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The sightings of the red noses, the pale white faces, the goofy wigs and the big floppy shoes started in Greenville County, S.C., in August.

But try as they might, police could not find any trace of the creepy clowns that had been reported. Though they issued warnings to would-be jokers, no one was arrested.

But since then, the clown “sightings” have popped up in a half-dozen states and counting, with some panic among schoolchildren and parents in the lead-up to Halloween. Schools have been locked down, and people have been arrested – for making false reports and terroristic threats involving the viral craze.

But we have been here before, with occasional local hysteria in places like Newark, N.J., and Chicago dating back to the 1980s.

Nearly every decade, the emergence of the “creepy clown” has a resurgence – and seems to fuel speculation and fear on American streets.

How long the 2016 spread of the viral clown craze will last has yet to be determined. But social media appears to be spreading it faster and wider than in years past.

And law enforcement appears more willing this time around to charge hoaxers with crimes, to put a stop to the hysteria, Forensic Magazine reports.