Phantom Clown on Ardmore Trails?

Posted by: Loren Coleman on August 17th, 2009

clown-sewer-untouchable.jpg

I won’t go into the cryptopolitical angle here; you can read about that over at the Twilight Language blog. But I did want to alert you to a strange sighting and name game developing this summer, a bit of a Fortean distraction for you.

As I have mentioned before, in “Top Ten Evil Clown Stories of 2008”, “Evil Clowns 2008”, and “Phantom Clowns Are Back”, sinister clowns are an active Fortean and cultural phenomenon.

Now, something wicked this way comes, or, at least, a new momentarily appearance of same.

On August 11, 2009, WSBT 24/7 News broadcast the following breaking story, “Clown reportedly chases man near Ardmore Trail.”

Police looking for a man dressed as a clown were unsuccessful in locating him early Tuesday [August 11, 2009] — that’s after a driver told St. Joseph County authorities the stranger chased him around just west of South Bend.

The man called 911 shortly before 3 a.m. and said the person in a clown suit was on foot, but chasing him as he was in his truck in the 55500 block of Melrose Avenue.

The clown then disappeared back into the woods, police were told.

Officers who responded to the scene were unable to locate the clown, according to 911 dispatch.

Clearly, this seemingly near “abduction” case reminded me of the “Phantom Clown” cases where clowns were seen, children were threatened with kidnapping, and then the clowns seemingly vanished.

So I searched around a bit.

Guess what? On Thursday, August 6, 2009, there was a near-abduction of a little girl in…get this…Ardmore, Oklahoma!

Daniel Armbruster of KXII-TV reported:

Ardmore Police say a 10-year-old girl was riding her bike near her home Thursday evening when a man approached her and asked her to get into his car. Now a seemingly quiet neighborhood is on edge.

The 500 block of H Street Southwest in Ardmore is described by residents as peaceful and a great place to raise children. But since last Thursday evening some residents have become concerned that their small neighborhood may no longer be the safe place they one believed….

Ardmore Police say the only description the little girl could provide is that the man was light skinned. They say it was the skills her parents taught her about strangers that possibly saved her life, because she refused the man’s invitation to get into his car and immediately ran home.

Ardmore, Oklahoma having a near-child abduction and Ardmore Trail, Indiana being the focus of “clown” attention on 8-11 are bizarre and very Fortean. What name game is behind “Ardmore”?

The name Ardmore is a Gaelic word signifying high grounds or hills. John A. Keel would often point out that hilltops (literally the “keels” of the high grounds) were the best places to observe Forteana.

Most of the uses of the word “Ardmore” link directly back to Ardmore, Ireland.


Round tower and ruins of St Declan’s Church, Ardmore, Ireland.

On a hill above the village of Ardmore, Ireland, is a well-preserved 30m high, 12th-century round tower and the ruins of St Declan’s church and oratory dating from the 13th and 8th centuries respectively. One of the outer walls of the church features some stone carvings retrieved from an earlier 9th-century building. The carvings include a very early image of a harp, and of Adam and Eve in the garden.

The Ardmore church also contains two Ogham stones (ancient alphabet message phallic carved rocks, see one below), which rest in small alcoves.

Where does “Ardmore” pop up in the USA?

Ardmore, Oklahoma was named after the affluent Philadelphia suburb and historic Pennsylvania Main Line stop Ardmore, Pennsylvania, which was named after Ardmore, Ireland (the oldest Christian settlement in Ireland) by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1873.

Another Ardmore is a city in Giles and Lincoln counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, and borders its sister city, Ardmore, Alabama. That Ardmore is a town in Limestone County, Alabama, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Metro Area. It is home to the Saturn 1B Rocket, at the Alabama Welcome Center, just south of the Tennessee border, on Interstate 65.

On April 22, 1966, Ardmore, Oklahoma, was the site of the worst plane crash in Oklahoma history, which killed 83 people.

And now a “clown” is appearing along the Ardmore Trail in Indiana.

In the realm of a most bizarre coincidence, synchromysticism’s Godfather John Shelby Downard was born in Ardmore, Oklahoma.

+++++++

For more on “Phantom Clowns,” see Mysterious America (NY: Simon and Schuster, 2006). For more on symbolic criminal behavior, see The Copycat Effect (NY: Simon and Schuster, 2004).

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.


9 Responses to “Phantom Clown on Ardmore Trails?”

  1. Matt_J responds:

    If it helps at all, Ardmore Trail is near the South Bend Regional Airport. I used to live near it while in grad school. It’s not in, but it’s close to, what would be considered the “bad side of town”. Otherwise, it’s a residential area.

  2. Quacker1 responds:

    Well it’s the good, safe parts of town that weirdos and psychopaths would occasionally frequent, since individuals in those areas often have their ‘guard down,’ so to speak. I don’t know what to think of this ‘phantom clown’ following a guy in a car. Doesn’t seem a very effective way to kidnap or kill someone, but if he was just trying to creep people out, that’s definitely the way to go.

  3. proriter responds:

    Most of the clowns in South Bend are to be found inside the City/County building. Perhaps one strayed.

  4. cryptidsrus responds:

    I used to live in Oklahoma—not in Ardmore but in Lawton. My family was military and we were stationed at Ft. Sill. I’ve never been near Ardmore but I CAN tell you Oklahoma is a great place for cryptid phenomena and sightings. Under certain conditions and contexts it can get really creepy out there in the prairie—particularly at night. 🙂

    Interdimensional entity, maybe—a la Pennywise???
    Who knows???
    This is troubling—in more ways than one.

    If more sightings of this “phantom clown” continues, the MSM could pick it up and run with it.
    Then everybody and their distant cousins could be seeing clowns under every bush and sewer grate.
    Oh well—
    It IS an interesting story.

  5. tropicalwolf responds:

    proriter may have hit the nail on the head.

    On a more serious note, The Copycat Effect comes HIGHLY recommend. It is a chance for some to read the darker side of Mr Coleman’s research (and I say that with the utmost respect). A truly eye-opening look at modern culture.

  6. Rogutaan responds:

    Stangely enough I started reading Stephen King’s It probably about a week ago, possibly even on the 11th.

    Stranger still, when I was a child, probably around 5, my parents were away for the night so I had a sitter who told me a scary story. I don’t quite remember the story too much, but it was about killer clowns in a haunted house, and the sitter pointed to my dad’s bookshelf, directly at the novel It, and said something along the lines of “never read that book or you will let the demons out.” Nearly 20 years later, I start reading It and this happens.

    If the end of the world happens, I apologize ahead of time.

  7. timi_hendrix responds:

    Fascinating!

    When will these clowns strike next?

    and what do they want?

  8. Alligator responds:

    KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE…..the truth is out there.

  9. korollocke responds:

    Funny you mention it, my mother recorded that flick and couldn’t erase or copy over it no matter how much she tried. We finially burned it, really creeped her out.

Sorry. Comments have been closed.

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