Mysteries of Panther mountain's eastern ridge

Took a day off from work to go exploring in the Catskill mountains. I was looking at satellite images, as one is wont to do. I noticed a peculiar clearing about a mile east of Panther mountain on a little wart on its eastern ridge (elevation 2848). What created this clearing? Aliens? Zombies? I thought it was large enough that it might have some views even though it was a flat area. I decided to go check it out. I parked on Panther Kill Road just past a bridge at an unmarked area to pull-off (about a mile from Woodland Valley Road). I headed south up the ridge following a drainage and then started veering more westerly. It was mostly deciduous woods and fairly easy to navigate with the bulk of the leaves down. I reached a smaller clearing and then the large clearing. It was about 1-2 acres in size and had a thin layer of poorly drained soil with mosses, grasses and low shrubs. There was a close-up view of the summit of Panther to the west. Could also see the rest the Borough's range (Slide, Cornell, Wittenberg) above and through the trees. I explored a little more and found some partial views to the north from some ledges. I climbed a small boulder (glacial erratic) toward the back of the field and had some snacks. It was eerily quiet. I was half expecting the alien ship to touch down. I packed up and headed back. Took a little longer route going over the small bump to the east (elevation 2560). On the way down, I stumbled onto a nice woods road which eventually led to a couple of camps down by the road.

Round-trip Distance: 5.0 mi
Elevation Change: 1900 ft

Panther East Ridge