Late last month reports began to surface from a South Carolina apartment complex that creepy clowns were harassing children — and in some cases trying to use money and candy to lure them into a nearby forest. The story got national attention when the apartment complex issued a notice to the tenants verifying the reports and urging caution.

The clown sightings soon spread to other South Carolina cities, neighboring North Carolina, and neighboring Georgia. A clown was also reported to the police in Columbus, Ohio, by a 14-year-old boy who claimed to be chased by a clown with a knife.

Reports out of Maryland now have clowns being spotted there, with Annapolis police giving guidance to parents about how to deal with these sightings.

Up to this point, many skeptics have questioned why no photographic evidence has been found. However, over the last weekend, at least two photos have surfaced on social media that confirm something eerie is going on.

The first photo was passed on to Creepy Catalog by a reader:

The photo was said to have been taken roughly an hour outside of Lexington, Kentucky. It appears to show someone (possibly male?) in an orange jumpsuit, with colored hair and a painted white face (or mask?). The photo isn’t super clear, but on first glance, it does appear to depict a clown.

The other picture was snapped by Jamie Hill, a resident of London, Kentucky.

It appears to show a female clown with big hair and white face paint standing on the side of the road. Several aspects of both pictures seem to be similar, with clowns standing at the edge of a road, looking ominously into traffic.

Interestingly, Will Adams — who posted the first photo — claims that it was taken roughly an hour from Lexington, and London (where the second photo was taken) is just over an hour away from Lexington as well. Were these photos taken near the same place? Possibly near London? Some have claimed the first picture was actually taken in Lexington proper, while others claim it was taken in West Virginia.

While these sightings continue to spread, police and local authorities have begun catching up to some of the “clowns”. Arrests have been made for filing false reports in some cases, however, there are countless sightings that still have no explanation. Some of the earliest sightings remain unsolved, while some later (and more sensational ones, such as a clown video from Wisconsin) have been proven to be the work of copycat pranksters.

This creepy video out of Wisconsin went super viral before it was proven to be a prank.

So are all the clown sightings bogus? Is this a publicity stunt out of control? Stay tuned, and I guess we’ll eventually find out.