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Alien Big Cats ('ABCs')

In your opinion what are alien big cats most likely to be?

  • Escapees from collections, breeding in the UK countryside

    Votes: 57 48.3%

  • A species of endemic British big cat somehow overlooked by science

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Zooform Phenomena - animal-shaped manifestations of paranormal activity

    Votes: 6 5.1%

  • Misidentifications of big dogs, normal cats etc

    Votes: 28 23.7%

  • A big hoax

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Summat else

    Votes: 4 3.4%

  • All of the above

    Votes: 23 19.5%
  • Total voters
    118

'Black panther' caught on film after big cat attacked terrified man in Peak District​


John Broomhead thought he was going to die when a huge cat bounded towards him. A 'black panther' was later filmed feasting on a dead sheep​




Panther-5440985.jpg


https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1912550/black-panther-attack-big-cat-filmed-peak-district

Seems the Express has merged together two or more big cat stories for a more sensational headline.

Is that sheep in the background meant to be dead? Looks quite relaxed to me.

This doesn't look right to me, the tail looks translucent for a start:

Screenshot 2024-06-20 at 13.59.38.jpg
 
Paul_Exeter said:

'Black panther' caught on film after big cat attacked terrified man in Peak District​


John Broomhead thought he was going to die when a huge cat bounded towards him. A 'black panther' was later filmed feasting on a dead sheep​




View attachment 78460

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1912550/black-panther-attack-big-cat-filmed-peak-district

Seems the Express has merged together two or more big cat stories for a more sensational headline.

Is that sheep in the background meant to be dead? Looks quite relaxed to me.

This doesn't look right to me, the tail looks translucent for a start:

View attachment 78461
Click to expand...
Being that this occurred in 2022, the gist of the story is "He's still having nightmares about it."
Weird. Ridiculous. Even for tabloids, weirdly ridiculous. Are people that clueless that they assume this just happened?
 
Rushfan62 said:
https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co...d-animal-at-peak-district-beauty-spot-3865280

One from Yorkshire edit:. Peak District, but is reported in Yorkshire post
Click to expand...

Paul_Exeter said:

'Black panther' caught on film after big cat attacked terrified man in Peak District​


John Broomhead thought he was going to die when a huge cat bounded towards him. A 'black panther' was later filmed feasting on a dead sheep​




View attachment 78460

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1912550/black-panther-attack-big-cat-filmed-peak-district

Seems the Express has merged together two or more big cat stories for a more sensational headline.

Is that sheep in the background meant to be dead? Looks quite relaxed to me.

This doesn't look right to me, the tail looks translucent for a start:

View attachment 78461
Click to expand...
We discussed this at the time (post above) and came to the conclusion it was a plastic bag. Silly season has come early this year!
 
I found another alleged big cat attack story just yesterday by chance when I was thumbing through the book The encyclopedia of alien encounters (published in 1999, which has a short entry on ABCs). I'm a bit suspicious of this one though, it just seems so unlikely that a big cat would hang around long enough for someone to literally stumble over it, cats are not that stupid, surely it's not just going to lie there while someone trips over it? It would have taken off long before that you would have thought.

20240620_185107.jpg
 
Robin said:
I found another alleged big cat attack story just yesterday by chance when I was thumbing through the book The encyclopedia of alien encounters (published in 1999, which has a short entry on ABCs). I'm a bit suspicious of this one though, it just seems so unlikely that a big cat would hang around long enough for someone to literally stumble over it, cats are not that stupid, surely it's not just going to lie there while someone trips over it? It would have taken off long before that you would have thought.

View attachment 78479
Click to expand...
That's the one I was thinking of upthread. It was all over the news at the time.
 
Another big cat sighting, this time in Moree, New South Wales.

Incredible footage reignites 'black panther' theory after sighting on Aussie property​

The video showing a huge black cat running on a field in NSW has made people wonder if panthers really do exist in Australia.​

There's a mystery that remains unsolved in Australia and one that's got locals hooked. But the debate has reared its head once more after yet another baffling discovery on a property in rural NSW.

Footage showing a "huge" black cat was shared by the property owner on social media this week after she found it strolling calmly through long grass near Moree — a sight that left her wondering "is this a big feral cat or an infamous black panther of Australia"?

For decades there have been reports of oversized panther-like animals roaming fields and farms across Australia, mostly across NSW. In April, a prospector from Ballarat was shocked to see what he described as "blackness in the paddock" which was "moving in a straight line". To him, and others, it resembled a "big black panther".

Responding to his claims, others insisted they too had seen big cats around Bendigo, as well as Grafton and Tamworth. And previously in South Australia. But now it appears Moree could be home to wild black cats too.
Click to expand...
https://au.news.yahoo.com/incredibl...er-sighting-on-aussie-property-074014887.html
 
Robin said:
I found another alleged big cat attack story just yesterday by chance when I was thumbing through the book The encyclopedia of alien encounters (published in 1999, which has a short entry on ABCs). I'm a bit suspicious of this one though, it just seems so unlikely that a big cat would hang around long enough for someone to literally stumble over it, cats are not that stupid, surely it's not just going to lie there while someone trips over it? It would have taken off long before that you would have thought.

View attachment 78479
Click to expand...
sallydyke.jpg


  • Animal expert and Veterinary Lecturer Sally Dyke (32) and her husband Nick (35) had been investigating the haunts of a large feline spotted by several witnesses on no less than 38 occasions over four years within a 30 mile radius of Inkberrow. The Dykes, from John Street, Stourbridge had spent some time laying dead chickens as bait at various locations around Inkberrow in the hope of tracking the animal down.

    One gloomy December evening they went to check the bait they had laid at St Peters graveyard. The bait had worked...too well. All of a sudden, a huge black cat, estimated by the Dykes to be the size of a Great Dane erupted out of the undergrowth and careered into Nick, sending him sprawling. It seemed that Nick had accident trodden on the cat as it lay crouched in the undergrowth. The cat bounded towards Sally, who stood frozen with fear and swiped at her twice before bounding off. The cat's claws ripped through Sally's thick waxed jacket and left deep scratches in her skin, the scars of which were still visible four months later when photographed by The Sun. Thankfully, Sally was otherwise unharmed, although she said that her scars were still tender at that time and she feared that she would be scarred for life.
http://scotcats.online.fr/abc/attacks/inkberrow.html

I was expecting deep gashes to be honest, those sort of scratches you could get from a thorn bush or brambles. The church itself is quite close to National Trust land and open countryside but also uncomfortably close to Stourbridge and Dudley, too. Can't find any trace of her on Linkedin or anywhere else but being a "science college lecturer" just means you have a degree, PGCE or Masters but doesn't make you an expert in your field. I dunno, if we could verify her identity then maybe this case would be stronger. I can't help but feel it may have been a fox trying to escape.
 
Edit to the above, they had driven 20-odd miles to St Peters Church in Inkberrow (not St Peters in Stourbridge).

Some other sightings preceding this incident:

https://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/7747958.elusive-black-panther-cub-spotted-on-the-prowl/

My gut reaction is that this is a hoax or an exaggerated tale after a close encounter with a fox. Would a big cat really go into a churchyard to eat the bait they had left (did the church know about this?) and then allow itself to get cornered?
 
Paul_Exeter said:
View attachment 78558

  • Animal expert and Veterinary Lecturer Sally Dyke (32) and her husband Nick (35) had been investigating the haunts of a large feline spotted by several witnesses on no less than 38 occasions over four years within a 30 mile radius of Inkberrow. The Dykes, from John Street, Stourbridge had spent some time laying dead chickens as bait at various locations around Inkberrow in the hope of tracking the animal down.

    One gloomy December evening they went to check the bait they had laid at St Peters graveyard. The bait had worked...too well. All of a sudden, a huge black cat, estimated by the Dykes to be the size of a Great Dane erupted out of the undergrowth and careered into Nick, sending him sprawling. It seemed that Nick had accident trodden on the cat as it lay crouched in the undergrowth. The cat bounded towards Sally, who stood frozen with fear and swiped at her twice before bounding off. The cat's claws ripped through Sally's thick waxed jacket and left deep scratches in her skin, the scars of which were still visible four months later when photographed by The Sun. Thankfully, Sally was otherwise unharmed, although she said that her scars were still tender at that time and she feared that she would be scarred for life.
http://scotcats.online.fr/abc/attacks/inkberrow.html

I was expecting deep gashes to be honest, those sort of scratches you could get from a thorn bush or brambles. The church itself is quite close to National Trust land and open countryside but also uncomfortably close to Stourbridge and Dudley, too. Can't find any trace of her on Linkedin or anywhere else but being a "science college lecturer" just means you have a degree, PGCE or Masters but doesn't make you an expert in your field. I dunno, if we could verify her identity then maybe this case would be stronger. I can't help but feel it may have been a fox trying to escape.
Click to expand...
I once got a fox out of a boiler room in a church in surbiton and released it alive,four people standing at the top of the steps when I went down the vicar actually told me to be careful in case it went for my neck :oops: I said “I think it’s werewolves your thinking of vicar”
Those scratches certainly aren’t a leopard.
 
Found some more on this case:

"The events leading up to the incident are highly relevant. Mr Dyke (an ex-soldier) was aware that people were reporting sightings of big cats on Exmoor, and the Royal marines had tried to hunt down a big cat that was alleged to be killing livestock. The Royal Marines did not succeed in their operation.

Mr Dyke decided to have a go and he spent two weeks on the moor, his training had equipped him well for such an exercise but in the time he saw no sign of a cat on the moor.

Mr Dyke returned home.

It was some time later that Mr Dyke and his wife Sally learned that a large cat had been repeatedly sighted around the village of Inkberrow, Worcs.

They decided this may be an opportunity to make a name for themselves and prove that big cats were present in the UK, although their method was perhaps a little too ambitious and some would claim downright irresponsible and dangerous."

http://scotcats.online.fr/abc/photoalbum/sallydyke.html
 
Paul_Exeter said:
Found some more on this case:

"The events leading up to the incident are highly relevant. Mr Dyke (an ex-soldier) was aware that people were reporting sightings of big cats on Exmoor, and the Royal marines had tried to hunt down a big cat that was alleged to be killing livestock. The Royal Marines did not succeed in their operation.

Mr Dyke decided to have a go and he spent two weeks on the moor, his training had equipped him well for such an exercise but in the time he saw no sign of a cat on the moor.

Mr Dyke returned home.

It was some time later that Mr Dyke and his wife Sally learned that a large cat had been repeatedly sighted around the village of Inkberrow, Worcs.

They decided this may be an opportunity to make a name for themselves and prove that big cats were present in the UK, although their method was perhaps a little too ambitious and some would claim downright irresponsible and dangerous."

http://scotcats.online.fr/abc/photoalbum/sallydyke.html
Click to expand...
*The following might be possible links:

http://scotcats.online.fr/abc/photoalbum/sallydyke.html

'Huge black cat attacks woman; From '3D', ITV, 21st April 1994'

This 'might' also be a possible link?
https://www.pointuk.com/
 
Thanks for all of your additional posts on that alleged incident. The more I read about it the less plausible it all sounds. They go looking for one and just happen to virtually fall over it! I find that very hard to believe.
Makes you wonder if there have ever been ANY authentic reports of ABC attacks on people - although I understand that there have been lots of livestock deaths over the years that some people have attributed to them.
 
Robin said:
Thanks for all of your additional posts on that alleged incident. The more I read about it the less plausible it all sounds. They go looking for one and just happen to virtually fall over it! I find that very hard to believe.
Makes you wonder if there have ever been ANY authentic reports of ABC attacks on people - although I understand that there have been lots of livestock deaths over the years that some people have attributed to them.
Click to expand...
Short answer: No, not in my opinion.

I just think a big cat would be way too smart to get cornered by humans but do seem to occasionally get caught upwind and are glimpsed scarpering away. I remember some lad claiming he got scratched:

"Josh Hopkins, 11, told yesterday how he was playing in a field close to his home in the village of Trelleck, near Monmouth, with his older brother when he spotted what he thought was the family's cat. But it was a much bigger black cat than he had seen before.

"It turned and made a horrible hissing sound. It reared up and lashed at me with its paw, holding my cheek for a second. Then it got my head in its jaws and bit me. I was terrified and I thought it was going to kill me.""

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/aug/26/geoffreygibbs1

Here is poor young Josh after the big cat put his head in its jaws and bit him::


images-5.jpeg



Oh no, sorry, wrong URL, here is Josh after the big cat put his head in its jaws and bit him:


_895643_cat_300.jpg


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/895643.stm

Make of that what you will...

Unfortunately the media would love big cats to start attacking people in the UK, imagine the headlines and pages they could fill.
 
Last edited:
Paul_Exeter said:
Short answer: No, not in my opinion.

I just think a big cat would be way too smart to get cornered by humans but do seem to occasionally get caught upwind and are glimpsed scarpering away. I remember some lad claiming he got scratched:

"Josh Hopkins, 11, told yesterday how he was playing in a field close to his home in the village of Trelleck, near Monmouth, with his older brother when he spotted what he thought was the family's cat. But it was a much bigger black cat than he had seen before.

"It turned and made a horrible hissing sound. It reared up and lashed at me with its paw, holding my cheek for a second. Then it got my head in its jaws and bit me. I was terrified and I thought it was going to kill me.""

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/aug/26/geoffreygibbs1

Here is poor young Josh after the big cat put his head in its jaws and bit him::


View attachment 78582


Oh no, sorry, wrong URL, here is Josh after the big cat put his head in its jaws and bit him:


View attachment 78581

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/895643.stm

Make of that what you will...

Unfortunately the media would love big cats to start attacking people in the UK, imagine the headlines and pages they could fill.
Click to expand...
I see scratches, but where's the bite?
 
Paul_Exeter said:
View attachment 80631

ABC sighting and photo from my neck of the woods:

https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/deer-bolted-saw-big-cat-9466536

There is no doubt that the Lanhydrock Estate has plenty of deer, pheasant etc and also borders extensive woodlands. Impossible to judge the scale though and does the tail look too short for a panther or puma?

If you scroll down the article there is a second image that is less convinv=cing than the first.
Click to expand...
I like the comment someone posted "If that's a puma, then the trees must have 1-foot long leaves".
 
Paul_Exeter said:
View attachment 80631

ABC sighting and photo from my neck of the woods:

https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/deer-bolted-saw-big-cat-9466536

There is no doubt that the Lanhydrock Estate has plenty of deer, pheasant etc and also borders extensive woodlands. Impossible to judge the scale though and does the tail look too short for a panther or puma?

If you scroll down the article there is a second image that is less convinv=cing than the first.
Click to expand...
Could she not hold the camera still?

As @catseye declares
catseye said:
Well, it's a cat...
Click to expand...
 
Posted on facebook today (15/8/24) if anyone's interested in trying to contact this woman ..

Cromer for tourists​

Pauline Swain · 51m ·

https://www.facebook.com/
We are currently staying in a holiday cottage in Felbrigg. Two days ago, whilst walking our dog at 8.30 pm along a wooded area on the Weavers Way we encountered what we thought was a large black cat but due to its size we put it down to a large deer. However we were both convinced it was a large wild cat but ‘let it go’ as being crazy.
This morning at 5.15 am whilst once again walking our dog we encountered it again on a different path but still in Felbrigg. It froze when it saw us and then began to move towards us. We of course ran away. Very frightened. This is hard to believe but two people can’t be mistaken twice.
All reactions:
2727

Some replies to her post are by local people who've experienced the same in the same area.

edit: a report from 2011 in the same area

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/21142653.update-big-cat-spotted-norfolk-yesterday/
 
Last edited:
Swifty said:
Posted on facebook today (15/8/24) if anyone's interested in trying to contact this woman ..

Cromer for tourists​

Pauline Swain · 51m ·

https://www.facebook.com/
We are currently staying in a holiday cottage in Felbrigg. Two days ago, whilst walking our dog at 8.30 pm along a wooded area on the Weavers Way we encountered what we thought was a large black cat but due to its size we put it down to a large deer. However we were both convinced it was a large wild cat but ‘let it go’ as being crazy.
This morning at 5.15 am whilst once again walking our dog we encountered it again on a different path but still in Felbrigg. It froze when it saw us and then began to move towards us. We of course ran away. Very frightened. This is hard to believe but two people can’t be mistaken twice.
All reactions:
2727

Some replies to her post are by local people who've experienced the same in the same area.

edit: a report from 2011 in the same area

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/21142653.update-big-cat-spotted-norfolk-yesterday/
Click to expand...
I like that in the news article, one person said that the animal was beautiful.

It is slightly odd in the FB post that the animal moved toward them. Most felines would disappear. Maybe the dog being there had something to do with it. Though running from it would not be the best thing. Prey runs.
 
marhawkman said:
depends on size. some of them I'd just pet.
Click to expand...
Don't know about that. There used to be some feral farm cats around here that would have flayed your arm if you tried to pet them. The funniest moment, probably 30 years ago now, was when my collie saw one and decided to chase it. The cat just casually stood up, turned to face my dog and hissed. My dog came to a screeching halt and the cat started to casually walk towards her, so she turned around and belted it back towards me and hid behind me. That cat was hard.
 
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