In 1948, a man wore 30-pound, 3-toed lead shoes and stomped around a Florida beach in the night. The footprints lead people to believe that a 15-foot tall penguin was roaming their lands. He kept up the prank for 10 years, visiting various beaches. The hoax wasn’t revealed until 40 years later.

Florida’s Giant Penguin

There’s just too much weird stuff in Florida to quit after three days. Maybe a fourth Strange States entry will let us get it all out of our system…

The Giant Penguin of Clearwater, Florida

In February 1948, the residents of Clearwater, Florida—then a small town of only about 15,000 people—were drawn to the Gulf beaches not for swimming or sunbathing, but for the mysterious three-toed footprints in the sand. Measuring about 14 inches long and 15 inches across, the prints came up out of the water, followed along the shore nearly two miles, and then disappeared back into the sea. The footprints were photographed and plaster casts were made, and though experts said the creature must have weighed nearly 2000 pounds to make prints so d… Continue Reading

Source: http://mentalfloss.com/article/52460/strange-states-floridas-giant-penguin.