A mysterious creature was spotted in a pond in Illinois and you might be surprised with what they found.

Witnesses Spot Strange Animal Swimming In Illinois Pond

I'm not sure why, but these kinds of stories fascinate me. Maybe, it's the thrill of the mystery. I'm talking about when residents of Illinois spot a strange and unknown creature. I do prefer it when there is an answer to the question as opposed to being unsolved.

READ MORE: Remember When Alligators Kept Appearing In Wisconsin

Over the last couple of years, there seems to have been an uptick in these sorts of incidents. This summer alone in Illinois there have been multiple bear and mountain lion sightings. Apparently, strange animals like to visit our state during this time of year.

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One of the most famous wild animal sights of all time in Illinois happened five years ago. That's when an alligator was spotted in the Humboldt Park Lagoon in Chicago. It was nicknamed "Chance the Snapper." The creature definitely got its five minutes of fame.

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This current mysterious creature sighting also happened in Chicago. It was spotted in the north pond in Lincoln Park. A couple of people fishing spotted what they thought was an alligator in the lagoon so they called authorities.

Chicago Animal Care and Control sent out a crew of experts to investigate the situation. After combing over the area, they were able to solve the mystery. It was not an alligator. The unknown creature was a big turtle.

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The professionals were even lucky enough to spot the troublemaking animal for themselves. The big turtle was seen surfing on a log which from a distance could be mistaken for an alligator.

LOOK: Here are the pets banned in each state

Because the regulation of exotic animals is left to states, some organizations, including The Humane Society of the United States, advocate for federal, standardized legislation that would ban owning large cats, bears, primates, and large poisonous snakes as pets.

Read on to see which pets are banned in your home state, as well as across the nation.

Gallery Credit: Elena Kadvany