Were Giants Ever Real? The Strange Clues That Keep This Mystery Alive

So, let’s be honest, when someone says “giant,” most of us immediately picture Goliath, Jack and the Beanstalk, or that iconic Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (simultaneously terrifying and delicious). But in the real world, there’s been a surprising amount of speculation that an actual race of giant humans once walked the Earth, maybe even living alongside early humans.

Ancient texts mention them. Historians wrote about them. Some cave walls even show artwork that looks like giant figures. So today, yes, today, I wanted to dig into this long-requested topic. And as always, let’s keep an open mind and look at the clues people say might point to the existence of giants.

1. The Giant Footprint of South Africa

One of the most famous “proofs” is a massive footprint discovered in 1912 near Mpuluzi, close to South Africa’s border with Eswatini. Locals call it the “Footprint of God” or “Goliath’s Footprint,” and it’s about four feet long. If it really belonged to a human, that person would’ve been around 24–27 feet tall.

What makes things even wilder is that the footprint is embedded in granite, rock that geologists say hardened millions (or even billions) of years ago.

Sceptics aren’t convinced. They say it could be a natural formation or even human-carved. But believers argue that we make too many assumptions about how granite formed. Some even suggest molten rock could once have been exposed at the surface, soft enough for a giant to leave a literal mark.

One geology professor joked that it’s more likely aliens licked the shape into the rock than it formed naturally. So… opinions definitely vary.

2. The Mummified Giant Finger of Egypt

Back in 1988, Swiss entrepreneur Gregor Spörri met with an elderly man from a family of Egyptian tomb robbers. The man let him examine a family heirloom: a dried, dark-brown human-like finger, complete with bone, skin, and a giant fingernail, measuring nearly 15 inches long.

X-rays accompanied it, and if the finger was real, it would’ve belonged to someone about 16 feet tall.

Spörri tried to buy it, but the owner refused, saying it was too precious to the family. The finger hasn’t resurfaced since, adding another layer of mystery to an already bizarre story.

3. Historical Mentions of Giants

Throughout history, explorers, scholars, and writers described meeting, or at least discovering the remains of giant humans.

• In 1608, explorer John Smith wrote about meeting a tribe with leg muscles measuring nearly a yard around.
• First-century historian Flavius Josephus described the remains of giant humans whose bones were “unlike any other men.”
• Roman historian Pliny the Elder recorded that a 9-foot-9-inch giant named Gabbaras was brought to Rome and eventually commanded soldiers who practically worshipped him.

Were these exaggerations? Cultural misunderstandings? Or early accounts of something we no longer understand?

4. The Red-Haired Giants of Lovelock Cave

The Paiute people of Nevada have a story about a race of red-haired giants who were violent, cannibalistic, and constantly at war with neighbouring tribes. According to legend, the tribes eventually cornered the last of them in Lovelock Cave and burned them alive.

When the cave was excavated in the early 1900s, miners and archaeologists reportedly uncovered unusual artifacts, oversized tools, massive sandals measuring 15 inches long, and even a giant handprint pressed into stone.

A 1931 newspaper article even claimed that two giant mummified skeletons, one 8.5 feet, the other 10 feet, were found nearby. Both reportedly had red hair, just like the legends said.

Are the stories true? A mix of truth and myth? Or something else entirely?

5. Giant Bones Reported Around the World

This is the big objection people always raise:

“If giants existed, where are the bones?”

Well… according to historical reports, a lot were found:

• An 1897 New York Times article described a massive skeleton with a skull “as large as half a bushel” found in Wisconsin.
• In France, anthropologist Georges Vacher de Lapouge discovered bone fragments suggesting people over 11 feet tall during the Neolithic era.
• In Namibia, miners uncovered a thigh bone so large that its owner would’ve been around 12 feet tall. That bone ended up in a university vault in Johannesburg.

Whether these findings were misidentified, exaggerated, or real… the reports exist, and they keep fueling the mystery.

So… Were Giants Real?

I’ve wanted to talk about this for years, and honestly, the deeper you dig, the stranger things get. We may never know for sure whether 12-foot, 20-foot, or even 30-foot humans once existed, but the clues are fascinating.

And if giants did exist?

Suddenly, the construction of massive ancient structures, like the pyramids, starts to look a lot less impossible.

A geologist once said something I really love:

“Even in our advanced world, we’re still surrounded by mysteries, ancient places, lost cultures, unexplained beings… all waiting to be understood.”

So what do you think?

Did giants once walk the Earth?

And do you think they could still be out there somewhere today?