1. DON’T PANIC.
THIS ISN’T THE
FIRST TIME
CULTURAL ANXIETY
CAUSED MASS
DELUSIONS.
CLOWN SIGHTINGS
STABILIZE
“THE VIDEO” LEAKS
Lewd comments.
Trump down in polls.
WE CAN USE TRUMP TO PREDICT CLOWNS
When a Donald Trump presidency looks possible, clowns appear*. When Trump is a
statistically safe distance from the Oval Office, clown activity (and American anxiety) calms.
TRUMP TWITTER TIRADE
Calls out Miss Universe.
Accuses Clinton of having false sources.
Trump presidency seems less realistic.
RNC DNC 1ST DEBATE VP DEBATE
US CLOWN
INCIDENTS
TRUMP:
CHANCE OF WINNING
CLINTON:
CHANCE OF WINNING
CLOWNS MULTIPLY
HERE COME
THE CLOWNS!
TRUMP IS
OFFICIALLY A
CANDIDATE FOR
PRESIDENT.
AS RACE NARROWS AGAIN,
CLOWNS REAPPEAR
CLOWNS SKYROCKETBUT ONLY
FOR A SECOND
the widest gap
of the election
follows.
Clowns
disappear.
“WHY ARE CREEPY CLOWNS TERRORIZING AMERICA?”
A few smart theorists say 2016’s clown hysteria has little to do with phobias of psychopathic circus acts, and
everything to do with the undercurrent of fear bubbling beneath this election. The data doesn’t lie. Clowns
aren’t terrorizing Americans, terrified Americans are causing clowns — or at least correlating with them.
*reported clown encounters or
sightings from July 1, 2016-Oct 24,
2016. No witnesses nor photographic
evidence required.
“PHANTOM SLASHER”
THE ANXIETY: period of uncertainty
between 2 armed conflicts (the Taiwan
Strait Crises)
"MUHNOCHWA" [FACE SCRATCHER]
TAIPEI, TAIWAN
1956
UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA
2002
THE ANXIETY: fear of Nuclear War during
the India-Pakistan crisis over Kashmir
RAZOR WIELDING MANIAC
HALIFAX, ENGLAND
1939
THE ANXIETY: grim news from Europe of
German expansionism under the iron hand
of Hitler; talk of potential war.
OCT 24, 2016
DATA SOURCES:
CHANCE OF WINNING ELECTION DATA:
FiveThirtyEight: 2016 Election Forecast
CLOWN INCIDENT DATA
Atlas Obscura “The Definite Map of America's Creepy Clown Epidemic “
Heavy.com “Clown Sightings List"
Google News Archive
NEED MORE INFO?
@180LA
JUL 1, 2016
84 MILLION
AMERICANS
MEET THEIR
CANDIDATES
LIVE ON
NATONAL TV.
MASS HYSTERIA SOURCES:
Google News Archive
Robert Bartholomew “The Madness of Crowds” in Cosmos Magazine (2001)
Bartholomew & Wessely “Protean Journal of Mass Sociogenic Illness” [2002]
NyTimes: What’s Behind The Spreading Creepy Clown Hysteria?“
WALL SPEECH
Trump climbs polls.
86%
14%
56%
44%
78%
22%
50%
50%
“As we entered the 21st century, epidemic hysteria again will mirror the
times, likely thriving on the fear and uncertainty from terrorist threats
and environmental concerns. What new forms it will take and when these
changes appear are beyond our capacity to predict.
ROBERT E. BARTHOLOMEW , SOCIOLOGIST IN 2002