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00:00Deep in one of the most inhospitable, unexplored regions of the planet, the Mongolian Gobi Desert, a monstrous animal is
00:10said to exist.
00:12The nomads who live here fear its destructive superpowers.
00:18The animal actually exploded.
00:23It spits blood.
00:25That blue sort of static charge goes from the death worm, and then they die.
00:32My name is Pat Spain.
00:35By day, I work in an ultra-advanced biotech facility.
00:39But in my family, there's a tradition of investigating creatures as yet unknown to science.
00:45Something moving, something moving.
00:48I'm heading out into the wild to investigate the unexplained creatures of this world.
00:52I know it sounds unbelievable, but I'm here searching for the truth behind the legendary Mongolian death worm.
01:16Absolutely terrified.
01:18You might not believe it, but this is the start of my investigation into the Mongolian death worm.
01:23This is not going to end well.
01:26I know how important local knowledge can be.
01:30So I'm hoping that by taking part, I'll gain the trust of the locals.
01:34I'm fighting one of Mongolia's top wrestlers.
01:47Just in case you missed that, he just sweeps my legs right out from under me.
02:02Crushing defeat.
02:03Crushing defeat.
02:05Apparently when you lose, the very large Mongolian man kind of gives you a little pat on the bum.
02:12Could be worse.
02:13Could have been a lot worse.
02:15I think I need to find someone my own size.
02:40Very good, very good.
02:43It ends up with the inevitable slap on the butt.
02:49Cashing in on my newfound celebrity status as the worst wrestler in Mongolia,
02:54my translator and I begin asking questions.
02:57Have you ever heard of the animal that they call the death worm?
03:00Some people say that the animal lives out in the small sand dunes out around here.
03:11Have you heard anything about it? Is it dangerous?
03:15He said he's heard that the animal is very dangerous.
03:17Is it more dangerous than wrestling you?
03:19Yes, thank you, thank you.
03:24I end the day with some really solid leads to follow up in my investigation.
03:28Thank you so much.
03:29One thing's for sure, the locals definitely believe in this alleged creature's existence.
03:42Mongolia is roughly the size of Alaska, but with a population of just three million,
03:46most of whom live in the capital, Ulaanbaatar,
03:50it's the most sparsely populated country on Earth.
03:54Its sheer size and the fact that it's virtually unexplored
03:58makes it ripe for a weird and fantastical creature like the death worm to exist here.
04:07I'm on my way to meet my first lead, a nomad named Peru.
04:23There was the Russian military here.
04:27One of the local guys was serving as a guide for them.
04:30And as they were driving down the road, they spotted something on the side of the road,
04:34you know, looked metal and kind of sausage-like.
04:41And they pulled over to see what it was.
04:45And the guides started warning them,
04:47no, no, no, don't touch it, don't touch it,
04:48that's a very dangerous animal, stay away, it's a death worm.
04:53And the guides maybe didn't really understand his language too well,
04:57or maybe they just ignored him.
04:58But he said they pulled out some gasoline,
05:02dumped it on the animal,
05:04and then the animal actually exploded.
05:10This is a great first lead,
05:12but an exploding creature?
05:15He also can't tell me what it looks like as he didn't see it himself.
05:20Still, I need to keep an open mind.
05:26In the absence of evidence, eyewitness accounts are the lifeblood of my investigations.
05:32And my next contact, a nomad named Chimege, claims to have first-hand experience.
05:43I've heard that you saw the legendary creature that we call the death worm.
05:51So she said she was inside the ger, and a neighboring family ran out and said,
05:56hey, there's a death worm out here, it's very dangerous, don't go near it, but you know, you should see
06:01it.
06:01So she went outside and stayed far away from it, but saw it at a distance, and immediately her family
06:06said, no, no, no, stay away, stay away.
06:09Could you describe the animal for me? How big was it?
06:11No, it's about that big, kind of this burnt reddish brown color.
06:21The head and the tail looked the same, and it was definitely one solid piece.
06:25Couldn't see any legs or arms or anything like that.
06:27But she didn't want to get up closer because everyone warned her how dangerous this animal was.
06:34I have a few pictures here of some animals that I'd like to show you and see if you recognize
06:38any of them.
06:40I need to find out if there are any similarities between the death worm and creatures I know of in
06:45the natural world.
06:52So when she saw the picture of the giant earth worm, she said it's very close to what she saw
06:57that day when she saw the death worm,
07:00but it's not the same, but she said it's very close because the head and the tail look the same,
07:04and kind of the way that the animal looks is just similar, and it's got those distinct ridges.
07:12Even though she saw it at a distance, she says that it's much bigger than this worm, over half a
07:17meter.
07:18Could it be mistaken identity for a local snake, the sand boa?
07:28Right when she saw the sand boa, she goes, oh yeah, these are snakes, they live around here, I've seen
07:32them before.
07:35Man, I was really thinking that was a case of mistaken identity, but she recognized that sand boa right away.
07:39Also, whatever it is that she saw freaked her family out enough to make them move away the next day.
07:51I now have a good idea of what this creature looks like, and how destructive it can be.
07:56Finding evidence of a red 60 centimeter long worm-like creature in such a vast empty wilderness is going to
08:03be tough.
08:05The Gobi Desert covers roughly one and a half million square kilometers, which is over twice the size of France.
08:15Temps out here drop to a frigid negative 40 degrees in winter, and a burning 50 degrees centigrade in summer.
08:25Temps out here drop.
08:26Hardly conditions conducive to life.
08:35But could a creature like the death worm be surviving these extremes?
08:41I head to the Natural History Museum to meet up with one of Mongolia's most respected scientists.
08:51So, Turbush, as a scientist, do you believe that the Mongolian death worm exists?
09:06He said that the Gobi people talk about this animal, so maybe there is something to it.
09:11We just can't really be certain, because these legends do exist, so potentially there is a creature out there.
09:16On the other hand, though, in order to identify a new species, you really need solid evidence of it.
09:22I mean, photographic, video evidence, hopefully even a specimen of it, in order to show the world that there is
09:29this creature out there.
09:30And I agree with him 100%. As a scientist, it's just bad practice to identify a species based on legends.
09:37So, if you don't know if this is an animal out there, where do you think these stories come from?
09:49This snake that Turbush is telling me about, the camel tail snake, also known as the Sanbala.
09:53And he's saying that the head and tail look very similar.
09:56He thinks it's the snake I showed Chimage that they're seeing, not a death worm.
10:01Turbush's opinion is in conflict with what Chimage believes.
10:04She recognized the Sanboa and says she saw something else.
10:11Stories of the death worm are coming from somewhere.
10:15The question is, is the death worm a real animal, or just a creature of myth?
10:22I head to the Gandan Monastery to find inspiration.
10:28Mongolia is a land steeped in mystery and tradition.
10:32Alongside Buddhism, there still exists beliefs in shamanism and nature worship.
10:37I can see that in such a culture, the line between the spiritual and natural worlds can often blur.
10:43Leading to stories and beliefs in fantastical creatures.
10:47Of strange deities and demigod-like figures.
10:51To help explain the seemingly unexplainable.
11:00Unlocking the secrets of the unexplainable is something of a family tradition.
11:06In the 1920s, my great uncle Charles Ford, the prophet of the unexplained as he was known,
11:12was trying to discover the truth behind such bizarre phenomena as raining fish and ball lightning.
11:20It's his passions into all things unknown that drives me on to find the truth behind these legends today.
11:30At the same time as my great uncle's investigations, one of the first western scientists to explore the Gobi had
11:36just arrived in Mongolia.
11:38In researching the Mongolian death worm, I came across this book by Roy Chapman Andrews,
11:43On the Trail of Ancient Man, where he gives a pretty good description of this alleged creature.
11:48He says that it's shaped like a sausage about two feet long, has no head nor legs, and is so
11:54poisonous that merely to touch it means instant death.
11:58This guy is believed to be the inspiration for Indiana Jones, and he spends a lot of time in the
12:02field, so it's great that he mentions this creature.
12:07Roy Chapman Andrews was a world-renowned paleontologist.
12:10He led at least four separate expeditions to the Gobi.
12:14And although he never found a death worm, he is responsible for discovering the first dinosaur egg.
12:21His record of the death worm is one of the only authentic written descriptions I can find of this alleged
12:27creature,
12:28which shows how rare sightings have been.
12:33I head to the very region that he explored in the hope of unearthing clues to the existence of this
12:39beast.
12:46This area is the Nimect Basin, known locally as the Valley of the Dragons.
12:54It's a mecca for dinosaur hunters.
13:03It's unreal.
13:05It looks like images that the Mars rover sends back.
13:14This place is just ridiculous.
13:17Fossilized tree.
13:19Right here.
13:21Look at all of them.
13:23You can see them sticking right out of the rock.
13:31Woo! Look at this.
13:33It has no resemblance to anywhere else I've ever been on Earth.
13:41If ever there was a place to find monsters, this is it.
13:47Whoa!
13:52That is crazy.
13:56I am not a geologist by any means, but to me, that looks like an egg.
14:06That is weird.
14:08The possibility that this is a dinosaur egg is so incredible.
14:16Looking at this place, you can't help but think how incredibly different it was millions of years ago.
14:21I mean, imagine a huge forest behind me with potentially rivers and lakes,
14:26and just enormous wild animals roaming everywhere.
14:36Back in the Mongolian capital, there are remarkable fossilized skeletons, some of which have been found in the Nimic Basin.
14:45These magnificent monsters, like the flesh-eating Tarbosaurus, died out over 65 million years ago.
14:55This hostile desert landscape eventually replaced their lush environment.
15:01But could a creature such as the Death Worm have survived?
15:07I do know of animals that have evolved to exist when their environment undergoes dramatic change.
15:15Like the Gobi, the deserts of Arizona were at one time a lot cooler and damper.
15:20Here, the couch's spade-foot toad lives underground up to 300 days of the year,
15:27emerging only during specific climactic conditions.
15:31This is known as estivation, and allows a creature that is dependent on water
15:36to survive in extremely dry, hostile conditions.
15:48Could the so-called Death Worm be doing the same?
15:52This would help explain why there are so few eyewitness accounts.
15:59I need to get a better idea of the environment to understand what sort of life this harsh landscape is
16:05capable of supporting.
16:07That looks wet.
16:09Feels wet.
16:12Keep digging, digging, digging. Look at how quickly I'm digging through this.
16:16It's not sand, it's soil.
16:20I honestly expect to find earthworms right now.
16:23Like, if I was doing this back in Boston, that's what I'd be looking for.
16:27I expected to come out here and find this incredibly dry, very, very hot environment,
16:34really harsh, hard to survive in, you know, desert.
16:37And then I look down at my own feet and dig through here, and I never thought I'd say it,
16:43but it's every possibility that something could be surviving under this soil.
16:52This discovery opens up the possibility for a worm-like creature to be living out here in the Gobi.
17:01Although rare, giant earthworms do exist.
17:06This monster is an Ecuadorian giant earthworm.
17:14In Australia, there's the Gypsland earthworm that can measure up to an astonishing three meters.
17:22Even the U.S. hides the fabled giant Palouse earthworm.
17:26It's rumored to grow up to one meter and even spit when threatened.
17:31But it's extremely elusive.
17:34This example was found in 2010, the first live specimen seen in over two decades.
17:42So perhaps a rarely seen worm in Mongolia isn't so unlikely.
17:49The descriptions Chimage gave me do fit with the idea of the deathworm being a giant earthworm.
17:56With a ridged or segmented body and its head and tail being similar.
18:04Once again, I turn back to my contacts from wrestling, the nomads,
18:09to help unearth tales of this desert-dwelling beast.
18:14Horu is offering to take me to the area where his story of an exploding deathworm came from.
18:19I've never ridden a camel before!
18:27Feels actually more stable than a lot of the cars we've been in in the Gobi.
18:36As we set off, I can't help but feel I'm riding in the same footsteps as Roy Chapman Andrews nearly
18:4290 years ago.
18:45I've definitely found the potential for there to be undiscovered life out here.
18:48But in this stark, empty landscape, the desert gives little away in clues as to what it might be hiding.
19:02Puru tells me that deathworms are rumored to feed on a toxic desert plant called a goyo.
19:08And we may be able to find one in this area.
19:27That's the Goya.
19:29That looks like the descriptions of the deathworm.
19:32It's this brilliant crimson red color and sticking right up out of the ground and it's even kind of curved.
19:39And it looks like it has a mouth.
19:41No, I don't know if I can't.
19:43If I can't, I can't.
19:46If I can't, I can't.
19:46So you're saying that this Goya plant right here, there's legends from the locals that say that the deathworm eats
19:51this.
19:52And it grows all over the South Gobi.
19:54Alright, so I guess we're going to try to dig it out.
19:56Let's see what's going on.
19:59That's interesting.
20:02Alright.
20:03I need help.
20:05I need help.
20:06I need help.
20:08Oh, yeah.
20:09Oh, hi.
20:11Alright.
20:12Wow.
20:15If the deathworm is consuming this toxic plant, it might be building up poisons that would help explain the description
20:22given by Roy Chapman Andrews.
20:24So poisonous that nearly to touch it, it's instantly.
20:30I know poison dart frogs from Latin America derive their toxins from the ants and beetles they consume.
20:35building up small amounts known as bioaccumulation.
20:40These toxins are then excreted through the skin of the frogs, making them highly poisonous.
20:46If the deathworm is also accumulating toxins, this might explain why it's said to be fatal to touch.
20:56The Goya was listed on the FDA poisonous plant database.
21:00So you might be wondering what I'm doing eating it.
21:04I don't know if I can swallow it.
21:06It tastes like raw.
21:12It's okay to eat.
21:13It really tastes toxic.
21:17I don't know if I can swallow it.
21:19My body won't let me swallow it.
21:26I don't know if I can swallow it.
21:27That does not taste right at all.
21:30I've not seen the Goya taste as well.
21:35Ele está dizendo que o goya está muito bom.
21:38Eu não concordo, mas tem muita água.
21:42E se tiver animais como o Death Worm aqui,
21:45esse é um lugar onde qualquer creature aqui poderá ter água.
21:52Separando factos da ficção
21:53e fazer um sentido racional sobre o mundo que vivemos
21:56é parte do meu trabalho em Boston.
22:02Aqui, eu tenho que adhear
22:03para os maiores científicos.
22:09Unlike Roy Chapman Andrews,
22:11eu tenho 21st-century methodology
22:13para o meu lado.
22:15Eu trago exacto científico
22:18e a nova tecnologia
22:20para o meu trabalho
22:21para fazer minhas investigações.
22:25Incluindo uma mistura de vídeo
22:26e câmera traps.
22:32Legendas do Death Worm
22:33talk about it eating the goya plant.
22:35So I'm going to put a camera trap
22:36right here
22:38facing the goya.
22:40See if we can get one coming by.
22:42And right by the goya
22:44is more evidence
22:45to make me believe
22:46I'm on the right track.
22:48Now this is really cool.
22:49So you can clearly see
22:50that something's been kind of digging
22:52right through the sand,
22:52right through here.
22:53And this is
22:54what the supposed Death Worm does.
22:57I mean all the legends
22:58about this animal
22:58talk about it burrowing
23:00under the sand
23:00just like this creature has done.
23:04Whatever this was.
23:05Alright, so what this shows me
23:06is that there are animals
23:07right on this little mound
23:09right here.
23:09So I think this is a perfect place
23:10for a camera trap.
23:14My early assumptions
23:15of the goya being
23:16a relatively lifeless desert
23:18are being overturned
23:20by what I'm finding.
23:21There's a rabbit
23:22right here.
23:23I mean, if that doesn't show you
23:25that there's life all around us.
23:27There he goes.
23:36Look at that.
23:37Toad-faced Agama.
23:39He's got these brilliant
23:40kind of coral orange
23:43all over the back.
23:44But then this area
23:45under their legs
23:46are the real bright stuff.
23:49Discovering these creatures
23:50makes me wonder
23:51what else the goby
23:52might be hiding.
23:57I know that sand boas
23:59can be found out here
24:00along with two species
24:01of venomous vipers.
24:02So it's better to be cautious.
24:05So pretty much what I'm doing
24:07is just scanning all this scrub
24:09and looking for any movement.
24:11Because just by walking around here
24:13they're going to know
24:14that I'm there
24:14way before I see them.
24:20Ah, I knew I saw something moving.
24:23Yeah!
24:25Got a little racer.
24:29Very cool.
24:30He's a colubrid.
24:31And like most colubrids
24:33he's not venomous
24:34so I didn't need the stick
24:34or the net
24:35or anything like that.
24:36When you're holding a snake
24:37in Mongolia
24:38and you're me
24:39you can't help but think
24:40about the death worm.
24:41And this guy does remind me
24:43of some of the stories
24:43that I've heard about it.
24:44Now, he's not fitting
24:46with the color patterns
24:47that people talk about.
24:48You know, the red back
24:49and the kind of sandy-ish bottom.
24:51but I know snakes
24:53and individuals
24:54have huge color variations
24:56so I can't say
24:57whether there isn't
24:58another one of these
25:00that lives around here
25:01that might fit more
25:02with that description.
25:04I've been considering
25:05that the death worm
25:06is some form of giant worm
25:07but this discovery
25:09opens up another possibility.
25:11Could it be
25:12an undiscovered snake
25:13or perhaps even
25:14an amphospenid?
25:17They look like worms
25:18but are in fact
25:19a relative
25:20of lizards and snakes.
25:23Their body shape again
25:24is comparable
25:25to the descriptions
25:26of the death worm
25:26with both head and tail
25:28being similar
25:29a segmented body
25:31and they can grow
25:32to just over 70 centimeters
25:33in length.
25:37I head back to Peru
25:38who's offered me
25:39a roof for the night.
25:40We just have to build it first.
25:44So I'm doing a very bad job
25:47at helping
25:48to build a traditional
25:49Mongolian nomadic dwelling
25:52called a grr
25:53and it's a really cool design.
25:55There you go.
25:58In such a vast
25:59empty landscape
26:00where neighbors
26:01are often a day's ride away
26:02the grr plays
26:03an important communal role
26:05where nomads gather
26:06to swap stories
26:07and share experiences.
26:11Storytelling is part
26:12of the ancient fabric
26:13of the nomads.
26:17These oral traditions
26:18are fertile ground
26:19for strange mythical monsters
26:21to be created.
26:31That evening
26:32I settle down
26:33to a traditional
26:34Mongolian feast.
26:52legends of the death worm
26:54are never far away
26:55and as easily
26:56as the local vodka flows
26:57so do stories
26:59of exotic encounters
27:00with it.
27:02Puru tells me
27:03an incredible tale.
27:11A nomad
27:12was out herding
27:13his camels
27:18when one of his herds
27:20stepped on a death worm.
27:25The death worm exploded
27:27and sent acid spraying up
27:29and sent acid spraying up
27:29the camel's leg
27:30burning it severely.
27:34The stories continue
27:36one after the other
27:37becoming more outlandish
27:39as the evening goes on.
27:41My head fills with visions
27:43of this terrible monster
27:45of a worm.
27:46As a scientist
27:48I try to filter out
27:50those grains of truth
27:51that might lie beneath
27:52the surface
27:53of these fantastical tales.
27:58One account tells
27:59of a death worm
28:00spitting blood
28:01and I know
28:02horned lizards
28:03squirt blood
28:04out of their eyes
28:04in defense.
28:08I've also been
28:09on the receiving end
28:10of a spitting cobra
28:11as it shot venom out
28:12to defend itself.
28:17Could the inspirations
28:18for these stories
28:19also come from
28:20the dragons and deities
28:21I saw in the monastery?
28:30Or even the dinosaurs
28:31of the Nimic Basin?
28:34Wouldn't take much
28:35imagination to conjure up
28:37a monster from any
28:38of these sources.
28:42Puru has one last
28:44tale to tell.
28:47It involves a group
28:48of nomads
28:49who were heading
28:49across the desert
28:50when one of them
28:51saw something strange
28:53and went to investigate.
28:56It was a death worm.
29:00It sent out
29:01an electrical charge
29:02killing him instantly.
29:05His colleagues
29:06rushed over
29:07and they were also killed.
29:20The surviving nomad
29:22fled to the nearest village
29:23warning them
29:24to stay away
29:24from this deadly creature.
29:32With my head
29:33filled with these
29:34unbelievable stories
29:35and a little vodka
29:36induced confidence
29:37I'm itching to get out
29:38there and continue
29:39my search for clues.
29:44If the death worm
29:46is some form
29:46of reptile
29:47it might behave
29:48like others I know
29:49and hunt as the day
29:50cools
29:51which means now
29:52might be my best chance
29:53of seeing one
29:54above ground.
30:03and I've got just the equipment
30:04and I've got just the equipment
30:04to do that.
30:12This thermal imaging camera
30:14shows differences
30:14in temperature.
30:18The ground still looks
30:19pretty warm.
30:21there's weird hot spots
30:23and completely black ground
30:25that I can't make out
30:26any detail on.
30:29It's kind of eerie
30:31how silent it is.
30:36Oh something
30:37something moving
30:37something moving
30:38come here
30:40weird burrowing animal
30:48what was that?
30:54It looks like some type
30:55of mole cricket
30:58the mole crickets
30:59are really bizarre
31:00looking animal
31:01that lives underground
31:03he's burrowing
31:04under my hand
31:05right now
31:06and there are animals
31:08under our feet
31:09that we would never
31:11know are there.
31:13Wow
31:15it's really weird
31:17but when that mole cricket
31:18grazed me
31:18it felt like
31:19an electric shock
31:20I knew it wasn't
31:22but it shows how
31:23easy it is
31:23to misinterpret things.
31:31After the stories
31:32and escapades
31:33of last night
31:33I wonder how
31:34a creature living
31:35out in the desert
31:36could produce
31:37some form
31:37of electric charge.
31:46I'm doing this
31:47to show
31:49that static builds
31:50really really easily
31:52in a dry desert
31:53environment
31:54as I'm shuffling
31:55I'm actually going
31:57over the range
31:58of this
31:59steady check
32:00I'm generating
32:02thousands of volts
32:03of static electricity
32:04roughly equivalent
32:05to the power
32:06of a police stun gun
32:07but without any current
32:09it's got no ability
32:10to travel
32:11and just dissipates
32:12into the surroundings.
32:14Potentially
32:14if an animal
32:16had the right anatomy
32:17it could build up
32:19a static charge
32:20by moving through
32:22the soil.
32:24Dry sand
32:25is a poor conductor
32:26which could mean
32:27that as the death worm
32:28rubs against it
32:29it might accumulate
32:30a high level
32:30of voltage.
32:32If the worm
32:33is able to store
32:34the voltage
32:34then when it comes
32:36in contact
32:36with the conductive
32:37material
32:38like the nomads
32:39the electricity
32:40built up
32:41in the creature
32:41will literally jump
32:43with potentially
32:44devastating effects.
32:48It could also
32:49be an alternative
32:50explanation
32:51to the story
32:52of the death worm
32:52blowing up
32:53as the electric charge
32:54may have caused
32:55the petrol
32:56to explode.
33:02alternatively
33:03the death worm
33:04might be finding
33:05a way of generating
33:06its own electricity.
33:07The electric eel
33:08is probably
33:09the best example
33:10of a creature
33:10that can do
33:11just that.
33:12The eel contains
33:14some 6,000
33:15specialized cells
33:16called electrocytes.
33:18When threatened
33:19or hunting prey
33:20these cells
33:21discharge simultaneously
33:24producing a shock
33:25of up to 600 volts
33:27which is around
33:28five times that
33:29of a standard
33:30US wall socket.
33:37So as far-fetched
33:39as the idea
33:39of an electricity
33:40producing death worm
33:41sounds
33:41it's not out
33:43of the question.
33:46And with any luck
33:48my camera traps
33:49might have captured
33:49an image of this creature.
33:54camera trap
33:55number one
33:57let's see
33:57fingers crossed
34:04all right
34:04let's see
34:05what we got
34:05on here
34:05it looks like
34:06it's kind of
34:06a dusk
34:07or dawn
34:07type scene
34:08trap is shaking
34:09a little
34:09but doesn't look
34:10like anything
34:11just looks like
34:11more grass movement
34:13there's a lizard
34:15oh very cool
34:16we got what
34:17looks like
34:19a goby race runner
34:20he's eating
34:21ants and little
34:22bugs in front
34:22of the camera
34:23very nice
34:24I'm glad
34:24this thing worked
34:28this is the one
34:29near the Goya
34:30oh and it's
34:31tipped over
34:34some of the Goya's
34:35gone
34:36oh really
34:37it's completely fried
34:38it's not turning on
34:40I can't scroll
34:41through anything
34:42I can't do anything
34:42with it
34:44if I wasn't a scientist
34:45with a rational mind
34:46I could possibly
34:48believe the camera's
34:49electrics have been
34:50fried by a passing
34:51death worm
34:58don't walk
34:59anywhere please
35:02well the camera's
35:04fallen over
35:04it's covered in dirt
35:06there's a couple
35:07new holes here
35:08that weren't here
35:09the other day
35:09and it looks like
35:12something's been digging
35:14maybe looking for
35:15insects or roots
35:16or something like that
35:17but they were not
35:18here earlier
35:20hopefully whatever
35:21knocked this over
35:22was caught by it too
35:27what I'm looking at
35:32I have no explanation for
35:33I haven't even watched
35:34the clip yet
35:35all I see is the
35:36very first frame
35:37and it looks like
35:39a chameleon
35:40with a huge horn
35:41coming off the top
35:42of its nose
35:43and an eye
35:43looking into the camera
35:47alright I'm gonna watch it
35:52oh
35:58a cow
35:59came over to
36:00investigate the camera
36:04this is a perfect example
36:05of seeing a common animal
36:07from a different angle
36:08out of context
36:09and being totally confused
36:11as to what it could be
36:13that's pretty exciting
36:14for a second there
36:18if I can confuse
36:19the familiar
36:20so too could the nomads
36:22and again
36:23I can see how this
36:24all fuels stories
36:25of a mythical monster
36:27lurking in the dunes
36:34back at the Gur
36:35I take time out
36:36to reflect on my
36:37investigation so far
36:40I honestly came to
36:42this investigation
36:42thinking that I was
36:43going to see something
36:44completely different
36:45than what I found
36:46in the Gobi Desert
36:48it's not very desert-like
36:50I mean you think of
36:52scorching heat
36:53sand dunes
36:55very little life
36:56hardly any plants
36:57and what I found
36:59are some areas
37:00that are just like that
37:01but other areas
37:02that are lush
37:03there's lots of plants
37:05around
37:05it's really just
37:06a remarkably diverse
37:08landscape
37:08this is a massive country
37:11but there's only about
37:12three million people in here
37:13and half of them
37:14live in the city of
37:15Ulaanbaatar
37:16so once you get out
37:18into the desert
37:18you can go days
37:20without seeing another person
37:21I mean it would be
37:23more likely
37:24that there are animals
37:25out here that we
37:26haven't found yet
37:27than if there weren't
37:29now as far as the size
37:31of the death worm
37:32it's not massive
37:33I mean when you hear
37:35Mongolian death worm
37:36you think this
37:37massive monster
37:38that's going to be
37:39ten feet long
37:39and come up
37:40and devour people
37:41but really what
37:42everyone's saying
37:42is it's about
37:43a foot and a half
37:44to two feet
37:45you know about
37:45half a meter
37:47so that's not huge
37:49that could stay
37:50hidden out here
37:51and the Gobi
37:52is very good
37:53at hiding its secrets
37:55but could one more
37:56be about to be
37:57revealed to me
38:00Puru's son
38:01has found a creature
38:01he thinks I'll be
38:02really interested in
38:04I'm not sure
38:05what we're going to
38:05find but I'm as
38:06prepared as I can be
38:09I love dangerous
38:11animals in sketchy
38:12sheds
38:16over here
38:20this is so shady
38:23alright let's see
38:24what we got
38:30there's a large
38:30snake in here
38:33it's not a death worm
38:35but this snake
38:36is the biggest
38:36reptile I've seen
38:37in the Gobi so far
38:38and I have no idea
38:40what it is
38:42but it might just
38:43help provide me
38:43with one more
38:44crucial clue
38:50is he there?
38:51yeah
38:51yeah
38:54oh there he is
38:55oh yeah
38:56yeah yeah
38:56okay
39:03alright
39:04alright
39:04he's good size
39:06I don't know
39:07what he is
39:08and that's just
39:09what makes me a
39:10little bit hesitant
39:11to want to free
39:12handle him
39:19yeah
39:21that's a very good
39:22one
39:24I'm gonna go
39:27with this guy
39:27being some kind
39:29of rat snake
39:30this is just
39:31incredible
39:32that I've noticed
39:33on a lot of the
39:33reptiles in the area
39:34this red coloration
39:35and it seems really
39:36odd when people tell
39:37stories about the
39:38death worm
39:38they describe it as
39:39this really brilliant
39:40crimson
39:41people go
39:41well that's stupid
39:42why would an animal
39:43in the desert
39:43ever be red
39:44it's gonna stick out
39:45like a sore thumb
39:45well that's not
39:46exactly true
39:47this kind of red
39:48coral color
39:49that you see
39:50on this guy's stomach
39:50I've seen that
39:51on almost every
39:52lizard that I've
39:53caught here
39:54they have some
39:55of this red
39:55coloration kind of
39:56mixed in with them
39:57and when you look
39:58at the sand
39:58there's a lot
39:59of red clay
39:59so a red animal
40:01actually makes sense
40:02out here
40:03even though it
40:03sounds counterintuitive
40:07I've now found
40:08snakes that have
40:09some of the color
40:10of the death worm
40:10and also fit
40:11the general size
40:12but I've still
40:14not got as clear
40:14an eyewitness picture
40:16of this creature
40:16as I'd like
40:18this place is so
40:19vast and unpopulated
40:21it's been incredibly
40:22hard to find anyone
40:23who's witnessed
40:24this monster
40:27so far
40:28of the eyewitnesses
40:30I've met
40:30Puru told me
40:32extraordinary tales
40:33of an exploding
40:34electrocuting
40:35super beast
40:36but he didn't
40:37witness any
40:38of the events
40:38himself
40:40Chimage saw
40:41the creature
40:42but only from
40:43a distance
40:45for me to get
40:46a clear idea
40:47of what this
40:47creature might be
40:48I need a real
40:49close-up
40:50detailed description
40:52of this monster
40:55with my time
40:56in Mongolia
40:57fast running out
40:58my translator
40:59and I are traveling
41:00to a restricted zone
41:01close to the
41:02Chinese border
41:03where I have
41:04one more lead
41:05to follow up
41:07I'm meeting
41:08a nomad
41:09called
41:09Bata
41:15what were you doing?
41:27so he saw it
41:28when he was 12
41:28years old
41:29he was herding sheep
41:30at the time
41:30and one of the
41:31sheep in the flock
41:32got very spooked
41:33by something
41:33and he couldn't
41:34tell what it was
41:34so he went over
41:35to approach it
41:36and that's when
41:37he saw the animal
41:38kind of lying
41:38on the ground
41:47he was frightened
41:48to approach it
41:49from the head
41:49because he didn't
41:50recognize it
41:51so he kind of
41:51went at it
41:52from the tail
41:52and when he did
41:54that
41:54kind of prodded
41:55it with a stick
41:56a little bit
41:56and that's when
41:57the animal shrank
42:01the way that he's
42:07describing the animal
42:07is ridge
42:08like when curtains
42:09kind of fall together
42:10and you see them
42:11bunch up
42:11like that
42:12and linking it
42:14to animals
42:15I mean I guess
42:15I'm picturing
42:16like the way
42:17that an earthworm
42:17looks like
42:18when it's really
42:18contracted inward
42:20and you get
42:21all those ridges
42:21so he had
42:27heard stories
42:27about the deathworm
42:28but he never
42:28really paid attention
42:29to them
42:29before he saw it
42:30himself
42:30and then once
42:32he'd seen it
42:32he began listening
42:33to the elders
42:34when they talked
42:35about it
42:38the elders did
42:39describe this
42:40as a very
42:40dangerous animal
42:44this is my
42:45last and best
42:46chance of gaining
42:47as clear a picture
42:48of this creature
42:48as I can
42:50so I continue
42:51to press
42:52bata for more
42:53details
42:59so he's
43:00described this
43:01animal that he
43:02saw kind of
43:02sausage shaped
43:03he said the top
43:04of it is red
43:05and then there's
43:06two kind of
43:06yellow stripes
43:07running along
43:08on the side
43:09two antenna
43:10coming off
43:11the back end
43:11and the head
43:12had two very
43:13very small eyes
43:15that appeared
43:15to be right
43:15on top of it
43:16but he didn't
43:17see any mouth
43:18so it's a really
43:19unusual description
43:20for an animal
43:21and doesn't really
43:21fit with anything
43:22that I'm familiar
43:23with
43:25it's amazing to
43:26finally meet
43:27someone who not
43:28only claims to
43:29have seen the
43:29death worm
43:30but he's got
43:31right up close
43:32and touched it
43:34yet the fact
43:35that he didn't
43:35die a grisly
43:36death
43:36suggests its
43:38powers are
43:38a little
43:39exaggerated
43:42bata's description
43:43of the animal
43:43adds details
43:44to my overall
43:45picture
43:45but the death
43:46worm still
43:47doesn't exactly
43:48match any
43:49animal I know
43:50of
43:52I've found
43:53creatures either
43:54here or in the
43:55rest of the world
43:55that display all
43:57the individual
43:57characteristics this
43:59beast is supposed
44:00to have
44:00its size
44:02look
44:04color
44:06even its
44:07deadly superpowers
44:11do I think
44:12that there's a
44:12real animal out
44:13there that has
44:14all of the traits
44:14that people
44:15describe
44:15no
44:16but I can't
44:17say there isn't
44:18some type of
44:19creature
44:20that's causing
44:21these legends
44:21to spring up
44:25if I'm really
44:26thinking about
44:26what this creature
44:27can be
44:27my honest take
44:29on it
44:29is that it's
44:30kind of a
44:30mixture of
44:31folklore
44:31and some real
44:33animal that
44:34either was here
44:35or still is
44:36and just occurs
44:37in really small
44:38numbers
44:38that hopefully
44:39one day
44:40we'll find
44:40that way
44:42that way
44:57to be
45:00and
45:02to be
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