Reported sightings of silent, menacing clowns are creating fear for families in South Carolina.

Greenville Police Chief Ken Miller says investigators do not know if the sightings are a publicity stunt or something more sinister.

Residents have told authorities they have spotted clowns, or people who looked like clowns, on at least eight occasions over the past two weeks.

Several people reported seeing a man dressed as a clown outside Greenville trying to lure the children into the woods by waving a wad of cash and a green laser light.

“This is something we are taking very seriously, especially because of the allegations of the people attempting to lure children into the woods,” Master Deputy Ryan Flood of the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office said.

Police are urging parents to be cautious.

“I will usually let my son play in our backyard where I can see him from the kitchen, but now I won’t let him go outside the house without me,” said Jessie Owen, a 29-year-old Greenville mother of two.

“All it would take is one second. One promise of candy and he would be gone”.

There’s speculation Rob Zombie is behind the clown campaign. Photo: Getty

One theory is that the clowns are connected to the release of the independent horror movie 31, by director Rob Zombie.

A preview of the movie, which features a gang of sadistic clowns, screened on Thursday evening at a theatre in Greenville, population 61,000.

Representatives of the movie could not be reached for comment.

One motorist in Greenville called police to say he caught a fleeting glimpse of a figure standing by the side of the road wearing a clown mask and a clear rain poncho.

The caller said the clown then disappeared into woods.

Two days earlier, a women said she saw a middle-aged man with white facial makeup and flaming red hair standing silently outside a laundromat.

Police have warned that South Carolina law prohibits anyone over age 18 from dressing up as a clown.

With AAP