'These people are imposters' - Terrifying clown sightings increase in US

'It's illegal. It's dangerous. It's inappropriate, and it's creating community concern so it needs to stop.'

Clown sighting and attacks have been reported across the United States in what some believe to have begun as a harmless prank.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Regardless of the trend's origins, over ten states have reported frightening clown sightings.

Terrified residents claim to have witness people dressed in terrifying clown costumes in their towns, off freeways and even in the shadows of nearby woods.

The "prank" began August last year and appears to be gaining traction.

Some parents reported clowns holding green lasers while children report clowns approaching them with large sums of cash.

A vigilante claimed they were chased by a machete-wielding clown and another said a clown attempted to lure them into the woods.

South Carolina's Greenville Police Chief, Ken Miller, stated the terror was an illegal act, adding: "It's dangerous. It's inappropriate, and it's creating community concern so it needs to stop."

Most of the clowns have disappeared, leaving authorities to request any witnesses to snap a picture and send it in to the department.

"We have increased patrol in areas where sightings have occurred and will be stepping up crime prevention in these apartment complexes and neighborhoods," Chief Miller stated.

"We encourage the community to document and report suspicious activity to police," he added.

He asked citizens to not only take a picture of the clown, but also any vehicle they may be driving, what direction they run off to and to call 911 immediately.

Though most sightings remain nightmarish encounters, a 16-year-old student in Pennsylvania was stabbed to death by a person dressed as a clown.

The sightings have been so numerous, even author Stephen King released a statement: "The clown furor will pass, as these things do, but it will come back, because under the right circumstances, clowns really can be terrifying. I suspect it's a kind of low-level hysteria."

Meanwhile, real clowns are outraged at the hysterics the "imposters" are creating.

A spokesman for Clowns of America told Daily Mail: "Our stance on this subject is that these people are imposters the same as if they were people dressed like police or firemen.

"He more we talk about this subject the more cop cats will continue to get the eye of the press."

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