Are clowns trying to lure children into the South Carolina woods?
Parents started to get worried when their children started reporting seeing clowns in the Greenville County woods in the US. So worried that some of them grabbed their guns and fired into the woods to try and drive the clowns off.According to an incident report by the Greenville County Sherriff’s department‚ on August 21 an officer went out to investigate these reports.A woman told the officer that her son had seen clowns in the woods‚ whispering and making strange noises.When she went out to investigate‚ she saw the clowns flashing green laser lights. They then ran away into the woods.“Several children of the community stated that several clowns had been appearing in the woods behind building ‘D’‚” according to the officer’s report.The clowns would apparently try to lure children out by displaying large amounts of money.The children told the officer that they believed the clowns stayed in a cottage near a pond in the wooded area – but when the officer investigated the cottage there wasn’t any sign of clown paraphernalia.According to the New York Times‚ the sightings are spreading and some property managers have started distributing fliers warning of the potential menace.Despite the fact that the police can’t find any evidence of clown activity‚ they’re still getting calls with a child on Monday phoning in to report another clown sighting at a different complex.Creepy clownsWhether one is talking about Pennywise from Steven King’s It‚ Twisty from American Horror Story‚ Batman’s Joker‚ or the real-world serial killer John Wayne Gacy – clowns are a horror staple.This isn’t the first time coulrophobia has reared its head.For example according to The Mirror‚ in 2013 a clown terrorised the UK town of Northampton – simply by standing around and saying “Beep‚ beep”.Residents tracked the clown’s movements using a hashtag and a facebook group – until finally his identity was revealed after a month – Alex Powell.“On Facebook I’ve had over a thousand death threats. It was just a bit of fun at first and a lot of people seem to enjoy it but it gets a bit hard sometimes with the death threats‚” Powell told the Mirror.Are they real?Of course the South Carolina clowns may not even be real‚ but rather a mass delusion.This would make it similar to what happened in mid 2001 when people in Delhi reported a monkey man running around‚ some even reported suffering bites and scratches.Now the case is used as an example of mass hysteria.When asked by The Atlantic if the cops could be chasing figments of children’s overactive imaginations‚ Ryan Flood‚ a spokesman for the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office told the Atlantic that it was certainly possible.Further with media attention‚ some people might start dressing as clowns to prank the police.However‚ Flood told the Atlantic “if people dressed as clowns are trying to lure kids into the woods‚ we have to investigate it seriously”...
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