by Notes of the Wild Mistress

The hero of Mongolian folklore - a giant worm - lives in the desert sandy regions of the Gobi. His appearance it most of all resembles the insides of an animal. On his body it is impossible to distinguish neither the head nor the eyes. The Mongols call him olgoi-khorkha, and more than anything else they are afraid of meeting him. Not a single scientist in the world has had a chance to see with his own eyes the mysterious inhabitant of the Mongolian deserts. And that's why long years olgoi-khorkhoy was considered an exclusively folklore character - a fictional monster.

However, at the beginning of the 20th century, researchers drew attention to the fact that legends about the Olgoi-Khorkhoi are told everywhere in Mongolia, and in the most diverse and remote corners of the country, legends about a giant worm are repeated word for word and abound in the same details. And so scientists decided that the basis of ancient legends is true. It may well be that in the Gobi Desert lives not known to science strange creature, perhaps - a miraculously surviving representative of the ancient, long-extinct "population" of the Earth.

Translated from the Mongolian, “olgoi” means “large intestine”, and “khorkhoi” means a worm. According to legend, a half-meter worm lives in inaccessible waterless areas of the Gobi Desert. Olgoy-Khorkhoy spends almost all the time in hibernation - he sleeps in holes made in the sands. The worm gets to the surface only in the hottest months of summer, and woe to the person who met him on the way: the olgoy-khorkhoy kills the victim at a distance, throwing out deadly poison, or strikes with an electric discharge upon contact. In a word, you won't get away from him alive….

The isolated position of Mongolia and the policy of its authorities made the fauna of this country practically inaccessible to foreign zoologists. That is why the scientific community knows practically nothing about the Olgoi-Khorkhoi. However, in 1926, the American paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews in the book “In the footsteps ancient man told about his conversation with the Prime Minister of Mongolia. The latter asked the paleontologist to catch the Olgoi-Khorkhoi. At the same time, the minister pursued personal goals: desert worms once killed one of his family members. But, to the great regret of Andrews, he could not only catch, but even just see the mysterious worm. Many years later, in 1958, the Soviet science fiction writer, geologist and paleontologist Ivan Efremov returned to the theme of the olgoi-khorkhoi in the book The Road of the Winds. In it, he recounted all the information that he had collected on this subject during reconnaissance expeditions to the Gobi from 1946 to 1949.

In his book, among other testimonies, Ivan Efremov cites the story of an old Mongol man named Tseven from the village of Dalandzadgad, who claimed that the Olgoi-Khorkhoi lived 130 kilometers southeast of the Aimak agricultural region. “No one knows what they are, but olgoi-khorkhoy is a horror,” said the old Mongol. Efremov used these stories about the monster of the sands in his fantastic story, which was originally titled “Olgoi-khorkhoi”. It tells about the death of two Russian explorers who died from the poison of desert worms. The story was entirely fictional, but it was based solely on the folklore evidence of the Mongols.

Ivan Makarle, Czech writer and journalist, author of many works about the mysteries of the Earth, was the next to follow the trail of the mysterious inhabitant of the Asian desert. In the 1990s, Makarle, together with Dr. Jaroslav Prokopets, a specialist in tropical medicine, and cameraman Jiri Skupen, led two expeditions to the most remote corners of the Gobi Desert. Unfortunately, they also failed to catch a single specimen of the worm alive. However, they received evidence of its real existence. Moreover, these evidences were so numerous that they allowed Czech researchers to make and launch on television a program called “The Mysterious Monster of the Sands”.

This was far from the last attempt to unravel the mystery of the existence of the Olgoi-Khorkhoi. In the summer of 1996, another group of researchers, also Czechs, led by Petr Gorky and Mirek Naplava, followed the worm's tracks across a good half of the Gobi Desert. Alas, also to no avail.

Today almost nothing is heard about the Olgoi-Khorkhoi. So far, this Mongolian cryptozoological puzzle is being solved by Mongolian researchers. One of them, the scientist Dondogizhin Tsevegmid, suggests that there is not one kind of worm, but at least two. Again, folk legends forced him to draw a similar conclusion: locals often they also talk about shar-khorkhoy - that is, a yellow worm.

In one of his books, Dondogizhin Tsevegmid mentions the story of a camel driver who met face to face with such shar-khorkhoys in the mountains. At one far from perfect moment, the driver noticed that yellow worms were climbing out of holes in the ground and crawling towards him. Mad with fear, he rushed to run, and then found that almost fifty of these disgusting creatures were trying to surround him. The poor fellow was lucky: he still managed to escape ...

So, today, researchers of the Mongolian phenomenon are inclined to believe that we are talking about a living being, completely unknown to science. However, the zoologist John L. Claudsey-Thompson, one of the renowned specialists in the desert fauna, suspected a species of snake in the Olgoi-Khorkhoi, which the scientific community has yet to get acquainted with. Claudsy-Thompson himself is sure that the unknown desert worm is related to the Oceanian viper. The latter is distinguished by no less "attractive" appearance. In addition, like the olgoy-khorkhoy, the viper is capable of destroying its victims at a distance, splashing poison.

A completely different version is held by the French cryptozoologist Michel Raynal and the Czech Jaroslav Mares. Scientists attribute the Mongolian desert dweller to two-way reptiles that lost their paws during evolution. These reptiles, like desert worms, can be red or brown in color. In addition, it is extremely difficult to distinguish between their head and neck. Opponents of this version, however, rightly point out that no one has heard that these reptiles were poisonous or had an organ capable of producing an electric current.

According to the third version, olgoi-khorkhoy is ringed worm, which acquired a special protective skin in desert conditions. Some of these earthworms are known to be capable of squirting venom in self-defense.

Be that as it may, the Olgoi-Khorkhoy remains a mystery to zoologists, which has not yet received a single satisfactory explanation.

Mongolian and killing cattle and people, presumably by an electrical discharge or poison. The creature is yellow-gray in color.

First references in literature

Original text (English)

It is shaped like a sausage about two feet long, has no head nor leg and it is so poisonous that merely to touch it means instant death. It lives in the most desolate parts of the Gobi Desert…

Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tserendorj joined the conversation, noting that a relative of his wife's sister had also seen the creature. The professor assured the Mongolian state leaders that only if he gets in his way allergorhai-horhai, it will be extracted with the help of special long steel tongs, and the professor will protect his eyes with black glasses, thus neutralizing the destructive effect of just looking at such a poisonous creature.

In subsequent years, several more expeditions to Mongolia took place, in 1932 a generalizing work “The New Conquest of Central Asia” was published in the first volume of which the same author repeats the description of the animal and the circumstances of the conversation with the then leaders of Mongolia (by 1932, the monarchy in Mongolia was replaced by the Mongolian the People's Republic, the prime minister, Andrews' interlocutor, has already died, and his place at the head of the already republican Council of People's Commissars was taken by another interlocutor of Professor Tserendorzh, who also died by the time this book was published). However, this work contains some additional details regarding the habitat of this creature:

It is said to live in the driest sandy parts of the Western Gobi.

Original text (English)

It is reported to live in the most arid, sandy regions of the western Gobi.

Professor Andrews himself was more than skeptical about the reality of the existence of this creature, since the professor was unable to meet any real witnesses to its existence.

Efremov's story

In the period 1946-1949, the USSR Academy of Sciences conducted a series of expeditions to the Gobi Desert, led by Ivan Efremov. He described this journey in the book "Road of the winds". In the book, the author directly points to the main goal of the expedition - to discover the excavation site of the American professor Andrews, made by him in the 1920s, where numerous dinosaur remains were found. I. Efremov carefully studied the books of the American professor, but he deliberately did not give information in his publications that would allow him to determine even the approximate location of his so-called. " Flaming  rocks" (as in his books Andrews called the deposit of fossil remains of dinosaurs he discovered). As a result of unsuccessful searches for this place, Efremov and his expedition comrades themselves managed to discover another bone deposit in a completely different place - as is now known, about 300 km west of Bayanzag (or Andrews' "Flaming Rocks", the real Mongolian name of the place means "rich in saxaul" ).

Even during the Great Patriotic War, when I. Efremov was just hatching plans to visit Mongolia, he, under the impression of Andrews' books, wrote a story called "Allergoy-Khorkhoy", as he followed the inaccurate transcription of an American paleontologist. Subsequently, having already visited Mongolia, Ivan Efremov became convinced of the inaccuracy of the name and corrected it in accordance with the correct Mongolian pronunciation and spelling. Now the Russian and Mongolian records of the name of the animal coincide literally.

In the story, Olgoi-Khorkhoi kills at a distance with something like an electric discharge. In the afterword to the story, Efremov notes:

During my travels in the Mongolian Gobi desert, I met many people who told me about a terrible worm that lives in the most inaccessible, waterless and sandy corners of the Gobi desert. This is a legend, but it is so widespread among the Gobis that in the most diverse regions the mysterious worm is described everywhere in the same way and with great detail; one should think that there is truth in the basis of the legend. Apparently, in fact, a strange creature still unknown to science lives in the Gobi Desert, perhaps a relic of the ancient, extinct population of the Earth.

Other references

In the works of A. and B. Strugatsky

Olgoy-Khorkhoy is also mentioned in the stories of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky “The Country of Crimson Clouds”, “The Tale of the Troika” and Boris Strugatsky’s novel “The Powerless of the World of this”. The sandy Martian leech “sora-tobu hiru” (空飛蛭 - a sky-flying leech (translated from Japanese)), also mentioned in several works of the Strugatsky brothers (for the first time in “Noon, XXII century. Return ").

S. Akhmetov and A. Yanter. "Blue Death"

Olgoi-Khorkhoy is also described in the work of Spartak Akhmetov and Alexander Yanter "Blue Death"

Not only forests and undersea world hide mysteries and hide unusual creatures. It turns out that hot deserts have also become a haven for unusual inhabitants.

The hero of Mongolian legends and legends - olgoy-khorkhoy - giant scary worm will be the topic of today's article.

For the first time, the public heard the name of this monster thanks to the story of I. Efremov with the same name. But, despite the fact that many years have passed, the Olgoi-Khorkhoy remains just a character in a fantastic story: it has not yet been possible to prove his existence.

Appearance

Why was the worm given this unusual name- olgoy-khorkhoy?

If these words are translated from Mongolian, then everything becomes extremely clear: “olgoi” is a large intestine, “khorkhoi” is a worm. This name is quite consistent with the appearance of the monster.

A few eyewitness accounts say that he is a stump of intestine or sausage.

The body has a dark red color, and its length is from 50 cm to 1.5 meters. Visible difference between the ends of the body is not noticeable: the head and tail parts look approximately the same, and have small processes or spikes.

The worm has no eyes or teeth. However, it is considered extremely dangerous even without these organs. The inhabitants of Mongolia are sure that the Olgoi-Khorkhoy is capable of killing at a distance. But how does he do it?

There are 2 versions:

  1. Poison. The monster releases a jet of potent substance, hitting its victims.
  2. Electric current discharge.

It is possible that the killer worm is able to use both options, alternating them or using them simultaneously, enhancing the effect.

lives mysterious creature in the sand dunes, showing up only in the hottest months after the rain, when the ground becomes damp.

Obviously, he spends the rest of the time in hibernation.

Expeditions

The broad masses were able to learn about olgoi-khorkhoi only in the second half of the 19th century after the famous traveler and scientist N. M. Przhevalsky mentioned the worm in his works.

But curious scientists and researchers different countries could not pass by an unusual creature. Therefore, several expeditions were undertaken, not all of which ended successfully.

Roy Andrews

In 1922, Andrews led an excellently equipped numerous expedition, which worked for 3 years in Mongolia, devoting much time to exploring the Gobi Desert.

Roy's memoir tells how the Prime Minister of Mongolia once approached him with an unusual request. He wanted Andrews to catch the killer worm, giving it to the government of the country.

Later it turned out that the prime minister had his own motives: a monster from the desert once killed one of his family members.

And despite the fact that prove the reality of this underground dweller is not possible, almost the entire country unquestioningly believes in its existence.

Unfortunately, the expedition was not successful: Andrews did not manage to catch or see the worm.

Ivan Efremov and Tseven's story

The Soviet geologist and writer, I. Efremov, also published some information about the Olgoi-Khorkhoi in the book “The Road of the Winds”, collected during expeditions to the Gobi Desert in 1946-1949.

In addition to standard descriptions and attempts to prove the existence underground monster, Efremov cites the story of the Mongolian old man Tseven, who lived in the village of Dalandzadgad.

Tseven argued that such creatures are real, and you can find them by heading 130 km southeast of the Aimak region.

Talking about the Horkhoi, the old man described them as the most disgusting and creepy creatures.

It was these stories that formed the basis of a fantastic story, originally called "Olgoi-Khorkhoi", about Russian explorers who died from the poison of giant worms.

The work is a fiction from beginning to end, and it is based only on Mongolian folklore.

Ivan Makarle

The next researcher who wanted to find the monster of the Gobi Desert was Ivan Makarle, a Czech journalist, writer, author of works about the mysteries of the Earth.

In the early 90s of the 20th century, together with Dr. J. Prokopets, a specialist in tropical medicine, and cameraman I. Skupen, he made 2 research expeditions to remote corners of the desert.

Oddly enough, they failed to catch the worm, like previous scientists, but Makarla was lucky enough to get solid evidence of the monster's existence.

There was so much data that Czech scientists launched a television program, calling it "The Mysterious Monster of the Mongolian Sands."

Describing the appearance of the olgoi-khorkhoi, I. Makarle said that the worm looked like a sausage or an intestine. The body length is 0.5 m, and the thickness is about the size of a human hand. It is difficult to determine where the head is and where the tail is due to the lack of eyes and mouth.

The monster moved in an unusual way: rolled around its axis or wriggled from side to side, while moving forward.

It is amazing how the legends and myths of the peoples of Mongolia coincided with the description of Czech researchers!

Expedition of Pyotr Gorky and Mirek Naplava

In 1996, another attempt was made to unravel the mystery of the Olgoi-Khorkhoi. Czech researchers led by Petr Gorky and Mirek Naplava followed the trail of the mysterious desert dweller, but, alas, to no avail.

The disappearance of the American research team

A. Nisbet, an American scientist, like his colleague R. Andrews, set himself the goal of finding the killer worm at all costs.

In 1954, he nevertheless received permission from the Mongolian government to conduct the expedition. Two jeeps with team members who went to the desert disappeared.

Illustration for Ivan Efremov's story "Olgoi-khorkhoy"

Later they were discovered in one of the remote and little explored regions of the country. All employees, including Nisbet, were dead.

But the mystery of their death still worries the compatriots of the team. The fact is that 6 people were lying next to the cars. And no, the cars weren't broken, they were in perfect working order.

All belongings of the group members were intact, there were also no injuries or any injuries on the body.

But due to the fact that the bodies were in the sun for a long time, unfortunately, it was not possible to establish the true cause of death.

So what happened to scientists? Versions with poisoning, illness or lack of water are excluded, and no notes were found.

Some experts believe that the entire team died almost instantly.

Could the Nisbet expedition have been able to find the Olgoi-Khorkhoi who had killed them? This question will remain unanswered.

Versions of scientists

Of course science community all over the world have been studying this phenomenon. But scientists have not been able to come to a consensus on what kind of creature this is.

There are several versions of who the Olgoy-Khorkhoy is.

  • mythical animal
  • John L. Cloudsey-Thompson, a zoologist, believes that the killer worm is a type of snake that can infect its victims with poison.
  • Michel Raynal, a French cryptozoologist, and Jaroslav Mares, a Czech scientist, believe that a surviving two-legged reptile is hiding in the desert, which, in the course of evolution, has lost its legs.
  • Dondogizhin Tsevegmid, Mongolian explorer, there are 2 varieties of the sand monster. He came to such conclusions because of the stories of some eyewitnesses who claimed that they had seen a yellow worm - a shar-khorkhoy.

To date, the Olgoi-Khorkhoy remains a mystical creature, the existence of which has not been proven. Therefore, all these theories will remain theories until the researchers manage to get a photo or the sandworm itself from the Gobi Desert.

In the desert regions of the Gobi lives the "hero" of Mongolian folk tales - a giant worm, resembling the insides of an animal in its appearance. Neither the eyes nor the head at all can be distinguished on his ugly body. The Mongols call this creature "Olgoi-Khorkhoi" and are most afraid of meeting him. Since none of the scientists had a chance to see (let alone film) the olgoi-khorkhoi, this mysterious inhabitant of the Mongolian deserts for many years was considered a fictional monster, a purely folklore character...

At the beginning of the last century, researchers were interested in the fact that legends about the Olgoi-Khorkhoi in Mongolia can be heard everywhere. At the same time, in various parts of the country, they sound almost the same and are decorated with the same details. Scientists have concluded that the ancient legends are true and a strange creature unknown to science lives in the sands of the Gobi. Perhaps this is a surviving representative of a long-extinct earthly "population" ...

The Mongolian word "olgoy" means in Russian "colon", and "khorkhoy" - a worm. Tradition says that these half-meter worms live in waterless and inaccessible areas of the desert and spend most of their time hibernating - in burrows that they make in the sand. These creatures come to the surface only in the hottest summer months- and then woe to the people they met on the way. The olgoi-khorkhoy easily kills its prey from a decent distance, shooting it with a deadly poison, or strikes it with an electric discharge upon contact. In a word, it is impossible to leave him alive ...

The policy of the Mongolian authorities, as well as the isolated position of this country, made its fauna inaccessible to all foreign zoologists. For this simple reason, the scientific community knows practically nothing about the terrible olgoi-khorkhoi. However, in the book of the American paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews "In the footsteps of the most ancient man" (1926), the author tells about the conversation of the author with the Mongolian Prime Minister. He asked Andrews to catch the olgoi-khorkhoi. At the same time, the minister pursued personal goals: one of his family members was once killed by desert worms. However, the American researcher failed to even see the mysterious worm...

Fantast and scientist Ivan Efremov and Olgoy-Khorkhoy

In 1958 Soviet geologist, well-known paleontologist and even more famous writer in the USSR Ivan Efremov, in a book called “The Road of the Winds”, published information on the Olgoi-Khorkhoi, which he collected during expeditions to the Gobi Desert (1946-1949).

Among other evidence, the author cites the story of the Mongolian old man Tseven, a resident of the village of Dalandzadgad, who claimed that the Olgoi-Khorkhoi live 130 km southeast of the Aimak region. Tseven spoke with horror about these disgusting and terrible creatures. Efremov used these stories when writing a fantastic story, which was originally called “Olgoi-Khorkhoi”. The story told how two Russian researchers died from the poison of giant worms. Despite the fact that the work was entirely fictional, it was based solely on Mongolian folklore.

Not a single researcher was lucky enough to see the creepy Olgoi-Khorkhoi

The next person to “hunt down” the desert monster was the Czech journalist and writer, author of a number of works about the intriguing mysteries of the Earth, Ivan Makarle. In the 90s of the last century, he, accompanied by Dr. Yaroslav Prokopets, a specialist in tropical medicine, and cameraman Jiri Skupen, conducted two research expeditions to the most remote corners of the Gobi. It was also not possible to catch a live worm then, however, evidence of its real existence was obtained. There was so much of this evidence that Czech researchers made and launched a television program about the “Mysterious Monster of the Mongolian Sands”.

The next attempt to unravel the mystery of the Olgoi-Khorkhoy in 1996. undertaken by another group of Czech researchers led by Petr Gorky and Mirek Naplava. Scientists have followed in the footsteps of the sand monster a significant part of the desert, but, alas, also to no avail.

Olgoi-Khorkhoy remains an unsolved mystery

Today you rarely hear about the Mongolian giant worm; only local researchers are involved in solving this cryptozoological puzzle. One of them - Dondogizhin Tsevegmid - suggests that there are two varieties of the worm. He was again prompted to a similar conclusion by folk legends, which also speak of the so-called shar-khorkhoi - already a yellow worm.

In his book, the scientist cites a story about a camel driver who met such Shar-Khorkhoys in the mountains. The driver saw a lot of yellow worms crawl out of the ground and crawl towards him. The unfortunate man rushed away in horror and managed to save himself ...

So, today, researchers of this phenomenon are of the opinion that the legendary Olgoi-Khorkhoy is a real creature completely unknown to science. Quite convincing is the version that we are talking about an annelids, which adapted well to the harsh conditions of the Mongolian desert, acquiring a special, simply unique protective skin. By the way, some of these worms can spray poison for self-defense ...

However, Olgoi-Khorkhoy is an absolute zoological mystery that has not yet received a single acceptable explanation. Although there is something fantastic in all this ...

The hero of Mongolian folklore - a giant worm - lives in the desert sandy regions of the Gobi. In its appearance, it most of all resembles the insides of an animal. On his body it is impossible to distinguish neither the head nor the eyes. The Mongols call him olgoi-khorkha, and more than anything else they are afraid of meeting him.
Not a single scientist in the world has had a chance to see with his own eyes the mysterious inhabitant of the Mongolian deserts. And therefore, for many years, the olgoi-khorkhoy was considered an exclusively folklore character - a fictional monster.
However, at the beginning of the 20th century, researchers drew attention to the fact that legends about the Olgoi-Khorkhoi are told everywhere in Mongolia, and in the most diverse and remote corners of the country, legends about a giant worm are repeated word for word and abound in the same details. And so scientists decided that the basis of ancient legends is true. It may very well be that a strange creature unknown to science lives in the Gobi Desert, perhaps a miraculously surviving representative of the ancient, long-extinct "population" of the Earth.
Translated from the Mongolian, “olgoi” means “large intestine”, and “khorkhoi” means a worm. According to legend, a half-meter worm lives in inaccessible waterless areas of the Gobi Desert. Olgoy-Khorkhoy spends almost all the time in hibernation - he sleeps in holes made in the sands. The worm gets to the surface only in the hottest months of summer, and woe to the person who met him on the way: the olgoy-khorkhoy kills the victim at a distance, throwing out deadly poison, or strikes with an electric discharge upon contact. In a word, you won't get away from him alive….
The isolated position of Mongolia and the policy of its authorities made the fauna of this country practically inaccessible to foreign zoologists. That is why the scientific community knows practically nothing about the Olgoi-Khorkhoi. However, in 1926, the American paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews, in the book “In the Footsteps of Ancient Man,” spoke about his conversation with the Prime Minister of Mongolia. The latter asked the paleontologist to catch the Olgoi-Khorkhoi. At the same time, the minister pursued personal goals: desert worms once killed one of his family members. But, to the great regret of Andrews, he could not only catch, but even just see the mysterious worm. Many years later, in 1958, the Soviet science fiction writer, geologist and paleontologist Ivan Efremov returned to the theme of the olgoi-khorkhoi in the book The Road of the Winds. In it, he recounted all the information that he had collected on this subject during reconnaissance expeditions to the Gobi from 1946 to 1949.
In his book, among other testimonies, Ivan Efremov cites the story of an old Mongol man named Tseven from the village of Dalandzadgad, who claimed that the Olgoi-Khorkhoi lived 130 kilometers southeast of the Aimak agricultural region. “No one knows what they are, but olgoi-khorkhoy is a horror,” said the old Mongol. Efremov used these stories about the monster of the sands in his fantastic story, which was originally titled “Olgoi-khorkhoi”. It tells about the death of two Russian explorers who died from the poison of desert worms. The story was entirely fictional, but it was based solely on the folklore evidence of the Mongols.
Ivan Makarle, Czech writer and journalist, author of many works about the mysteries of the Earth, was the next to follow the trail of the mysterious inhabitant of the Asian desert. In the 1990s, Makarle, together with Dr. Jaroslav Prokopets, a specialist in tropical medicine, and cameraman Jiri Skupen, led two expeditions to the most remote corners of the Gobi Desert. Unfortunately, they also failed to catch a single specimen of the worm alive. However, they received evidence of its real existence. Moreover, these evidences were so numerous that they allowed Czech researchers to make and launch on television a program called “The Mysterious Monster of the Sands”.
This was far from the last attempt to unravel the mystery of the existence of the Olgoi-Khorkhoi. In the summer of 1996, another group of researchers, also Czechs, led by Petr Gorky and Mirek Naplava, followed the worm's tracks across a good half of the Gobi Desert. Alas, also to no avail.
Today almost nothing is heard about the Olgoi-Khorkhoi. So far, this Mongolian cryptozoological puzzle is being solved by Mongolian researchers. One of them, the scientist Dondogizhin Tsevegmid, suggests that there is not one kind of worm, but at least two. Again, folk legends forced him to draw a similar conclusion: local residents often also talk about shar-khorkhoi - that is, a yellow worm.
In one of his books, Dondogizhin Tsevegmid mentions the story of a camel driver who met face to face with such shar-khorkhoys in the mountains. At one far from perfect moment, the driver noticed that yellow worms were climbing out of holes in the ground and crawling towards him. Mad with fear, he rushed to run, and then found that almost fifty of these disgusting creatures were trying to surround him. The poor fellow was lucky: he still managed to escape ...
So, today, researchers of the Mongolian phenomenon are inclined to believe that we are talking about a living being, completely unknown to science. However, the zoologist John L. Claudsey-Thompson, one of the renowned specialists in the desert fauna, suspected a species of snake in the Olgoi-Khorkhoi, which the scientific community has yet to get acquainted with. Claudsy-Thompson himself is sure that the unknown desert worm is related to the Oceanian viper. The latter is distinguished by no less "attractive" appearance. In addition, like the olgoy-khorkhoy, the viper is capable of destroying its victims at a distance, splashing poison.
A completely different version is held by the French cryptozoologist Michel Raynal and the Czech Jaroslav Mares. Scientists attribute the Mongolian desert dweller to two-way reptiles that lost their paws during evolution. These reptiles, like desert worms, can be red or brown in color. In addition, it is extremely difficult to distinguish between their head and neck. Opponents of this version, however, rightly point out that no one has heard that these reptiles were poisonous or had an organ capable of producing an electric current.
According to the third version, the olgoi-khorkhoi is an annelids that acquired a special protective skin in desert conditions. Some of these earthworms are known to be capable of squirting venom in self-defense.
Be that as it may, the Olgoi-Khorkhoy remains a mystery to zoologists, which has not yet received a single satisfactory explanation.