Alien Big Cats or "ABCs" are large cats that are foreign to the area (from another part of this world rather than from outside of this world). Commonly thought to be nothing more than mundane animals that have migrated outside of their normal habitat. Simply panthers, cougars, lions, and smaller cats such as lynx occurring in areas where they do not normally occur.

However, certain events associated with UFO sightings also occur with some phantom cat sightings, such as stalling car engines, cattle mutilations, and unexplained lights in the sky. Cats associated with events like these are not normal cats, they're something else, possibly extraterrestrial in nature.

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.

As stated above these are not normal cats, in fact they may not be cats at all, they have been mistaken for dogs, wolves, bears, horses, even monkeys. They've also been said to appear as an eerie combination of animals. Only later do some observers associate the creature with a big cat.

Sightings occur all over the world, in fact there are "...thousands of accounts, spanning at least two centuries and six continents, of unexplained, large, and often dangerous catlike creatures whose appearance and behavior are not really those of any known animal" (Clark and Coleman 121). And of course many sightings go unreported or may even go unnoticed in areas where natural big cats are common.

After a sighting, mutilated livestock, including cows, sheep, and horses are often found stashed with the throats slit and the innards missing. Not just livestock but wild animals such as deer are also found in this way.

Humans have fired upon these creatures, but none have been killed and no bodies have ever been recovered. "...the truth appears to be that our mystery felines cannot be caught or killed, that in fact their elusiveness is basic to their nature" (Clark and Coleman 144).

More phantom cats: the Beast of Bodmin Moor (England), black panthers (North America), blue tiger (China), saber-toothed cats (Columbia and Ecuador), Nellie the Lion (Illinois).

Also known as the flying saucers of the animal world, cryptid cats, and mystery cats.

See Also: Creatures by Type » Aliens, Cats

References

Clark, Jerome, & Coleman, Loren. Creatures of the Outer Edge. New York, NY: Warner, 1978.

Clark, Jerome, & Coleman, Loren. Cryptozoology A to Z. New York, NY: Fireside, 1999.

Coleman, Loren. Mysterious America. New York, NY: Pocket Books, 2001.

Wikipedia: Phantom cat. Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_cat. Retrieved on 05/15/2008.