'Creepy Clown' Caught on Camera by Arkansas Teens

The clown was spotted with a shovel on the side of the road near Russellville, Arkansas. (Brayden Ledford / TikTok) — The clown was spotted with a shovel on the side of the road near Russellville, Arkansas. *(Brayden Ledford / TikTok)*

Brayden Ledford, 18, of Russellville, Arkansas, told local news outlet FOX16 that he and a friend were on their way to Pottsville Lake at around 9:30 p.m. on September 23rd to talk when they spotted a creepy clown wielding a shovel on the side of the road.

"I witnessed a clown," Ledford said. "We were, me and my friend were going down to Pottsville Lake, and we were just going to talk about some things because it’s a place to get away. [We] pulled up, down that road, and there was a clown just sitting there."

Ledford captured the clown on video, which he posted to social media site TikTok.

In the video, the teens can be heard warning the clown that he’s “gonna get shot,” before backing up and fleeing as he begins to approach them, dragging the shovel.

"People were like, ‘oh no, this trend is coming back,’ because it used to be a trend back then, and I think people take it as jokes and they just go get a clown costume and wear it outside," Ledford said of the trend over the last few years of people dressing up as scary clowns. "And I don’t think people should do that because, like, it’s really deadly, because people can get shot. See, it could be a joke, but like, it could come to an extent like, a shovel and digging into the ground, somebody could drive by and think that’s the wrong thing."

"I think a lot of people are afraid of clowns, and that’s why this thing should not be a joke," he added.

Ledford did not report his encounter to the police, because, he said, he was able to drive off and was unharmed.

A series of creepy clown sightings have been reported across the United States over the last few years, although ‘phantom clowns,’ as noted by fortean researcher Loren Coleman, have been reported since the 1980s.

Authorities are asking citizens not to call them to report these sightings, since simply wearing a clown costume is not against the law.

To report your own encounter with the impossible, reach out to us directly at the Singular Fortean Society through our contact page.

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