1947 Clearwater ,Fl monster tracks

Here's another article on someone admitting to a hoax years after the fact. I think it's interesting allthough I had never heard of the original creature sighting.

www.sptimes.com...

"The Clearwater Monster didn’t hurt anyone, but left tracks, lots of them, discovered the next morning on the sand.


The tracks looked like nothing anyone had ever seen. They weren't the kind of tracks left by dinosaurs, but they were large, about 14 inches long and 11 inches wide. They featured a narrow heel and 3 long toes. The tracks were more birdlike than reptilian, though not entirely birdlike. They were a dispatch from an unknown world."

Local papers picked up the story and the tracks appeared on and off throughout the area. "Experts" were called in:

" “Plaster casts were made of some of the tracks,’’ Bothwell wrote, “and it was estimated by some that the beast — if beast it was — might have weighed some 2,000 pounds.’’


It was left to Ivan Sanderson , a self-taught zoologist, author and WNBC radio commentator, to render an intelligent opinion. As the flash bulbs popped he studied the tracks, furrowed his brow, did some measuring."

The article continues with the tale of the hoax originator:


“We made them in the shop,’’ Tony said, looking at the weird boots his son lay on the table. “They were plaster at first, but you couldn't make a good track with plaster. It just didn't sink in the sand deep enough to look authentic.

We went to this blacksmith shop and poured lead in our molds. Each track weighed 30 pounds. We bolted black high-top gym shoes to each track.’’

“Al and I rowed out to the beach. I put on the shoes. I jumped out of the boat in shallow water. I was young then, about 25 or so, and much stronger than I am now, an old man. I had to kind of swing my legs out to the side and then forward to get going. Somehow I didn't break my legs. I left deep tracks about 6 feet apart. I made this big loop from the surf, up the beach, and then back into the water to the boat.’’

Anyone ever hear of this incident?

Quotes fromarticle by
JEFF KLINKENBERG, St Petersburg Times Staff Writer
Published June 24, 2006



[edit on 25-6-2006 by rollinoffset]