Monstrous
CryptoZoo => Sightings! => Topic started by: Devious Viper on May 16, 2006, 06:06:42 AM
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Alien Big Cats - UK
Firstly, alien does not mean from outer space, no one issuggesting that these cats have been deposited by UFOs as part of some Venusian invasion plan. The term alien simply means that they are alien to the part of the world in which they were seen; out-of-place is another term that is sometimes used and more accurately reflects the true nature of the animals and sightings.
Although there are much older recorded encounters with ABCs in the British countryside, it was in the early 1960s that they became a recognised "Mystery", a major branch of forteana, just as flying saucers took on a public life in the 1940s, Bigfoot in the 1950s, and crop circles in the 1970s, though each had precedents.
While it is possible that breeding populations of ABCs have been established in the British Isles, there may be other dimensions to the mystery. Meeting the unruffled stare of an unknown large felid can be a numinous experience, at odds with the animals' supposed retiring nature and reminiscent of encounters with "black dogs" - known in different regions as Black Shuck, Pooka, Trash hound, Barguest, or Shriker - many of which might be feline rather than canine.
Could some of these big cats have been teleported from their natural habitat, as Charles Fort playfully suggested or do they exist in our physical world only fleetingly, as other denizens of the fortean menagerie seem to? It is certainly bizarre that numerous ABC hunts with state-of-the-art technology, some involving the Army, have always (with one or two exceptions) failed, while the majority of large felids that are known to have escaped from zoos are caught or killed.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, all but two of the 16 big cats that escaped into the wild in the UK between 1977 and 1998 were recaptured within 24 hours. However, talk of phantoms and teleportation will not appeal to the sceptical cryptozoologist or strict adherents of Occam's razor.
Britain is not a large island - and much of it is fairly densely populated. There are no real "wilderness" areas; and yet these creatures seem able to live, hunt, mate and thrive without being discovered. The real link with the paranormal, in my opinion, is that if cats can do this, what about other strange creatures..? If werewolves do exist, for example, their superior intelligence
and shifting ability would mean they were virtually guaranteed to remain undetected. Similarly, there is hardly a county of Britain that hasn't had some kind of report - huge scratch marks on trees, livestock attacks, etc - could some of these, possibly the majority, be instead the result of actions by some... "other"... creature?
The mystery and theories will no doubt continue as long as the sightings do but until then many authorities will carry on denying their existence whilst members of the public will continue to report their sightings.
~ Viper ~
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NEW BOOK ON BIG CAT MYSTERY
by Debbie Clarke 23 August 2006
The unexplained phenomena of alien big cats and where they come from is being explored in a new book. Mystery Big Cats, by cartoonist and writer Merrily Harpur, was published earlier this year. And the book is supporting a new television production about the fascinating creatures.
The move follows a recent sighting in Glenrothes (Scotland) of a mysterious puma-like cat in the early hours of the morning.
Antony Delmaestro claims he spotted a big cat while returning home from working at Toby's Fish and Chip Shop in Thornton at the end of last month. He saw the animal prowling near the Millennium Gym Complex at Eastfield Industrial Estate.
At the time, he told The Gazette: "I saw this long, black tail. It was black like a panther and was about two or three times the size of my dog, which is a cross between a retriever and a springer spaniel. It was running up and down the grass and I was only 30 feet away from it but I wasn't scared. I watched it as it went across the building site nearby and then it disappeared. It seemed quite timid, but I wouldn't follow it."
Mr Delmaestro's account follows a number of reported big cat sightings in the town over the last few years. In her book, Merrily Harpur says that over the past two decades, every county in Britain has had recurrent sightings of big cats, described as being like pumas or panthers.
source Fife Today; Glenrothes Gazette http://www.fifenow.co.uk/