In 1960, an amazing discovery was made in London. While renovating the orphanage building, the builders came across a walled-up basement filled with wooden boxes containing the remains of some fantastic creatures. British journalists suggested that this was the famous collection of cryptids that belonged to Thomas Merlyn. The scientist devoted his whole life to mysterious and enigmatic animals, the existence of which modern science can neither confirm nor refute.
Without material evidence
For centuries, researchers have been trying to prove the materiality of living beings known only from eyewitness testimony. The most striking examples are Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster. There is plenty of evidence of encounters with them - and at the same time there are no compelling arguments for 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 confident that there are dozens, maybe even hundreds of unknown animals that live in hard-to-reach areas. So far, they are known only from local legends and eyewitness accounts. But just recently, until the middle of the 19th century, such now famous animals as the gorilla or the giant panda were considered mythical creatures that could not be found in real life.
Monsters of the underwater world
The most likely habitats for cryptids are the depths of lakes and seas. Scientists say that now only 3% of the underwater world has been studied, so it is this that 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 depths of the water. In 1924, in the sea near the city of Margate (South Africa), many residents watched as a huge fish, covered with sparse hair, fought with two killer whales. This cryptid was named "tran-ko", but he did not appear again.
Many animals living in the underwater world cannot be classified due to lack of knowledge. For example, the Loch Ness monster is considered by some to be a preserved dinosaur, by others as a warm-blooded animal, and most simply find it difficult to answer what zoological species this creature represents.
Of course, skeptics express doubts that such cryptids really exist. But let us remember that until the middle of the 18th century, a huge sea animal, which was later called “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.
Are pterodactyls still alive?
Other types 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 spotted. Airplane pilots met it in the air; according to their testimony, the wingspan of the ropen is approaching 10 meters, its beak resembles the mouth of a crocodile, and there is a crest on its head.
In the jungle, according to the testimony of local residents, live huge bats called akhuls, with a wingspan of more than three meters. They are covered with short hair and are nocturnal, feeding on fish that they catch in rivers. Traveler-naturalist Ernest Bartels, who saw them in 1925 and 1927, wrote about encounters with these animals.
Eyewitnesses from Latin America talk about winged creatures that look like huge bats or pterosaurs. In Indian legends, such an animal is called “Camazotz” - a bat with a human head. Some researchers have encountered similar creatures and believe that this is an unknown species of vampire bat, whose head really looks like a human one.
Still a monkey or already a man?
Many cryptids resemble giant apes. In the area of the middle reaches of the Tana River, according to legend, there lives a creature called “code-done”. It walks on four legs and resembles a large baboon. These animals steal sheep in villages, which is why residents 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 stories, his height reaches three meters, his weight reaches 200 kilograms, he has a small forehead and highly developed brow ridges.
In Latin America there lives a cryptid called a "mapinguari". He also looks like a large monkey and can walk on two legs. There are known cases when these animals were killed, but their bodies were so fetid that hunters rushed to bury them as quickly as possible.
This group also includes the Yeti, or Bigfoot, a hypothetical humanoid creature covered with fur and living in the high mountains of 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 to be a type of dragon, a reptile native to the Alpine region.
Written evidence of encounters with the Tatzelwurm has been known since the end of the 15th century. True, the testimony largely contradicts each other. The length of the animal is 0.5-4 meters, the skin can be smooth, warty or lamellar, the number of paws ranges from two to six, and there may be a crest on the back.
In 1850, the remains of one of the killed animals were displayed in a small church in, but were later destroyed. In 1914, on the territory of the modern one, one of the animals was allegedly caught by a serviceman - they then made a stuffed animal from the Tatzelwur, which mysteriously disappeared.
Photographs and presented remains of Tatzelwurms often turned out to be a joke or a deliberate fraud. So, in 1939, Munich newspapers reported the capture of this creature on the streets of the city, but later it turned out that fans of sensations passed off a large American lizard that escaped from the zoo as a Tat-tzelwurm. In 1934, a Swiss photographer sent a clear photograph of a Tatzelwurm to newspapers - but it later turned out to be a photo of a ceramic figurine. In Europe, it has already become a good tradition to report on every April 1st some “sensational” news about Tatzelwurms, which ultimately turns into a joke.
At the same time, even venerable scientists do not deny the possibility that this animal may be a real-life species of lizard, which over time will be able to be identified and classified.
Mysterious collection
But let's return 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 attempted to show his collection to audiences in several small towns, but the Americans showed no interest in the mysterious skeletons, and Merlin had to cancel the tour.
Another surprising thing is that during this trip Thomas Merlin was already 117 years old! At the same time, according to the recollections of his contemporaries, he did not age at all and looked forty years old.
Ultimately, such strange properties of the body led to the fact that the scientist was considered an evil sorcerer; no one wanted to communicate with him. And Thomas Merlin mysteriously disappeared - along with his collection.
His next public appearance occurred in 1942 in London. The forty-year-old man presented original 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 with the condition that the building would never be put up for sale.
According to documents, Merlin's age at that time was 160 years. Journalists became interested in this phenomenon, but the scientist disappeared again.
The house was never really sold and stood unchanged until 1960, when the building underwent a major renovation, during which a basement with a collection of cryptids was discovered.
Some remains were mummified, others were represented by skeletons or individual bones. The boxes also contained ancient manuscripts and accompanying scientific notes.
In 2006, a book was published, the authors of which claimed that artifacts from the collection of Thomas Merlin were a grandiose hoax made by unknown artists and sculptors. But many of the 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.
Several years ago, the International Union of Cryptozoologists was created, which unites more than 800 scientists from 20 countries. These people are sure: mysterious mythical animals exist. And this means that new discoveries await us, which for the time being seem incredible.
The famous traveler Thor Heyerdahl wrote in his book “Journey to Kon-Tiki” that in 1947 members of the expedition saw a mysterious sea animal that surfaced and again sank into the depths.
About 50 years ago, land was being cleared in London 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 discovered in the basement of this building...
Having opened these chests, the builders were horrified, because inside lay 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 material 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 back in 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 interested in esotericism.
Edward and his son traveled a lot around the world, collecting various artifacts. Thomas experienced the death of his father very difficult, but still he found the strength to return to the scientific world. Thomas worked hard on the collected artifacts and regularly communicated with representatives of the then scientific elite. 
Thomas Merlin even tried to show his collection in the USA, but the local conservative public did not react well to this idea, and the tour had to be interrupted.
Over time, Merlin's mansion was given to the Tunbridge Children's Home, ostensibly on the condition that the basement not be opened. But in the 1960s it was opened... Now the Merlin Museum is located here. 
It is interesting that, apart from the link to the website of this museum, there are no other sources telling about this unique collection. From this we can conclude that the story about Merlin is just a nice joke or, perhaps, a good marketing ploy, because any exhibit of this museum can be purchased... 
In London in 1960, quite by accident, while renovating the building of an orphanage, builders discovered an entrance to a dungeon, which was carefully walled up so that not a single soul could enter it.
This underground storage facility contained thousands of artifacts and cryptids that defy any reasonable explanation other than the assumption that our world is not structured at all as it is presented to us by pundits of all stripes, from historians to biologists.
In the basement there were creepy skeletons of some fantastic creatures, strange devices and unique ancient manuscripts. Researchers have 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 Merlyn was born into an aristocratic British family in 1782. Since his mother died during childbirth, the boy was raised by his father Edward, who devoted the rest of his life to this. Being a military man, he soon retired, and since he was not a poor man, he went with his son to travel, along the way collecting and collecting rare plants and various artifacts. This was facilitated by the fact that Edward was interested in esotericism, as well as natural history.
So father and son traveled for many years until Merlin Sr. died. Thomas, having barely survived the death of his father, turned into practically a hermit, who was only interested in collecting rare exhibits of plants and animals, artifacts and ancient manuscripts.
However, on the other hand, all this made him a fairly famous scientist in certain circles in England. He traveled the world many times (with his father and after him), 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 reached California. And although he had plenty of money, he abandoned his plans to “enlighten humanity.” By the way, he was already one hundred and seventeen years old at that time...
The Riddle 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, and no one gave him more than forty years. There were rumors that his occult practices brought him this eternal youth and health. They began to fear and shun Merlin, 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 claiming to be Thomas Merlin had produced (unquestionably authentic) documents confirming his ownership of a house in London. This gentleman, no more than forty years old, wished to transfer the property to the Tunbridge Children's Home, stipulating that the house would 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 being sold 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 an orphanage, was not actually for sale, but in 1960, as was said at the beginning of the article, a major renovation was carried out in it, during which a basement was discovered with numerous fantastic cryptids and artifacts that Sir Merlin had collected for many years to the whole world...
In the 1960s in London, while clearing a site for the construction of a new residential area, an old, long-abandoned mansion that had previously belonged to a certain Thomas Theodore Merlin was sent for demolition.
In the basement of the house, builders discovered several thousand small wooden boxes that were tightly sealed. Imagine their surprise when inside they began to find the corpses of strange mythical creatures that, it seemed, should only live in fairy tales.
Lord and Professor Thomas Theodore Merlin.
Sir Merlin was born into an aristocratic London family in 1782. His mother died during childbirth and the boy was left to be raised by his father Edward. His father was a military general, but soon after the birth of his son he retired and began to become seriously interested in esoteric natural history. Good investments in profitable commercial companies allowed him to travel around the world in search of various artifacts and unknown species of animals and plants.
They traveled together for many years until Edward passed away. Thomas took the death of his father very hard. Seeking solace in his work, he became practically a hermit, collecting at home an impressive library and specimens of unseen creatures. However, he found the strength to return to the scientific world. During his long career, Thomas Merlin traveled around the globe many times, he was friends and corresponded with many famous scientists of that time. And, of course, he continued to collect his collection.
Once in 1899, he even made an attempt to show it to the world, going on tour overseas to America with a small part of his impressive collection. But the local conservative public reacted sharply negatively to the creatures that Merlin showed them. The tour had to be canceled before he could reach California. Surprisingly, even at his advanced age, Sir Merlin maintained amazing physical shape. He rarely looked older than 40 years old. It even got to the point that some began to accuse him of occult practices that supposedly gave him eternal life.
These doubts were only strengthened in the spring of 1942, when someone posing as Thomas Merlin presented the deeds to the house and stated that he wished to transfer ownership of it to the Tunbridge Children's Home on the condition that the house would never be sold and the basement would never be opened. People who followed the work of Thomas Merlin naturally assumed that he had been dead for a long time, since in 1942 he would have been over 160 years old. But this man quickly disappeared and it was no longer possible to find him. The orphanage kept its promises; they never opened the mansion's basement. But in the 1960s they had to move out, and the house was demolished. Only after destroying it almost to the ground did the builders manage to find Merlin’s secret collection. And what was there is simply amazing.
Fairies
Newborn dragon Draco Magnus
Homo Vampyrus
Complete skeleton of Draco Alatus
Homomimus Aquaticus, or Icthyosapien - a distant ancestor of jumping fish,
which evolved into some kind of mermaid
Draco Alatus
Homo Vampyrus (Vampire) Homo Lupus (Lycanthrope)
Homo Lupus (Lycanthrope Cub)
Devil child
Adult male lycanthrope
Homomimus Dentata (Tooth Fairy)
Homunculi (Goblin)
Homunculi (Dwarf)
Nymph
Succubi (Succubus)
Lepus temperamentalus (Horned hare)
Sea monsters
Ceratopsid Dinosaur
Draco Fluminis
Mummified Vampire Child
Lycanthrope head
Important addition.
In order to avoid all sorts of misunderstandings, it is still necessary to make a separate clarification (although this is already obvious) that this entire collection is just a set of interesting miniatures created by artists that are in no way connected with reality. And the story about Sir Thomas Merlyn is nothing more than a beautiful legend. In our pragmatic everyday world, sometimes you want a little secrets and riddles. Take it easy.
