The giant penguin of Clearwater

In February 1948, a resident of Clearwater (Florida), faced with something completely unexpected. One morning, walking along the beach, he came across a set of huge footprints in the sand.

The prints were large, about 14 inches (35.5 cm) in length and 11 inches (27 cm) in width, and, more notably, had three toes with long claws.

It seemed that the creature ogromnego size came from the Gulf of Mexico in the southern part of the beach, it was nearly two miles along the shore before returning to the water and disappear. Nobody could understand what made these tracks, but steps four to six feet (121-182 cm), which it did, showed that whatever it was, it was great.

Traces of the creatures appeared on the beaches of different cities in Florida for about two years. They were seen in the cities between Clearwater and Sarasota earned him the name "Old Three-Toes" or "Old three toes". During this time some people said that he had noticed the monster. He was described as "a large, bird-like thing" or "big furry log with a head in the shape of a pig."

The people's reactions ranged from upset and scared to skeptical.

Strange tracks have attracted the attention of well-known zoologist Ivan T. Sanderson, who wrote and commented on the scientific issues in new York. Sanderson arrived in Florida for investigation and spent months examining the traces and questioning the witnesses. According to an article in Tampa Bay Times, he even dug up one print to take home.

Sanderson was like Indiana Jones from the world of Zoology. He made several trips in the African jungles for the University of Cambridge and the British Museum, which he then used to write best-selling books.

He was also the man who coined the term "cryptozoology", referring to the pursuit of creatures from legends such as the Loch Ness monster. If anyone could unravel the mystery of these three-toed tracks, then this is it.

After extensive research and study, he decided that the prints can't be tricked. They seemed too deep otpechatano to be made by man or machine. He even said that he noticed the creature. He described it about 12 feet (3.6 m) in length, grayish-yellow, with big hands resembling flippers. He also said that while swimming he created large waves as if it's made of legs a powerful kick. His final conclusion was that the creature was supposed to be a giant penguin. After that, the traces were discovered several times during the 50-ies, but after 1958, there has been no more no fingerprints, no giant penguins.

30 years later, on June 11, 1988, the mystery was finally solved. "The St. Petersburg Times" wrote an article, which stated that the "Old Three-Toes," the deception. Tony Signorini, people from Clearwater, has admitted that all these years he and his friend Joker was responsible for leaving mysterious tracks. The author went to the dealership Signorini to interview him, and while she was there, the Joker showed her a pair of very large iron claws with three fingers attached to the Shoe.

When the traces were tied to the feet, the two men plunged into the rowing boat to the Joker got out in shallow water near the shore and ran out of the water.

So the track was so far away from each other, Signorini had to balance on one leg, swinging the opposite leg forward and backward to make the jump on the other leg. Since each of the metal traces weighed about 30 pounds (13 kg), the feat required some time and some endurance.

For many years, Signorini from time to time telling friends and relatives the story about how there were traces.

His friend and partner on the joke e Williams died in 1970.

Ivan Sanderson was fascinated by cryptozoology in other places, and doing things like Bigfoot and UFOs, until his death in 1973.

Tony Signorini died in 2013, leaving the legendary leg Cho traces of his son Jeff.

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»