12-year-old Daniel heard a thumping noise at his home in Kannapolis, North Carolina and went to investigate, before having to sprint out out the door after hearing a chilling confirmation.

Daniel filmed his encounter, and sang out, to the tune of "If you're happy and you know it", to the phantom figure: "If you came here to kill me clap your hands!"

To his horror, a clapping sound answered his question and he immediately sprinted out the door as fast as he could.

Daniel and his mother later admitted that the video was staged but by that point it had gone viral, spawning a large succession of parodies, imitations and amassing more than 4 million views on TikTok alone.

My 12 year old son Daniel decided to video after hearing a loud thump upstairs and went to the bottom of the staircase and asked "if you came here to kill me clap your hands" and then you hear a double clap and Daniel runs out of the door like he is running for his life.