The Bizarre Beast(s) of Bodmin

"In my recent two-part article on so-called “Alien Big Cats” (ABCs) and Princess Diana, I made mention of a creature that has become legendary in the field of British-based cryptozoology. It’s infamously known as the Beast of Exmoor. It’s reputed to be a large, savage, black cat of some unknown type, and which is as stealthy as it is deadly. Of the various people who contacted me about the ABC-Diana issue, one asked why I didn’t make mention of a similar ABC known as the Beast of Bodmin. Well, the question was a bit of a puzzle, since the Bodmin critter had no connection to the Diana issue! So, why would I mention it?!

"But, since the person brought up the matter, I figured I would focus on it today, as the story of the Bodmin thing is a very weird one. Whereas the Beast of Exmoor is found in the English county of Devon, the Beast of Bodmin is found in the county on which Devon borders. Namely, Cornwall. But is it just a large black cat and nothing else? There are a couple of very weird stories that suggest the Bodmin creature is actually not a big cat, after all. Or, bizarrely, we may be looking at two very different kinds of creature on the loose. Possibly even three."

Yep, it's another new Mysterious Universe article, and here's the link...

Princess Diana and an Alien Big Cat

I've written some weird shit over the years. But this has to be near the top of the list. It's a new, 2-part article from me at Mysterious Universe on the strange and complicated saga of the late Princess Diana and an Alien Big Cat!

Here's an extract from part-1:

"More than a few years ago, Jonathan Downes, of the British-based Center for Fortean Zoology, received a late-night phone call of a very weird and conspiratorial nature. Something which many of us who immerse ourselves in the world of the unexplained can definitely relate to! The man in question – who preferred not to give Downes his name, and for reasons that will soon become very clear – wanted to discuss the controversy surrounding sightings of Britain’s Alien Big Cats. Or, to be absolutely correct, a couple of particular aspects of the ABC phenomenon. One of them was focused upon the alleged shooting of not just one ABC, but several. The other was on a certain, famous, and now dead Royal."

And here's an extract from part-2:

"Part-1 of this article focused on a clandestine conversation that English cryptozoologist, Jon Downes, had a number of years ago with a retired member of the British military. Specifically of the Royal Marines. Downes’ source revealed startling data on his alleged secret knowledge of how, in 1983, the Marines came to locate and kill several so-called Alien Big Cats. And on the private land of an influential, powerful figure living on Exmoor, England. Downes’ informant had another, somewhat related, story to tell. It was an eye-opening and controversial story that involved the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

"Jon Downes’ caller confided in him that in the mid-1980s, and during his career with the Royal Marines, he was part of a unit that was assigned to keep careful and secret watch on the activities of Princess Diana. This makes a great deal of sense, as rumors circulated at the time that she had been targeted for kidnap or assassination by terrorists. This particular surveillance coincided – time-wise – with the period in which Diana’s affair with Major James Hewitt began, in the summer of 1986."

You can find part-1 here and part-2 here.

Britain's Big Cats and Princess Diana

Some of you may have seen this breaking story: a new and highly controversial claim to the effect that elements of the British Army were somehow involved in the death (or as the claim suggests, the murder) of Princess Diana, in 1997.

I know nothing about this, aside from what the press is saying. And as this new story - from the UK's Daily Mail newspaper - shows, the claim is steeped in major controversy.

What I do know, however, is that there really was a link between the secret world of the British Army and Princess Diana. It had nothing to do with her death, however, but everything to do with the so-called, ABCs, or Alien Big Cats, that roam the U.K.

I tell the story in my recently published book, Monster Files. The chapter in question details the work of a small, elite group in British Army Intelligence that was watching Diana's every move in the late 1980s, amid fears that she might be kidnapped or assassinated by hostile forces.

While keeping Diana under surveillance during one, particular, late-night visit the princess made to an old village in the county of Devon, the Army team caught sight of something amazing prowling around. It was nothing less than a large, black cat, around the size of a mountain lion.

Since the ABC was seen very close to the property in which Diana was staying, the military unit was placed in a deep quandary: should they shoot the cat and alert the entire village (and, quite probably, and quickly, the media too) as to what was going down? Or should they just hope that the huge, black creature finally made its way out of the village and onto the wild countryside and moors of Devon? They chose the latter.

As for the story itself, it was provided to Jon Downes, of the Center for Fortean Zoology, who, in turn, provided it to me, years ago, after Jon personally spoke with one of the soldiers involved. It's important to note that Jon's source proved to be highly credible, since he correctly named at least one of Diana's lovers, long before the relationship became public knowledge.

It may well prove to be the case that the current controversy surrounding Diana and the British Army will implode on itself and vanish into obscurity.

But even if that does happen, it doesn't rule out the fact that there really was a British Army unit watching Diana's every move back in the latter part of the '80s. And, it was a unit that - in a very curious and roundabout fashion - became embroiled in the controversy surrounding Britain's notoriously famous ABCs.