At the beginning of the 21st Century monsters still roam the remote, and sometimes not so remote, corners of our planet. It is our job to search for them. The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is - we believe - the largest professional, scientific and full-time organisation in the world dedicated to cryptozoology - the study of unknown animals. Since 1992 the CFZ has carried out an unparalleled programme of research and investigation all over the world. Since 2009 we have been running the increasingly popular CFZ Blog Network, and although there has been an American branch of the CFZ for over ten years now, it is only now that it has a dedicated blog.

Sunday 19 January 2014

PANTHER INVESTIGATION - ZACHARY MANN INTERVIEWS WITNESS

Black Panther Q & A
Officially big cats (such as tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards) only exist in Asia, Africa, South America and in a few spots in North America. Yet practically everywhere the texts book say big cats don’t exist, they tend to show up. But if life were so simple the world would be far less interesting. Recently I posted here a story about a friend of mine who when he was in middle school reported seeing a strange creature that calls to mind the “phantom black cats” often talked about in Cryptozoology literature.  Over the course of a few days we talked via Facebook in order to get more detailed information. The following is our correspondence. My friend's name is withheld by request.
Q: Do you remember what year exactly it was?
A: No. It could have been any time while I was in Middle School, but I definitely remember it was Middle School.
Q: Do you remember what time of year it was?
A: The Fall. It was before the holiday season.
Q: Do you remember what the weather was like that day?
A: Sunny. Not a cloud in the sky.
Q: How long did you see it for?
A: Between 10-15 seconds.

Q: You said that the bus would pass by the same places from the other side of the street. Did you look when the bus passed by the farm again?
A: Yes. It was gone.
Q: How long in between was it from when the bus went by the first time and the second?
A: I don’t know exactly, but probably two to three minutes.
Q: Do you know if anyone else saw it?
A: No. I just sat there in silence watching it. I couldn’t take my eyes off it. If any of the other kids or the driver saw it, they didn’t say so.
Q: Can you say roughly how big it was?
A: About the size of a Golden Retriever.
Q: You said it was “creeping” as it moved, just what does that mean?
A: The way it was moving. It was acting like it was trying not to be seen.
Q: Do you remember anything else about how the creature looked? Any small detail will help.
A: The head was very big. The ears where large and round. The black was a deep black, not shiny. The tail was really long. It was almost as long as the rest of the body. It also lopped up at the end.
          I’m thankful that my friend was willing to open up to me like this. Many more people have encounters with strange creatures than most of us would think, but few step forward for fear of ridicule. And while he still doesn’t want his name released, I do hope he at least feels better about getting this off his chest and being able to talk with a friendly face who will not judge.
 

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