Death Worm 2009

Well, we have about 10 hours of footage digitised (that’s off tape and in the trusty computer), and should be done by the weekend. Then we’ll then get stuck into the editing process. Talking about “We’s” I should mention a wonderful chap named Toby is onboard to cut this thing. Which is great news, as Toby’s a great editor and storyteller.

At around 2pm I got a call from the NZPA who did a lovely story before we went. This time, they wanted to know what had gone on. It was a tricky phone call to get actually, as I hadn’t given “post-Mongolia interviews” too much thought. Of course I want to talk about Mongolia, the Death Worm and what we experienced - but as I said in the last post - I don’t want to give too much away.

Anyway, this is what they ended up running (which has popped up in the likes of the Otago Daily Times):

THE DOCUMENTARY IS DEFINITE.

There may not actually be solid evidence of an acid-spitting, lightning-throwing Mongolian deathworm living in the Gobi Desert but there will definitely be a documentary about it.

Journalist David Farrier and cameraman Christie Douglas have returned from Mongolia, where they spent about two weeks trying to verify the deathworm’s existence.

Some Mongolians say the Allghoi Khorkhoi, or “intestine worm”, resembles a 1.5m-long creature that jumps out of the sand and kills people by spitting concentrated acid or shooting lightning from its rectum over long distances.

Farrier would not say if the pair discovered evidence of the fantastical creature as they were not revealing too much until the documentary was complete.

People were welcome to assume they didn’t find anything, he said, however: “As far as telling the story about the deathworm I’d say we were pretty successful in what we came back with and we have definitely got a doco on our hands.”

They recorded about 30 hours of footage and spoke to people who said they had seen the worm.

“Because the sightings peaked during the 1950s a lot of these witnesses won’t be around for much longer, so I felt pretty lucky to get to some of them before they are actually dead.

“The story of creature hasn’t been told yet in any kind of factual way. It’s always been crazy people out with flashlights on their heads looking for it, no one has got any facts down about it and that’s what this is going to do.”

Farrier is hoping to produce a 90 minute documentary by the middle of next year, which could be shown at film festivals.

He would try to get it shown in Mongolia because the locals there were keen to see the results of the trip.

In the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator no one had even heard of the deathworm.

However, as they headed south towards the Gobi Desert more and more locals were aware of it.

Farrier said the whole expedition was a fantastic experience, despite experiencing increasingly unpleasant conditions in the Gobi Desert.

They didn’t wash for two weeks, and at one stage it was so dry they blew their noses and blood would come out, Farrier said.

Farrier said he believed the deathworm did exist and another trip to Mongolia isn’t out of the question.

“There are more leads that can be chased up as far as the deathworm goes, and there is also the Almas, which is their version of the Yeti, which comes down from Russia occasionally, and other creatures are calling from Mongolia.”

NZPA

Right - so that’s that.

Finally, I should add that shooter Christie Douglas has been uploading some still photo to his twitter account. They really are quite stunning, especially where Mongolia’s on-mass creatures are involved. Here are a couple:

More can be found here at TwitPic.

-Farrier

Australia is behind us, and adding words like “seriously!” into their article, just to clarify.

“ARMED with explosives, two men are heading to Mongolia’s Gobi Desert to find the fabled acid-spitting and lightning-throwing Mongolian death worm.

The worm has never been documented but some Mongolians are convinced it exists. They call it Allghoi Khorkhoi, or “intestine worm” because it resembles a cow’s intestine and is about 1.5m long.

The worm apparently jumps out of the sand and kills people by spitting concentrated acid or shooting lightning from its rectum over long distances, NZPA reports. (Seriously.)

New Zealand journalist David Farrier, who is organising the expedition, and cameraman Christie Douglas, leave this week to spend two weeks in the Gobi, trying to verify the worm’s existence and making a documentary about it.

Farrier said he had always been fascinated by cryptozoology, or the search for hidden creatures.

The expedition and documentary would take a serious look at the worm and what it was, Farrier said.

He said he was interested in the death worm because it was one of the most outrageous creatures that were rumoured to exist.

However, it was also one of the mythical creatures that had a better chance of being real.

Rumours could inflate the reputation of things such as the Loch Ness monster and Bigfoot, but sparsely populated Mongolia was not a place where rumours were going to propagate, Farrier said.

“If a Mongolian says they have seen a big worm-like creature out in the desert they haven’t really got any reason to lie,” he said.

A number of experts have dismissed the worm’s existence, putting it down as a rumour, but Farrier was not put off.

“I think it won’t be a worm, obviously a worm can’t survive in a desert. I’d say it would be some sort of snake that’s not meant to be there. It’s very out of place and a bit new.”

Farrier said there been up to four unsuccessful expeditions searching for the death worm in the last 100 years, the last two in 2003 and 2005, which had used night vision goggles to look for the worm.

However, the New Zealand team planned to bring the worm to the surface with explosives, as it is said to be attracted to tremors.

Farrier put his chances of finding the worm at between 5 and 15 per cent.

“They are high for a ridiculous creature like the death worm but the area I am going to is a very specific place in the southern Gobi where all the sightings have been.”

He only plans to capture the worm on film.

“I have no intention of grabbing it, capturing it, stuffing it, or anything like that. I just want to prove its existence and if I can get it on film, that’s all I need to do.”

Friend and TV3 New Zealand colleague Greg Pearson was kind enough to create a wonderful logo for the mission. Prepare to see more of it in the future.

Thanks Greg!

Farrier.

Alastair Paulin of the Nelson Mail has written this lovely story about cameraman Christie Douglas.

“Motueka’s Christie Douglas is off to spend three weeks in Mongolia stalking the elusive, and possibly mythical, Mongolian Death Worm.

The search is the brainchild of his former TV3 colleague David Farrier, who is funding the cryptozoological expedition.

The TV cameraman has had a few adventures with the TV3 reporter.

There was the time they braved the mosh pit and pyrotechnics show at the Rock to Wellington concert and the scary time they faced down the cat ladies at the national cat show in Taradale.

But nothing in their reporting career at Nightline could prepare them for the Gobi Desert in the 40-plus degree heat of August, looking for a 1.5-metre red worm that can supposedly spit acid in your face or kill you by an electric shock from its rectum. If it exists, that is. Both men sound convinced that it does.

They point to the consistency of local witness accounts and add that, as the Gobi Desert is sparsely populated, the chance that people are collaborating in their accounts or spreading rumours seems slim. Mr Farrier said he first heard of the creature at age 14 when he read a book about cryptozoology. Over time, he has dismissed other entries such as the Loch Ness Monster and Big Foot but thinks the Mongolian Death Worm is likely to exist.

The creature was first brought to the West’s attention in the 1920s by explorer Roy Chapman Andrews, who has been credited as the inspiration for the Indiana Jones character. Mr Douglas said there had been previous expeditions to look for the creature and they would build on that work, as well as local accounts, which have led them to concentrate their search in a specific region of the Gobi. Mr Farrier’s goal is to document the creature’s existence on film, but he has no plans to capture it.

“I’m not taking a net or a gun or anything like that. I don’t think it’s something you want to grab hold of. “It’s a very personal thing for me so if I see it, I’ll be happy.” He said Mr Douglas was his favourite cameraman to work with because he has such an “affable personality” and stays calm in stressful situations. He puts the chances at finding the creature at between 5 and 15 per cent, while Mr Douglas is more cautious. “I don’t think we’ll find anything but we’ll find enough to make a great story.”

The pair leave for Mongolia on Tuesday and will be joined there by a team of three: a cook, a translator and a driver. They will spend two weeks camping in the Gobi Desert, and as the worm is supposedly attracted to tremors, they will set off some explosions to try to draw it to the surface.”

Christie Douglas is shooting this Mongolian Death Worm documentary, and had an amazing photo shoot in Motueka the other day. They were kind enough to let me use the photos on the blog.

So, meet Christie:

What a good looking bloke!

Farrier.

PS. Thanks to all who came to the fundraising party last night - photos to come! It was a blast. So nice talking Death Worm at a swanky place like Sale St.