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The Deadly Mantis

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"In the midst of the immense “monster boom” of the 1950’s, one of the more unusual monsters almost vanishes into the background without closer inspection.

In the year 1957, the mysterious and sudden disappearances of several airplanes, and the equally abrupt destruction of three research outposts in the Arctic Circle prompted an investigation. The only results of said investigation were a massive, shattered and melted glacier – believed to have been caused by a massive earthquake that had struck the area recently – as well as several massive three-toed tracks in the snow nearby. Later, one of the vanished planes was discovered wrecked in the snow. The fuselage had been torn apart before it crashed – apparently in midair – by an unknown force that left a single bizarre, claw-like object behind. The claw, upon closer analysis, was proven to be made of keratinous tissue.

A few months later, the owner of the claw revealed itself as a gigantic praying mantis that had apparently been trapped in the ice for several million years before the ‘quake had released it. The recently-thawed ice was proven to have detritus within it dating back to the Carboniferous period, a time when massive arthropods were not so unusual – though this specimen far exceeded anything known to man through fossils in those ancient swamps.

Regardless, the mantis flew south, devouring any animals it found along its route – a relatively uninhabited route, thankfully, until it reached lower New York State. The creature eventually wound up in Washington DC, where dozens of iconic photographs have been taken of the beast’s climb up the Washington Monument. Leaving Washington, the insect flew north, and engaged in a dogfight with several planes from Roosevelt Airfield. The beast was wounded when one plane accidentally smashed into its head, and the dying mantis descended to the streets below, seeking refuge within the Lincoln Tunnel before finally being killed by several canisters of nerve gas. A pair of ten-foot mantis statues flank the tunnel's entrance to this day.

The insect’s biological composition in itself was fairly unremarkable, but its origins – not as a mutant, but as a previously-existing, naturally occurring entity – bring up the disturbing concern about what other giants might have roamed the Earth in eons past – and how many of them still lurk in the undiscovered places of the world…"

Reality Check: this is the titular monster from the 1957 film "The Deadly Mantis". The film was made by Universal, but is now in the public domain (I think).
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