Possible sighting of the Surrey 'puma'?

For more info click HERE

Snake slithers down chimney of Abbey Wood home...

Read the story at the Newsshopper

David Farrant's talk - 23rd Sept 2013

David Farrant - best known for his associations with the Highgate 'vampire' scare of the late '60s will be conducting a talk on Monday 23rd Sept at The Green in Clerkenwell, London. This is a ticket event and they can be purchased by visiting this link: http://highgatevampiretalk.eventbrite.co.uk/

The 'beast' of Brentwood sighted...

On Wednesday 17th July 2013 a man and his daughter driving in a car on the M25 junction 28 (Brentwood) spotted a massive black cat stalking through a field 150 metres away. The time was 9pm when the cat was witnessed moving slowly through the field. The witnesses in question knew the animal was an extremely large cat as they'd observed one previously in Kent a few years ago. The animal they described was a black leopard (panther) which in the past has been dubbed the 'beast of Brentwood'. However, despite the tacky headlines, such animals have been seen throughout Essex over the last century but things came to a rather embarrassing climax last year when witnesses claimed to have seen a lion on the loose at St Osyth even though such an animal could not survive in the UK wilds. Of course, the 'lion of Essex' became perfect headline fodder for unreliable and sensational major tabloids who had a field day with a fuzzy photograph showing a domestic cat in a field. However, over the years both black leopard and puma have been observed throughout the county. The area in question has been know for its deer population so it will be interesting if such a carcass turns up. One of the witnesses added: "We had a very clear view as it was on a hill. There were no other animals grazing in that field but in the field next to it were lots of deer."

A girl born with a tail in London?

This intriguing account comes from researcher Richard Muirhead and can be read HERE

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