Recently published government files show UK authorities squandered thousands on an investigation in 1995 inquiring into the nature of a monstrous Cornish “beast.” The six-month probe discovered the offending creature was a common domestic cat.

The previously secret documents prove the Beast of Bodmin Moor, said to have been roaming the Cornwall wilds for almost two decades, is merely a 12 inch-tall pussycat.

The conclusion was reached following a far-reaching inquiry by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food that cost tax payers £84,000.

Central to the probe were a series of elaborate surveillance operations and multiple staged reconstructions of the feline’s movements. Photographic and video evidence was key.

The government files relating to the probe were unearthed by contemporary myths specialist, Sheffield Hallam University journalism professor David Clarke. He uncovered the documents at the Public Record Office, according to the Sun newspaper.

Phantom cat

Sightings of the Beast of Bodmin Moor first surfaced in 1983. Since then a further 60 reported sightings have been recorded.

But the recently publicized findings of the 1995 investigation into the creature’s movements prove the myths surrounding the supposed monster have no basis in reality. Nevertheless, the state investigaton was unable to rule out the presence of oversized cats in the region.

Despite Carke's discovery, the myth of the Beast of Bodmin Moor has not been extinguished from the imaginations of Cornish citizens.

Earlier this year, a Cornish teenager reportedly spotted what appeared to be an “absolutely massive” cat bounding across a field.

The young man allegedly managed to film the creature for a short period before it absconded into the undergrowth several miles from where the Beast of Bodmin Moor was previously thought to roam.