There have been sightings everywhere. From New York to Nevada, people across the country are all dealing with the same problem. Clowns. There are clowns everywhere. What started this insane trend? Why has it continued for so long? Is it a serious problem, or just a harmless but creepy series of pranks? No one really seems sure.

Since August, various reports of creepy clowns luring children into wooded areas or chasing cars and people have spread across the country. The first sightings occurred in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Kentucky. From there, clowns have spread across the country, with some sightings reported as far as Canada and even in England. Police in Greenville, South Carolina, have warned residents that anyone dressed as a clown will be criminally charged. Late September, it was even reported that a 16-year-old high school student was stabbed to death by someone in a clown mask in Reading, Pennsylvania; however, this claim turned out to be somewhat fabricated. The two men involved were at a party and got into an altercation over a clown mask, which neither man wore at the time of the stabbing. In fact, no actual crimes have been confirmed by people dressed as clowns. The only arrests associated with this clown plague have been due to false reports made by people who claimed to have seen clowns, or people who have made threats involving clown violence. While many police departments have warned residents to stay wary of creepy clowns on the prowl, the actual concrete evidence for clown violence is extremely low.

A large part of the clown hysteria is due to various twitter accounts that document alleged clown sightings. One of the largest of these accounts is @Clown_Sightings. The amateur videos featured by this account are definitely creepy and uncomfortable to watch, but there is no evidence that any of the videos are real and not just simple hoaxes. One of the most popular videos on this account shows two men walking down a bike path at 7:30 am. While walking, they encounter a fully dressed clown brandishing a large, machete-like knife. The two men confront the clown, who precedes to chase them with the knife down the bike path. If true, this incident would be all over the news, but suspiciously, there has been no mention of it from any news source. While it is intriguing to believe that these videos depict reality, the truth is that they are likely just fabrications made by people trying to harness the popularity of the current clown madness.

Should you be concerned? Probably not. While there is a slight chance you may encounter a clown, there is also a slight chance you will be hit by a bus or attacked by wild dogs. New Haven, Connecticut, police spokesman David Hartman told Time that this current clown craze is likely no more than a passing internet fad, as his department has found no tangible evidence of clowns actually hurting anyone. Hartman says that the bigger concern comes from false reports made by people about the clown attacks, as they waste valuable police resources that could be spent on other actual crimes and issues. Additionally, according to Time, the New York City Police Department has publicly stated that it has found no credible clown threats. Odds are you will never encounter a clown outside of the circus or a small child’s birthday party. The police are not concerned, and therefore neither should you be. Regardless, it is always good to be prepared, so keeping a baseball bat or some other blunt object in your car or on your person would probably not be a bad idea.