As far as misidentifications, it is the bulk of reports. Reading post by guys here, the mtn lion sightings have spawned of 40 years and most, if not all, saw one only once. So that does make it more believable.

The one I saw was a little bigger than a bobcat, in plain sight and my BIL sighting in the passenger seat seeing the exact same thing. A long tailed cat that was a solid brown color. My friend saw it the the evening before and we
Didn’t time called Jerry to tell him and he had to tell me something he said. I then told the guys at the sporting goods store and one of the hues hunted in a club close by. The preacher man other club said he saw 2 and the followed him back to the truck and had him scarred to death.

There is 4 people that saw the same thing within a week of each other and no one was influenced by one or the other. We never saw any before or since so there ya go.