Chris Smith
Reporter
There have been reports of threatening clown sightings all across the world, starting in America. According to some, the clowns have tried to lure children into the woods with candy. This has led to many people being done with clowns all together.
It all started in on August 21, in South Carolina when some kids, while walking home from school with their mother, said that they saw a clown hiding in a wooded area near the apartment complex.
At first, the parents thought that it was just the child’s wild imagination, but the older son said that he saw them too. Soon, several children said that they saw them near the neighborhood. Police in the area could never confirm the clown sightings.
According to Google Trends, every year clowns become a popular search before Halloween. But with recent events, there has been a major spike and it has caused a major panic.
More clown sightings were later reported in Pennsylvania, Florida, Kentucky and a few others. The reports were spreading far and quick. In Pottsville, Pennsylvania reports were of two people in clown-like outfits driving around a truck and scaring kids and teens.
While many police stations believe that these are just hoaxes, they are still taking the calls about clown sightings very seriously. Many people have gotten arrested for false calls about clown sightings. Even then, there have been a handful of clown arrests around the country.
Two 18 year old women were arrested in Detroit for scaring two 14 year old girls. They were being held at county jail with a $10,000 bond.
Clown sightings have moved from the United states to the United Kingdom and Australia.In Both County Durham and Norfolk, both in England, there has been a few sightings. In County Durham, there was a clown that followed four children with a machete, which turned out to be plastic.
Loren Coleman, a cryptozoologist, came up with the term, “Phantom Clown Theory,” thinks his theory about this clown incident is a perfect explanation of what has been happening.
Basically, he suggests that the first reports of kids seeing clowns was the “Phantom Clown.” Then that lead to people walking around “stalking” in clown outfits to scare people. He says, “this phenomenon has existed for over 30 years, the recent spate has become worse because of social media.”
Many myths have stirred up because of the clown stunts like that police have said it’s okay to shoot clowns. This could do some negative harm. If you aren’t in danger, and you shoot a clown for no reason, you’ll be charged with murder. Nothing has changed.
After hearing rumours about a clown sighting near Penn State, last week, students began to have a 
clown hunt. Police in the area have said that there was no evidence of a clown being anywhere.
Clown hunts like this have caused many professional clowns to fear for their life. John Jones, a part-time clown says that he fears for his life and “I feel that people are out clown hunting because they think it’s cool now. I’m scared that someone might take a swing.”
John Jones even started a Facebook page called Clown Lives Matter to show people the dangers of being a professional clown because of these clown hunts and the mass hysteria.
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