The Mad Gasser Of Mattoon

[PararealitySaint]

I was about to add my two cents on the thread where Chris was getting ripped about his comment on the Skulls, when I decided I'd be a little constructive tonight instead.

I wanted to discuss a topic of paranormal(?) interest I doubt many of you might be aware of, as it happened a long long time ago, but is very interesting nonetheless. After listening to some of the past shows on "Shadow People" and also, "MIB's", I'd thought I would bring up a really strange story which happened not too far from my Wife's hometown of Decatur Illinois.

In 1944 in a little hobble known as Mattoon Illinois, about 45 minutes from Decatur (The famous Haunted Lincoln and Avon Theatres) there was a very strange occurrence which haunted the poor people living in the area. It seems that a tall Black garbed individual with an over-sized Abraham Lincoln stove top hat (The way in which I was told as a kid he had on his head although other stories differ) enjoyed sneaking up to the houses of local citizens, slightly ripping a hole in the screens, or opening up window panes, and then spraying an obnoxious heavy blue fog of a gas within their houses. He....or she did this from August to September of that year in Mattoon and was never caught. Some chased the creature, others even took gun shots at it, but the thing always seemed to be one step ahead of them, and would normally vanish into the night, leaving very odd pieces of evidence behind.

Now if the story ended there I would have long ago assumed it was some human nut case doing the nasty deed, but believe it or not, about 10 or so years before in Botetourt County Virginia, the same type of criminal act was also suffered upon the poor inhabitants there. Not only was the Gassing repeated in both cases exactly the same way, but a form of evidence to the crime which was never let out to the public, repeated itself in both States......The tracks left after the Gasser did the deed was always a small female footprint, went for about 50 feet or so, and then disappeared....as in stopped dead in progression.

The case was never solved in either of the two States and too this day, the legend of the Mad Gasser of Mattoon is one of those strange stories which probably never will be.

More information on this can be read at:

My Friend Troy Taylor's site: THE MAD GASSER OF MATTOON
Wiki: Mad Gasser of Mattoon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wiki gives excellent dates and information of the attacks and the victims symptoms.

 

[exo_doc]

I followed the link and I had read about the Mad Gasser before, but I had no idea there were so many attacks, even discounting the ones where police felt were hysteria. Since there was very little evidence collected, and the reports are over 50 years old, I doubt they can ever be solved.
But who knows? Maybe some ancient chemical equipment is laying around in some secret attic or basement waiting to be found.

 

[tyder001]

Has anybody here read or heard about the "smiley face killers?" I first heard of this on a Coast to Coast with Ian Punett back a couple of years ago. Seems some people feel that young men are being lured and drowned and a smiley face is left at the crime scene. However, authorities say it is not the work of a killer and the deaths are accidental. I'll try to look up some more information later on. Just thought of it while reading this thread.

 

[PararealitySaint]

I never heard about the "Smiley Face Killer" and I look forward to what you come up with Tyder.

Exo, here's something which might put a little slight on this legend, and something by which I started the thread in the first place to follow up with....

Some years ago when I discussed this subject with an acquaintance of my Grandfather's who worked for the O.S.S. during and after World War II, he told me something I found rather surprising, and at the time never quite connected the dots on.

He began the conversation with asking me if I ever heard of the Mad Gasser of Mattoon before. I told him that I remembered hearing about it from my Father and went on to tell him what I knew. while I was speaking about it, he kept smiling at me, especially during the parts where I mentioned how the Police thought it was so and so, and how the evidence of the girl's tracks were never told to the public, etc. At one point while I was finishing, he mumbled something about, "that's just what they wanted them to think."

I stopped in mid-sentence and just starred at the old man dumbfounded. First of all I hadn't remembered that he worked within intelligence during the time, and only knew him nonchalantly as an IRS CPA off and on during the years. Secondly, he looked quite serious and it threw me for a curve.

When I finally put one and one together, I bet you can tell what my next question was.....

LOL!

His answer was, "sometimes you have to go to the source and think about it for a moment." I found the answer a little to archaic, so I helped him a long a little bit and emphasized the fact that the "GAS" didn't kill anyone, but was strangely similar to a form of toxification you might find used in riots or something.

He just stared at me and then waited silently, smirking until I asked him again.

I said, was this something the government was behind? Was this something they were testing on their own citizens, or was this E.T., or a Demon, or just some crazy loon?

He nodded his head and said something I became a little annoyed with.

He said, "All of the above."

And with a little more prodding he admitted it was anything and EVERYTHING the public at the time would believe!

I found out from my Grandfather not soon after that this friend was actually involved with the then, "O.S.S." which as you know transformed into today's CIA. Whether the old man was just pulling my leg, or whether he knew something, or was even directly involved, I'll never know and don't mean to say it's an answer.....Just that it seemed strange that he volunteered this information when I doubt very sincerely if it is the case, that it would ever see the light of day as declassified.

 

[tyder001]

Wikimedia Error


I would recommend googling Ian Punnet and Coast to Coast on youtube or other places. I'm not sure how Gene and Chris feel about linking anything to that particular show. The feeling around here (which I share) seems to be that Norry is snoory. It is interesting. I also found a Wiki entry (link above)that focuses on the debunking of the serial killer angle. But, at the same time there are some interesting things even in that article. For instance one of the people who don't believe it says:

Brown also believes that the smiley face images found in some of the cases are likely nothing more than coincidences based upon making a guess at where the body entered the water and searching a wide area until an example of smiley face graffiti can be found. "It's not an unusual symbol," she told Matt Smith of the Minneapolis-based newspaper City Pages. "If you look in an area five miles square, I bet you could find a smiley face."[SUP][7]


That seems a little self serving to me and very unscientific unless they have done a study of graffiti around five miles of several American cities. But, other than that it is an unlikely theory. But, interesting.
[/SUP]

 

[boomerang]

Very interesting. I'm somewhat reminded of the Spring-heeled Jack phenomenon or 19th century England. The intel insider's take is another head scratcher.


There were rumors floating around years after the Vietnam war that the U.S, had tried using some kind of psychotropic gas to free American prisoners held by the V.C. A friend of mine once swore that a good friend of his was part of the operation. Makes you wonder.

 

[PararealitySaint]

Very interesting. I'm somewhat reminded of the Spring-heeled Jack phenomenon or 19th century England. The intel insider's take is another head scratcher.


There were rumors floating around years after the Vietnam war that the U.S, had tried using some kind of psychotropic gas to free American prisoners held by the V.C. A friend of mine once swore that a good friend of his was part of the operation. Makes you wonder.

You know that is an extremely interesting angle I never thought of pertaining to the use of this type of gas. I bet that it could have been something just like a test for use in warfare which the government was working on, as we already know that this type of procedure was been done on the citizenry in the past, who had no idea they were being tested.

Again, I am not saying this definitely is the case, but I would much rather like to believe this than it being some type of monster or E.T.....

 

[exo_doc]

I never heard about the "Smiley Face Killer" and I look forward to what you come up with Tyder.

Exo, here's something which might put a little slight on this legend, and something by which I started the thread in the first place to follow up with....

Some years ago when I discussed this subject with an acquaintance of my Grandfather's who worked for the O.S.S. during and after World War II, he told me something I found rather surprising, and at the time never quite connected the dots on.

He began the conversation with asking me if I ever heard of the Mad Gasser of Mattoon before. I told him that I remembered hearing about it from my Father and went on to tell him what I knew. while I was speaking about it, he kept smiling at me, especially during the parts where I mentioned how the Police thought it was so and so, and how the evidence of the girl's tracks were never told to the public, etc. At one point while I was finishing, he mumbled something about, "that's just what they wanted them to think."

I stopped in mid-sentence and just starred at the old man dumbfounded. First of all I hadn't remembered that he worked within intelligence during the time, and only knew him nonchalantly as an IRS CPA off and on during the years. Secondly, he looked quite serious and it threw me for a curve.

When I finally put one and one together, I bet you can tell what my next question was.....

LOL!

His answer was, "sometimes you have to go to the source and think about it for a moment." I found the answer a little to archaic, so I helped him a long a little bit and emphasized the fact that the "GAS" didn't kill anyone, but was strangely similar to a form of toxification you might find used in riots or something.

He just stared at me and then waited silently, smirking until I asked him again.

I said, was this something the government was behind? Was this something they were testing on their own citizens, or was this E.T., or a Demon, or just some crazy loon?

He nodded his head and said something I became a little annoyed with.

He said, "All of the above."

And with a little more prodding he admitted it was anything and EVERYTHING the public at the time would believe!

I found out from my Grandfather not soon after that this friend was actually involved with the then, "O.S.S." which as you know transformed into today's CIA. Whether the old man was just pulling my leg, or whether he knew something, or was even directly involved, I'll never know and don't mean to say it's an answer.....Just that it seemed strange that he volunteered this information when I doubt very sincerely if it is the case, that it would ever see the light of day as declassified.

NOw THATS the kind of thing I love hearing about. You and I both know we don't know the whole story about most things. Not necessarily a conspiracy, but maybe a changing of some of the facts to hide or confuse those interested for whatever reason.

Here is one about my Grandfather Nichols. AT the beginning of WW2, he picked up the family from North Carolina and moved to Bel Aire Md to work at a defense plant (he was missing a leg from the knee down from a farming accident when he was young- it always bothered him that he couldn't get out there and fight). He got a job making parts for several different kinds of airplanes like the B25 Mitchell bomber. He told me this plant was located near a testing facility ( I think the Army still has some kind of testing range there, but I can't remember) where they tested guns, artillery, and , he said, rockets.
Ocassionally on his lunch breaks, he and his co-workers were cautioned to stay near the main building, and they would watch a rocket launch. He drew a picture of it for me back in 1981 the year before he died. It looks for all the world like a Polaris missle. He said it had no wings or fins, it gave off a huge cloud of white smoke, and made the ground shake. He and his coworkers were also told not to talk about what they saw. (I guess he figured 40 years later it was OK to talk).
Anyway, he said the rocket was at least 100 feet tall- he gauged the size based on nearby vehicles.
And this was the part I find so fascinating. He said the rocket would fly straight up and disappear into the sky, and everyone got back to work. Now this was early 1942 until mid 1944 when he was moved to New Jersey until the end of the war.
I have not been able to find out anything concerning such advanced rockets before the US captured all those V2 rockets, and as far as I know, they were all tested after the war out west.
My Grandfather was of good health and very sound mind right up until a stroke killed him. He was not one for tall tales, and I never knew him to ever tell a lie. I beleive every word he said. Now how accurate those memories were after 40 years? I have to fall on the very accurate side. He was a mechanical engineer until sometime in the 50's when he became a teacher. He retired in 1975 and died in 1982.

So long story short----could my Grandfather have been a witness to the testing of those "ghost rockets" that were used for some purpose in Europe after the war? I have to wonder.

 

[PararealitySaint]

NOw THATS the kind of thing I love hearing about. You and I both know we don't know the whole story about most things. Not necessarily a conspiracy, but maybe a changing of some of the facts to hide or confuse those interested for whatever reason.

Here is one about my Grandfather Nichols. AT the beginning of WW2, he picked up the family from North Carolina and moved to Bel Aire Md to work at a defense plant (he was missing a leg from the knee down from a farming accident when he was young- it always bothered him that he couldn't get out there and fight). He got a job making parts for several different kinds of airplanes like the B25 Mitchell bomber. He told me this plant was located near a testing facility ( I think the Army still has some kind of testing range there, but I can't remember) where they tested guns, artillery, and , he said, rockets.
Ocassionally on his lunch breaks, he and his co-workers were cautioned to stay near the main building, and they would watch a rocket launch. He drew a picture of it for me back in 1981 the year before he died. It looks for all the world like a Polaris missle. He said it had no wings or fins, it gave off a huge cloud of white smoke, and made the ground shake. He and his coworkers were also told not to talk about what they saw. (I guess he figured 40 years later it was OK to talk).
Anyway, he said the rocket was at least 100 feet tall- he gauged the size based on nearby vehicles.
And this was the part I find so fascinating. He said the rocket would fly straight up and disappear into the sky, and everyone got back to work. Now this was early 1942 until mid 1944 when he was moved to New Jersey until the end of the war.
I have not been able to find out anything concerning such advanced rockets before the US captured all those V2 rockets, and as far as I know, they were all tested after the war out west.
My Grandfather was of good health and very sound mind right up until a stroke killed him. He was not one for tall tales, and I never knew him to ever tell a lie. I beleive every word he said. Now how accurate those memories were after 40 years? I have to fall on the very accurate side. He was a mechanical engineer until sometime in the 50's when he became a teacher. He retired in 1975 and died in 1982.

So long story short----could my Grandfather have been a witness to the testing of those "ghost rockets" that were used for some purpose in Europe after the war? I have to wonder.

Isn't it funny how so much can be misconstrued as being simple explanation, when under the cover of covert experimentation the overall reasoning is used for a great deal more.

Hmmm, I don't know if this helps or not, but I wanted to add something I read here. It seems that Robert Goddard did some work in Maryland during World War Two on Rocket Design and testing. Here's the quote from the site I found:

"In 1941, he discontinued his attempt to reach extreme altitudes and began work for the armed forces on defenserelated rocket research as he had during World War I. In 1942, he moved his crew of assistants to the Naval Engineering Experimental Station in Annapolis, Maryland, where they worked on developing jet-assisted take-off devices for aircraft, pumps, and a variable-thrust rocket motor that became the basis for the one later used on the Bell X–2 rocket plane, the first aircraft in America to use a throttleable engine."

I don't know how far "Bel Air" is from this test site, but it wouldn't be a hop skip and a jump to believe that perhaps your Grandfather witnessed these tests put through fruition during the time. One of the interesting parts of this article is on the "controlled Guidance systems"....Check it out and tell me what you think:

Goddard, Robert H. (1882-1945): World of Earth Science

 

[exo_doc]

I checked GoogleEarth. I didnt know the spelling of Bel Air, nor did I know it was divided into north and south Bel Air.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure it must have been the Aberdeen Proving Grounds he was near because the Bel Airs are right there. But I really do not know other than Bel Air where he was, so this is kind of a speculation/educated guess. But maybe Goddards lab was at Annapolis, and some testing done at Aberdeen? I think I found a new research project.

And thank you Saint, I hadn't really thought about this in a long time.

 

[PararealitySaint]

I checked GoogleEarth. I didnt know the spelling of Bel Air, nor did I know it was divided into north and south Bel Air.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure it must have been the Aberdeen Proving Grounds he was near because the Bel Airs are right there. But I really do not know other than Bel Air where he was, so this is kind of a speculation/educated guess. But maybe Goddards lab was at Annapolis, and some testing done at Aberdeen? I think I found a new research project.

And thank you Saint, I hadn't really thought about this in a long time.

My pleasure. I thought just as you did about that, and came to the conclusion that the tests would have to be done in a controlled environment, and what better place to do them then in Aberdeen, which is in fact very close to Bel Air.

Considering that Goddard was in fact one of our pioneers in the rocket race, this only seems logical.

Remember me if you find anything else on this.

 

[exo_doc]

My pleasure. I thought just as you did about that, and came to the conclusion that the tests would have to be done in a controlled environment, and what better place to do them then in Aberdeen, which is in fact very close to Bel Air.

Considering that Goddard was in fact one of our pioneers in the rocket race, this only seems logical.

Remember me if you find anything else on this.

No problem in letting you in on my findings.
My Mother was around 10 years old at the time, so she might have more details about where they lived, where Grampa worked, etc. I'll start there.

 

[exo_doc]

I was about to add my two cents on the thread where Chris was getting ripped about his comment on the Skulls, when I decided I'd be a little constructive tonight instead.

I wanted to discuss a topic of paranormal(?) interest I doubt many of you might be aware of, as it happened a long long time ago, but is very interesting nonetheless. After listening to some of the past shows on "Shadow People" and also, "MIB's", I'd thought I would bring up a really strange story which happened not too far from my Wife's hometown of Decatur Illinois.

In 1944 in a little hobble known as Mattoon Illinois, about 45 minutes from Decatur (The famous Haunted Lincoln and Avon Theatres) there was a very strange occurrence which haunted the poor people living in the area. It seems that a tall Black garbed individual with an over-sized Abraham Lincoln stove top hat (The way in which I was told as a kid he had on his head although other stories differ) enjoyed sneaking up to the houses of local citizens, slightly ripping a hole in the screens, or opening up window panes, and then spraying an obnoxious heavy blue fog of a gas within their houses. He....or she did this from August to September of that year in Mattoon and was never caught. Some chased the creature, others even took gun shots at it, but the thing always seemed to be one step ahead of them, and would normally vanish into the night, leaving very odd pieces of evidence behind.

Now if the story ended there I would have long ago assumed it was some human nut case doing the nasty deed, but believe it or not, about 10 or so years before in Botetourt County Virginia, the same type of criminal act was also suffered upon the poor inhabitants there. Not only was the Gassing repeated in both cases exactly the same way, but a form of evidence to the crime which was never let out to the public, repeated itself in both States......The tracks left after the Gasser did the deed was always a small female footprint, went for about 50 feet or so, and then disappeared....as in stopped dead in progression.

The case was never solved in either of the two States and too this day, the legend of the Mad Gasser of Mattoon is one of those strange stories which probably never will be.

More information on this can be read at:

My Friend Troy Taylor's site: THE MAD GASSER OF MATTOON
Wiki: Mad Gasser of Mattoon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wiki gives excellent dates and information of the attacks and the victims symptoms.

In looking through my library I have a 1993 book by Jerome Clark entitled "Unexplained!" that has an extensive chapter on the gassers both in Illinois and Virginia. Mr. Clarks conclusion is that there never was an actual attack, that every bit of it was a form of mass hysteria. I'm not sure I agree with that conclusion, but I'm still digging into it along with WW2 rockets.
Mr.Clarks book in general tends toward the skeptical rational explanation, hoax, misidentified phenomena, etc to explain everything. It's worth a read if you come across it.

As an aside, I'm going to start a thread in the "Personal Experiences" to log my findings on both the Gassers and the WW2 rockets. I know Saint is at least interested, and I think it's a better place for it.

 

[PararealitySaint]

In looking through my library I have a 1993 book by Jerome Clark entitled "Unexplained!" that has an extensive chapter on the gassers both in Illinois and Virginia. Mr. Clarks conclusion is that there never was an actual attack, that every bit of it was a form of mass hysteria. I'm not sure I agree with that conclusion, but I'm still digging into it along with WW2 rockets.
Mr.Clarks book in general tends toward the skeptical rational explanation, hoax, misidentified phenomena, etc to explain everything. It's worth a read if you come across it.

As an aside, I'm going to start a thread in the "Personal Experiences" to log my findings on both the Gassers and the WW2 rockets. I know Saint is at least interested, and I think it's a better place for it.

Excellent.

One thing I have to say Exo which causes me to believe that there was an actual "Gasser", was because of the evidence left and how the police left it. Considering the fact that the authorities never told anyone about the "female" tracks, and this happening in both locales...Ill. and Va., one would conclude that either someone was really good at reading the minds of the authorities, or that it was done by some authority all along. To me, the following advances a soundly justified conclusion based solely on the facts...

A military or covert organization looking to test a "riot" gas or some form of gas/fear/panic which incapacitated and made a human very sick, done so as to gather data pertaining to the same.

1. The act of this Gasser(s) completely stopped after a certain amount of time.
2. The same form of Gas and it's influence was used in both States according to eyewitness reports.
3. The tracks were purposely placed there, and I believe they were female for a reason....and that being what better way of supplanting a coincidence to have it look like a real culprit was doing the same criminal act in both places? If it was a "man's tracks" as would be expected, it wouldn't have had that flare of the "GASSER" as a lone culprit to it as it does with a femme fatale to now blame.
4. And lastly, consider this part of it.....10 years apart... Thus A control group used....Two different states, and both not only playing on the fears of the citizenry, but also a very limited motive for the act.

To me it all leads to a government test which was meant to learn something about the influences either the Gas, the form of attack in general, or the fears which resulted, played on the citizens of both Ill. and Virginia.

I will have to find that book!