The Phantom Attacker: The Mystery of the "Mad Gasser"
It began with a smell. A sickeningly sweet odor, like cheap perfume or crushing flowers. Then came the nausea. And then, the paralysis.
In the autumn of 1944, while the world was focused on World War II, the small town of Mattoon, Illinois, was fighting a war of its own. An unknown attacker was stalking the streets, pumping poison gas into people's homes. They called him the Mad Gasser.
The First Attack
Late one night, Aline Kearney woke up to a strange smell coming through her open window. Within minutes, her legs went numb. She couldn't move. Panic set in as the paralysis crept up her body.
When her sister rushed in to help, she also smelled the odor. They looked out the window and saw a shadowy figure lurking in the dark. The figure vanished, leaving no footprints, only fear.
When the local newspaper ran the headline "Anesthetic Prowler on the Loose," hell broke loose. The police station was flooded with calls.
The Symptoms of the Ghost
Over the next two weeks, dozens of citizens reported attacks. The stories were terrifyingly consistent. Victims reported:
- The Smell: A sweet, chemical odor drifting into bedrooms.
- Physical Reaction: Vomiting, coughing, and temporary paralysis of the legs.
- The Attacker: A tall, thin figure dressed in dark clothing, sometimes carrying a "flit gun" (an old tool for spraying insecticide).
Mass Panic or Real Danger?
Mattoon turned into a fortress. Men roamed the streets with shotguns. Families slept in shifts. The police were overwhelmed, responding to alarm after alarm.
But they never found the attacker. They never found the gas tanks. They never found physical evidence.
The "Mass Hysteria" Theory
State investigators and psychologists arrived to solve the case. Their conclusion was disappointing: It was all in their heads.
Experts argued that the town was suffering from "Mass Hysteria" fueled by war anxiety.
- The "sweet smell" was likely pollution from a nearby factory.
- The paralysis was a symptom of extreme panic attacks.
- The shadowy figures were just imagination running wild.
Why the Theory Doesn't Fit
However, locals refused to believe the experts. There were too many coincidences:
- Dogs Barking: Many victims reported their dogs barking aggressively moments before the gas entered the room.
- Consistent Details: People who didn't know each other reported the exact same sweet smell before the news even covered it.
- Physical Evidence: One woman found a white cloth soaked in chemicals on her porch, which burned her lips when she touched it.
The attacks stopped as suddenly as they began. The Mad Gasser was never caught. Did he move on? Did he die? Or was he never there at all? To this day, psychology textbooks use Mattoon as a case study for hysteria, but the victims went to their graves swearing the gas was real.
