You're not losing your mind, the Ozarks has a serious history of big cat sightings that the wildlife authorities keep waving away as "misidentified bobcats" which is frankly insulting to anyone with working eyes.
I'm down in New Orleans but I've got contacts up in Missouri and Arkansas who've been logging sightings for years, black colouration, long tail, the works - nothing like a bobcat. There's also some really interesting ley line activity through that region which I've always thought might explain why so many out-of-place animals seem to gravitate to certain corridors. Could be the landscape itself is doing something strange.
What were the conditions when you saw it? Time of day, weather, were you near water? Details matter with these things.
