Astonishing video of a large black animal loping through a Ballarat Victoria field has people speculating: panther, feral cat… or AI?

A video of a big cat running at high speed through a rural field has set the internet ablaze with debate over whether it is a very large wild black cat, a panther or even a very talented creation of artificial intelligence .

The clip, filmed near Ballarat, Victoria, 120 kilometers northeast of Melbourne, has gone viral and many commentators are skeptical about what they see.

The one-minute video, first shown on the Remains of gold coins The Facebook site shows the creature racing through a field past a large barn and several huge grain silos.

It follows a series of similar sightings of what many believed to be a black panther in the New England region of NSW in 2018.

Some viewers of the latest sighting are not taking any chances and want to avoid the area, with one asking to be told exactly where the big cat was spotted ‘so I can stay away’.

Another wrote: ‘There is a story that some of these big cats were released after World War II by US troops who had them as mascots here on military bases.’

A third pointed out that similar observations have been made in other places.

“Kuitpo mount daring area Adelaide Hills I know of a few sightings,” they said, while another wrote that they “saw one in Barrington National Park about 40 years ago.”

However, others were more sceptical, with one commenter saying it was a “huge black feral ex-domestic cat.”

“Don’t fool yourself and your credibility with other scenarios.”

Another person agreed, commenting, “Feral cats grow to the size of a dog.”

A third wrote: ‘Hi kitty black cat not black panther wrong size.’

Another person wrote: ‘While hunting about ten years ago, my friend shot a black cat, which was not that big, but looked like a small panther.

“But it was a wild cat… it had a very shiny coat, a very healthy animal that lived on birds and animals.”

Others simply admired the creature, whatever it is, with one writing: ‘I would love a cat that size, haha, what a beast.’

However, other posters thought there may have been a hoax.

“Amazing how someone who filmed a cat running on a phone kept it right in the middle of the screen the entire time,” one commenter wrote.

“With AI, everything is believable,” said another.

Following the previous sightings in the Tamworth-Armidale area six years ago, experts from the local University of New England (UNE) joined the debate.

UNE zoologist Guy Ballard said he had his own encounter with a big cat in Warrumbungle National Park.

The one-minute video shows the creature (pictured) racing through a field past a large barn and several huge grain silos

“It stopped me, but when we examined it, it was definitely a swamp wallaby,” he said The Courier.

‘Most people report seeing the back of a large, dark animal with a thick tail in the bushes, and that’s exactly what swamp wallabies do.

‘And if a wallaby lands with its two paws close together, its prints can look a bit like a larger single paw print of a predator.

“I’ve had people bring me plaster casts and they’ve been disappointed,” he said.