# Clowns in woods try to lure children with money, residents say
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [August 31, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567 "2016-08-31T14:27:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 7
### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/121 "2016-09-15T20:11:06Z")
I wonder how many of these clown encounters are true.
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### Author:  [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2016, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/122 "2016-09-15T21:35:39Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#):
>
> I wonder how many of these clown encounters are true.
Somewhere between zero and none.
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### Author:  [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2016, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/123 "2016-09-15T22:54:48Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#):
>
> I wonder how many of these clown encounters are true.
I wonder, is there a difference between a clown encounter of the first kind, the second kind, and so forth?
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/124 "2016-09-16T00:14:50Z")
> [@Catamount](#):
>
> Somewhere between zero and none.
That would _really_ piss off some over worked cops.
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### Author:  [@Oglomott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oglomott)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2016, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/125 "2016-09-16T01:22:14Z")
If the cops ever shoot an unarmed clown, they may have to plant a seltzer bottle on him.
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2016, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/126 "2016-09-16T01:29:00Z")
> [@Oglomott](#):
>
> If the cops ever shoot an unarmed clown, they may have to plant a seltzer bottle on him.
Good plan, but difficult to hide in their sock, as they can a small pistol.
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### Author:  [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2016, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/127 "2016-09-16T02:02:23Z")
> [@Oglomott](#):
>
> If the cops ever shoot an unarmed clown, they may have to plant a seltzer bottle on him.
There was that Finicum dude, except, they said he had a gun on him.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/128 "2016-09-16T02:10:29Z")
> [@Oglomott](#):
>
> If the cops ever shoot an unarmed clown, they may have to plant a seltzer bottle on him.
> [@carnivorousplant](#):
>
> Good plan, but difficult to hide in their sock, as they can a small pistol.
I thought the seltzer was down the pants.
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### Author:  [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/129 "2016-09-16T16:17:25Z")
[Clowns put two schools on lockdown in Alabama](http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2016/09/creepy_clowns_put_an_alabama_s.html)
[Clown problem last month in Wisconsin](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/08/04/creepy-clown-black-balloons-wandering-wisconsin/88063684/)
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### Author:  [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2016, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/130 "2016-09-16T16:53:16Z")
[Clowns now in Florida](http://weartv.com/news/local/clown-sightings-cause-scare-in-pensacola)
[Stephen King Comments on Current Clown Menace](http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/298724/stephen-king-discusses-creepy-clown-mystery)
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/131 "2016-09-16T17:11:49Z")
Could the fans (Juggalos) of the Insane Clown Posse be behind this?
Juggalos are some pretty extreme fans. Maybe a few extremists are messing with people and scaring them?
Just my speculation.
> **[Inside The Gathering of the Juggalos: Boobs, Bud, and Civil Chaos](https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-the-gathering-of-the-juggalos-boobs-bud-and-civil-chaos)**
>
> Fighting the FBI’s ‘gang’ designation in court, Insane Clown Posse held its 16th annual festival in Ohio filled with clowns and Faygo galore.
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### Author:  [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2016, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/132 "2016-09-17T05:13:19Z")
This is likely a case of mass hysteria.
> **[Mass psychogenic illness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_hysteria)**
>
> Mass psychogenic illness (MPI), also called mass sociogenic illness, mass psychogenic disorder, epidemic hysteria, or mass hysteria, involves the spread of illness symptoms through a population where there is no infectious agent responsible for contagion. It is the rapid spread of illness signs and symptoms affecting members of a cohesive group, originating from a nervous system disturbance involving excitation, loss, or alteration of function, whereby physical complaints that are exhibited un MP...
“Evil clown” reports date back to (at least) 1981. There seems to be some correlation between these reports and the “Stranger Danger” teachings from the early 80’s. I think there is also a relation between these kinds of incidents and the “Satanic Panic” over alleged Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA) in the US which gained traction in the 80’s.
> **[Phantom Clowns in South Carolina Are Nothing New](https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/its-catching/201608/phantom-clowns-in-south-carolina-are-nothing-new)**
>
> Killer Clowns From Your Imagination
[http://www.skeptic.com/reading\_room/south-carolina-clown-panics/](http://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/south-carolina-clown-panics/)
> **[Moral panic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_panic)**
>
> A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear, often an irrational one, that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society.\[page needed\] It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", usually perpetuated by moral entrepreneurs and mass media coverage, and exacerbated by politicians and lawmakers. Moral panic can give rise to new laws aimed at controlling the community.
> Stanley Cohen, who developed the term, states that moral ...
> **[Satanic panic | As a moral panic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanic_ritual_abuse#As_a_moral_panic)**
>
> SRA and the so-called "Satanic Panic" have been called a moral panic and compared to the blood libel and witch-hunts of historical Europe, and McCarthyism in the United States during the 20th century. Stanley Cohen, who originated the term moral panic, called the episode "one of the purest cases of moral panic". The initial investigations of SRA were performed by anthropologists and sociologists, who failed to find evidence of SRA actually occurri In his book Satanic Panic, the 1994 Mencken Award...
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### Author:  [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2016, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/133 "2016-09-17T05:20:45Z")
[Clowns now in Tennessee](http://www.wcyb.com/news/creepy-clown-sighting-reported-at-apartment-complex-in-sullivan-county/83336919)
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### Author:  [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2016, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/134 "2016-09-17T05:22:33Z")
Missed edit window:
I find this kind of stuff fascinating.
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### Author:  [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2016, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/135 "2016-09-17T05:29:43Z")
> [@davidm](#):
>
> Thinking about that, now I’m a little suspicious of Bill Bixby… but I suppose he’d be one of the good ones if **TokyoBayer** is correct.
The only good clown is a dead clown, but not all dead clowns are good.
I have no idea if it’s true, but someone should market that.
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### Author:  [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2016, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/136 "2016-09-17T05:32:38Z")
I really enjoyed the local news report video of the Tennessee sighting. This is becoming quite a …_media circus_.
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### Author:  [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2016, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/137 "2016-09-17T05:41:04Z")
More schools in Alabama on lockdown because of clown threats.
[http://www.wbrc.com/story/33113508/hale-county-schools-on-soft-lock-down-due-to-clown-threats-on-social-media-details-in-app?sf36128132=1](http://www.wbrc.com/story/33113508/hale-county-schools-on-soft-lock-down-due-to-clown-threats-on-social-media-details-in-app?sf36128132=1)
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2016, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/138 "2016-09-17T05:58:40Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#):
>
> First Satanists luring children, now clowns.
>
> You people are all a bunch of Bozo’s.
That’s okay; by [June 2050](https://www.facebook.com/180576238626220/photos/a.180582988625545.49545.180576238626220/1025474724136363/?type=3&theater) everyone living in Baltimore will all be Ernest Borgnines.
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### Author:  [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/139 "2016-09-19T23:21:07Z")
Here in Alabama, more school lockdowns due to clown fears.
> **[Clown Facebook post puts another Alabama school on lockdown](https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2016/09/clown_facebook_post_puts_anoth.html)**
>
> Shades Valley High School in Jefferson County is on a soft lockdown today after a student reported seeing a Facebook post warning that "clowns" might show up at the school in Irondale.
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### Author:  [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2016, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/140 "2016-09-20T03:09:37Z")
[More Alabama Clowning](http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2016/09/somebodys_going_to_get_hurt_cl.html)
[Maryland joins in the Clown mania](http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/for_the_record/ph-ac-cn-clown-sighting-0920-20160919-story.html)
[This new Clown report from Kentucky-- comes with a picture](http://www.wkyt.com/content/news/Clown-sightings-creep-into-southern-Kentucky-393951371.html)
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