Nobody was sure how it had happened, but the most prevalent rumour was that Pete Troyanos - a pottery designer with the build of a sumo wrestler - had twisted the soldier's head right round on his neck.

Another Simon & Schuster official, Jack Romanos, president of the company's consumer group, yesterday sought to dispel another prevalent rumor: that Mr. Snyder's departure put two editors, Alice Mayhew and Michael Korda, in precarious positions.

A prevalent rumor that it is possible to jump over the flag pole was later confirmed by Gametrailers.

Asked yesterday about prevalent rumors that he had been conferring about a possible Post bid, Mr. Murdoch responded through his spokesman, Howard J. Rubenstein: "I refuse to comment either way."

But," He began to refute the prevalent rumors by ticking them off on his strong work-stained fingers.

One of the most prevalent rumours is that her heart had stopped many years ago and that the iron clock she carries at her waist is actually a mechanical heart.

There is a prevalent rumor that the ghost of a headless monk walks the bank along the river between Duton Hill and Great Easton in the hours of darkness.

While he deals candidly with Epstein's homosexuality and his problems with drugs and alcohol, Mr. Coleman discounts the two most prevalent rumors about him: that his drug-related death in 1967 was a suicide rather than an accident, and that he had an affair with Lennon.

Traders said the most prevalent rumors in the market were that Federated would recapitalize and pay a special dividend of $45 a share and that the company might be taken private in a leveraged buyout.