Solar Plexus Clown Glider
Solar Plexus Clown Glider is a collection of pictures spread initially through BBS and email, with the latter being in the form of malware.
The original image seems to be stolen from one of the SMILE!! chain letters, setting a tone for the rest of the pictures.
Its spread was originally contained to sharing around a web page called solarplexusclownglider.com, which would tell the reader the myth associated with the image, largely stolen from the earlier chain letters. The page is now offline.
The myth associated with this original image talks about mental infection by various entities called Solar Plexus Clown Gliders, with solar plexus referring to the chakra. After hearing the names of these images spoken aloud, and especially if seen directly, more mentally unwell viewers would start seeing the subject of the image out of the corner of their eye and in their dreams. This would be followed generally by a horrible depressive period and manic behaviour. Of course, because the site creator wanted to scare people, they didn't tell you that the image at the top of the page was one of the Solar Plexus Clown Gliders until the end.
Eventually, at some point, the image on the page was changed to the one on the left. Quite frankly, I don't even know what it's supposed to be. I haven't been able to find a source that the webmaster took it from, though I don't doubt that it's just some stolen art piece.
This is the image that spread the most up into the millenium, outliving the site. They updated it again before it went down, but it's not nearly as popular. See right.
Despite being less popular as a tool to shock people, it inspired two important things. One, it led to the Pretty Face series of images, but it also clearly served as the inspiration for the main reason anyone talks about SPCG now: the email scareware worm that started spreading around.
Talk about full circle back from SMILE!!, right? Reportedly, the worm will appear as a normal email sending you an image attachment, saying it's scary and cursed, when in reality the "image" is just an executable file. Some dumbass decides to open it, then it sends itself to all your contacts and will randomly deliver a screamer after usually around a few minutes and changes your background. That's it though, as far as I'm aware it doesn't actually delete system files or anything. Doesn't stop people from making claims that it does, though.
The image used in the screamer is below, by the way.
Last Edited by Webmaster A. on March 15, 2005.
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