Strange things are afoot... Remember how Apple recently added a 366 MHz Power Mac G3 to its price list, only to pull it again almost immediately? Unfortunately, they didn't pull it fast enough to prevent several catalog resellers from printing and mailing thousands of catalogs advertising the nonexistent machine. Prospective customers called to order one, only to be told that the computer was not yet available.

Granted, there's nothing too strange about Apple deciding not to release a specific configuration at the last second, due to availability concerns. But what is strange is that a reader over at MacNN claims that the 366 MHz G3 systems have shown up at his local Fry's Electronics. That's right-- according to Scott Kingston, the Fry's in Sacramento received twenty-four of the mysterious phantom computers, of which twenty-two had already been sold. And Scott sounds pretty sure of his data; since he was skeptical, the Apple rep at Fry's took him into the back room to have a look for himself.

Now, one firsthand eyewitness report doesn't necessarily mean much, especially given the fact that Edelman Worldwide, Apple's new PR firm, firmly denies that Apple has ever shipped a Power Mac in a 366 MHz configuration. But if there were a very limited number of G3/366's produced before Mitch Mandich pulled the plug, and somehow twenty-four of those machines made it out to Fry's in Sacramento, there are twenty-four very happy Mac users right now, feeling the wind in their hair as they enjoy the fastest Macs ever made. Or never made, depending on whom you believe. Perhaps AtAT viewers in the market for a new Mac should keep their eyes open at their local retailers-- there's no telling how many 366's snuck into the channel. Hey, maybe Scott's experience is just the beginning, and reports of phantom G3/366's will become as popular as Elvis sightings and tortillas containing the image of the Virgin Mary.