The Top 10 Most Mysterious Creatures of Modern Times (Part 1)

THERE ARE CREATURES that lurk out there in the dark, that haunt the isolated forests of the world, that hide in the icy depths of the deepest lakes. They appear unexpectedly and inexplicably, then vanish just as mysteriously, usually leaving witnesses dumbfounded, frightened and, unfortunately in most cases, without a shred of evidence. Yet the eyewitness stories of these creatures persist, haunting the darkness as well as our imaginations. Here, for your consideration (and in no particular order) are the top 10 most mysterious, unexplained creatures of all time. Some are more likely to really exist than others, but we'll leave that judgment up to you.

Bigfoot / Sasquatch / Yeti

• taller than an average man (seven to eight feet)
• covered with long brown or auburn hair (or white hair in the case of the Yeti)
• a strong, repugnant odor
• 
  
  large feet, as evidenced by castings of footprints
  
• an aversion to man
  
• a piercing, eerie howl
  

Loch Ness Monster (and other Lake monsters)

• a large creature with a long neck
• a horse-like head
• a humped back

T.rex 'little cousin' discovered

A new species of dinosaur has been discovered that is believed to be an early relative of Tyrannosaurus Rex. The 2-meter long Tawa hallae would have lived in the late Triassic period and was found in what is now New Mexico.

"Researchers have unveiled a new species of dinosaur from the late Triassic period - a small, early relative of T.rex and Velociraptor. The 2m-long dinosaur, named Tawa hallae, was found in a "bone bed" on the Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, US."

Hubble spots ‘space jellyfish,’ cosmic blobs

This "space jellyfish" is one of several new protoplanetary discs, or proplyds, discovered in the Orion Nebula. The objects are so far away that even with Hubble's keen eye, they appear blurry.

  New photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed extraordinary images of planetary systems being formed. One such image shows a "cosmic jellyfish", a protoplanetary disc hit by particles from a nearby star.

"An odd array of 30 newly released images from the Hubble Space Telescope reveal planetary systems in the making. The blobs and smudges, as astronomers described them, sit in the widely photographed Orion Nebula. Each object is known as a proplyds, or protoplanetary discs, and could be forming planets as you read this."

An odd array of 30 newly released images from the Hubble Space Telescope reveal planetary systems in the making.

The blobs and smudges, as astronomers described them, sit in the widely photographed Orion Nebula. Each object is known as a proplyds, or protoplanetary discs, and could be forming planets as you read this.

Among the images is one astronomers called a "space jellyfish." Its odd shape is created by shock waves that form when a wind of particles from a nearby massive star collides with the material of the proplyd.

The Orion Nebula is known to be a hotbed of star formation. Our own sun might have developed in a similar dense cloud of gas and dust, before being kicked out to its current lonely existence.

In the nebula, newborn stars emerge from the nebula's mixture of gas and dust, and the proplyds form around them. The center of a disc, which is rotating, heats up and becomes a new star, but remnants around the outskirts of the disc attract other bits of dust and clump together, astronomers explained.

Each developing planetary system has its own look. Some of the discs appear face-on, and others edge-on. Some have emerging jets of material.

Visible to the naked eye under very dark sky conditions, the Orion Nebula has been known since ancient times and was first described in the early 17th century by the French astronomer Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc. At 1,500 light-years away, it is the closest star-forming region to Earth.

The new collection of photographs will help astronomers better understand the planet-formation process, researchers said in a statement today.

The Lost Colony of Roanoke, 1588

Most Americans know the story of the “Lost Colony”. It dates back to the time the Europeans began to settle on this free land, that is now known as Virginia. The village of Roanoke was the one of the first English colonies to be established on the soil. However this village did not turn out to be that of a successful one. The Governor of this hamlet had the name of John White. The small population of Roanoke complained about their lack of food and tools. They also contained frightening suspicions that the Natives may launch a surprise attack on them. These complaints eventuated in John White going to England to later return along with the proper supplies the colonists requested. John White returned three long years afterwards. But what he returned to was not that of a colony but of a ghost town. The area which was once a village was stripped of its people. Houses and other shelters were nowhere in site. What was left behind were some small cannons, an opened chest, a tall fence built around the perimeter of the former village site, and a single word inscription carved on a fence post, “Croatoan”.
Five Popular Theories:

1. The people of Roanoke simply left the settlement.
This is one of the more probable theories. It is said that they have supposedly left Roanoke island and started settling in the Chesapeake Bay. And that they built rafts or a boat of some sort using materials torn apart from their houses. Close to twenty years had passed before John Smith and his group started the well-known settlement of Jamestown (where the popular story of Pocahontas takes place). This settlement was near the Chesapeake Bay. The evidence in this tale is that the ruler of the natives did indeed admit to killing the colonists. They said that they had been in their land (Chesapeake Bay area) and were then annihilated to prevent more English settlers form stealing their land.

2.The whole population of Roanoke Island was killed by a disease.
This is an absurd theory. It is true that the English had brought over some diseases. However, note, there were no bodies found and the houses had disappeared. Quite a ridiculous theory.

3. The village was destroyed by a severe storm such as a hurricane.
Another one of the incredulous theories. A hurricane could have washed away the colonists and destroyed the houses, true. But the huge problem with this theory is the fence was still standing. It is not possible for a storm to do as much damage as clearing away the whole settlement when the fence remained untouched.

4. The people of Roanoke decided to leave Roanoke Island to live with the Natives.
This theory is definitely probable. Crotoan, which was carved on the post, was the name of an island in the area. It was also the name of the group of the kind natives that inhabited it. It is possible that they colonists decided to live with the natives of Croatoan. Though there has not been a descent amount of evidence to prove this theory, there also has been no evidence against it.

5. The colonists were killed by the Native Americans
This is the most probable of all five theories. One important fact supports this theory. As one may not know, the English men had before tried to start the colony of Roanoke before. Twas a group of fifteen men. A little over a year had passed since they first started the colony, before explorers decided to check up on their hopeful progress. What these explorers found was one dead body. It was verified that it was the work of the Natives. From this past event we know that the Natives were capable of such atrocities and also capable of hiding the bodies. What’s interesting is that the Natives pulled all of that off in between less than a two year period. While the “lost colony” had been deprived of its leader for a number of three years. The “Indians” had a sufficient amount of time to tear down the buildings too. However there has still not been enough evidence to verify this theory.

It is an incredible fact that hitherto historians contain no sure explanation about what exactly happened to the colonists and the residences of Roanoke in 1588. People have umpteen theories on what occurred in that three year period. Some, as we know, include, the spread of a disease, a hurricane, etc. Even peculiar yet probable theories such as extra-terrestrial abductions have been issued. Will mankind perpetually crawl in the dark when it comes to this topic? Or, will light be discovered?