Awesome or Off-Putting is a weekly delve into cryptozoology, ufology, aliens, medical marvels, scientific wonders, secret societies, government conspiracies, cults, ghosts, myths, ancient artifacts, religion, strange facts or just the plain unexplainable.
This week: The Unexplainable
In the early to mid 1940s reports of a tall thin man dressed in black abounded in the town of Mattoon, Illinois. The man would sneak up to the window of houses and spray in an unknown gas from his flit gun – a device normally used for spraying pesticides. There were several reports of this gas-man, and in two different towns no less, but the police could find no trace of him.
This is the story of the Mad Gasser.
The first attacks actually happened in Botetourt county, Virginia – where three incidents were reported on the night of December 22, 1933. The first victims were in the home of Cal Huffman. Around 10:00 PM Mrs. Huffman reported smelling a foul odour that made her feel nauseous. The same thing happened at 10:30 PM, apparently suspecting foul play, Cal Huffman reported this one to the police. At 1:00 AM it happened again, but this time 8 people in the house were effected. The symptoms, as Wikipedia puts it, were:
"…headaches, nausea, facial swelling, and constriction of the mouth and throat."
Huffman's daughter Alice suffered such a reaction to the gas that her throat closed and she had to be revived. No attacker was seen during the Huffman attack, but that wasn't always the case. On January 28 four people were seen fleeing the scene of an attack affecting five people in Cloverdale. All in all, this string of the attacks happened over the course of nine nights, and had a total of 21 victims.
Which brings us to a more extensively attacked Mattoon, Illinois in 1944. It's important to note that it's never been conclusively decided that the two sets of attacks were conducted by the same person, but the similarities leave little room for doubt. The Mattoon bout of attacks did have one difference though, part of the gaseous effects this time were partial but temporary paralysis. Perhaps the gasser spent his decade-long absence perfecting the nasty brew.
One of the more interesting reports happened on September 1. Marshall Avenue resident Mrs. Kearney smelled a sweet odour she first attributed to the flowers outside her window. Then the smell got stronger – and Mrs. Kearney began to lose sensation in her legs. She panicked and her sister – Mrs. Ready came running. She smelled the odour, and traced it to an open window. Ready called the police, but no evidence of a prowler was found. At 12:30 Mrs. Kearney's husband, a taxi driver, returned home to find an unknown man hiding near a house window. Mr. Kearney pursued the man, but was unable to catch him. This led to the generally accepted description of the gasser – a tall thin man dressed all in black with a tight fitting cap.
On September 5 Carl and Beulah Cordes returned home to find a white handkerchief-type cloth on her porch. Beulah picked it up, sniffed it, and instantly became violently ill. She later described the experience as being like an electric shock. Her face swelled, she suffered partial paralysis, and her throat and mouth burned. Carl later said he thought the cloth was used to incapacitate the family dog for easy entry into the house. Authorities examined the cloth, but were unable to determine anything. A skeleton key was also found on the couple's sidewalk, it was described as looking well used.
The gasser caused a panic. There were 21 Mattoon attacks reported, with a total of 27 victims. The FBI came in, local PD issued statements, and mob like groups formed to find the nefarious gasser – to no avail. The local safety commissioner, Thomas V. Wright, said of the whole matter:
“There is no doubt that a gas maniac exists and has made a number of attacks. But many of the reported attacks are nothing more than hysteria. Fear of the gas man is entirely out of proportion to the menace of the relatively harmless gas he is spraying. The whole town is sick with hysteria.”
Some chalked the supposed attacks up to industrial pollution floating in through open windows, and some said it was all a matter of government conspiracy. Others claim it was the work of a homosexual college chemistry student getting revenge on the community that wouldn't accept him. The gay college kid hardly explains how the incidents happened in two towns ten years apart, but whatever the case, something definitely happened.
What exactly that something was, though, well that's the question now, isn't it?
Read More:
THE MAD GASSER OF VIRGINIA & MATTOON, ILLINOIS – prairieghosts.com
Billy Cypius says
The mad gasser? That’s the least scary name for a legendary criminal I’ve ever heard. Jack the Ripper, Spring-Heeled Jack, I can live with. But The Mad Gasser? That’s the sort of name that’ll get you knifed in prison