Creepy clown sightings have reached an all-time high, with these red-nosed mothereffers popping up everywhere from South Carolina to Kentucky to Green Bay, Wisconsin, while others so desperate to cash in on “clown fever” have managed to get themselves arrested calling in false clown sightings. Even Stephen King has been forced to comment on all of these clown shenanigans!
For the most part so far, the clowns we’ve heard of have been mostly just content to stand around looking menacing. However, it seems as though some clowns are becoming emboldened, because in a recent rash of activity in the town of Phillipsburg, New Jersey, clowns have now reportedly been spotted actually chasing after children.
Phillipsburg Police Captain Robert Stettner told reporters Tuesday that there had apparently been four sightings over the course of just two days, and that “we don’t need a society living in fear.” And good news! We’re still a whole month away from Halloween!
The first was about 8 p.m. Sunday in Walters Park, when three clowns allegedly came out of the woods and chased a child. Three more were reported Monday in the Warren County community, Stettner said.
At about 5 p.m., someone was seen dressed as a clown on Hudson Street. At 7:45 p.m., a jester holding some kind of sword reportedly ran after a child on Shafer Avenue. And at about 9:30, a dark-colored truck was seen driving down Mercer Street with multiple clowns hanging out the window, according to police.
There have been similar sightings just across the river from Phillipsburg in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, including an incident in Northampton also on Monday in which three people dressed as clowns chased down a group of children near an elementary school at about 3:15 p.m., but it’s unclear if the two incidents were related.
Stettner advises parents to talk to their children about walking in groups, and if “you see somebody in a clown mask, don’t go talk to them,” which are words I think we can all live by.
(Via NJ.com)