This event began in 1933.
At 10 pm, December 22, 1933, a small town called Botetourt County, Virginia, already looks lonely. On this night, for the first time the so-called rogue madman disseminator of gas will soon be in action.
Cal Mrs. Huffman was still awake at that time.
Not long later, he had a strange sweet smell in the house. Age-age, he has never smelled like this. Mrs. Huffman felt dizzy, but the smell was soon gone.
At 22.30, the smell was coming back. This time the sensation it evokes more powerful that eight people Huffman family members and a guest named Ashby Henderson who are staying feel the effect.
Everything smelled it started to feel nausea, dizziness, cramps in the face and shortness of breath. Alice, daughter of Mrs. Huffman 20-year-old felt the most severe consequences. He experienced shortness of breath so severe that should be given artificial respiration. Fortunately, his life was saved. However, several weeks after the incident, he still often suffer from cramps in his limbs.
No one could explain where the smell was coming from. However, Mr. Huffman sure if he saw a man running away in the darkness of night. When police examined the scene, they only found a trace of high-heeled shoes in the window.
Two days later, a mysterious odor that re-emerged in Cloverdale.
Mr. Clarence Hall and his wife was at his house. It was nine o'clock. Later, they caught the smell of sweet smell funny very strong. Soon both of them feel weak and dizzy.
Once again, no one can ensure the mysterious origin of the smell. Police are investigating the case found that the odor was concentrated on a nail hole in the window. Police believe that this hole has been used to spray it into the house smelling gas.
This means there is a person responsible for this attack!
Now, this odorless gas attack and the possibility of bad actors who spread it has attracted media attention.
On 11 January, the attacks resumed. Also at 10 pm, Mrs. Moore of Howell's Mill, report any strange noises in the courtyard followed by a shadow figure flashed by the window which has long been broken. Soon after, Mrs. Moore began a strange smell gas. Mrs. Moore is more alert immediately grabbed her baby and ran out. However, although he has acted with alacrity, the gas still makes her feel the cramps for a moment.
On the same night, GD Kinzie from Troutville also experienced a similar attack. According to the doctor who came to check, Mr.Kinzie may have been given a dangerous chlorine gas.
On 16 January, Mr. FB Duval who arrived at her home at 23.30 to find that his family has been attacked by the spread of gas. On his way to the police station, he saw the flash of a human figure running towards the car which is nearby. Mr. Duval after him, but the figure disappeared into the darkness.
Several other residents also reported a similar attack which lasted until January 28, when five people at the residence of Ed Stanley in Colon Siding experience dizziness due to the smell of gas. One of them, Frank Guy, managed to get some fresh air so that the gain consciousness again. At that time he had seen four men running near a small forest. Frank grabbed a gun and shoot. However, it seems not about these men.
The next day the police are beginning to realize the danger these attacks have provided a gift of $ 500 to anyone who can give information about criminals gas spreader. This amount is big enough for the size of the time.
The last attack occurred in 1934 occurred on February 11, when five reports into the police station attack.
On that same day, police found a small bottle of liquid in the snow around the victim's home in Botetourt attack. The next day, the police managed to find out if the liquid is a mixture of liquids that are harmless to humans, more or less like an insect spray that is in every household.
After finding little evidence that, for some reason all the gas attack suddenly stopped. No more reports came in and people began to speculate that what has happened in recent months may be just a mass hysteria.
Roanoke Daily Times sure even with lower editorial titled "No gas dispersers in Roanoke."
But 10 years later, those crazy gas spreader back in action.
This time the attacks happened in Mattoon, Illinois, which began in late August 1944. This attack lasted up to several weeks.
On the morning of August 31, Urban Raef awakened by the smell which immediately makes it a headache and vomiting. His wife who intend to wake up to find out soon realized that his own body has been experiencing cramps and could not get up from his bed.
On September 2, 1944, A woman named Aline Kearney was lying in bed while reading a newspaper when he smelled the sweet gas and very strong. The smell was making him and his daughter who was three years old became nauseated. When Aline tried to get up from his bed, he found that he could not move his legs.
When she finally found her brother in such circumstances, Aline's brother who was staying at the house immediately contact the police.
When the police come and investigate, they did not find anything suspicious. However, at 12:30 that night, when Aline's husband who works as a taxi driver returned, he found out someone was sneaking in the side of his house. He was chased, but penyelinap it managed to escape.
What was experienced by Aline Kearney soon became a sensation quickly. Media began to preach when a madman who had terrorized the gas dispersers Virginia 10 years ago has come to Illinois.
Then, the media began to dub elements in the gas dispersers with different nicknames. Starting from the Mad Gasser of Mattoon, Anesthetic Anesthetic Prowler or Phantom. Mysterious figures are then held responsible for the attacks that followed in the following weeks.
After preaching by many media, some people began to report the occurrence of similar attacks. They claim that the gas attack experienced has led them to experience dizziness, paralysis, nausea and vomiting.
On September 5, Mrs. Carl Cordes reported the discovery of a small wet cloth on the porch of his house. When he picked it up, he smelled a strong odor.
"It was like paralyzed." He said. "My husband had to help me get into the house. As soon as my lips began to swell and palate and throat were burning. I began to spit blood and my husband immediately called the doctor. It took about two hours until I felt normal again."
The residents of Mattoon began to overcome fear.
There is another reason why this fear spreads pretty quickly. At that time, World War II is underway and the national media in the United States if ever commemorate Nazi troops might use poison gas to attack civilians. Thus, the population began to link the event and wondered if the Nazis involved in these attacks.
In the weeks that followed, the police received several reports of attacks every night. Many victims reported that they saw a tall figure dressed in black who looks ran from their home pages shortly after the attack occurred. In addition, there are reported seeing blue smoke and heard a strange buzzing sound.
Because the police did not go to solve this mystery, the residents took the initiative to form a group of patrolling the streets every night combing. But this business does not also bring results.
On September 13, victims of gas attacks have reached more than 30 people.
However, after that date, there are no more reports of attacks. As if, those crazy gas dispersers of Mattoon has decided to stop completely. As a result, police have not managed to collect enough clues deadlocked and this mystery be solved today.
For more than half a century, writers, researchers and historians try to look back on this case and try to explain what actually happened in Botetourt County and Mattoon at the time. Although this case does not bring loss of life, the mysterious circumstances of the case has attracted the attention of many researchers that madman gas spreader from Mattoon categorized into the mystery attacker Jack stealth level with the heel spring.
Some writers tend to regard this incident as an example of mass hysteria. This is seen from the Roanoke Times newspaper headline which assume that there never was really crazy gas spreader. This theory was later supported by the police who concluded that this event is a mass hysteria which aided its spread by the media. For decades, the story is even often used as an example of mass hysteria caused by world wars and from the wives of the husbands go to war.
One example of the media who thought to help spread the Mattoon Journal Gazzette that makes the news with headlines "Mrs.Kearney and her daughter's first victim."
At that time, not yet known whether there will be the next victim. However, the provocative title of the preaching of it is considered to have helped lead to a prolonged hysteria.
The theory of mass hysteria was also cited and supported by a psychologist named Donald M. Johnson, who documented the case of Mattoon in 1945 and JP Chaplin in 1959. According to these psychologists, physical effects such as dizziness, nausea and vomiting is actually the effect of public hysteria that occurred.
In addition to the theory of mass hysteria, there is also the theory of pollution.
This conclusion is quite reasonable because the stinging smell of gas was considered to be very similar to the smell of gas coming from pollutants or waste disposal. Many speculate that the smell was coming from carbon tetrachloride or trichlorethylene which has a sweet odor and can cause effects such as the victims of the disease.
At a press conference on 12 September, the police actually had suggested this possibility. However, this theory is immediately ruled out because it was not found in plants that have similar waste.
In addition to the above theories, there are writers who believe that indeed there is a person who has spread the madness the smell of gas. One of them is a writer named Scott Maruna. Even if he believes he knows who the real lunatics spreader gas.
Maruna itself is a science teacher who wrote a book called "The Mad Gasser of Mattoon: Dispelling the Hysteria", which was published in 2003. He is a native of Mattoon.
According to Maruna, these events can not be regarded as mass hysteria because of the many reports of gas odor coming from the window and a human figure running in the dark. So indeed there is a person who spread the gas.
According to him again, at that time, in Mattoon, there is a student who is nerdy genius. His name is Farley Llewellyn, a student majoring in chemistry who like to experiment with various chemicals. One day his lab even had time to explode until it came to its neighbors.
Maruna believes that Llewellyn is the man insane spreader real gas.
If indeed the culprit Llewellyn, what motive?
Llewellyn was hurt due ostracized by society because it was suspected as a homosexual. So besides having the ability, he also has a motive. Because it looks random victims of the attack because he did grudge to the whole community. Even most of the attacks also took place near his home.
"Farley, the genius who is good chemistry with the chemical is a gas spreader real." Maruna said.
He believes if the gas is distributed by Llewellyn tetrachlorethane.
But Maruna failed to explain the events that happened ten years earlier in Botetourt County. Is Llewellyn also the culprit? It seems almost impossible.
Llewellyn Or simply mimic the attack 10 years earlier?
This question is still unsolved until now. And because questions like these, the gas dispersers mystery madman never really considered solved.
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