New Cross 'big cat' story must be true - it's in The Sun!

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4875738/Womans-panther-in-street-999-alert-sparks-police-hunt.html#ixzz2Pn8kwANF

Amazing how there's a quote from Big Cats in Britain stating there's been sightings in this area before - when there hasn't! Interestingly a few people have noted that this report may have been nothing more than an April Fools joke.

Shadows on the Sea - a new book by Neil Arnold

Press release:

SHADOWS ON THE SEA: THE MARITIME MYSTERIES OF BRITAIN

A new book by Neil Arnold (Published by The History Press) ISBN- 978-0-7524-8772-4

Ever wondered just what strange things lurk in the cold depths of Britain’s foaming seas? Ever taken the time to peek down into those grey waters as you’re fishing, or skinny-dipping off a rugged coastline?

Now, for the first-time ever Britain’s underwater domain can be viewed in a different light as monster-hunter Neil Arnold takes us hundreds, if not thousands of metres beneath the sea in the hope of finding out if those seafaring tales of monsters and mysterious manifestations are true. Do strange beasts resembling serpents inhabit those inky depths? What of those old folktales concerning mermaids - mere superstition or fact?

Fisherman have long spoken of “the one that got away” but what of those seemingly tall stories that speak of haunted boats and phantom vessels – ships believed to have been wrecked many years previous on harsh coastlines, only to reappear on the horizon with tatty sails unmoved by the wind. Can we truly believe the stories told by witnesses of spectral sailors and ghostly crewmen aboard ships that have not seen action for decades? And can we discount those even stranger tales where those aboard great ships and smaller boats too, have reported seeing unusual lights emerge from, and enter the frothing waters?

Forget Peter Benchley’s classic novel Jaws, SHADOWS ON THE SEA – THE MARITIME MYSTERIES OF BRITAIN is a real-life exploration in search of those horrors of the deep that you dismissed (or believed in!) for years.

Along with several tales pertaining to sea-related superstitions, you’ll also hear about cursed sea-chests, the Devil and the deep blue sea, haunted cliffs and beaches, smugglers tales, strange coastal swarms, killer sands, haunted lighthouses, phantom bells at sea, ghostly lands, haunted buoys, spooky submarines and close encounters of the coastal kind.

SHADOWS ON THE SEA (which includes a foreword by Jonathan Downes of the Centre for Fortean Zoology) covers all manner of British maritime mysteries, so, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water – it isn’t!

Available from all good bookshops and online. Priced £12.99

 

Was it a 'big cat' in London?

Every now and then we receive a handful of 'big cat' reports that seem just a little strange - mainly due to the fact that they are said to have taken place in an extremely built up area. London is, of course, an incredibly crowded city, but there are a few large green spaces dotted about the place, even so, how can we explain the following possible sighting of a 'black leopard',

"I was walking to work in New Cross South London and looked to my left and saw a long black tail hanging down from the roof that covers the bins outside our block of flats. I then looked up and saw the biggest black cat i have ever seen - this was no domestic cat. It was very built with strong large leg muscles/joints that you could see very clearly from the rear view. It was just perched with its tail dangling down.
I completely freaked out and ran so fast as i was the only one in the area at the time and terrified of being spotted by this animal.
I have reported it to the police, who checked the area and can no longer find it. (They had suggested it was a large stuffed animal) - i guess we can now definitely rule that out.
I am disappointed that I wasn't taken more seriously by the local police who asked me almost straight away if I had been drinking when I first reported it.
The point is I was a meter away it was perched just above me and it was morning so I did not see this in the dark or at some distance and it was intimidatingly big.
The thought that it is now roaming around somewhere in the area is very scary and I am very nervous to walk home. "

One only has to look at a map of New Cross to realise how built up this area is, most London-related sightings tend to come from towns such as Bromley, but when one considers that in the past there has been sporadic reports at Nunhead, Dulwish, Sydenham, it is clear that these areas are part of one particular animals territory. Little else is know from the sighting, maybe the witness got it wrong, as so many seem to do, but a large, predatory and very elusive cat moving at night could simply end of anywhere when one considers the network of tunnels, alleyways, back streets and green areas that run through London's outskirts. However, due to such sightings being so sporadic it is difficult to pin-point any route this animal would take and due to a lack of consistency we have to wonder just what people are seeing.

Some witnesses are adamant that they are seeing large exotic animals, in this instance we can only file the report, look around the area, and hope that more sightings occur.