Bit outside my usual territory (I'm more of a UFO/EVP bloke) but this one caught my eye because a mate of mine drove through Virginia last month and said he saw something big and black cross the road ahead of him at night. He's not the type to make stuff up, pretty no-nonsense actually.
What I want to know is whether anyone is actually mapping these sightings properly. Like is there a pattern to where they're turning up along the trail? Specific stretches that get reported more than others? Because if we're talking about a genuine unrecognised big cat population there should be some kind of geographic clustering shouldn't there.
Also curious how people are ruling out black bears in poor light conditions. That seems like the obvious sceptical explanation and I'd rather we address it head on than ignore it. What are witnesses actually describing that makes them confident its not a bear?