Heinkel He-279 "Spiralle"

There are a few theories regarding the Heinkel He.279, some stating that it is a pure fabrication, others that it was a propaganda mock-up using a Heinkel 280 fuselage and wings to confuse the Allies, and another that it may actually have existed in some limited shape or form.  Speaking personally, it has a few oddities that set the spider-senses tingling, and all but one of the very limited pictures of it online are clearly models, despite people believing otherwise.  The old panel lines give the game away every time!  The picture that does give one pause for thought is a head-on shot with a Luftwaffe chap stood nearby, but even that has a strangeness about the four-bladed prop that sends it packing into the "uncanny valley". 

It is purported to have been driven by an experimental X-arrangement engine, which explains the two runs of exhaust stubs on the sides of the fuselage, with a drive-shaft passing through the cockpit to the large prop as previously mentioned.  The Fuselage and flying surfaces are identical to that of the He.280, with just the nose and cockpit showing any major differences.  I'm erring toward it being a fabrication of someone's fevered imagination, but it looks just reasonable enough (with a few additions) that it could have been one of the aforementioned stories, or perhaps another more fanciful one.

Who knows.....