[en] Formation of some enigmatic haloes (such as giant, super-giant, intermediate types, dwarf, polonium haloes etc.) has been explained, in an unified approach, on the basis of α-recoil and α-particle damage density distribution from the decay series of radon and thoron diffusing out of the highly radiation damaged inclusion and the surrounding host matrix. It is shown that the origin of these haloes can be explained without invoking the presence of any hitherto undiscovered radioelement or superheavy element in the halo inclusion. An order of magnitude estimate of the diffusion coefficient has been made. The data available in literature on different haloes have been shown to fit in well with the diffusion mechanism. (author)