'It was huge' - Helicopter cop spots Puma like big cat while searching for missing mum in Edinburgh

The officer was in a helicopter using an infrared camera when The making the shocking discovery saying: 'We could not believe what we were seeing'

'Like a Puma': The police officer said the discovery of the 'big cat' had shocked fellow officers

A police officer could not believe what he had just seen after spotting a 'big cat' roaming Edinburgh.
Inspector Nick Whyte was out with fellow officers searching for a missing woman in a police helicopter when he noticed a large heat source on the infrared camera while flying over Holyrood Park, Edinburgh.
After pointing out the animal to a fellow officer, his suspicions were confirmed.
Speaking for the first time since the 2012 incident, he told the Edinburgh Evening News: "As I directed a female police officer towards it, the heat source got up and it turns out it was a big cat - we think a puma or something like that.

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Search: The officer was investigating reports of a missing woman

"We couldn't believe what we were seeing."
"It wasn't a domestic cat, because on the same part of the screen you could see the female police officer and this thing was, you know, three times the size of her. It was huge.
"She couldn't see it and she couldn't hear it.
"I just told her calmly to stop where she was and turn around and walk away, and she did.
"The cat bounded off, never to be seen again. Sadly we don't have the video footage from it.
"Big cats are alive and well in Edinburgh."

The mother was later found by officers.