:09that just touching it could instantly take your life, and it lived in the loneliest parts of the
10:14Gobi Desert. Andrews didn't think the creature was real, but he shared these stories again in another book.
10:22In May 2005, four friends from Great Britain, who searched for monsters professionally,
10:28decided to try their luck. They made drawings of the worm and hired local people to hand out flyers
10:34all over the Gobi Desert. These flyers offered a reward to anyone who could give information about
10:40the worm or even bring them a specimen. They thought loud sounds that other explorers tried
10:46would scare the beast away. Some told them it likes damp conditions, so they came up with a plan
10:52to block streams of water to create wet areas that would lure the worm out. Their plan didn't work,
10:58because it was too hard to build dams in the desert. They ended up using small traps,
11:03but didn't find any actual proof that the worm existed. But they did meet locals who shared
11:09interesting stories about strange creatures they had seen over 70 years. Over the years, stories of
11:16the monster spread around the world. In some of them, it's only one foot long. In others, it's as large
11:22as a human. It's white-gray, or scaly and brown. Or maybe fleshy and bright red. Someone said it resembled
11:30a snake. Or maybe a caterpillar. Or maybe it has wings and can fly. And some believe it could be
11:36a
11:36supernatural evil being without a body. Maybe the stories are so different, and the search
11:44operations are so fruitless, because the creature doesn't even exist. Or it could be one of many
11:50cryptids. Those creatures like Bigfoot, Yeti, the Loch Ness Monster, their existence has yet to be proven.
11:57In 1983, one scientist who was visiting the region heard that an old man had managed to catch the
12:04mysterious worm. He also learned there was a nest nearby. The scientist bravely approached the hole
12:10in the sand and put his hand inside. A giant creature dragged him in, and he was never seen again.
12:17Just kidding. He actually found a tartar sand boa inside. It's a chunky, burrowing, non-venomous snake
12:24that has small eyes and gray-brown scales. He showed it to the locals to verify if it was the
12:30monster,
12:30and supposedly all of them said yes. Most Mongolians who know about the worm still believe it's real.
12:38Now, even though people call our supposed monster a worm, it's just what it sounds like in the English
12:43translation. Many Mongol cultures have used this word for centuries to refer to any animals they
12:50thought to be really dangerous, especially snakes, even non-venomous ones. So, it doesn't have to be a
12:57literal worm after all. Worms are soft and squishy, but a creature living in the harsh Gobi desert would
13:03need to be tougher, more like a snake or a type of lizard without legs. Neither of these creatures
13:09can shoot electricity or spit acid like they say the death worm does. But some snakes, like cobras,
13:16can spit venom that's dangerous for people. If it were real, the creature would have a backbone,
13:21and explorers searching for it would likely find some bones or evidence left behind.
13:27And there are actually fossil remains all over the Gobi desert. Scientists found representatives of over
13:3380 dino groups here over the last almost 100 years. It all started with the world's first dinosaur egg
13:40nests. This discovery changed all the scientists knew about dinos. It was the first proof they laid eggs.
13:46In the following two years, the same expedition team unearthed over 100 dinosaurs and took them to
13:53the American Museum of Natural History, where you can still see them today. Some of them were
13:59swimming around in the Cretaceous Sea that used to be here about 71 million years ago. They resembled
14:05modern birds. The mystery of the mega worm is still unsolved, but there used to be another mystery
14:12scientists finally managed to explain. Back in the 13th century, a famous traveler, Marco Polo,
14:18not the guy from the swimming pool game, crossed the Gobi desert. He thought he could hear mysterious
14:24noises like the sounds of musical instruments such as drums. He wrote about it in his book and believed
14:30he might be hearing the voices of restless spirits. Scientists call these noises singing sands or booming
14:37sands. Unlike the squeaky sound you might hear when walking on a sandy beach, these desert sounds are
14:43much louder, like a musical instrument playing deep, haunting notes. Over the years, people came up with
14:49all kinds of ideas about what caused the sounds, like underground water or winds making the sand vibrate.
14:56Not all dunes can do this, and scientists wanted to figure out why. Sometimes the winds might cause a
15:03small avalanche on the side of a dune, and then you can hear the magical sound start. But this is
15:08rare.
15:09So to study it, scientists had to help the dunes sing. They climbed to the top of a dune and
15:15slid down
15:16on their backs, using their hands and feet to push sand down. As the sand tumbled, the sounds started
15:22softly and got louder. They could even feel the vibrations with their hands. So they found out that for
15:29a dune to sing, a few special things need to happen. The grains of sand must be the right shape,
15:35the dune has to be big, and the sand must be very dry, so no singing after it rains.
15:42Inside the dune, there's a hard layer of packed sand that acts like a giant speaker.
15:47This layer bounces the sound waves back and forth, makes the noise louder and louder, and creates a
15:53haunting melody that can fill the desert air. In other words, the dunes can play tunes. Yeah,
16:00sorry, I couldn't help myself with that one. We all love unicorns, those legendary creatures famous for
16:06their beauty. You're now thinking of a white horse with a spiraling horn on its forehead,
16:11and there's probably a rainbow somewhere nearby. But what are the origins of this image? And more
16:17importantly, can it be true? Well, yes and no. Let us start from the beginning. The name,
16:25it comes from Latin. Unicorn translates as one horn. Today, there is one land animal that fits the bill,
16:34the rhinoceros. The Greek name for a unicorn is monoceros, which again means one horn. So it all fits
16:42neatly. But wait, isn't a unicorn a kind of horse? We need to call in science to resolve the issue.
16:50Scientists have discovered a skull of an animal that could have been the real unicorn and roamed
16:54the earth some 30,000 years ago. The animal resembled a huge, hairy rhinoceros, nothing like the image of
17:02a unicorn we have today. It was two times heavier than a giraffe, and its diet consisted of grass,
17:09grass, a lot of grass. But the skull the scientists found in Central Asia revealed another surprising
17:15fact, the animal's age. Previous research pointed to the fact that the species went extinct 350,000
17:24years ago. This meant that our ancestors never shared the same living space with this oversized
17:29rhinoceros. But the skull was dated much later. This dates the animal right around the time when humans
17:36were already there. This is where the legend begins. Imagine you're a prehistoric human who had
17:44just seen a unicorn. What would you do? It's not like you can take out a smartphone and snap a
17:49picture
17:49of it. No, you would probably paint it on a cave wall. Such drawings have survived to the present day.
17:56In France, there's an image of an animal that seems to have a single horn. It's in the Hall of
18:02the Bulls.
18:03All the other animals there have two wavy horns. But the mysterious spotted animal has two lines on
18:09its head. Do these double lines represent a single horn? Is this the famous unicorn? Perhaps.
18:17The name of the drawing is the unicorn panel.
18:22But images of unicorns don't only exist in cave drawings. In the Indus Valley, scientists have found
18:29various seals featuring a mythical animal with a single horn. Ancient Greek writers believed that
18:36unicorns lived in India. Back then, this region of the world was exotic to them. Although ancient
18:42Greeks never saw a unicorn, they had a pretty detailed description of the animal. They even recorded that
18:49the meat from this creature had a bitter taste. But was it a horse or a rhinoceros? Neither. For Greeks,
18:56the unicorn was a kind of a donkey. Go figure.
19:01In Chinese mythology, there's a similar creature. Its name translates into English,
19:07means male-female. The animal's description resembles a unicorn. A single horn on its forehead,
19:14the tail of an ox, and the body of a deer. It feeds on vegetation, just like the ancient rhinoceros
19:20from Central Asia. When the first giraffe was presented to the Ming emperor, they described it
19:26as a unicorn. The ruler concluded that the animal definitely wasn't the mythical unicorn,
19:32but the legend lived on in that part of the world. The modern Japanese word for giraffe comes from the
19:38Chinese word for the unicorn-like creature. Ancient Persians also knew about the existence of unicorns.
19:46There's a picture of a unicorn in their capital city, but the fun part is that it has two large
19:52wings.
19:53Seems odd, but the Persians also never saw a unicorn in person. For them, like for the Greeks,
19:59it was a being that lived outside the known world. That's the reason why we're so fascinated by unicorns
20:06today. We find accounts of such creatures in the writings of Aristotle and even Julius Caesar.
20:13These famous people claimed that animals resembling unicorns lived in the forests of Germany. The
20:18modern image of a unicorn originated in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Europe.
20:25People back then had quite the imagination. They showed unicorns in book decorations.
20:30According to ancient scribes, this animal was ferocious. Its main enemy was the elephant.
20:36The people in medieval times thought highly of an animal they had never seen. It was quick and
20:42dangerous, so it needed to be hunted down. But how on earth do you lure a unicorn? With the help
20:49of a
20:49fair maiden, of course. This sounds strange today, but keep in mind that the Dark Ages were a peculiar
20:55period in history. Back then, doctors used leeches as legit medical treatment. The perfect setting for the
21:03myth about the unicorn. The story gets wilder. A maiden would go inside a forest. A unicorn would
21:11spot her and jump inside her lap. After it fell asleep, hunters would appear. They would then capture
21:18the unicorn and take it to the king. But why were Europeans impressed by the unicorn? Because of its horn.
21:25They believed that it had magical power. A unicorn's horn could detect poison in food and drinks. When
21:33you ground it into a powder, the horn had the power to whiten teeth. These were just some of the
21:39magical
21:39traits given to a unicorn's horn. The folklore was so strong that Europeans even had a backup for the
21:46times they couldn't get their hands on a real horn. That must have happened quite often, and they used real
21:52narwhal horns as a replacement. These are whales with a large, tusk-like tooth coming from their mouth.
22:01In England, the unicorn was a symbol of something you could never see or catch. In the 16th and 17th
22:08centuries, it became associated with imagination. That's when the rainbow came into the picture.
22:14The Victorians were the first to connect the symbol of a rainbow to the unicorn. Its first appearance in
22:20fantasy literature was in the novel Through the Looking Glass for young readers. That was the
22:25sequel to Lewis Carroll's more famous work, Alice in Wonderland. The unicorn now stood for hope and
22:31purity. Still, there were no recorded sightings of the animal in real life. At least none that could be
22:38confirmed by science. In 1663, a German scientist claimed to have found a unicorn skeleton.
22:45The story seemed too good to be true, and it was. Someone made the skeleton from the bones of various
22:51animals and tried to pass it off as a unicorn. Today, the fake skeleton is displayed in the local
22:58Natural History Museum. The people weren't going to give up and searched for unicorns everywhere they went.
23:04In the 20th century, a British explorer discovered a new species in Africa. It had a small bump in the
23:12corner of its head. The public nicknamed the mysterious animal the African unicorn. But this wasn't true.
23:19Now we know this is an okapi. It's most closely related to a giraffe, but it looks like a zebra
23:26in
23:26the back part of its body, and its head resembles a deer. It's an impressive animal, but it's not even
23:32close to the elusive unicorn. One of the latest alleged sightings happened in 1991. An Austrian biologist
23:40reported seeing a unicorn in a forest in Germany. The legend says that these animals live in enchanted
23:47forests. But there's just one tiny issue. The total lack of physical evidence. In fact, there are
23:54historians who claim that unicorns never existed. The animal was simply a misinterpretation of cave
24:00drawings. Perhaps all those ancient images of unicorns were just two horned animals shown from the
24:06side. It could be so. It's hard to add the third dimension to a 2D image.
24:13But then, in 2013, the unicorn reappeared. Not the animal, though the word. An American venture
24:20capitalist came up with the term to refer to startup companies with a value of over 1 billion dollars.
24:27She chose this word because these companies are as rare as the mythical animal. There are only a
24:32thousand of such enterprises in the whole world. And you've probably heard of the most famous one.
24:38Elon Musk's SpaceX.
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