'Cat is not out of the hat': Creepy figure terrorising UK and Ireland turns into a headache for police
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'Cat is not out of the hat': Creepy figure terrorising UK and Ireland turns into a headache for police")
Videos show a man dresses as Cat in the Hat and chasing people. Photograph: (X)
A figure dressed as the Cat in the Hat is terrorising people in the UK and Ireland. Videos on social media have lent credibility to the scare. The police have said the videos are AI-generated, but this has done little to stop the rumours of the creepy killer.
Youth in the UK and Ireland are terrified that someone dressed like the famous Dr Seuss character "Cat in the Hat" is after their lives. Several videos showing this figure prowling on the streets, issuing threatening warnings, have gone viral on social media. This has convinced them that this cat is real and will jump at them while they are walking down the street. The videos led the police to launch an investigation, and they are now sure that this is a case of mass hysteria.
The police have confirmed that the videos are AI-generated and there is no such killer on the loose. The videos have been shared by accounts that were only recently made. One such video has been viewed 15 million times in just three weeks. It shows someone dressed in the Cat in the Hat costume, with the caption, "Help, what do I do?" Another had the cat threatening a particular area. "Kent I'm coming. Lock your doors," a post read.
Videos of Cat in the Hat killer figure
Cat in the Hat videos spread on social media
To lend authenticity to the videos, some people are creating them to appear as if they have been recorded by Ring doorbell cameras, with the scary figure walking up to their door. A 16-year-old named Skye told the BBC that the fear crept into him after a sleepover where everyone was watching the Cat in the Hat videos of the supposed figure. At 3 am, Skye left for home but because of the supposed threat, he got "totally freaked out that the Cat in the Hat was going to jump out." Skye had to call his mother to pick him up.
How did rumours of Cat in the Hat killer start?
The scare reportedly started in the Irish counties of Limerick and Wexford. Videos showed people coming across the creepy figure on the roads at night. The local Gardaí in Wexford dismissed the sightings and clarified that they were AI-generated. "To be clear, the Cat in the Hat was not in your driveway while you were out and he is not currently hiding out in Curracloe," it said, trying to quell the rumours. But they spread rapidly in the rest of the UK.
A fake Facebook post boosted the rumours of the killer figure, and the South Yorkshire Police stepped in to dismiss the reports. "If you do see posts online providing policing updates and advice, please check that they are from an official policing account," it said, adding, "The cat is not out of the hat on this one… Please don't believe everything you read on social media."
