Phillipsburg had four reports in two days, and a group was seen near a Wilson Borough school.
Is it "It?"
Whether they're spurred by the theatrical remake of the Stephen King horror story, social media, a desire to pull pranks or something more nefarious, more sightings of creepy clowns have been reported in the Lehigh Valley region.
Authorities are urging people to keep calm and use their common sense.
"We don't need a society living in fear," Phillipsburg police Capt. Robert Stettner said Tuesday. Four sightings were reported in town over two days, although police checked and found nothing.
The first was about 8 p.m. Sunday night in Walters Park, when three clowns allegedly came out of the woods and chased a kid.
Three more were reported Monday, Stettner said. At about 5 p.m., someone was seen dressed as a clown on Hudson Street. At 7:45 p.m., a jester holding some kind of sword ran after a child on Shafer Avenue. And at about 9:30, a dark-colored truck was seen driving down Mercer Street with multiple clowns hanging out the window, according to police.
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Also on Monday, a group of children near a Wilson Borough elementary school told police that three people dressed as clowns chased them about 3:15 p.m., according to a news release. The clowns reportedly got into a white vehicle and drove south on Front Street. School staff, who were outside for about 30 minutes, didn't see the clowns, borough police Chief Steven Parkansky said.
Police investigated, too, and found no people or vehicles matching the descriptions.
The reports follow two within 12 hours last week in Easton, and similar sightings in Pottsville, Pa., and Huntingdon County, near Harrisburg.
"There's always a concern that people are copy-catting for the sake of scaring people," Phillipsburg's Stettner said.
There are measures people can take to stay safe.
Parents should talk to their children about walking in groups, Stettner said. And the old rule of not talking to strangers still applies: "You see somebody in a clown mask, don't go talk to them," he said.
If you are approached, get away to someplace safe and report any suspicious activity to police.
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Stettner also discouraged the idea of "hunting" clowns, saying that the suspicious person may be a juvenile prankster and that violence will lead to more trouble.
"If somebody's running around with a sword," he said, referencing the Shafer Avenue report, "we have more of an issue. (But) people are allowed to walk around with a clown mask."
Phillipsburg police can be reached at 908-454-1121. Anyone with information on the Wilson Borough incident is is asked to call police at 610-258-8746.
Lehighvalleylive.com reporter Tony Rhodin contributed to this report.
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.