Anyone who knows me is aware of the fact that I hate clowns with a burning passion. There is something about them that gives me the chills and I just have an un-explainable fear of them. Recently there have been sightings in several states of people dressing up as clowns in order to scare the general public. That's when you've lost your mind! I have no idea what would possess a person to think it is a good idea to dress up as a clown and run around terrorizing people -- or why they would think it's funny. The fear of clowns is something that has been made fun of in media in the past but it is in fact a very real phobia.
Coulrophobia is the technical term for the fear of clowns. People who dress as clowns wear colorful makeup to deconstruct the facial features and create a new identity. This is what scientists feel is behind coulrophobia; not know who is behind the makeup, nose and wig. There are also some who believe that the fear of clowns increased after the release of the movie "IT" which is based off of Stephen Spielberg novel of the same name. The fear is more prevalent in children though many adults suffer from it too -- though they wouldn't be so quick to admit that due how absurd many people think it may be. However, clourophobia is a real phobia and should not be treated lightly. It may seem silly to you but to me it is a real fear. Just like my sisters fear of a great white shark killing her in a swimming pool seems silly to me, but that's because it's not my phobia. However, the fear of clowns is indeed irrational, they are there for entertainment not to harm us.
Until now apparently...
The list of states with reported clown sightings is as follows: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
To be honest I didn't know this many states were being affected until I started writing this article and this just confirms what I have already known -- people are crazy and this clown craze has gone too far. If the mission of these people was to cause a nation-wide panic they have done their job. You can't go on social media anymore without seeing something related to the clowns roaming the country.
According to CNN, the clown fad we are experiencing is nothing new, in the 1980s there were sightings of "phantom clowns", and children in Massachusetts reported being chased and lured by clowns. It was taken seriously then as it is being taken seriously now. Currently, the first sightings that tipped off the hysteria were in South Carolina where children reported seeing clowns in the woods trying to "lure them into the darkness". There are also other theories to why this whole clown fad has taken off so quickly. Some say it is a marketing technique for haunted houses, it's a cause of built up anxiety from the election -- yes you read that correctly -- or that it's a social media fad.
It was also said that there could just be a bunch of crazy people out there dressed as clowns.
Personally I think -- hope -- it could be a social media fad. People see something like this and know they will get a reaction from it so they run with it. An article by Molly McHugh informs readers that a lot of the pictures we are seeing posted that are linked to recent clown sightings are actually from years prior. Photos taken for websites such as CollegeHumor, or they are copied photos from other real sightings around the country are also being used to feed the fire.
The photo bellow is an example of false photos being shared over the internet. It has also been connected to the urban legend of a a babysitter seeing a clown statue in a child's room, only to be told by the parents that they have no clown statue. It was circulating for a while that this was the man that legend was based off of but is was proved to be a hoax. Now it looks like his face is being used in the new clown fad. According to crimefeed.com the photo is actually "Marvin Walker Jr. who was arrested in January 2015 for drunkenly attempting to carjack two women" the photo I used bellow was pulled from now8news.com which is known to be a false clickbate news site.
So it's hard to know for sure if it's just all one big hoax or if BoBo and his gang are out there lurking in the dark somewhere.
Just in case...stay safe out there.
***NOTE*** false clown reports are being taken VERY seriously. An article written September 11th of this year identifies a man who was arrested and jailed for making false reports of clowns terrorizing a neighborhood. The articles states that:
"Early Friday morning, Armstrong called police, saying that someone in a clown costume knocked on his car window, and that he then chased the clown into the woods. Officers investigated, only for Armstrong to reportedly say later that he made the whole thing up."
It doesn't explain what happened to him after his court date but funny or not, false reports to the police are a crime and should not be taken lightly.
