A UK railway worker is convinced he came “face-to-face” with a black panther while carrying routine rail maintence work.
Billy Brown, 37, was inspecting a railway tunnel nine years ago in the Peak District when he said he felt like someone was watching him.
Billy was unable to go share his story because the company he worked for at the time did not want to panic the public. However, he left the company in 2020 and since that time has spoken openly about what happened and what he saw that night.
“I shone my full beam headlight into the car park and there was a black panther just sitting next to the back of a car.
“I could see the steam coming off its nose as it was breathing. And it was glaring at me. We must have been face to face for a good four or five minutes.”
Billy added: “It was about the size of a medium Rottweiler dog.
“I had no phone signal and nowhere to run. As a professional I had to carry on my inspection. I was on the railway, the cat could only see from my chest upwards and couldn’t see my legs. So I slowly carried on walking and left the station.”
Billy said: “I waved at them and carried on my inspection for the next three and a half miles. When I finished I met the rest of the team in a van and I will not forget this ever. I was really excited to tell them what I just saw and I started saying ‘you will not believe what I saw’.”
Billy continued: “But before I could tell them anything they said ‘we don’t know what it was, but when we met you at the bridge, we shone the light and we saw that about 20 feet behind you, there was a black animal looking like a large dog, following you.’ I didn’t see the cat behind me but at this moment I realised it crept along the railway or on the railway and stalked me for an entire mile.”
Billy came forward with his story when he saw a video on The Derbyshire Times appearing to show a black panther eating the carcas of a dead sheep in the Peak District.
The video was shared by two teenagers who had been wild camping in the area when they saw what they believe to be the huge wild cat.
This was also followed up by a YouTuber by the name of Novice Wildcamper who claims to have both heard and recorded the growl of a wildcat near his tent in the Peak District last year.
