TinWiki: Alien Big Cats, page 1

An Alien Big Cat (also know as ABC or Phantom Cat) is a large cat that is alien to the locale in which they are seen, not to be confused with alien in the extraterrestrial sense. ABCs are frequently grouped with cryptids like Bigfoot and Nessie, or UFOs.

They are infrequently seen, rarely photographed, and seem to leave few, if any, physical traces of their existence. The other is that they are sometimes reported to do things that a real cat can’t do - such as disappear, be bulletproof, have glowing red eyes, jump impossible heights or distances, or portend death or misfortune.

ABCs are often associated with Britain, but in fact they have been spotted in France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Denmark, Hawaii, and North America. ABCs have been a phenomenon since the 1950s, but some researchers suggest that they have been with us for far longer and were thought to be demon cats, shapeshifters, witch familiars, or spirit cats before science replaced superstition.

Certainly some ABC reports are cases of simple misidentification. In Britain in particular, some ABCs which were killed or captured were found to be hybrids of the domestic housecat and the Scottish wildcat. Others may be melanistic (black) forms of cats which are actually native to the area, such as the small population of melanistic bobcats now known to exist in Florida. Eyewitnesses have reported these animals to be panther sized, but when they were caught they were normal-sized bobcats, only black.

There is much speculation that ABCs are exotic cats escaped from zoos, circuses, and private collections, or released pets. Some of them may be, but the sheer numbers of ABC sightings makes it highly unlikely, if not nearly impossible, for all ABCs to be feral exotics.

Well then, if they aren’t all misidentified housecats, melanistic native cats, or escaped exotics, what are they? Good question, and one on which the ‘experts’ disagree. Some believe that ABCs are a breeding population of large cats which, like Bigfoot, may stretch back to prehistory and excel at hiding from us. Others associate ABCs with UFOs, and in fact there have been a few concurrent sightings of ABCs and either UFOs or Bigfoot. Still others believe them to be shapeshifters like the Native American Skinwalker, or inhabitants of another dimension which from time to time appear visible in ours.

By far the most common ABC is a black panther, but the phenomenon is not limited to them, nor even to cats. In North America there are reports of an extremely large maned cat resembling an African lion, and other ABCs are reported as being pumas, jaguars, cheetahs, and jungle cats. The Black Shuck and other phantom black dogs (sometimes called hellhounds) appear to have much in common with ABCs and may be another form of the same phenomenon. Reports of other anomalous animals who either do impossible things or have improbable features such as huge black or glowing red eyes have included deer, bears, horses, eagles, owls, and even kangaroos.

Although it is likely that many reports of ABCs are sightings of a real animal which is out of place or misidentified, some sightings include behaviors and characteristics which can only be described as paranormal. Some examples of these reports include:

“She saw a human-sized cat walking on its hind legs, with glowing eyes” “One guard who saw it wants to remain anonymous. It happened on a January night in the 1970s. As he was walking through a passage way, he saw the black cat approach. The phantom appeared to get larger as it walked toward him. Its eyes had a reddish glow. The guard was afraid to move. Finally, the phantom reached the size of a tiger and its meowings changed to roars. It crouched and sprang and all the guard could do was to pray and close his eyes. Nothing happened. When the guard opened his eyes, the cat had vanished.” “These phantom cats are described as large heavily muscled felines with black or tawny fur, glowing eyes, and a long tail. They are hostile towards humans, stand and walk on their hind legs, and leave strange clawed footprints. Earthly cats as a rule do not attack humans, do not walk upright, and have retractable claws that do not appear in footprints.” -The Beast of Bodmin Moor, which is reported to have disappeared from a barn surrounded by soldiers.

Resources and additional reading:

home.cinci.rr.com...
www.answers.com...
www.ufodigest.com...
www.skepticreport.com...
www.lizaphoenix.com...
www.buzzle.com...
maxpages.com...