Police in Ireland have issued a public statement debunking viral videos that appear to show a Cat in the Hat-like figure stalking residential streets.
The footage, which first surfaced in Limerick, Ireland, before spreading to Cork, Tipperary, Dublin and Wexford, depicts a slender cat-like humanoid creeping toward windows, standing on driveways and wandering neighborhoods after dark. Wexford Gardaí, the Irish police force for County Wexford, stepped in last week to address growing panic as the clips accumulated thousands of views and shares across TikTok, Facebook and Snapchat.
A spokesperson for Wexford Garda wrote on the force’s Instagram and Facebook
“Fortunately, we can rule out the issue, which is essentially an AI prompt that places the character into images/videos of familiar places,” the spokesperson continued.
“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.”
The hoax has since jumped from Ireland to the United Kingdom, with fabricated sightings now claiming to show the character in Manchester, Merseyside, Newcastle, Essex, Leeds, York, Cardiff and Blackpool. One TikTok account dedicated to “updates on the cat in the hat stalkers in Ireland and the uk” has already amassed over 7,200 followers and 382,000 likes, according to tracking of the account’s growth.
The videos typically feature eerie background music and shaky camera work designed to heighten tension. The character depicted resembles the 2003 live-action film version of Dr. Seuss’s creation, portrayed by Mike Myers, which has developed a cult following in recent years despite critical panning at release.
Gardaí officials emphasized that no actual person in costume has been spotted and no criminal activity has occurred. The force identified the phenomenon as an “AI prompt” deliberately inserting the character into otherwise mundane footage of real locations, making the hoax particularly convincing to casual viewers unfamiliar with generative artificial intelligence tools.
The panic echoes a very real social media phenomenon from 2016, when people dressed as Pennywise and other circus-inspired horror characters took to streets across multiple countries to film prank videos. In that wave, individuals actually donned costumes and physically confronted strangers, with some reports of chases and threats that prompted genuine police responses.
In 2022, police were called to Hampton Pier in Herne Bay, Kent, after a 17-year-old and his friend reported being followed by a clown who crouched behind a wall. The following year, a person dressed as Stephen King’s Pennywise roamed Skelmorlie in North Ayrshire, Scotland, with footage posted to a Facebook page called Cole Deimos.
The current Cat in the Hat trend differs fundamentally from those incidents in that no actual costumed individual is involved. The fabrication has nonetheless achieved significant reach, with some Wexford residents expressing genuine concern in local online forums before police intervention.
“Just a bit concerned…I was wondering if anyone has any clue,” wrote one user in a Gorey community forum on Facebook, as reported in coverage of the hoax’s spread.
The ease with which AI tools can now generate convincing video has raised fresh concerns about digital misinformation. Law enforcement agencies internationally have faced similar challenges with AI-generated hoaxes, including fabricated emergency calls and fake detention center footage that waste investigative resources and provoke public alarm.
The Wexford Garda statement marks one of the more unusual official debunkings of AI-generated content by police, with the force employing dry humor to deflate the panic while clearly labeling the material as artificial. No arrests have been reported in connection with the original creation of the videos.
A new animated film adaptation of The Cat in the Hat is scheduled for release later this year.