Like a clown's endless silk handkerchief, clown sightings nationwide show no signs of stopping. But at least one sighting, in Virginia, has been cleared up as just an enthusiastic kid ready for Halloween.
After hearing about the creepy clown sighting, Holly Brown spoke to CBS 6 News to say the clown spotted was actually her 12-year-old son Angus who has autism. Angus, a Stephen King fan, was in a Pennywise the Clown costume. Pennywise is the central villain in King's novel It, which was turned into a successful 1990 miniseries and is slated to be adapted again as a movie in 2017. Brown said Angus recently got the Pennywise costume for Halloween.
Brown told reporters that Angus wore the costume and waved at drivers when she was out of town. One driver and her daughter were scared after seeing Angus that they took a photo of the moment which they posted on Snapchat and shared with CBS 6 News.
"There was no malicious intent. He's just a kid excited about his new costume," Brown said. "He was never a threat, and is in fact a very sweet child with autism and a new found love of Stephen King stories, hence the 'It' costume."
However, Brown said she and Angus agreed it'd be best to keep the costume reserved for Halloween, given the current clown sightings. These sightings have included threats to schools and has even seen some clowns armed, like one clown with a sword in New Jersey.
As the clown situation worsens the closer we get to Halloween, Twitter's already got a game plan detailed in the hashtag #IfISeeAClown.
