BREAKING
THE SIGHTINGS ARE INCREASING. • SIGHTING #047 — GARDAÍ CONFIRM VIRAL WEXFORD 'CAT IN THE HAT' PHOTO WAS AI-GENERATED — WEXFORD, CO. WEXFORD, IRELAND — 40 MIN AGO • SIGHTING #046 — POLICE DEBUNK FAKE 'KILLER CAT IN THE HAT' STATEMENT ABOUT MEADOWHALL — MEADOWHALL, SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND — 2 HOURS AGO • SIGHTING #045 — CNN: NOBODY CAN SAY WHICH NIGHT-TIME VIDEOS, IF ANY, ARE REAL — UNITED KINGDOM & IRELAND — YESTERDAY • SIGHTING #044 — REDDIT POSTER ADMITS BALGADDY 'SIGHTING' WAS A JOKE — BALGADDY, DUBLIN, IRELAND — YESTERDAY • SIGHTING #043 — SHAKY LIMERICK CLIPS PUSH THE TREND ACROSS IRELAND — LIMERICK, IRELAND — 2 DAYS AGO • THE SIGHTINGS NEVER STOP.THE SIGHTINGS ARE INCREASING. • SIGHTING #047 — GARDAÍ CONFIRM VIRAL WEXFORD 'CAT IN THE HAT' PHOTO WAS AI-GENERATED — WEXFORD, CO. WEXFORD, IRELAND — 40 MIN AGO • SIGHTING #046 — POLICE DEBUNK FAKE 'KILLER CAT IN THE HAT' STATEMENT ABOUT MEADOWHALL — MEADOWHALL, SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND — 2 HOURS AGO • SIGHTING #045 — CNN: NOBODY CAN SAY WHICH NIGHT-TIME VIDEOS, IF ANY, ARE REAL — UNITED KINGDOM & IRELAND — YESTERDAY • SIGHTING #044 — REDDIT POSTER ADMITS BALGADDY 'SIGHTING' WAS A JOKE — BALGADDY, DUBLIN, IRELAND — YESTERDAY • SIGHTING #043 — SHAKY LIMERICK CLIPS PUSH THE TREND ACROSS IRELAND — LIMERICK, IRELAND — 2 DAYS AGO • THE SIGHTINGS NEVER STOP.
CCATOWEENBUY $CATOWEEN
A tall figure in a red-and-white striped hat and cat costume standing on a dark suburban street at night, lit by a streetlamp
CASE ARCHIVE — OPENLAST REPORT: 40 MIN AGO

CATOWEEN

THE SIGHTINGS ARE REAL.

Strange cats. Strange sightings. Strange news. Nobody knows what's next.

VIEW LATEST SIGHTINGSJOIN THE COMMUNITY

THE SIGHTINGS ARE INCREASING.

LIVE FEED — UPDATED CONTINUOUSLY

CAT SIGHTINGS

Reports are coming in from everywhere. Some are explainable. Some aren't.

ALL SIGHTINGS →
Gardaí Confirm Viral Wexford 'Cat In The Hat' Photo Was AI-Generated
CAM 02 • RECAFTER DARK

PHOTO: WEXFORD GARDA, VIA BBC NEWS

SIGHTING #04740 MIN AGOSEVERITY: HIGH

Gardaí Confirm Viral Wexford 'Cat In The Hat' Photo Was AI-Generated

LOCATION
Wexford, Co. Wexford, Ireland
DATE / TIME
AUG 22 • AFTER DARK

Images claiming to show a life-sized Cat in the Hat lurking near Wexford homes and driveways spread across Facebook, TikTok and X. Wexford Gardaí posted the full picture with an 'AI GENERATED' label attached and dismissed the sightings outright.

WITNESS REPORT

"To be clear, the Cat in the Hat was not in your driveway while you were out and he is not currently hiding out in Curracloe." — Wexford Gardaí, Facebook statement

AI-GENERATEDOPEN CASE #047 →

SOURCE: BBC NEWS • 23 AUG 2026

NEWREAL WORLDAI GENERATEDPOLICE STATEMENTBREAKING NEWS

NO VISUAL RECORD — TEXT REPORT ONLY

SIGHTING #0462 HOURS AGOSEVERITY: MODERATE

Police Debunk Fake 'Killer Cat In The Hat' Statement About Meadowhall

LOCATION
Meadowhall, Sheffield, England
DATE / TIME
AUG 24 • ONLINE

A TikTok user published a forged South Yorkshire Police statement saying officers were aware of a 'suspicious figure described as a cat in the hat' near Meadowhall. The force said no such report exists anywhere in South Yorkshire.

WITNESS REPORT

"We can also confirm no recent sightings of his associates Thing One and Thing Two... The cat is not out of the hat on this one." — South Yorkshire Police, to The Independent

POLICE DEBUNKEDOPEN CASE #041 →

SOURCE: THE INDEPENDENT • 24 AUG 2026

NEWREAL WORLDPOLICE STATEMENTCREEPY
CNN: Nobody Can Say Which Night-Time Videos, If Any, Are Real
CAM 02 • RECVARIOUS

PHOTO: CNN

SIGHTING #045YESTERDAYSEVERITY: EXTREME

CNN: Nobody Can Say Which Night-Time Videos, If Any, Are Real

LOCATION
United Kingdom & Ireland
DATE / TIME
AUG 25 • VARIOUS

CNN reported that videos showing a person dressed as the Cat in the Hat roaming streets after dark had spread far enough to prompt responses from police in Ireland and the UK — while remaining unclear which, if any, of the sightings were real rather than AI-generated.

WITNESS REPORT

"It remains unclear which, if any, of the sightings are real or if they are AI-generated." — CNN, 'The Cat in the Hat is freaking out the internet'

UNCONFIRMEDNO CASE ASSIGNED

SOURCE: CNN • 25 AUG 2026

REAL WORLDVIRAL VIDEOBREAKING NEWSUNEXPLAINED

SEASONAL ADVISORY

THE SIGHTINGS ARE INCREASING

Reports are already climbing. October is when it gets loud.

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HOURS

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MINUTES

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SECONDS

COUNTING DOWN TO THE NEXT OCTOBER 31 — THE ARCHIVE STAYS OPEN EITHER WAY

VIEW LATEST SIGHTINGSOPEN THE ARCHIVE

THE DESK — YEAR ROUND

CATOWEEN NEWS

Strange sightings, cat news, internet mysteries, creepy encounters, and whatever October drags in.

ALL ARTICLES →
STRANGE SIGHTINGS1 HOUR AGO

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

INTERNET MYSTERIESYESTERDAY

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

UNEXPLAINED2 DAYS AGO

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

GEOGRAPHIC RECORD

THE SIGHTING MAP

Every confirmed report gets a pin. Click a pin to open the file.

FULL BOARD →
#047#046#045#044#043#042#041#040#039#038#037

GLOBAL SIGHTING BOARD — 11 PINS ACTIVE

PERMANENT ARCHIVE

CASE FILES

Every major sighting gets a case number. Nothing is ever removed.

BROWSE ARCHIVE →
CASE #001THE FIRST SIGHTINGUnincorporated county road, unknown state • OPENED SEP 19 • UNEXPLAINEDCASE #013THE RED HATPortland, Maine • OPENED OCT 10 • HIGHLY STRANGECASE #027THE MIDNIGHT CATBakersfield, California • OPENED OCT 08 • UNCONFIRMEDCASE #041THE STREETLIGHT INCIDENTUS-95, Nevada • OPENED OCT 11 • UNEXPLAINEDCASE #047THE GAS STATIONTucumcari, New Mexico • OPENED OCT 12 • UNEXPLAINED

THE STORY SO FAR

THE INVESTIGATION TIMELINE

Not a roadmap. A case history that keeps getting longer.

PHASE 1COMPLETE

THE FIRST SIGHTING

Catoween launches. One photograph. One deleted account. The archive opens.

PHASE 2COMPLETE

THE REPORTS

The sightings begin spreading. Reports arrive faster than the desk can log them.

PHASE 3ACTIVE

THE INVESTIGATION

The community starts documenting. Case numbers, evidence, timelines, the map.

PHASE 4UPCOMING

HALLOWEEN

The number of sightings increases. Every year. Same night. Nobody knows why.

PHASE 5UPCOMING

AFTER DARK

Halloween ends. The investigation doesn't. Something followed us home.

PHASE 6OPEN

THE UNKNOWN

New locations. New cases. New mysteries. Written with whoever is still watching.

DID YOU SEE THE CAT?

Think you've spotted something strange? Send us your report. Every submission gets a case number.

FILE A SIGHTING REPORT