A three-pronged shoe mystery

0:07 Starting in 1948, Tony would row a short distance off Florida's west coast,

0:12 then put on a pair of oversized metal shoes with three prongs.

0:18 Why?

0:19 (whinnies) (sputters) It's a why question!

0:22 No!

0:23 (laughs) Ahh...

0:24 ah...

0:25 Starting in 1948, Tony would row a short distance off Florida's west coast,

0:30 then put on a pair of oversized metal shoes with three prongs.

0:35 Why?

0:36 (both Toms laugh heartily) (sighs) Last time it was Florida's west coast,

0:41 It had to do with Cape Canaveral.

0:44 Although I don't know if that's on the west coast.

0:45 That's the east coast.

0:46 Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay.

0:46 That's the east coast.

0:48 And I'm gonna drop a space fact in here.

0:51 You know why?

0:51 Ooh, wonderful.

0:53 Because it's closer to the— It's— The ocean

0:56 is more likely for debris to fall in.

0:58 Yeah.

0:58 Because they launch to the east.

1:00 You can't come in and steal someone else's fun fact, Tom.

1:04 (group laughing) So rude!

1:08 That's the rules, baby.

1:09 Is you say it faster, you gotta— It's collaborative.

1:11 It's collaborative.

1:12 (Tom Lum and Caroline laugh) Yeah, they launch eastbound.

1:15 So this is unlikely to be a space coast thing,

1:19 despite— Also bit early for 1948 as well.

1:22 It's nothing to do with space.

1:24 Okay.

1:24 Yeah, yeah.

1:25 Well, so this is the first time they did it,

1:27 and they didn't realize that you gotta look at that.

1:30 Are the metal shoes weighing this person down in some capacity?

1:35 Yes.

1:36 Yeah, they are.

1:38 I think I saw that they were— they weighed about 30 pounds.

1:42 Oh, so hefty, huh?

1:46 And is the length of the prongs important?

1:50 Mm, no.

1:51 I'm thinking like, is this like a reef thing?

1:53 Like you're trying to...

1:55 Yeah, yeah.

1:56 Underwater mountain climbing.

1:58 (guffaws deeply) (chuckles) A short distance is doing a lot of work there.

2:02 Mm.

2:03 Yeah.

2:04 Like that, off the Florida coast, that could be ankle deep water...

2:11 Or it could be, no, you've got a full diving suit

2:14 on, and you also have to be wearing giant pronged shoes.

2:17 Yeah.

2:18 Also...

2:19 year and Tony makes— Is this a specific occurrence...

2:24 or is this a thing that several people could have done?

2:28 It was a specific thing, this man did.

2:31 I don't— I doubt you would've heard of him in particular,

2:34 but it was known in the area.

2:37 Sure.

2:37 Yeah, yeah.

2:38 Is '48 late enough for there to be...

2:42 tourist attractions in Florida?

2:44 'Cause nowadays, if this was a Florida thing,

2:46 it'd be like, it's either a weird Everglades thing,

2:49 or it's just some obscure tourist attraction that they're trying to set up.

2:54 Mm.

2:54 I went...

2:55 Years ago, I went to a mermaid show in Florida.

2:58 Oh!

2:59 There is a natural spring— deep spring water thing,

3:02 they've just built a glass wall theater into the side of.

3:06 Whoa.

3:06 And they have people in mermaid suits.

3:09 Floridians are crazy.

3:11 Yeah, that's what I'm thinking.

3:12 Is there some tourist thing here?

3:14 I don't know if it was a tourist attraction,

3:17 but I— if I was a tourist, and I knew about this, I would definitely go.

3:21 Okay.

3:21 Sure, okay.

3:23 It's something Ella would find interesting.

3:24 So is it something that's still happening?

3:27 'Cause you said it started in '48.

3:31 Did this carry on for a longer period of time?

3:34 I think it carried on, I think it was for a decade.

3:37 Whoa!

3:38 Okay.

3:38 Okay.

3:39 They loved putting really heavy metal shoes

3:41 on and just having a wander around, huh.

3:43 Interesting.

3:44 What a wander around.

3:46 Wander around, do they put them on and they went for a little walk.

3:49 Was there a shipwreck here or something that they could explore?

3:53 The metal prongs make me think that there's

3:56 something under the ocean bed that they're trying to...

4:01 hit with— the prongs are sinking down, and they're trying to hit something

4:06 under the— It's really inefficient crab hunting.

4:09 Yeah.

4:10 (guests laughing) Crab soccer.

4:12 Yeah.

4:14 (grunts) I'll say this.

4:16 They're not— He's— Tony wasn't looking for something.

4:18 He wasn't trying to take something.

4:19 He is leaving something behind.

4:21 Is he implanting something, using the shoe?

4:26 Footprints.

4:27 Bigfoot.

4:28 Ooh.

4:28 But he was just putting lots of big spiky holes in there.

4:33 Wait.

4:34 Is he trying to recreate dinosaur footprints or...

4:39 Caroline, you're so close.

4:41 What?

4:41 What do you mean?

4:42 Bigfoot prints?

4:44 Is he trying to make a...

4:46 pretend there's a cryptid there?

4:48 Yes!

4:48 That's exactly it!

4:49 What?

4:50 What?

4:50 Awwh!

4:51 You would love this.

4:52 (laughs) You're 100% right.

4:54 Weird tourist stuff!

4:55 That's weird tourist stuff!

4:57 Weird tourist stuff!

4:58 Oh.

4:59 (laughs) Which cryptid?

5:02 Tony Signorini was trying to make fictional tracks for a giant penguin.

5:09 Or giant creature of some sort.

5:10 (both Toms laugh uproariously) Oh my goodness.

5:12 So it wasn't three prongs going down.

5:15 It was three prongs out!

5:16 No, yeah.

5:16 It's three prongs sticking out.

5:18 Oh!

5:18 I had those on completely the wrong axis in my head.

5:21 Yeah.

5:22 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

5:23 So after seeing a dinosaur footprint picture in National Geographic,

5:26 Tony Signorini decided to create a fictional cryptid of his own.

5:31 He made a pair of 14-inch lead shoes (both

5:34 Toms guffaw) to leave footprints on Clearwater Beach near Tampa.

5:37 The massive tracks baffled both locals and scientists,

5:42 who wondered if it could be a 15-foot-tall penguin.

5:44 (cackles) (cracks up) Apparently the charade went on for about a decade,

5:49 but— and Tony didn't come clean until 1988.

5:53 So 40 years later.

5:53 (Tom Scott and Caroline laugh) Man,

5:55 remember when misinformation was a craft that you had to be skilled at?

5:58 Right?!

5:58 (group laughing) Crop circles!

6:01 Yeah, we'll just get some folks.

6:03 We'll put, you know, flatten some wheat.

6:05 It'll be fine— Oh, no.

6:06 Now we've started a whole cult.

6:07 Oops.

6:08 Okay, great.

6:09 Lead shoes.

6:10 Wow.

6:10 I like the penguin.

6:12 That's a fun novel one.

6:14 The Lateral Producer's Club is at lateralcast.com

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6:24 Caption+ by JS* caption.plus| @caption_plus