In modern parlance the Phantom Cats of Britain are known as ABCs i.e. Alien Big Cats (the word alien is used to describe anomalous and not, in this case, extra-terrestrial.)
Sometimes the phantom cats of Britain are known as mystery cats.
The British media frequently reports sightings of phantom felines in rural Britain. The glimpses of these big cats are typically explained away as "domestic Maine Coons," but also sometimes as "pumas," or "panthers."
In Neil Mach's urban-fantasy novel Moondog and the Reed Leopard, a bored youngster contacts a paranormal investigator when a close family member is haunted by a phantom cat.
But what are the phantom cats of Britain?
There's a refuted fringe theory that suggests these beasts may, somehow, be surviving fauna from the last ice age! It's interesting to note that, certainly, lions hunted for prey alongside tigers and jaguars in Pleistocene-era Britain.
Fossils discovered in Yorkshire, Devon and London testify to “super-sized ” lions that once stalked herds of giant deer and mammoth. It's thought these big cats died out around 13,000 years ago. It's highly unlikely any survive today!
Others have suggested that sightings of ABC's are more likely glimpses of exotic pets that have been illegally released into the environment or have escaped captivity.
Indeed, a puma (mountain lion) was captured alive in Scotland, in 1980...
There have been several verified accounts of Eurasian lynx being discovered, and the body of a jungle cat found hit by a car (on a roadside in Shropshire, 1989.) Other animals that have been reliably reported have been ocelot and serval cats. In 1996, in County Tyrone, police in Northern Ireland shot a caracal cat (also known as the Persian lynx.)
The famous Rural Rides writer William Cobbett reported he saw a lynx-type alien big cat at Waverley Abbey, near Farnham in Surrey. On a later trip to Canada he saw what he was told was a “lucifee” (a North American lynx) and Cobbett decided it was exactly the “same cat” as the one he'd seen at Waverley.
The so-called “Beast of Exmoor” is perhaps the most famous Alien Big Cat of Britain...
Folklorists have long held the view that phantom wild cats haunt the South West of England.
Sightings of the Exmoor Big Cat — the beast of Exmoor— were first reported in the press in the 1970s, although the beast became notorious in 1983, when a farmer from South Molton, Devon, claimed to have lost over 100 sheep to the creature. It was thought this alien big cat might have been a cougar or leopard, judging by the injuries to the farmer's sheep (killed by a single bite to their throat). Locals theorised the beast of Exmoor had been released from a private collection sometime in the 1960s or 1970s.
The British army was dispatched to track down the beast, but despite hunting and patrolling for several days, they were unable to kill or capture it!
Words: Neil Mach 2024 ©
Neil Mach is highly regarded in the field of fantasy studies and has been described as a fantologist. His book, So You Want to Write Fantasy? is an enlightening easy-to-read manual that delves into fantasy perspectives.
