Authorities at Fayette County Schools were on heightened alert last week after receiving reports to expect sightings of creepy clowns at one of it middle schools.

Social media was abuzz with news that clowns were expected to show up at Bennetts Mill Middle School, district spokeswoman Melinda Berry-Dreisbach said Tuesday.

“It didn’t materialize,” she said. Nonetheless, the school district sent letters homes to parents districtwide notifying them of the situation and they beefed up security at Bennett’s Mill Middle School in Fayetteville.

Sightings of menacing clowns have become a national - albeit weird- phenomenon. The killer clown pranks were first reported in August after there were dozens of reports of scary clowns lurking around schools and college campuses.

The creepy clown cases reportedly began in the Carolinas. In several of the cases, a clown or clowns were reported to be in wooded areas trying to lure children. Last month, police in LaGrange had to contend with reports of clowns in a van trying to entice children. Many of the sightings have been dismissed as pranks by law enforcement but authorities are still taking viewing the incidents as a potential threat to safety. More than a dozen people have been arrested in connection with the sightings nationally.

Other clown reports in metro Atlanta:

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U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff speaks during a town hall at the Cobb County Civic Center on April 25 in Atlanta. Ossoff said Wednesday he is investigating corporate landlords and out-of-state companies buying up single-family homes in bulk. (Jason Allen for the AJC)

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