THE DESK — PUBLISHED YEAR ROUND
CATOWEEN NEWS
Reporting on the sightings, the archive, the community, and the things that don't fit anywhere else.
Gardaí Confirm The Wexford Cat Was Never There
Police in Wexford released the viral photo with an 'AI GENERATED' label attached — and the sightings kept spreading anyway.
CATOWEEN DESK — SOURCED FROM BBC NEWS
CNN: 'It Remains Unclear Which, If Any, Of The Sightings Are Real'
Videos of a figure walking after dark reached the point where a global newsroom could not tell prank from generated footage.
CATOWEEN DESK — SOURCED FROM CNN
Someone Forged A Police Statement. Thousands Believed It.
South Yorkshire Police had to deny reports of a figure at Meadowhall — and of Thing One and Thing Two.
CATOWEEN DESK — SOURCED FROM THE INDEPENDENT
The New York Times Files It Under Artificial Intelligence
By September the story had stopped being about a cat and started being about how fast synthetic footage becomes a local rumour.
CATOWEEN DESK — SOURCED FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES
Patient Zero: One Edit, Four Million Views, Six Weeks To Ireland
The trend started on TikTok on 30 June with a re-cut scene from the 2003 film.
CATOWEEN DESK — SOURCED FROM IBTIMES UK
The Fear Was Fake. The 3AM Phone Call Home Wasn't.
A 16-year-old left a sleepover in a panic. A 14-year-old was invited to meet the Cat in the woods.
CATOWEEN DESK — SOURCED FROM BBC NEWS
Why Reports Always Spike On October 31
Every year the archive fills up on the same night. Then it keeps going.
SEASONAL DESK
Community Submissions Now Outnumber Desk Reports
The investigation is no longer being run by the investigators.
COMMUNITY DESK