Made in London in 1960 amazing find. While repairing the building of the orphanage, the builders stumbled upon a bricked-up basement filled with wooden boxes with the remains of some fantastic creatures. British journalists suggested that this is the famous collection of cryptids that belonged to Thomas Merlin. The scientist devoted his whole life to mysterious and mysterious animals, the existence of which modern science can neither confirm nor refute.
No material evidence
For centuries, researchers have been trying to prove the materiality of living beings known only from eyewitness accounts. The most striking examples are Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster. There is a lot of evidence of meetings with them - and at the same time there is no weighty arguments their presence in the real world.
Animals whose existence is assumed, but not scientifically proven, are called cryptids (from the ancient Greek kryptos - “secret”, “hidden”). The science of them is called cryptozoology and is based on the thesis that many biological species on our planet are still waiting to be discovered.
Cryptozoologists are sure that there are dozens, maybe even hundreds of unknown animals that live in remote areas. So far, they are known only from local legends and eyewitness accounts. But quite recently, before mid-nineteenth centuries, now-famous animals such as the gorilla or giant panda were considered mythical creatures that cannot be found in real life.
Underwater monsters
The most likely habitats for cryptids are the depths of lakes and seas. Scientists say that now the underwater world has been studied by only 3%, so it is he who promises the greatest number of new discoveries.
Since ancient times, there have been legends among sailors about giant ocean monsters that are capable of dragging a large ship to the bottom. Such an animal is called a kraken; evidence of encounters with it has been known since the 12th century. Some describe it as looking like a crab, others like an octopus or squid.
Such monsters can be found not only in sea water. In three interconnected lakes located in the US state of Oklahoma, a huge freshwater octopus has been repeatedly seen attacking swimmers. By the way, indirect evidence of its existence can be the fact that the mortality rate among swimmers in these lakes is much higher than in other places.
Giant fish can also be found in the water depths. In 1924, in the sea near the city of Marghita (South Africa), many residents watched as a huge fish, covered with sparse hair, fought with two killer whales. This cryptid was called "tran-ko", but he did not appear again.
Many animals living in the underwater world, due to lack of knowledge, cannot be classified. For example, some consider the Loch Ness monster to be a preserved dinosaur, others to be a warm-blooded animal, and most simply find it difficult to answer what kind of zoological species this creature represents.
Of course, skeptics express doubts that such cryptids really exist. But remember that until the middle of the 18th century, a huge sea animal, which was later called the "Steller's cow" (in honor of the naturalist Georg Steller, who first scientifically described this zoological species), was known only from the stories of individual sailors.
Have pterodactyls survived?
Other varieties of cryptids include unusual flying animals. For example, on the islands of Papua New, a creature called a ropen and resembling a pterodactyl was repeatedly seen. The pilots of the aircraft met him in the air, according to their testimony, the wingspan of the ropen is approaching 10 meters, the beak resembles the mouth of a crocodile, and there is a crest on the head.
In the jungle, according to the testimony of local residents, there live huge bats called ahuls, with a wingspan of more than three meters. They are covered with short hair and are nocturnal, feeding on fish that they catch in the rivers. Naturalist traveler Ernest Bartels, who saw them in 1925 and 1927, wrote about encounters with these animals.
About winged creatures that look like huge bats or pterosaurs, eyewitnesses from Latin America say. In the legends of the Indians, such an animal is called "camazotz" - a bat with a human head. Some researchers have seen similar creatures and believe that this is an unknown type of vampire bat, whose head really looks like a human.
Still a monkey or already a man?
Many cryptids resemble giant apes. In the region of the middle reaches of the Tana River, according to legend, a creature lives, which is called “code-finished”. It walks on four legs and looks like a big baboon. These animals steal sheep in the villages, which is why the inhabitants periodically scare them away with the beating of drums.
In North America, eyewitnesses met a creature called "bigfoot" (from the English bigfoot - "big foot") - due to the fact that it leaves huge footprints. According to the stories, his height reaches three meters, and his weight is up to 200 kilograms, he has a small forehead and highly developed brow ridges.
In Latin America lives a cryptid called "mapinguari". He also looks like a big monkey and can walk on two legs. There are cases when these animals were killed, but their bodies were so fetid that the hunters were in a hurry to bury them as soon as possible.
Yeti can be attributed to the same group, or Bigfoot, - a hypothetical humanoid creature covered with wool and living in high mountains and Nepal.
Little Alpine Dragon
One of the most famous cryptids is the so-called tatzelwurm (from the German words tatze - "paw" and wurm - "worm"). Researchers consider it a kind of dragon - a reptile that lives in the Alpine region.
Written evidence of encounters with the Tatzelwurm has been known since the end of the 15th century. True, the testimonies largely contradict each other. The length of the animal is 0.5-4 meters, the skin can be smooth, warty or lamellar, the number of paws varies from two to six, there may be a ridge on the back.
In 1850, the remains of one of the dead animals were shown in a small church in, but they were later destroyed. In 1914, on the territory of modern one of the animals was allegedly caught by a soldier - then a stuffed animal was made from tatzelvur-ma, which mysteriously disappeared.
Photographs and the presented remains of tatzelwurms often turned out to be a joke or a deliberate fraud. So, in 1939, the newspapers of Munich reported the capture of this creature on the streets of the city, but later it turned out that sensation lovers passed off a large American lizard that had escaped from the zoo for tat-tselwurm. In 1934, a Swiss photographer sent a clear picture of a tatzelwurm to the newspapers - but then it turned out to be a photo of a ceramic figurine. In Europe, it has already become a good tradition to report some “sensational” news about tatzelwurms on every April 1, which eventually turns into a joke.
At the same time, even venerable scientists do not deny the likelihood that this animal may be a real-life species of lizard, which over time will be able to identify and classify.
Mysterious Collection
But back to the collection of Thomas Merlin. This Englishman was born in 1782. He traveled all his life, collecting artifacts, and became the owner of a unique collection of incredible cryptid exhibits. In 1899, he made an attempt to show his collection to the audience in several small towns, but the Americans showed no interest in the mysterious skeletons, and Merlin had to cancel the tour.
Another thing is surprising - during this trip, Thomas Merlin was already 117 years old! At the same time, according to the memoirs of contemporaries, he did not age at all and looked forty years old.
Ultimately so strange properties organism led to the fact that the scientist began to be considered evil sorcerer Nobody wanted to talk to him. And Thomas Merlin mysteriously disappeared - along with his collection.
His next public appearance took place already in 1942 in London. The forty-year-old-looking man presented authentic documents in the name of Thomas Merlin and proved ownership of one of the houses in the capital - after which he transferred it to an orphanage on the condition that the building would never be put up for sale.
According to the documents, Merlin's age at that time was 160 years old. Journalists became interested in this phenomenon, but the scientist disappeared again.
The house was never really sold and remained unchanged until 1960, when the building underwent a major overhaul, during which a basement with a collection of cryptids was discovered.
Some of the remains were mummified, while others were represented by skeletons or individual bones. The boxes also contained old manuscripts and accompanying scientific notes.
In 2006, a book was published in which the authors claimed that the artifacts from the collection of Thomas Merlin were a grandiose hoax made by by unknown artists and sculptors. But many exhibits give the impression of being authentic - there are no traces of processing on the mysterious bones, their location and connection with each other does not contradict physiological laws.
A few years ago, the International Union of Cryptozoologists was created, which brings together more than 800 scientists from 20 countries. These people are sure: mysterious mythical animals exist. And that means that new discoveries await us, which for the time being seem incredible.
The famous traveler Thor Heyerdahl wrote in his book “Journey to the Kon-Tiki” that in 1947 the expedition members saw a mysterious sea animal that surfaced and again went into the depths.
In London in 1960, quite by accident, while repairing the orphanage building, the builders discovered the entrance to the dungeon, which was carefully walled up so that not a single soul could enter it.
This underground vault contains thousands of artifacts and cryptids that defy any reasonable explanation, except for the assumption that our world is not organized at all the way pundits present it to us, and of all stripes, from historians to biologists.
In the basement were eerie skeletons of some fantastic creatures, strange devices and unique old manuscripts. The researchers suggested that all these things once belonged to Thomas Theodore Merlin. And there were certain reasons for this.
Professor and Lord Thomas Theodore Merlin
Thomas Merlin was born into an aristocratic British family in 1782. Since his mother died in childbirth, the boy was raised by his father Edward, who devoted the rest of his life to this. As a military man, he soon retired, and since he was not a poor man, he went traveling with his son, collecting and collecting rare plants and various artifacts along the way. This was facilitated by the fact that Edward was fond of esotericism, as well as natural history.
So father and son traveled long years until Merlin Sr. passed away. Thomas, having hardly survived the death of his father, turned into almost a hermit, who was fascinated only by collecting rare exhibits of plants and animals, artifacts and old manuscripts.
However, on the other hand, all this made him a fairly well-known scientist in certain circles in England. He traveled the world many times (with and after his father), visited its most isolated corners, met with a wide variety of people, thanks to which he expanded and deepened his esoteric knowledge received from his parent.
Merlin had to cancel his tour before he even got to California. And although he had plenty of money, he abandoned his plans to "enlighten mankind." By the way, at that time he was already one hundred and seventeen years old ...
The mystery of Thomas Merlin
Sir Merlin, according to the descriptions of his contemporaries, was a surprisingly ageless man. Already at an advanced age (to say the least), he remained in excellent physical shape, while no one gave him more than forty years. It was rumored that this eternal youth and health was brought to him by his occult practices. Merlin began to be afraid and shunned, after which he realized that it was time to disappear from the circle of people he knew. And he disappeared...
It was not until the spring of 1942 that rumors leaked out that someone posing as Thomas Merlin had produced (undoubted authenticity) documents confirming his ownership of a house in London. This gentleman, no more than forty years of age, wished to give the property to the Tunbridge Orphanage on the condition that the house should never be put up for sale.
Some researchers who knew a little about Thomas Merlin immediately became interested in this strange person, since the owner of the house for sale at that time would have to be one hundred and sixty years old. However, the mysterious Merlin disappeared again, and now, it seems, forever ...
The house given over to the orphanage was not actually for sale, but in 1960, as it was said at the beginning of the article, it was overhauled, during which a basement was discovered with numerous fantastic cryptids and artifacts that Sir Merlin had been collecting for many years around the world...
About 50 years ago, in London, they were clearing a place for the construction of a new quarter. Then several old mansions were demolished, including the house that once belonged to Thomas Theodore Merlin. Several thousand old sealed wooden boxes were found in the basement of this building...
Having opened these chests, the builders were horrified, because inside were the skeletons of various mythical creatures (fairies, vampires, lycanthropes, horned hares, werewolves, and so on). People heard about some of them from fairy tales, others seemed completely unfamiliar and strange to them. In this article, we will try to slightly reveal the secret of these creatures and tell you more about Thomas Theodore Merlin.
In general, the personality of this man is shrouded in various legends. It is known that he was born in the distant 1782. Merlin's mother died in childbirth. The boy was raised by his father, whose name was Edward. It was he who influenced the boy's worldview, since he himself was very fond of esotericism.
Edward and his son traveled the world a lot, collecting a variety of artifacts. Thomas experienced the death of his father very difficult, but nevertheless he found the strength to return to scientific world. Thomas worked extensively on the collected artifacts and interacted regularly with representatives of the then scientific elite. 
Thomas Merlin even tried to show his collection in the US, but the local conservative public did not take this idea well, and the tour had to be interrupted.
In time, Merlin's mansion was given to Tunbridge. orphanage, allegedly with the condition not to open the basement. But in the 1960s, it was still opened ... Now the Merlin Museum is located here. 
It is interesting that, apart from the link to the site of this museum, there are no other sources that tell about this unique collection. From this we can conclude that the story of Merlin is just a beautiful joke or, perhaps, a good marketing ploy, because any exhibit of this museum can be purchased ... 
Thomas Merlin's collection of cryptoids was found in 1960 in London during the renovation of the orphanage building. Workers sorted out a pile of abandoned trash and found a walled-up basement, which contained filled wooden boxes with the remains of fantastic creatures.
It was immediately suggested in the British newspapers that this find belonged to Thomas Merlin, who throughout his life collected mysterious and mysterious animals, unconfirmed and unconfirmed by modern science.
Thomas Merlin was born in 1782 into a British aristocratic family. His mother died in childbirth and the upbringing of the child fell on the shoulders of Edward's father, who was a retired military man. Having sufficient financial resources, Edward decided to go on a journey with his son to collect a collection of rare plants and artifacts.
The death of his father greatly shocked Tamas and made him a hermit, whose main hobby was only the search for and collecting rare plants, animals, artifacts and old manuscripts. To replenish his collection, he traveled a lot, visited the most remote corners of the earth and met many interesting people.
In 1899, Thomas Merlin decided to organize an exhibition of his collection of cryptoids in several small towns in the United States. However, the townspeople were not interested in the mysterious animals and the tour was cancelled.
"Forest Child" from Thomas Merlin's Cryptid Collection
During this tour, contemporaries noticed unusual fact: at 117 years old, Thomas Merlin looked 40 years old and did not age at all! In this regard, they began to consider him a sorcerer and stopped communicating. Shortly thereafter, Thomas Merlin's collection of cryptoids and the owner himself mysteriously disappeared.
However, in 1942, a man in his forties showed up in London, who presented documents in the name of Thomas Merlin and proved ownership of one of the houses in this city. After that, he gave the house to an orphanage on the condition that the building would never be sold. At the same time, according to the presented document, Merlin at that time was already 160 years old!
In 2005, a book was published in England, the authors of which claimed that Thomas Merlin's collection of cryptoids was just a fake. made by unknown artists and sculptors. However, there are no traces of processing on the bones of the mysterious exhibits, and their arrangement and connection with each other does not contradict physical laws in any way.
British builders in the 60s accidentally discovered a basement with boxes in which the remains of mysterious creatures were kept during the repair of an orphanage, and scientists immediately suggested that it was the collection of Thomas Merlin. Their colleague devoted his whole life to the search for cryptids, the existence of which he managed to prove.
For many centuries, experts have tried to prove the reality of the most famous monsters described in the stories of eyewitnesses of events. This concerned Bigfoot and a monster from Scotland, but then no one found weighty arguments confirming their presence in the world. It is worth adding right away that these animals are called cryptids, and the scientists involved in the search are sure that there are hundreds of unknown species on the planet, hiding in hard-to-reach corners and known only to local residents or described in their legends. Until the 19th century, the gorilla or giant panda was also referred to as these individuals, not found in nature. Lakes and seas are the most frequent havens for mysterious monsters, because they are only 3% explored and can bring sensational discoveries to the scientific world.
Ancient sailors often described encounters with creepy creatures that could drag ships to the bottom. Krakens really were in real life and are mentioned in the annals of the 12th century, where some people described them as octopuses or crabs. Such monsters can be found not only in the depths of the sea, since the Americans from Oklahoma also repeatedly noticed a giant monster with tentacles attacking people in the waters of the lakes. Therefore, there are much more deaths in this corner than in other water bodies of the country. Mysterious fish of incredible size have also been found. Many residents of the South African city of Marghita in the 20s witnessed an incredible fight between such an individual, covered with wool, and killer whales, but no one else saw her.
Also, scientists cannot classify the inhabitants underwater world living in such places, so Nessie is still considered a type of dinosaur or warm-blooded creature, but most experts find it difficult to answer such a question. Skeptics used to say that they simply did not exist, but only after the 18th century was the sea cow recognized as a biological species, and until that moment it was only seen by sailors while sailing. This refers to flying monsters, striking in their resemblance to the ancient extinct pterodactyls. Pilots flying over Papua New Guinea saw a 10-meter-long ropen with a reptile-like beak and a crest on its head. Indonesian jungle hides from people ahuls, which are gigantic bats, going hunting at night and having 3-meter wings. They were first discovered by the scientist Ernest Bartels, who explored these territories in the 20s, after which he described that these individuals are covered with thick hair and feed on caught fish. Latin American Indians even have legends about mice with a human head that drink the blood of people and still live in mountain caves.
Many cryptids appearance resemble a monkey, so the Kenyans were absolutely right in talking about a monster stealing sheep from the villages for their dinner, but afraid of the sound of drums. Bigfoods are also often mentioned by Americans who have seen their large footprints, and also describe these creatures as three-meter giants covered with wool, with a small forehead and weighing 200 kilograms. They are able not only to frighten a person, but also to hypnotize him with the help of superpowers, and also to suddenly disappear from view, passing through a temporary portal. Mapinguari also outwardly resembles a primate, only moves on two legs and emits a strong stench after death, so that the hunters were forced to immediately bury the corpses in the ground. This includes the yeti, which looks like a person and lives in the highlands of Pakistan and Nepal at high altitude.
The most famous species of cryptid was the tatzelwurm, which lives in the Alps. Scientists consider it a kind of reptilian, and the first mention of such an unusual dragon can be found in the annals of the 15th century. Then many people variously described a creature reaching 4 meters, and having a sharp ridge on its back, covered with scales or warts. Then it disappeared from sight until 1850, when the temple's parishioners for the first time could contemplate the remains of the slain monster, put on public display. Then they decided to destroy them, and already in 1914 in Slovenia, the military caught such a monster and made a stuffed animal out of it. Then came the turn of falsifications, when instead of a dragon they showed an American lizard and pictures of a figurine, and Europeans on the first day of April were already used to each new sensation about finding the creature to be taken as a joke.
But what then did the legendary collector, who himself was also a mysterious person, collect? Thomas Merlin was born in 1782 and then wandered the world all his life in search of mysterious exhibits, and then decided to show the Americans his collected collection, only in 1899 no one appreciated such a great discovery. Then the scientist crossed the 117-year mark, but contemporaries described him as a 40-year-old man, after which the strange features of the body began to be considered witchcraft. No one wanted to communicate with the man who disappeared along with his rarities, but in 1942 he suddenly appeared in the British capital and showed the original documents for his house, transferring the building to the shelter on the condition that it would never be sold. Then his age was 160 years old, only the scientist again disappeared mysteriously. The collection of unique cryptids was partially mummified, and there were also old manuscripts proving the authenticity of the exhibits. Now 800 specialists from 20 countries have formed an alliance to find traces mystical creatures and people are still waiting for new discoveries in the future, capable of overturning current scientific theories.
Reshetnikova Irina