Did MA Residents Really Experience ‘Clown Fever’ in the Early ’80s?

We all fear something. Whether it's heights, snakes, bugs, etc. there's something out there that we just want to stay as far away from as possible. For many people, their fear is of clowns. Movies like "It" and "Poltergeist" don't help either. Part of the fear of clowns could stem from the clown legend that plagued Massachusetts, particularly the greater Boston area back in the spring of 1981.

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In his book Weird Massachusetts, author Jeff Belanger writes about how during that spring there were reports of children being abducted by clowns throughout Boston and the greater Boston area but law enforcement kept coming up short as they couldn't find victims or alleged victims. That didn't stop clown fever from taking shape. Jeff mentions in the book that Daniel O' Connell, an investigative counselor from the Boston Public School Board, sent a memo to district school administrators stating the following

It has been brought to my attention of the police department and the district office that adults dressed as clowns have been bothering children to and from school. Please advise all students that they must stay away from strangers, especially ones dressed as clowns.

This memo only ramped things up more as additional reports came in stating that children were being bothered and lured away by clowns and/or groups of clowns. Again even as reports increased, law enforcement still couldn't track down any solid evidence. Even witnesses of these alleged reports started to second guess what they were seeing. Then the activity vanished and things were quiet again. So, were there really clowns in the Boston area back in 1981 terrorizing youths in our society or is this just a Massachusetts legend? Do you have any memories of these reports?

READ ON: While we're talking about weird stuff, check this out? Let's see where/if Massachusetts is included in this list.