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0:34

The world is filled with many questions, such

0:37

as, do giants exist? What

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is junk DNA? Does it mean that you're

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we're two scientists who explore the answers

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to these questions and many, many more

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in our new podcast, Mystery of Everything,

1:10

available everywhere you get your podcasts. It

1:16

was a warm summer evening in the sleepy

1:18

little town of Mattoon, Illinois. The

1:21

year was 1944. FDR

1:24

was president and the war in the Pacific

1:26

was raging. That

1:28

night in Mattoon, many residents left their windows open in

1:30

order to let in the night breeze, and

1:33

so that they could fall asleep to the sounds of

1:35

crickets chirping in the night. On

1:37

August 31st, a Mattoon resident named Urban Rafe

1:40

awoke in the middle of the night feeling

1:42

ill. All around

1:44

him, the air inside his bedroom reeked

1:46

with a pungent, sickly sweet aroma. His

1:49

odor was so strong that it made his eyes water

1:51

and his lips swell. It

1:54

also made him feel very nauseous. Urban

1:57

barely had time to stumble his way back to

1:59

the bathroom. where he threw up. As

2:02

he came back to the bedroom, he tried to wake his wife

2:04

to see if she was okay. Erbin's

2:07

wife opened her eyes and she too

2:09

immediately began gagging. Erbin

2:12

asked her if she had left the gas on, but

2:14

when his wife tried to get up to check, she

2:17

found she was unable to move. She

2:20

tried to lift herself up, only

2:22

her arms and legs didn't work. She

2:25

felt paralyzed. Erbin

2:27

grabbed his wife and began desperately shaking her,

2:29

trying to get her to move, but

2:31

she couldn't. This wasn't

2:33

the only such strange incident that would be

2:35

reported in short order. The

2:38

following night, Aline Kearney and her sister Martha were

2:40

in the kitchen of Aline's home getting ready to

2:42

settle down for the night. Aline

2:44

went to put her three-year-old daughter Doris to

2:47

bed. She opened the

2:49

window in Doris' bedroom to let the cool night air

2:51

in. Mattoon was a

2:53

small town and most people felt safe there.

2:57

But immediately after opening the window,

2:59

Aline began to notice a sickeningly sweet

3:01

odor began to permeate the bedroom. At

3:05

first, Aline thought it was just the smell of

3:07

summer flowers wafting in the night air. In

3:10

fact, some residents would go on to

3:12

refer to this aroma as gardenia gas.

3:15

But as the smell grew stronger, Aline

3:18

grew increasingly frightened. Her

3:20

throat began to constrict, and

3:23

her legs and lower extremities began to go

3:25

numb. Aline managed

3:27

to let out a gagging scream that caused her

3:29

sister Martha to come rushing to her assistance. As

3:32

Martha stepped into the room, she too was

3:34

hit with that same sickly sweet stench. Aline

3:38

told Martha to grab Doris and get out of

3:40

the house. Martha did

3:42

as she was told. She picked up her

3:44

young niece and ran out of the house looking

3:46

for help. Meanwhile,

3:48

Aline couldn't move. She just

3:50

lay there on the bedroom floor trying to will her

3:52

legs to work again. As she

3:55

lay there in the dark, she peered up at the open

3:57

window and saw something else

3:59

terrifying. There was

4:01

a shadowy figure standing there, watching

4:03

her. Only Aline couldn't

4:06

do anything about it. Martha

4:09

ran to the next-door neighbor's house and he phoned the

4:11

police. Officers

4:14

arrived on the scene a short while later, but

4:16

by the time they got there and looked around they found

4:18

nothing out of the ordinary. Aline's

4:20

husband Bert, who worked as a late-night taxi

4:23

driver, heard about what happened to his wife.

4:25

He rushed home and later reported that as he got close

4:28

to his house, he spotted a

4:30

man standing in their yard,

4:32

looking up at their bedroom window. Bert

4:36

described the man as tall, dressed in

4:38

dark clothing and wearing a tight-fitting cap.

4:41

Bert shouted at the man asking him what he was doing.

4:44

The man immediately turned and fled. Bert

4:47

tried chasing after him, but the prowler vanished

4:50

into the night. These events

4:52

were the very first such incidents reported in the

4:54

town of Mattoon. Over

4:56

the next two weeks, several Mattoon residents

4:59

would report similar incidents of their homes

5:01

being filled with noxious fumes that made

5:03

them ill. According

5:05

to many of the victims, they had

5:07

all encountered a mysterious individual who has

5:10

become known in history as

5:12

the Mad Gasser of Mattoon. I'm

5:15

Nate Hale and do you smell something funny? And

5:18

this is The Conspirators. That

5:36

night, Urban Rafe and his wife told the

5:38

police that they had been the victims of

5:40

a bizarre gas attack that left them nauseous

5:42

and partially paralyzed. But

5:44

when the officers arrived on the scene, they claimed

5:46

they couldn't smell anything. It

5:49

turns out that at the time the supposed gas attack

5:51

was going on, there was actually another couple who were

5:53

staying with the Rafe's, and

5:55

they too reported nothing out of the ordinary

5:57

happening to them. time

6:00

the police arrived on the scene the Rafe's symptoms

6:02

had subsided as well. They

6:05

consulted a doctor and he had never heard of

6:07

any sort of poison gas that could cause the

6:09

sort of symptoms the Rafe's reported. Ultimately,

6:12

the doctor offered his opinion that the Rafe's may

6:14

have been suffering from a bout of food poisoning.

6:18

The Matoon police probably would have written the incident off

6:20

as a figment of the Rafe's imagination.

6:24

But less than 24 hours later they got another

6:26

call of a similar incident occurring at the home

6:28

of Aline and Bert Kearney. By

6:31

the time police got to the Kearney house, Aline

6:33

had begun to recover. Bert

6:36

had found his wife lying on their daughter's

6:38

bedroom floor unable to move. He

6:40

carried her to the living room sofa. By

6:43

the time the police arrived the sensation in her

6:45

limbs had begun to return. Aline

6:48

told the police her frightening story, including

6:50

seeing a shadow moving outside her daughter's

6:52

bedroom window. Bert confirmed

6:54

that he too had seen a prowler outside the

6:56

home and that he had chased the

6:58

man off. All

7:01

the officers who reported to the scene were quick

7:03

to realize the incident must be connected to the

7:05

events reported by Urban Rafe and his wife the

7:07

night before. The

7:09

Matoon Chief of Police, Eugene C.

7:11

Cole, wasn't convinced. After

7:14

all, this was Matoon, Illinois, not the big

7:16

city. Things like

7:18

this didn't happen in places such as theirs. Like

7:21

the Chief's skepticism, the department did their due

7:23

diligence. Officers scoured

7:26

the area around the Kearney home and found nothing.

7:29

The fact that there was no evidence of either gas

7:31

tech didn't help the claims made by the Kearneys or

7:33

the Rafe's. Yet

7:35

at the same time the police remained concerned there might

7:37

be some sort of peeping time in the neighborhood. But

7:41

these were just the first such reported incidents

7:43

in Matoon. Soon,

7:45

the mysterious individual who had come to be

7:47

known as the Phantom Anesthetist or more commonly

7:50

the Mad Gasser would step up

7:52

his attacks and terrorize even more of

7:54

the town's residents. The

7:56

day after Aline Kearney's bizarre gas tech

7:58

two more families came forward. to reporting

8:00

similar incidents. One such

8:03

story came from a woman most reports just call

8:05

Mrs. Ryder. Around midnight

8:07

on September 1st, the mother of two

8:09

claimed that her children fell mysteriously ill.

8:12

As she took care of them, Mrs. Ryder claimed

8:14

that her bedroom began to fill with a sickly

8:16

sweet odor that caused a burning sensation in her

8:18

throat. Even though

8:21

her symptoms were mild, she still reported the incident

8:23

to the police. That

8:26

same evening, an anonymous woman reported that

8:28

she too began to feel severely nauseous

8:30

at around 1 a.m. Her

8:32

symptoms persisted until dawn. As

8:36

report after report kept coming in, the police were at

8:38

a loss as to what was going on. One

8:41

early theory was that a prouder was using

8:43

chloroform on the town's residence. Chloroform

8:46

is a chemical that you've probably seen used before in

8:48

the movies. It's the knockout

8:50

drug where you'll see someone dousing a rag in

8:53

the liquid, then stuffing it over

8:55

someone's mouth to make them pass out. In

8:57

truth, chloroform doesn't work anywhere near as quickly as

9:00

it does in the movies. It can

9:02

take several minutes for the person breathing in the fumes

9:04

to pass out. And

9:06

if the attacker would have used too much of the chemical,

9:08

it could actually kill someone. At

9:11

the same time, it is true that small

9:13

amounts of chloroform could actually cause feelings of

9:15

nausea and weakness similar to what was being

9:18

reported in each gassing incident. But

9:21

chloroform quickly evaporates and leaves few

9:23

traces behind, making

9:25

it difficult for police to confirm that this was indeed

9:27

the cause of the attacks. At

9:30

the same time, if chloroform was being used, this

9:33

was at least something the police could go

9:36

on because chloroform was a controlled substance, meaning

9:38

any sales of the chemical could be traced.

9:41

Mrs. Ryder didn't agree with the police, though. She

9:44

knew what chloroform smelled like and she didn't

9:46

think that's what she encountered. Police

9:49

attempted to keep all these reported incidents under

9:51

wraps in order to prevent the public from

9:53

panicking. But pretty soon, this

9:56

story leaked to the local newspaper. After

9:58

that, all hell broke loose. loose. The

10:01

Matoon Daily Journal Gazette published a front-page

10:03

story about the anesthetic prowler on the

10:05

loose. Soon after,

10:07

the mysterious individual became the talk of the

10:09

town. But despite

10:11

the press coverage and heightened public vigilance, the

10:13

next few days passed with no more strange

10:16

incidents being reported. The

10:18

townspeople began to breathe a collective sigh of relief

10:20

as it seemed that perhaps the mad gasser had

10:22

either quit or moved on. Then

10:25

on the following Tuesday night, Carl and Bula

10:27

Cordis returned home to find an unfamiliar wet

10:29

rag lying on their front porch. Bula

10:33

picked up the rag and gave it a sniff. Immediately

10:36

after, her entire body went numb and

10:38

she collapsed. Carl bent down

10:40

to help his wife back up. But

10:43

then Bula began to spit up blood. Carl

10:45

was terrified. He ran to the phone to call

10:47

a doctor. Meanwhile, Bula's lips

10:50

had gone swollen and blistered in a matter

10:52

of seconds. But

10:54

almost as quickly as the symptoms came on, they

10:56

also began to subside. By

10:58

the time a doctor got to the house, Bula could stand

11:00

once again. Her throat and lips were

11:03

still burning, but she was otherwise okay.

11:06

Police gathered up the rag and sent it

11:08

to the Illinois State Police Laboratory for analysis.

11:11

Hopefully they'd be able to determine the chemical that was

11:13

being used in the string of attacks. They

11:16

searched the area surrounding the Cordis' home and discovered

11:19

a couple of other pieces of potential evidence. They

11:22

found a worn skeleton key and a mostly

11:24

empty tube of lipstick in the Cordis' yard.

11:27

Neither of which belonged to the couple. Keep

11:30

in mind these could have been evidence or they could have

11:32

just been trashed that was dumped in the yard. But

11:35

the presence of the lipstick tube did provide police

11:38

an extra possibility that hadn't occurred to them before.

11:41

At this time, they had been looking for a

11:43

male suspect the entire time. But

11:45

now they had to consider that perhaps the person

11:47

they were looking for was actually female. Some

11:51

of the witnesses did report seeing a mysterious woman

11:53

in the area near some of the gas attacks.

11:56

The skeleton key was another unusual clue. They

11:59

tried it on all the locks in the courtesies' home, but

12:01

it didn't work. Likewise, they went

12:03

around the neighborhood and tried it on several of the

12:05

neighbors' doors as well. The courtesies

12:08

weren't the only people who reported having a brush

12:10

with a mad gasser that evening. Another

12:12

local housewife reported that she had heard the

12:14

sounds of someone outside her bedroom window. Shortly

12:18

after, she was overcome by the strong

12:20

smell of gas, which caused her legs

12:22

to become temporarily paralyzed. At

12:25

around midnight, another woman phoned police to report that a

12:27

man tried to force his way in through her door.

12:30

She managed to frighten him off with her screams. It's

12:33

possible the incident had nothing to do with the

12:35

stories of the phantom anesthetist, but when

12:38

word got out about the incident, it only managed

12:40

to increase the level of paranoia throughout the town.

12:43

Public outcry quickly ratcheted up for the police

12:45

to do something to stop the madman in

12:47

their midst. Now, to be fair,

12:49

the Mattoon police actually did make an arrest early

12:51

on. The same night

12:54

that Bula Cortis collapsed after sniffing the

12:56

strange rag found on her front porch,

12:58

the police apprehended a young man lurking

13:00

in an alley near the Cortis' home.

13:03

This man claimed to be lost, but

13:05

police chief Cole didn't buy his story,

13:08

so they brought him into the station for

13:10

further interrogation. But the man

13:12

claimed he didn't know anything about the gas attacks

13:14

and the officers were unable to tie him to

13:16

any of the mysterious incidents. Eventually, the police

13:18

were forced to let him go. By

13:21

Friday, September 8, the story of the mad gasser

13:23

of Mattoon had become national news. Police

13:26

only stoked public fears on a much broader

13:28

scale. Remember, this was

13:30

at a time when World War II was raging. There

13:34

was a perpetual fear that spread across

13:36

the country that Hitler's forces would strike

13:39

the continental United States. Rumors

13:41

began to grow that what was happening

13:44

in Mattoon was some sort of small-scale

13:46

test of the Nazi chemical warfare program.

13:48

Stories about the mad gasser of Mattoon

13:50

caused a lot of people across the

13:52

country to worry that the war overseas

13:54

had finally reached American soil. Of

13:57

course, this was all just wild speculation in the press.

14:00

But it was enough to give a lot of

14:03

Métun citizens even more sleepless nights. The

14:05

townspeople began demanding that the police step up

14:07

to protect their homes. They

14:09

demanded additional patrol cars on the streets and

14:11

more action be taken to capture the mad

14:14

gasser. One story appeared

14:16

in newspapers claiming that the city council allegedly

14:18

held a secret meeting where the mayor offered

14:20

a reward to capture the gasser, although

14:23

later on both the mayor and city council

14:25

members denied any such meeting took place. As

14:29

the investigation ramped up, the police commissioner

14:31

Thomas Wright turned to the Illinois Department

14:33

of Public Safety for help. The

14:36

state sent the Métun Police Department an

14:38

additional 10 officers and five new police

14:40

cars. There were even rumors

14:42

that the FBI got involved and had agents

14:45

on the ground investigating the claims. By

14:47

the week of September 5th, the streets of Métun were

14:49

empty. People began locking their

14:51

doors and windows at night. Children

14:54

weren't allowed to play outside unsupervised. By

14:57

nightfall, Métun had become a veritable ghost

14:59

town. But

15:02

despite all this renewed action, the gas attacks

15:04

not only continued, they escalated. On

15:07

the night of September 6th, all hell broke

15:09

loose as seven more gas attacks were reported

15:11

across town. These

15:13

included a restaurant manager named Laura Junkin who claimed

15:15

that after closing up for the night she went

15:17

back to her apartment at the back of the

15:19

restaurant and was immediately

15:21

overcome by fumes after leaving her

15:23

windows open. She

15:26

said that it smelled like a combination of

15:28

rotten flowers and cheap perfume. She

15:30

said that within a few seconds she had collapsed to

15:32

the floor, unable to move. Elsewhere,

15:35

the parents of an 11-year-old girl named

15:38

Glenda Hendershot said that their daughter awoke

15:40

in the middle of the night feeling nauseous. The

15:43

girl's parents claimed to have spotted a

15:45

shadowy prowler lurking outside their daughter's bedroom

15:47

window. The figure, they

15:49

said, was tall and thin and completely

15:51

dressed in black clothing. A

15:54

September 8th newspaper article described the symptoms

15:56

in each attack this way. symptom

16:00

is an electric shock which passes completely

16:02

through the body. Later,

16:04

nausea develops, followed by partial

16:06

paralysis. They also

16:09

suffered burned mouths and throats and their

16:11

faces become swollen. The

16:13

fact that the police couldn't find any evidence in each

16:15

incident didn't sit well with the public, though, who

16:17

were demanding an arrest be made. The

16:20

following Saturday, the locals formed a mass protest to

16:22

show the police just how furious they were over

16:25

the lack of progress in the investigation. By

16:28

September 8, armed citizens took matters into their

16:30

own hands and were out patrolling the streets

16:32

looking for the prowler. Yet

16:35

despite the militia on that very same night,

16:37

yet another gas attack occurred. This

16:39

time was a little different, though. A

16:42

school principal later claimed to have heard a weird

16:44

buzzing noise outside her bedroom window. Immediately

16:47

after, she began to notice a strange blue

16:49

vapor seeping into her room. This

16:52

was the first time anyone claimed that the gas had a

16:54

color to it. Anyone else

16:56

said the gas had been invisible. Police

16:59

Commissioner Thomas V. Wright tried to quell the public

17:01

panic and asked for citizens to get a grip

17:03

on themselves. Razzie

17:05

did acknowledge the likelihood of there being a

17:07

so-called gas maniac on the loose. He

17:10

also voiced disbelief that many of the reported attacks

17:12

were nothing more than hysteria, and

17:15

that fear of the gas man is entirely

17:17

out of proportion to the relatively harmless gas

17:19

he is spraying. Rumors

17:22

about the mad gas are spiraled out of control

17:24

from there. Some people said

17:26

he was some sort of deranged lunatic,

17:28

perhaps an eccentric inventor. Others

17:31

believe it was the work of Nazi

17:33

terrorists operating inside the United States. One

17:37

local psychic even claimed she had a vision

17:39

of the gaser being a Neanderthal-like ape man

17:41

wielding a spray can. Before

17:45

we continue, I wanted to tell you about this

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next box while your subscription is

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active. And now, back to

19:36

the show. Things took an even

19:38

bigger turn the following night. That

19:41

was when the biggest gas attack yet allegedly

19:43

occurred. You'll find some

19:45

reports claiming that a large group of people

19:47

in the town square all encountered a cloud

19:49

of the toxic gas descending down upon them.

19:52

As many as 70 people including

19:54

several reporters all reported being overcome

19:56

with nausea and paralysis. The

20:00

Superintendent Richard Piper from the Illinois Department

20:02

of Public Safety to comment on the

20:04

incident. He. Offered is speculation

20:06

that the perpetrator must have been both brilliant

20:08

and in saint or pulled off such an

20:11

audacious series of attacks. This.

20:13

Only further inflame the citizens of Mattoon.

20:16

Pretty. Soon they were calling for the resignation of

20:18

Police Chief Call. It. Didn't help

20:20

his prospects for keeping his job after the

20:22

lab results Came in for the mysterious rag

20:24

discovered by Beulah Quarters. And those

20:27

results rings inclusive. The.

20:29

Problem as the ragged been held in the police

20:31

evidence locker for about sixty hours before it was

20:33

given to the lab for testing. And.

20:35

It's possible that any chemical on it

20:38

may have evaporated before analysis. Meanwhile.

20:41

The Mad Gas Or stage yet another

20:43

bigger and bolder attack. One

20:45

place was considered a safe haven was the

20:47

town's movie theater. Here. Is somewhere

20:49

you go and watch the flickering lights in the

20:51

silver screening get your mind off the world's troubles

20:54

for little while. But.

20:56

As the crowd said in the dark. One.

20:58

Female petering begin to smell something

21:00

sickly sweet. Vaguely like

21:02

perfume. As the smell became

21:05

stronger, a woman began to panic. Or

21:08

therapy began to race. Beer.

21:10

Grifter. What's. Been thinking. What?

21:12

Did any of them been thinking? Of

21:14

course the Mad Gas or would try to strike in

21:17

a crowded movie theater. The. Woman

21:19

started to scream for help. Everyone

21:21

needed to get out right now. At.

21:24

That point mass chaos erupted. Everyone began

21:26

to panic and south throughout the theater.

21:28

The. Crowd got up and seats and stampeded

21:31

for the exits. Later. On

21:33

the woman originally smelled gas. Touch yourself

21:35

into the hospital. Only.

21:37

The doctors who examiner noticed something different about

21:39

her. She. Hadn't experienced the same

21:41

symptoms everyone else to had and the

21:44

gas attacks or benchley they diagnose him

21:46

from suffering an anxiety attack. The.

21:49

Best guess anyone had said the woman

21:51

probably smelled someone strong perfume and freaked

21:53

out. This.

21:55

Turned out to be the final straw for the police. The

21:58

next day, Police Chief Cole, who was still at

22:00

risk of losing his job, announced that Is department

22:02

would no longer be taking any more bad gas

22:04

or reports. Unless there was hard evidence

22:07

to back it up. He insisted

22:09

that anyone coming for claiming to have

22:11

suffered a gas attack undergo a medical

22:13

evaluation. People. Needed a

22:15

prove their symptoms were real and they

22:17

work. Just experiencing another panic attack. On.

22:20

Top of that, he announced that anyone who

22:22

didn't agree to these terms but face jail

22:24

time. This led to an

22:26

immediate drop in the number of calls coming in about

22:28

the Mad Gasser. The. Woman who

22:30

caused a panic in the movie theater became a

22:33

public laughing so. No.

22:35

One after that wanted to follow in her footsteps.

22:37

This also led to a change in the attitude by

22:40

many of the town leaders. Instead

22:42

of the police for attempting to apprehend a

22:44

madman on the loose. It.

22:46

Appears that the public have been suffering a

22:48

wave of mass hysteria. And that

22:50

there never was a mad gas or to begin with. Police.

22:53

Chief Cole said he believed their never worry

22:55

gas attacks and all at most of the

22:58

reported incidents were simply the result. Of

23:00

large quantities of Carbon tetrick Fluoride

23:02

being produced by the nearby Atlas

23:05

Imperial Diesel Engine Company. Been.

23:07

Carried by the wind. The.

23:09

Plant supervisor vehemently deny these

23:11

charges. Even. Reached out to a

23:13

city health official who reported that this theory

23:15

made no sense. To. Play It

23:18

had safety measures in place to prevent a

23:20

toxic gas from escaping of city. And

23:22

there were simply no evidence that they had a leak. Not.

23:25

To mention a plant workers would definitely have noticed

23:27

if a leak had occurred. The. Day One

23:29

of the most commonly held beliefs about the mad

23:32

guess her of Mattoon remains that the townspeople

23:34

were suffering from what's referred to in the psychiatric

23:36

journals. As a mass

23:38

psychogenic illness. We.

23:40

Talked about the sort of phenomena before. It's.

23:43

The idea that large groups of people can

23:45

suffer from a shared delusion. Or. Not

23:47

a stressful situations and strong emotions such

23:49

a sphere this has been the go

23:51

to explanation for many instance throughout history

23:54

were large numbers of people all experience

23:56

the seem strange things. Public.

23:58

Sentiment surrounding the man. The answer and

24:00

whether he is real or not began to change

24:02

swiftly. And. December Third:

24:04

Nineteen Forty Four an article in the

24:07

newspaper supplement, American Weekly. Quoted.

24:09

A so called internationally known

24:11

psychologist and lecturer meme, Donald

24:13

A. Layered. A. Claim that

24:15

clearly the Mad Gas or was nothing more

24:17

than a figment of everyone's imagination. He

24:20

also made the rather sex a statement that. Quote.

24:23

For. Some reason, women are more susceptible

24:25

mass suggestion than men. Aged

24:28

also be point out that Laird meet

24:30

all these declarations without once interviewing any

24:32

witnesses, are studying the attacks in any

24:34

way. In. Nineteen Forty Five, the most

24:36

influential study on the mat gas or of

24:38

mattoon would appear in the Journal of Abnormal

24:40

and Social Psychology. Written by

24:42

Donald M. Johnson. You. Would

24:44

eventually go on to a distinguished academic

24:47

career in psychology. Although.

24:49

At the time is study was published. Johnson.

24:51

Was still an undergraduate student who's

24:53

former professional education was probably still

24:55

fairly limited. Even

24:57

still, Johnson offered a scholarly sounding explanation as

25:00

to why he believed the mad Gas or

25:02

to be a case of mass hysteria. A

25:04

common belief that holds true to the stay. All.

25:07

The story the may I guess or mattoon is

25:09

relatively well known and still gets talked in written

25:11

about today. One. Thing that's

25:14

not so widely known as that it's not

25:16

the first such incident report in history. During.

25:18

The tail end of Nineteen Thirty Three, and into

25:21

the early part of Nineteen Forty Four. Another.

25:23

Similar incident was reported in Bought a

25:25

taught county, Virginia. On December

25:28

Twenty second, Eighteen Thirty Three Mirror Haymaker

25:30

Town, Virginia. The husband family

25:32

began reporting becoming overwhelmed by a

25:35

powerful noxious odor. At

25:37

around ten pm, Mrs. Hoffman began smelling

25:39

something strange. And that made her

25:42

feel nauseous. Pretty. Soon the smell dissipated and

25:44

seen her children fried going to bed. Only.

25:47

The smell returned about thirty minutes later.

25:50

Mrs. Huffman when next door to use her neighbors

25:52

phone to call the police. Officers.

25:54

Arrived shortly after but were unable to

25:56

determine the source of the smell. They.

25:59

Left it. Around midnight. However,

26:01

about an hour later, the snow returned. This.

26:04

Time It affected all eat family members.

26:07

The. All suffered from headaches, nausea, and

26:09

difficulty breathing. The

26:12

worst stricken was twenty year old Alice Hoffman.

26:14

Doctors. Needed to use artificial respiration

26:16

to revive her. Two.

26:18

Days later, on Christmas Eve, another family

26:21

living clover Dale reports suffering for a

26:23

variety of symptoms including weakness, nausea in

26:25

burning eyes, At. About

26:27

nine Pm clearance Hall, his wife and

26:30

two children came home and immediately encountered

26:32

a strange older. Mr.

26:34

Hall became weak enough. Sleek barely stand.

26:37

His. Wife was overwhelmed to. And

26:39

was barely able to drag the to them out of

26:41

the house. The. Police were summoned.

26:44

They consulted the doctor have noted

26:46

that the gas boat tasted suite

26:48

with a trace of formaldehyde. Police.

26:51

Investigated and found that a nail had been pulled

26:53

from one of the windows. There

26:55

was also a neighbor who reported seeing a

26:57

stranger outside the home carrying a flashlight. Later.

27:00

On Clearance, Hall sent his family to stay

27:02

with friends while he gathered a group of

27:04

neighbors who spent the remainder of the night

27:07

searching for the mysterious prowler. Only they found

27:09

nothing. On December twenty

27:11

seventh, another incident occurred at the home of a

27:13

All Kelly in his mother in Trout Bill, Virginia.

27:16

Totally. Told police he saw mysterious man and

27:18

woman driving back and forth and for their

27:20

home and a new model chevrolet. A

27:22

neighbor also spotted the vehicle and managed to get

27:25

a partial license plate. But. The police

27:27

run able to trace it. As

27:29

stories ramped up at the newspapers, but the

27:31

attacks so too did public panic begin to

27:33

spread. Armed. Men began going

27:36

out on the streets haunting the mysterious gasser.

27:38

The bought a taught County board of Supervisors

27:40

offered a five hundred dollar reward for information

27:42

leading to the gas or his arrest. But.

27:45

The attacks carried on. A January

27:47

tenth, nineteen, thirty four Homers Hilton have

27:49

been castle reported hearing mumbling voices outside

27:52

his window. right? Before someone

27:54

tried to jimmy it open. One.

27:56

Of Hilton's neighbors also confirmed hearing someone

27:58

outside the home. And

28:00

it seemed night a man from Troll Doll

28:02

named Gd Kinsey. Also. Reported

28:04

being attacked. A

28:06

January sixteenth the speed of all have been

28:08

sacked. Reported his own gas attack. According

28:11

to reports, Duvall. Ran from

28:13

the house to use a phone and then saw me and

28:15

run up to a parked car and speed away. We.

28:17

Searched the area and found a woman's shoe

28:19

print near where the carbon part. Three.

28:23

Days later, the Guess reportedly spray fumes

28:25

into the cable home near Clover Dale.

28:27

Mrs. Cable told police that she was sitting

28:29

inside when the window slid open in immediately

28:32

after she been feeling nauseous. On

28:34

January twenty first, our Crawford and his

28:36

wife were overwhelmed by gas inside their

28:39

home. Then. A January twenty

28:41

second, three more attacks were reported throughout the

28:43

area. One.

28:45

Of these victims reported seeing mysterious figure

28:47

outside the home. The. Police immediately

28:49

tried setting up roadblocks around the area, but

28:51

this didn't lead anywhere either. Soon

28:54

these instance lead to a story in the

28:56

New York Times. The spurred the Virginia State

28:58

Assembly to pass a bill that called for

29:00

a maximum prison sentences ten years for anyone

29:03

convicted a pumping toxic gases. Into.

29:05

Public or private places. And.

29:08

If the incident was shown to cause injury, this could

29:10

lead to a maximum punishment of up to twenty years

29:12

in prison. On. January twenty

29:14

fifth, the gas or was allegedly chased off

29:16

by a man named Chester Snyder of Rain

29:18

outside with a shotgun fired a warning shot

29:20

at him. Although reports

29:23

of the tax continued by January thirtieth,

29:25

once again, many officials began bleeding many

29:27

these incidents where nothing would a figment

29:29

of imagination. It's

29:31

no Middle East. One reporter gas attack turned

29:33

out to be nothing but a faulty call

29:36

stove. Another gas attack was

29:38

reported inside the home of a piece

29:40

Greg's on February third. Causing. The

29:42

man's entire family to suffer nausea in

29:44

convulsions, This lead to

29:46

further public hysteria with as many as

29:48

twenty more reports coming in from nearby

29:50

Roanoke County. As. Well as

29:53

several others in Lexington thirty miles away,

29:56

Also. These attacks may have been legitimate. Most of

29:58

them didn't follow the pattern of the earlier attacks

30:00

and lacked a lot of details. Many.

30:03

In the area, kinda believe that many of

30:05

the attacks were caused by normal household occurrences

30:08

such as faulty chimney flus. Pretty.

30:10

Soon authorities began putting our press releases claiming

30:12

the gas or didn't exist. And

30:14

that the panic was being spread by out

30:16

of control rumors. Lacking any

30:19

tangible evidence of a mad gasser being

30:21

on the loose, the Roanoke Times published

30:23

an editorial declaring the entire incident to

30:25

be fake. It's

30:28

easy to see why so many people have come to

30:30

believe that the mad guess her mattoon was a figment

30:32

of the imagination as well. Dot.

30:34

History there, but a number of other report gas tax

30:36

that may or may not have really occurred. One.

30:39

Of the last, reported such attacks occurred in

30:42

a Houston Texas church on Christmas Day and

30:44

Nineteen Sixty One. On.

30:46

That occasion. Several. Members, the

30:48

congregation report it snowing a sickly sweet

30:50

odor that made them temporarily ill. But.

30:53

In that case, like a lot of the others, there's

30:55

little evidence that the gas was real. And.

30:57

Just as easily could have been another

31:00

case of mass psychogenic illness. It.

31:02

Wouldn't be until Two thousand Three when someone came

31:04

up with an alternative theory that not only was

31:06

the Mad Gas or of Mattoon real. But.

31:09

Even identify the corporate by name as

31:11

well. Start.

31:13

Maroon as a Jacksonville, Illinois High School

31:15

chemistry teacher for grew up near Mattoon.

31:18

In. Two Thousand and Three published a book

31:20

titled the Mad Gas of Mattoon dispelling the

31:23

hysteria. In. Which he identifies

31:25

the madagascar is being a former

31:27

chemistry student named Farley Whelan. Maroon.

31:31

Makes compelling case that Llewellyn was

31:33

the mayor gasser. At

31:36

the time of the attacks, Llewellyn was living

31:38

a reclusive los inside a trailer. we kept

31:40

a small laboratory. He. Had previously

31:43

been a chemistry major at the University of

31:45

Illinois. Murder.

31:47

Claim that Llewellyn held a grudge against the

31:50

town and set about playing a prank. He.

31:52

Claims of Farley Llewellyn used to night methane

31:55

gas he had been able to synthesize in

31:57

order to frighten residents. Loss.

31:59

Of. That Llewellyn it existence from his sister's

32:01

which could account for some of the reports

32:04

that a mysterious female prowl there was cited

32:06

near some of the attacks. It.

32:08

Turns out that even the police suspected Llewellyn at

32:10

the time the attacks were going on. The

32:14

man was taken into custody and placed in

32:16

a mental institution on September tenth. right?

32:18

Around the same time, reports of gas tax

32:20

pretty much stopped. although

32:22

a few more gas tax were reported after

32:24

that date. Scott. Maroon A

32:26

believes that The Well and Sisters may have

32:29

attempted to carry on guessing people in order

32:31

to deflect suspicion away from their brother. According

32:33

to murder, Farley Llewellyn was the only person

32:36

on the tune please ever seriously looked at

32:38

as a suspect. And it's easy to

32:40

see why. The. Man had

32:42

the technical know how to pull off these

32:44

attacks. He was also tall and thin. And

32:47

fit the general description given by witnesses

32:49

the mysterious prowler seen around town. In

32:52

two thousand for British writer Jonathan Downs.

32:54

Visited Mattoon and came away convinced that

32:56

Farley Llewellyn was the mad gasser. You.

32:59

Visited numerous shops and spoke to a number

33:02

of elderly residents. The community. All.

33:04

Of whom confirmed that at the time, pretty much

33:06

everyone believed it was Farley. It.

33:08

Was only because Llewellyn came from a

33:10

well respected family that many people decided

33:12

overlook the one black sheep and decided

33:14

to protect the family's reputation. But.

33:17

Now, more than fifty years later, It.

33:19

Seemed like the older residents were a lot

33:21

more open with their belief that the mad gasser

33:23

Mattoon really was probably Llewellyn. And yet.

33:26

Despite. A common belief among locals that

33:28

Barley Llewellyn was the mad Guess or Mattoon.

33:31

Will. Likely never know the truth. Because.

33:33

The man is long dead. Taking.

33:35

Whatever secrecy had with him. To.

33:37

The grave. Like.

33:40

A spirit as rid of reduced by mean

33:42

a tail entirely fictional identities. Thanks.

33:44

So much for listening! Avenue patrons mortar

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