The Beast of Bolton is Back

Just when Boltonians (yes, that’s what they like to be called) thought is was safe to go outside with a meat sandwich or turkey leg in hand, the mysterious Beast of Bolton has been spotted after five years in hiding. Is the alien big cat hungry? Could it be related to a similar recent sighting in Kent?

A woman named Natalie Kay told The Bolton News that she was driving on November 10th at around 9:30 pm in Farnworth, a town in the borough of Bolton in northwest England, when she claims a black panther-sized creature with “greedy yellow eyes” ran in front of her vehicle.

I had to slam the brakes on. It just stopped dead right in the middle of the road and was staring at me.

She estimated it to be as big as the bonnet of her Zafira (translation: as big as the hood of her Vauxhall minivan)

Kay says the scary black beast just as suddenly ran off down a dirt path between two reservoirs. Although she didn’t have time to take a picture, she remembered enough to check the internet and determine it looked like a black panther in both color and size.

A creature like this has been seen often enough in this area to get nicknamed the Beast of Bolton. There have been at least 11 reported sightings of a black panther-like beast in and around Bolton since 2000. It makes appearances and then vanishes for a few years, as in this case when its last sighting was in 2010.

Is the Beast of Bolton one of the alien big cats released to the wilds of England by irresponsible pet owners since the 1976 Dangerous Wild Animals Act? Could be. Is it related to another panther-like beast spotted at the same time in Kent? Who knows?

On November 11th, hundreds of parents received text messages warning them that a panther had been spotted near Ryarsh and Offham County primary schools in Kent. Locals believe this is the same big cat seen in 2014 by a dog walker and photographed by a local resident who thinks it lives in a cave in the nearby hills. Police were called in but didn’t find the cat.

Since Ryarsh is about 260 miles southeast of Bolton, it’s unlikely they’re the same big cat but they could be related, as there are more than 1,000 big cat sightings reported in England every year.

That’s enough sightings to make Boltonians believe the Beast of Bolton is back.