Original subtitles

They fly.

They creep.

[screeching]

They claw at everything in sight.

[snarling]

And some even have a taste

for human flesh.

-[screaming] -[growling]

All over the world, legions of cryptozoologists

insist that somewhere out there

are hundreds of weird,

bizarre, nightmarish creatures

that hide in the shadows and terrorize small towns.

They give them names like Mothman,

chupacabra, the Jersey Devil and...

the Goatman.

But can they be dismissed as mere figments

of the public's overactive imagination?

Or could they actually be...

real?

Well...

that is what we'll try and find out.

♪

♪

SHATNER: Eyewitness descriptions of cryptid creatures

are as varied as they are vivid.

Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

April 1967.

LINDA SIGMAN: A boyfriend and I

decided to pull in off the country road,

and I noticed off of my right shoulder it was a creature.

And, uh, we sat there in awe of what we were looking at.

It came right over in front of the car,

and we looked up, and I could make out the shape

of a winged man.

SHATNER: Cuero, Texas.

August 2007.

Something was sucking the blood out of my chickens.

The first time I saw it,

-[howling] -the color of it was different,

the physique of the animal was different.

It has absolutely no hair on it,

and all of these different, bizarre features on it.

What is it?

SHATNER: High Falls, New York.

October 2015.

My wife and I were staying at this cabin.

There was a stream behind the cabin

and a very steep ridge.

Middle of nowhere.

I was exploring the woods behind the cabin.

And then I noticed some movement.

Black, hairy figure,

at first I thought was a black bear,

but this figure was much bigger.

Looked like it was standing upright.

At this point in time, I still don't know what it was.

Most people generally have heard of Bigfoot,

the Yeti, the Loch Ness Monster,

but what they aren't aware of is that there is a whole world

of really unusual creatures out there, lesser-known things,

many of them quite otherworldly and strange.

When it comes to animals that are known as cryptids,

there's a huge number of them.

We actually find reports and cases all around the world

of strange creatures.

For example, one of them being Mothman,

which is this huge humanoid-type figure

with bat-like wings and fiery red eyes

that's perceived as kind of like a grim reaper

that surfaces when bad luck or disasters

are about to happen.

If you go to Africa, there are reports there of creatures

that look just like something out of Jurassic Park.

We're talking about something very much akin

to a gigantic lizard or a monitor lizard.

The phenomenon of what's become known as the Dogman

in recent years is a genuinely weird, odd one.

People talk about seeing these huge, bipedal wolves

that seem to look like the closest thing

you could imagine to a werewolf.

You have hellhounds, or devil dogs,

that are thought to be omens of death.

You have thunderbirds.

You have creatures like the Van Meter Visitor.

You have creatures like the skunk ape.

You have all these creatures that defy what we know as...

flesh-and-blood creatures here on this planet.

J. NATHAN COUCH: Some of these creatures

seem to possess abilities that are borderline supernatural,

and they have qualities that can harm you.

Creatures like the Goatman and the Mongolian death worm.

The wendigo is said to possess people

and cause them to go mad and often crave human flesh.

They terrorize people,

cause harm to other animals.

They prey on other animals.

They're essentially predators.

There have been countless stories of cryptid creatures,

and they exist throughout all different cultures,

all periods of time in history,

even right up to the present day.

But there's a shocking lack of actual evidence that they exist.

Skeptics would say that the sightings

of all of these cryptid creatures

are to be related to some kind of hallucination

or psychological projection or whatnot.

When you look at folkloric tales of monsters,

sometimes they turn out to be

hoaxes or legends,

to the point where we're just not able

to confirm what they actually were.

Many people simply make up stories.

You can't rule out the possibility

that people, for example,

are creating some of these colorful legends

simply to garner attention

or to propagate their own motives.

KIRSTEN FISHER: As a scientist,

I don't discount that there is some animal

or some creature that's been sighted.

If there are organisms that we haven't found yet,

it probably speaks to the fact that the Earth is a vast place

with many types of habitats, and it's possible

that we haven't explored them all completely yet.

SHATNER: We tend to think

that everything in the world we live in is pretty much known,

Every tree, every insect,

every species has been photographed,

studied, cataloged.

But it isn't true.

According to mainstream scientists,

there are still literally thousands of species

that have yet to be discovered.

So is it far-fetched to believe

that wild, possibly hybrid creatures

could exist out there?

Strange so-called cryptids

that have been seen by average people

but haven't yet been officially recognized

as being real?

While mainstream scientists might say yes,

cryptozoologists argue that we've already found

such an animal

and even have the photographic evidence to prove it.

One of the most compelling cryptids that we investigate

is something known as the Tasmanian tiger,

or the thylacine,

which were considered legendary or mythological

until living specimens were discovered

and documented by scientists.

This is definitely a known animal.

The last verified specimen died off in 1936.

However, since that time, there has been

thousands of sightings of Tasmanian tigers, or thylacines,

on both the island of Tasmania and mainland Australia,

since its presumed extinction.

And there have been some fairly compelling photographs

that have never been fully explained.

The thylacine was a very weird-looking animal.

It looks like a large dog,

like a German shepherd, but it's actually a marsupial,

like a kangaroo.

In other words, it carries its young in its pouch.

And it has these stripes down its head and neck,

which give it sort of, like, a tiger-type appearance.

And it could almost open its jaw

to about 180 degrees,

kind of like snakes.

COUCH: If someone just saw it running through the woods,

they would think it was some sort of monster.

The peculiar qualities of the thylacine,

or the Tasmanian tiger, are a great example

of how evolution can provide

some amazing mutations and hybridization.

Just having the thylacine as a hybrid

increases the possibility

that there are other of these hybrids out there

lurking in the shadows.

SHATNER: But what are the other cryptids?

The legions of strange, hybrid creatures that fly, swim

and suck their victims dry of blood?

[man speaking excitedly]

Is there similar photographic evidence out there

that can help prove their case?

There are those who believe the answer is yes...

[women speaking excitedly]

...and that better than a photograph,

there's something even more compelling

and harder to disprove:

actual samples of a monster's DNA.

[snarls]

SHATNER: Cuero, Texas.

August 2007.

After purchasing a brood of chickens

from a neighboring ranch,

Phylis Canion makes a series of gruesome discoveries

inside her brand-new henhouse.

I brought the chickens home, and I had them

for about two weeks.

And I went outside, and...

one of the chickens was dead.

[chickens squawking, clucking]

What makes it unusual

is the chicken was still laying there.

And with the amount of predators

that we have in the state of Texas,

any predator would have taken the chicken and eaten it.

SHATNER: Over the next few weeks,

Phylis collected the remains

of 27 more of her chickens,

each one killed in the same inexplicable fashion.

Every one of them had been opened up

in the thorax area, the feathers missing,

and what appeared to me to be no blood on the ground.

So that told me then, whatever it was

was not interested in the meat

but interested in the blood.

And when I was talking to friends

and neighbors about it, they all immediately said,

"Oh, my gosh, that's the behavior of a chupacabra.

It's gonna kill the animal and suck the blood."

SHATNER: Chupacabra.

To those who claim to have encountered one,

it is a fearsome monster.

Chupacabra means "goat sucker."

And it's a really creepy-looking creature.

Some people say it looks like some kind

of strange, hybrid-like dog.

The continental North American chupacabra,

uh, is a four-legged or quadrupedal animal

about the size of a dog, completely hairless,

with a bluish-gray elephant hide-type of covering.

They also display a number of abnormal characteristics--

oftentimes their limbs are disproportionate lengths--

so they're very grotesque, odd, weird-looking animals.

SHATNER: Certain that what was preying

on her chicken coop was not a coyote,

or any other known canine, Phylis began to consider

whether it might be a chupacabra.

And then, one morning, she got her answer.

One Saturday morning, I got a very early call, 7:00.

My neighbor rancher called

and said, "Oh, my gosh. The strangest animal

has been hit and killed in front of the Canion ranch.

So I got in the truck, drove over there,

and I brought it back,

and I took a 50-pound feed sack,

and I cut it in half and laid it on the ground,

and I laid the animal on it to give everybody

a perspective of the size of the animal.

I have seen mangy coyotes all of my life,

and this had no hair on it and no indication at all

that the skin was infested with any type

of skin disorder, from mange or anything else.

It just did not have any hair on it at all.

SHATNER: Phylis sent tissue samples

from the dead creature out for analysis.

After waiting expectantly for weeks,

she was surprised by the results.

So, when they called me, they said, "Well, it's coyote

"on the maternal side

and Mexican wolf on the paternal."

The DNA tests indicating that the... the animal was a...

was a hybrid, essentially,

between a Mexican wolf and a coyote

is a little surprising in the fact that those species

don't typically hybridize.

But it's not entirely impossible.

We do know that the ranges of those two species do overlap

in Arizona, Texas and northern Mexico,

so it's at least physically possible that they could

encounter each other to form hybrids.

SHATNER: With such conclusive DNA results,

many considered the case closed.

But, according to Phylis,

something was not quite adding up.

The mystery of the whole thing was the manner in which

every chicken was killed.

It would suck all of the blood out.

So we know that it's coyote and Mexican wolf.

But neither of those animals suck blood.

So, even though this animal has that DNA, what is it?

Why would it have that behavior?

When the taxidermist mounted it for me,

he had to get a coyote mold and a wolf mold

and blend them together to make the hide fit.

The tail is longer than a wolf tail or a coyote tail.

The neck, the ears.

Everything was so extreme,

it took him forever to get it mounted.

We had about 13 different specialists

from around the world come and look at it,

and to date, they've all left scratching their head

like the day they came in

because they just cannot figure it out as well.

The only higher vertebrate that has evolved

to suck blood is the vampire bat.

And this particular process of adaptation

has taken millions of years.

It involves highly specialized characteristics.

For example, an anticoagulant in their saliva

and a very, very distinct liver, kidney digestive system.

So, to assume that an animal would simply develop

a vampire-like predation pattern would be really unexpected.

SHATNER: If they really exist,

are chupacabra merely the result of natural selection gone wrong,

or could this grotesque monster be the result of

not natural causes, but man-made ones?

There are some who believe the answer is a disturbing yes.

Through the course of my research

on the Texas chupacabras, I found a direct correlation

between sightings on Phylis Canion's property and elsewhere,

and coal-burning power plants.

Coal-burning power plants, in fact, emit huge amounts

of sulfur dioxide and other hard metals, like lead,

into the atmosphere.

And in recent studies, scientists have found that

sulfur dioxide is, in fact, a mutagen.

It altered the cellular makeup, or genetic makeup,

of laboratory mice.

So, in fact, this pollution could be having a similar effect

on these Texas coyotes or other canids.

Chemicals in the environment can absolutely cause mutations

to animals in-in the wild.

We saw this in Minnesota when a classroom,

out on a field trip, discovered a pond

with frogs that had extra legs or missing limbs

or body features in the wrong position.

And these were most likely caused by some type

of environmental contaminant.

There is a actually a type of chupacabra that's been reported

from parts of Puerto Rico.

The Puerto Rican chupacabra is described as about

three and a half to five feet tall,

standing on two legs, fangs, claws,

and strangely, a row of spikes going down its back.

Why are there so many different versions of the chupacabra,

and why are they so radically different-looking

in terms of the Puerto Rican version

versus the North American version versus other versions?

So, in fact, pollution could be having a similar effect

to create all types of strange creatures.

I think it's possible that there are mutations out there

that science has yet to discover or to understand.

Not only what nature is constructing,

but also what mankind may be constructing, too.

SHATNER: Are creatures like chupacabra merely freaks of nature,

a rare but nonetheless disturbing consequence

of natural selection run amok?

Perhaps.

But there are those who believe these monsters

are actually the products of deliberate experimentation.

Experimentation that has gone too far.

[thunder cracks]

SHATNER: According to legend, it hunts in the darkness.

A monster, seemingly drawn from a nightmare.

[thunder crashes]

It walks on two legs, like a human,

but has the head of a beast.

It is a creature so horrifying, it is rarely spoken about

above a whisper.

[whispers]: The Goatman.

LEWIS: The Goatman is terrifying.

It's something striking that strikes fear in the witnesses,

and it's certainly something you would not

want to meet in the dark.

LOREN COLEMAN: From my understanding of the Goatman,

it seemed to start up, really, in 1971 in Maryland.

It looks like an upright, human-like creature,

but has a goat-like head, with glowing red eyes

and huge horns, and looks like the devil

and is very frightening.

I think one of the most intimidating things

about the Goatman is that it reportedly resembles

the Christian devil.

I mean, it's half man, it's half goat.

SHATNER: For decades, tales of this grotesque creature

have been told wherever cryptozoologists gather.

Particularly in and around suburban Maryland.

It all started following a shocking incident

that took place in the small town of Bowie

in October of 1971.

[crickets chirping]

[laughter, indistinct chatter]

COUCH: A young teenage girl was having a sleepover

with some of her friends.

[loud snap]

-What was that? -I don't know.

COUCH: They looked out the window,

and to their horror, they saw this strange,

hairy creature skulking around outside.

LEWIS: It scurried into the woods.

A few days later, their new puppy went missing.

Eventually, it was discovered along the railroad tracks.

It had been decapitated and ripped apart.

Skeptics claim it was just run over by a train.

Others believed it was killed by the Goatman.

[snarling]

Usually, these kinds of stories of creatures

have some starting point.

For the Goatman, in 1971,

everybody got hysterical and started reporting it.

LEWIS: This case really spawned terror

in the entire community.

The fever reached a pitch when some teenagers

thought they had the Goatman trapped.

COUCH: People were so scared of the Goatman

during those initial sightings

that a posse of teenagers had actually

closed off an entire road,

claiming that they had captured the animal.

And when police arrived, though,

whatever it was that they had cornered had escaped.

When you hear people's accounts of a goat-like,

man-sized creature, you have to stop and think for one minute,

you know, is it possible

for a creature like this to even exist?

It defies understanding.

However, people have been seeing this creature for decades.

REDFERN: Some cryptozoologists

suggested that possibly it was the creation

of some sort of secret lab,

and that some experiments had been going on,

and the creature had escaped

from that same secret lab.

[soft growling]

RIHERD: And as far-fetched as that may seem,

in 1959, Soviet scientists were able

to transplant the head

and forelimbs of a small dog onto the body of a large dog.

The Russian scientist Vladimir Demikhov was actually,

uh, something of a pioneer of organ transplant.

In the 1950s, he decided

he wanted to attempt to attach two dogs.

He and his team actually went through a series of surgeries

to try to accomplish this.

He took the, uh... the head and front torso of a small dog,

um, removed it and attached it

to the body of a much larger dog,

so it was basically able to be supported

off of the heart and-and vessels of the big dog.

We tend to believe that we figured out everything

with modern science and technology,

but being that the Goatman combines both goat and man

makes you think, was it some sort

of Frankenstein experiment gone wrong?

Or was it purposely constructed

and built and almost born this way?

RIHERD: It's interesting to note

that there's important research going on to produce

something called a "chimera," which is a combination

of two different types of DNA.

The way this is performed is

to introduce human genetic material into pig embryos.

And what they found when they analyze the DNA of these embryos

is that they're actually 1/100,000 human.

So this is kind of the basis

for how to create different creatures or mix and match,

uh, the DNA from two different species.

SHATNER: A chimera?

A creature comprised of the DNA

from two entirely different species?

Could such a frightening notion help to explain a beast

as bizarre and disturbing

as the Goatman?

With the recent advances in DNA science,

it's not completely implausible

that some of these creatures are the result

of these types of experiments.

If the Goatman does exist,

could it be the product of some unholy scientific experiment?

There are those who believe

that not only is such a disturbing notion true,

but that mankind has opened a virtual Pandora's box--

one that may now be too late for us to close.

And the monster they cite as proof of their theory

is the one that doesn't only walk on two legs

but flies on two wings.

The Mothman.

SHATNER: Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

April 1967.

Linda Sigman and her boyfriend

head out for a quiet nighttime drive.

Far beyond the city lights, they pull over

to do some amateur stargazing.

After a few minutes, they realize

they're not alone.

We got out, and we sat on the car,

and we're sitting there talking for a little bit,

and I noticed a bright star over to my right.

And all of a sudden, it started to get bigger.

And it turned bright red, and it started to glow,

and, like, it burst through the clouds.

And it came right over in front of the car,

and we looked up, and the object was so big

that we couldn't see the night sky or the stars or anything.

My boyfriend tried to start the car, and it wouldn't start.

Finally got the car started, and we started to pull forward,

and I saw him.

And he appeared to be a large flying man with wings.

It was the creature that I perceive to be Mothman.

His wings were back, and he was anywhere

between eight and nine feet tall,

and as we were going around a turn,

the Mothman flew and flew into the trees.

I don't know what else it could have been.

SHATNER: The Mothman?

A large, red-eyed, human-sized creature that flies?

But if such a creature exists, where could it have come from?

GERHARD: Mothman is one of the most enigmatic creatures

in the annals of the unexplained.

And it first gained public notoriety

in November of 1966,

and within a matter of days and weeks,

there were dozens or perhaps hundreds of sightings

of this creature around the Point Pleasant area,

causing a mass hysteria situation.

Skeptics have attributed the Mothman sightings

to a misidentification

of giant owls, or even a crane that is local to the area.

There's all kinds of other explanations

that have been given, but when you interview

the people that actually saw and experienced this,

they're not talking about anything

that is conventionally known.

SPINKS: West Virginia people are outdoorsy people.

They know all the animals in the woods.

Most are avid outdoorsmen, hunters, fishermen.

They know the difference between an owl

and a Mothman-type creature.

GERHARD: We have to consider that the Mothman's behavior,

which involved chasing cars at over a hundred miles an hour,

taking straight up off the ground like a helicopter,

none of those would indicate any type of flesh-and-blood animal.

SHATNER: Chasing cars at over a hundred miles an hour?

If true, then this thing is no owl,

at least not a normal one.

There's no animals anywhere on this planet that even resemble

a giant man-sized creature with ten-foot wings anywhere.

And to me, that would lead to the fact

that it's definitely not of this world.

SHATNER: Not of this world?

According to a growing number of mainstream scientists,

such a profound notion is, in fact, possible.

In 2018, a fascinating study

was published on the DNA of the octopus.

The octopus is a really unusual creature here on earth.

They can rewrite their own DNA, they can camouflage themselves,

and they are considered the most intelligent

of all invertebrates.

What these researchers concluded was that the DNA of the octopus

had traveled here on a comet.

In other words, this DNA didn't start off on Earth.

It came from somewhere else.

FISHER: There are many instances of organisms,

particularly extremophiles, that can occur

in extremely inhospitable conditions.

And there are even cases of organisms like these

being able to survive exposure to-to space.

So, it's not completely out of the question that something

like a microorganism might be able to survive spaceflight

on a comet that was coming to Earth, for example.

One of the most intriguing theories for Mothman

is that possibly, it could have reached the Earth

via an asteroid, and the DNA developed on our planet

to the point now we're actually seeing creatures

that ultimately became Mothman.

SHATNER: Could the Mothman's DNA have hitched a ride to Earth

on an interstellar comet?

For the residents of Point Pleasant, West Virginia,

the more pressing question is whether the Mothman

is a friend or a foe.

It's been seen a lot of times right before tragedies happen.

That's the only common thing we know.

It seems to show up at tragedies.

JEFF WAMSLEY: On December 15, 1967,

the Silver Bridge, which spanned from Point Pleasant

over to Kanauga, Ohio,

collapsed at about 5:00 on a Friday evening.

Uh, it was the worst bridge disaster in U.S. history.

46 people died.

I was six when the bridge fell.

And I remember, at that time, there were people that claimed

that they'd seen a large bird flying back and forth,

you know, across the-the river before the bridge fell.

REDFERN: The official story is that it was just wear and tear,

and the 46 people who were killed

just didn't really stand a chance.

There are rumors that the Mothman was seen

around the time that the bridge collapse

so there was inevitably talk around town

that somehow the Mothman had either caused the tragedy

or, in a strange way,

was kind of like a grim reaper for many people.

GERHARD: To this day, residents of Point Pleasant

draw a connection between the Mothman

and this bridge collapse,

perhaps perceiving the Mothman's appearance

as some type of premonition or omen of the tragedy.

HIPES: I would say, probably, in Point Pleasant it's 50/50.

50% of the people believe that Mothman

caused the Silver Bridge tragedy,

and the other 50% believe that he may have

been here as a warning to get everyone on guard

that something terrible may happen.

SHATNER: Mothman, a force for good?

A protector from harm?

Is it possible that some crypto-creatures,

like the Mothman, are just...

misunderstood?

It's an interesting and even comforting notion.

But if such creatures exist,

they would be just as likely to attack us

as we would be to attack them.

For we appear as strange and menacing to them

as they do to us.

SHATNER: Lake Shelbyville, Illinois.

July 1977.

While on a fishing trip with his son,

construction worker "Texas" John Huffer captures

incredible footage of two giant creatures taking flight.

LEWIS: In Huffer's film, we see what appears to be

two large birds perched on a tree

and then flying off into the sky.

He actually honked his boat horn to get their attention,

and that seemed to startle them,

and they flew off out of his sight before he ran out of film.

A lot of people in the field still talk

about Huffer's footage because it's so remarkable.

The birds are large.

COUCH: They appear to be a very unique-looking animal,

particularly in that their tail feathers seem larger

than any type of raptor that I am, uh, personally aware of.

LEWIS: These creatures were gigantic

compared to your normal turkey vulture.

Whatever they are, they're actually there, and they're big.

SHATNER: Gigantic flying birds?

Larger than turkey vultures?

But if so, what kind of bird is it?

And why haven't we noticed anything like it before?

One of my specialties within the field of cryptozoology

is investigating accounts of what are known as thunderbirds.

Thunderbirds are creatures from Native American mythology,

and they are essentially giant raptor types of birds,

similar to an eagle with a hooked beak,

enormous wingspans

ranging anywhere from 15 to 20 feet across,

basically the size of a small airplane.

We consider them very sacred

because they do have the power to take a life.

And they also have power to give life.

And we see them all over,

all over the skies,

so you'll get many descriptions of the thunderbird.

In the beginning, they're the ones that protected us,

and in the future, they said they will protect us again.

That's power.

These things were said to be able to swoop down

out of the sky and carry off grown adults.

LEWIS: In fact, many claim

that when these gigantic birds flap their wings, it sounds

like thunder in the sky, hence the name "thunderbirds."

Oftentimes, the old legends tell

of great wars in the Midwest

between the thunderbirds and other creatures.

[shrieking]

[bird screeches]

SHATNER: Thunderbirds.

Giant flying creatures from Native American folklore.

Could such supernatural beings actually exist?

Or could they be something that has, until now,

been considered extinct?

They could be a teratorn,

which is a giant condor-like beast

that existed during the last ice age.

We know that they existed at the same time as humans

because there are burials of humans and teratorns.

SHATNER: According to paleontologists,

teratorns had wing spans which measured up to 12 feet wide.

They're also believed to have been extinct

for at least 10,000 years.

But given the incredible size of the creatures

in John Huffer's footage,

is it possible the teratorns survived extinction?

According to cryptozoologists, the answer's yes,

and for evidence, they point to the rediscovery of a creature

that was thought to be extinct, not just for thousands of years,

but for millions.

South Africa. 1938.

A group of fishermen returning home notice something

much larger than normal in their daily catch.

It measures five feet long, weighs 200 pounds,

and is covered with strange, silver markings.

After careful examination,

the creature is finally identified

as a coelacanth, a large saltwater fish

that was thought to be extinct

for the past 65 million years.

It was supposed to have died out

with the mass extinction of the dinosaurs,

and it became a fantastic discovery.

It's essentially a living fossil.

LEWIS: What strikes me is that this creature

wasn't a small insect or a bug that was thought to be extinct.

It's five feet long, 200 pounds.

It looks prehistoric.

When you see this creature,

if you were to catch it on your fishing pole,

you would immediately know that it was a relic from the past.

SHATNER: But if this coelacanth, recently caught and killed

in a fisherman's net, could survive 65 million years

of presumed extinction and evolution,

why not the teratorns?

It seems very naive to believe that the coelacanth

was the only survivor out there.

If we discovered one of these creatures

thought to be in the realm of folklore,

it would change our complete understanding

of evolution, science

and the field of what's known and unknown.

SHATNER: Just because physical evidence of certain strange creatures

has not yet been recovered,

why do we assume that eyewitness accounts,

and even filmed footage, is not enough to convince us

that they can and do exist?

And not only exist,

but are out there hiding, not only in the skies

above our heads,

but deep in the ground beneath our feet.

[roars]

SHATNER: Mongolia, the Gobi Desert,

an arid wasteland,

almost completely devoid of life-- almost--

because there are those that believe the area

is home to a creature so deadly

that just catching an accidental glimpse of it can kill.

This creature's name in Mongolian

actually means "large intestine worm."

It appears as if it's lacking a head

and maneuvers by traveling under the sand,

and it's often referred to as the Mongolian death worm

'cause it can kill its victims in a number of ways.

Mongolian death worm is a hideous-looking creature,

one to two feet long.

People talked about it for generations.

It can shoot out electricity for miles on end

that can be felt by anyone traveling through the desert.

It's even more terrifying

because you can't see it till it's too late.

-[roars] -It is said to pop up

and shoot venom on its victims

where the tiniest bit will cause the victim to drop dead.

RIHERD: Biologists know of large species of worms,

and they know of species of animals that can spit venom

or that can electrocute their prey,

but to find all of these features

in one species of animal is highly unusual.

COUCH: People who live near the Gobi Desert in Mongolia

are deathly afraid of this creature,

and, actually, uh, there are descriptions

given by the prime minister of Mongolia

saying that this is what the creature looks like

and that it's out there in the Gobi Desert.

COLEMAN: There's many science-fiction movies

that has copied the real stories of the Mongolian death worm.

Some people say they're scared to death when they see it.

[roars]

People were seeing something.

I don't think it's a simple case of it being an allegory

or a cautionary tale of avoiding things

that can kill you in the desert.

I think they were actually seeing something

that terrified them. They witnessed it

killing their friends and loved ones,

and they wanted to avoid it at all costs.

[shrieks]

SHATNER: A creature so lethal that a drop of its venom

can cause instant death?

And if you somehow managed to avoid its venom,

it could still electrocute you?

[shrieking]

[sighs]

Remind me to think twice before planning that trip to Mongolia.

So, what do you think?

Are creatures like the chupacabra, Goatman

and the Mothman real?

Or are they figments

of overactive imaginations?

Perhaps mankind is so good at creating its own demons

that they become real.

And we say we want to find them, capture them, study them,

but perhaps all we really should do is leave them alone.

Let them stay in the shadow.

Let them remain The UnXplained.

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