R | RAT KINGS Reported for centuries but never satisfactorily explained, rat kings are groups of living rats whose tails have mysteriously become inextricably intertwined, thereby permanently binding the hapless creatures to one another. Perhaps the most astounding specimen was the hairless, desiccated example discovered in May 1828 at Buchheim, Germany, lodged inside a miller's chimney. Not surprisingly, in this particular instance the rats were dead -- all 32 of them. REPTILE MAN On 19 August 1972, while on the beach around Thetis Lake in British Columbia, Canada, Gordon Pike and Robin Flewellyn were astonished to see an incredible reptilian humanoid emerge from the lake's depths. Standing 5 ft tall and walking on its hind legs, the entity was covered in silvery scales, possessed huge pointed ears, large eyes, a frog-like face, flipper-like feet, and bore several sharp pointed projections on its head. When it saw its two eyewitnesses, the creature began to chase after them, but they soon fled. Four days later, what would appear to be the same creature was seen by two other observers as it came out of the lake. RHODE'S COLOSSAL FIST One of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Colossus was a huge bronze statue, probably about 100 ft tall, depicting the Greek god, Helios, but was destroyed by an earthquake in 224 BC. In 1987 a curious object resembling a giant fist, carved from stone and measuring 6 ft across, was found 700 yards out to sea, in Rhodes's harbour. Sceptics denied any link with the Colossus, as the 'fist' was stone, not bronze.

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