Mad Gasser of Mattoon

The Mad Gasser of Mattoon (also known as the Phantom Anesthetist, or simply the Mad Gasser) was the name given to an event of alleged mass hysteria Many reported gassings had simple explanations, such as spilled nail polish or odors emanating from animals or local factories. Nevertheless, local newspapers ran alarmist articles about the reported attacks and treated the accounts as fact. Another report, made some weeks later, described the gasser as being a female dressed as a man. The Gasser had also been described as carrying a flit gun, an agricultural tool for spraying pesticide, which he purportedly used to expel the gas.

Reported attacks

The first of the 1944 gasser incidents occurred at a house on Grant Avenue, Mattoon, on August 31, 1944. Urban Raef was awakened during the early hours of the morning by a strange odor. He felt nauseated and weak, and suffered from a fit of vomiting. Suspecting that he was suffering from domestic gas poisoning, Raef's wife wanted to check the kitchen stove to see if there was a problem with the pilot light, but found that she was partially paralyzed and unable to leave her bed.

Later that night (some contemporary accounts refer to the time as the morning of the following day), a similar incident was also reported by a young mother living close by. She was awakened by the sound of her daughter coughing but found herself unable to leave her bed. of Marshall Avenue, Mattoon, reported smelling a strong, sweet odor around 11:00 pm. At first she dismissed the smell, believing it to be from flowers outside of the window, but the odor soon became stronger and she began to lose feeling in her legs. Kearney panicked and her calls attracted her sister, Mrs. Ready, who was in the house at the time. Mrs. Ready also noticed the odor, and determined that it was coming from the direction of the bedroom window, which was open at the time. The police were contacted, but no evidence of a prowler was found. At around 12:30 am, Bert Kearney, Aline Kearney's husband (a local taxi driver who had been absent during the time of the attack), returned home to find an unidentified man hiding close to one of the house's windows. The man fled and Kearney was unable to catch him. Kearney's description of the prowler was of a tall man dressed in dark clothing, wearing a tight fitting cap. This description was reported in the local media, and became the common description of the gasser throughout the Mattoon incident.

In addition to the cloth, a skeleton key, described as looking "well used", was reportedly found on the sidewalk adjacent to the porch, along with a large, almost empty, tube of lipstick. The cloth was analyzed by the authorities, but they found no chemicals on it that could explain Beulah Cordes' reaction.

During this period, there was also an increase in physical evidence of attacks being reported, ranging from footprints allegedly being discovered underneath windows to tears being found in window screens.

Explanations

There are three primary theories about the Mattoon Mad Gasser incident: mass hysteria, industrial pollution, or an actual physical assailant. The events have also been written about by authors on the paranormal.

Mass hysteria

Almost two weeks after the Mattoon attacks began, the local Commissioner of Public Health, Thomas V. Wright, announced that there had undoubtedly been a number of gassing incidents, but that many instances were likely due to hysteria: residents hearing of alarming events, and then panicking when confronted by an out-of-place odor or a shadow at the window; Wright stated: and went on to form the basis for several subsequent studies of the phenomena of mass hysteria.

Most of the physical symptoms recorded during the Botetourt and Mattoon incidents (including choking, swelling of mucous membranes, and weakness/temporary paralysis) have all been suggested symptoms of hysteria.

Some experts believe that the mass hysteria was fueled by the headline in the Mattoon Journal-Gazette, "Mrs. Kearney and Daughter First Victims," which assumed there would be more attacks.

Toxic waste or pollution

On September 12, Chief of Police Cole told a press conference that odors and symptoms reported may have been the result of pollutants or toxic waste released by nearby industrial plants, and speculated that carbon tetrachloride or trichloroethylene, both of which have a sweet odor and can induce symptoms similar to those reported by purported gasser victims, may have been the substance released.

In response to Cole's statement, Atlas-Imperial, the primary company implicated in this affair, released a statement of its own saying that their facility had only five gallons of carbon tetrachloride in stock, which was contained in firefighting equipment. Atlas-Imperial officials also denied that any quantities of trichloroethylene (an industrial solvent used by Atlas) could be responsible for sickness in the town, reasoning that it would have taken significant quantities of the chemical to sicken the townspeople, and that factory workers would have experienced similar symptoms long before anybody outside of the factory was affected. The superintendent of the Illinois Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, Richard Piper, even stated in a local newspaper:<blockquote>"The existence of the anesthetic, or whatever it is, is genuine"</blockquote>Even within this theory however, it is still debated whether there was an assailant for the duration of the gassing incidents or if it was at first before changing over time.

Other suggestions

Some writers on the paranormal have covered the events. Clark (1993) describes an illustration of the Gasser from Loren Coleman's Mysterious America: "[the artist] depicts him as a not-quite-human, possibly extraterrestrial, being".

References

External links

"The Mad Gasser of Mattoon: how the press created an imaginary chemical weapons attack" from Skeptical Inquirer, January 7, 2002
Site with newspaper headlines and a list of victims and locations of incidents