67-491: The Mad Gasser of Mattoon (also known as the "Anesthetic Prowler," the "Phantom Anesthetist," or simply the "Mad Gasser") was the name given to the person or people believed to be responsible for a series of apparent gas attacks that occurred in Mattoon , Illinois, during the mid-1940s. More than two dozen separate cases of gassings were reported to police over the span of two weeks, in addition to many more reported sightings of
134-453: A "plop" rather than exploding, being initially dismissed as dud high explosive or shrapnel shells, giving the gas time to work before the soldiers were alerted and took precautions. The major drawback of artillery delivery was the difficulty of achieving a killing concentration. Each shell had a small gas payload and an area would have to be subjected to saturation bombardment to produce a cloud to match cylinder delivery. A British solution to
201-508: A building with multiple entrance doors, have numerous locks that are keyed alike; one key will open every door. A keyed-alike system is different from a master key system as none of the locks have a key that can open only that lock. Skeleton keys have often been associated with attempts to defeat locks for illicit purposes, to release handcuffs for example, and standard keys have been filed down for that purpose. Legitimate skeleton or master keys are used in many modern contexts where lock operation
268-430: A dozen similar attacks, though none of the purported victims were able to provide a clear description of the prowler, and no clues were found at the scene of the attacks. The first specimen of physical evidence was found on the night of September 5, when Carl and Beulah Cordes of North 21st Street returned home around 10:00 pm. After spending a few minutes in the house they noticed a piece of white cloth, slightly larger than
335-442: A few minutes or hours or even only a few seconds. Purely gaseous agents such as chlorine are nonpersistent, as are highly volatile agents such as sarin. Tactically, nonpersistent agents are very useful against targets that are to be taken over and controlled very quickly. Apart from the agent used, the delivery mode is very important. To achieve a nonpersistent deployment, the agent is dispersed into very small droplets comparable with
402-517: A gas, and therefore present primarily a contact hazard. The droplet size used for persistent delivery goes up to 1 mm increasing the falling speed and therefore about 80% of the deployed agent reaches the ground, resulting in heavy contamination. Deployment of persistent agents is intended to constrain enemy operations by denying access to contaminated areas. Possible targets include enemy flank positions (averting possible counterattacks), artillery regiments, command posts or supply lines. Because it
469-562: A gasser who was a woman dressed as a man. (List incomplete) There are three primary theories about the Mattoon Mad Gasser incident: mass hysteria, industrial pollution , or an actual physical assailant . The events have also been written about by authors on the paranormal . Almost two weeks after the Mattoon attacks began, the local Commissioner of Public Health, Thomas V. Wright, announced that there had undoubtedly been
536-487: A man's handkerchief, sitting on their porch next to the screen door. Beulah Cordes picked up the cloth and smelled it. As soon as she inhaled, she became violently ill. She described the effect as being similar to an electric shock. Her face quickly began to swell, she experienced a burning sensation in her mouth and throat, and began to vomit. As with other victims, she also reported feeling weak and experiencing partial paralysis of her legs. Beulah Cordes later hypothesized that
603-451: A multitude of submunitions, so that a large number of small clouds of the chemical agent would form directly on the target. Thermal dissemination is the use of explosives or pyrotechnics to deliver chemical agents. This technique, developed in the 1920s, was a major improvement over earlier dispersal techniques, in that it allowed significant quantities of an agent to be disseminated over a considerable distance. Thermal dissemination remains
670-419: A number of gassing incidents, but that many instances were likely due to hysteria: residents hearing of alarming events, and then panicking when confronted by an out-of-place odor or a shadow at the window; Wright stated: 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
737-432: A one- to three-letter " NATO weapon designation" in addition to, or in place of, a common name. Binary munitions , in which precursors for chemical warfare agents are automatically mixed in shell to produce the agent just prior to its use, are indicated by a "-2" following the agent's designation (for example, GB-2 and VX-2). Some examples are given below: The most important factor in the effectiveness of chemical weapons
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#1732775796789804-416: A press conference that odors and symptoms reported may have been the result of pollutants or toxic waste released by nearby industrial plants, and speculated that carbon tetrachloride or trichloroethylene , both of which have a sweet odor and can induce symptoms similar to those reported by purported gasser victims, may have been the substance released. In response to Cole's statement, Atlas-Imperial ,
871-422: A prowler) that they reduced the priority afforded to gasser reports and announced that the entire incident was likely the result of explainable occurrences exacerbated by public fears, and a sign of the anxiety felt by women while local men were on war service. After the police announcement, gasser reports declined. The only incident of arguable note after that date was the case of Bertha Burch, who claimed she saw
938-526: A second incident was reported, this time in North 13th Street, at the home of Mrs. Leonard Burrell. She reported seeing a stranger break in through her bedroom window and then attempt to gas her. Public concern over the alleged gassings quickly rose, the FBI became involved, and the local police issued a statement calling on residents to avoid lingering in residential areas, and warning that groups set up to patrol for
1005-487: A series of gassings as reported by witnesses. Some writers on the paranormal have covered the events. Clark (1993) describes an illustration of the Gasser from Loren Coleman 's Mysterious America : "[the artist] depicts him as a not-quite-human, possibly extraterrestrial , being". Gas attack Chemical warfare ( CW ) involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons . This type of warfare
1072-446: A technique for delivery of phosgene in a non-explosive artillery shell. This technique overcame many of the risks of dealing with gas in cylinders. First, gas shells were independent of the wind and increased the effective range of gas, making any target within reach of guns vulnerable. Second, gas shells could be delivered without warning, especially the clear, nearly odorless phosgene—there are numerous accounts of gas shells, landing with
1139-415: A third reported incident. Aline Kearney, of Marshall Avenue, Mattoon, reported smelling a strong, sweet odor around 11:00 pm. At first she dismissed the smell, believing it to be from flowers outside of the window, but the odor soon became stronger and she began to lose feeling in her legs. Kearney panicked and her calls attracted her sister, Mrs. Ready, who was in the house at the time. Mrs. Ready also noticed
1206-481: Is called a chemical warfare agent ( CWA ). About 70 different chemicals have been used or stockpiled as chemical warfare agents during the 20th and 21st centuries. These agents may be in liquid, gas or solid form. Liquid agents that evaporate quickly are said to be volatile or have a high vapor pressure . Many chemical agents are volatile organic compounds so they can be dispersed over a large region quickly. The earliest target of chemical warfare agent research
1273-448: Is distinct from nuclear warfare , biological warfare and radiological warfare , which together make up CBRN , the military acronym for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (warfare or weapons), all of which are considered " weapons of mass destruction " (WMDs), a term that contrasts with conventional weapons . The use of chemical weapons in international armed conflicts is prohibited under international humanitarian law by
1340-587: Is not necessary to deliver large quantities of the agent in a short period of time, a wide variety of weapons systems can be used. A special form of persistent agents are thickened agents. These comprise a common agent mixed with thickeners to provide gelatinous, sticky agents. Primary targets for this kind of use include airfields, due to the increased persistency and difficulty of decontaminating affected areas. Chemical weapons are agents that come in four categories: choking , blister , blood and nerve . The agents are organized into several categories according to
1407-414: Is still difficult to achieve effective dispersion. The dissemination is highly dependent on atmospheric conditions because many chemical agents act in gaseous form. Thus, weather observations and forecasting are essential to optimize weapon delivery and reduce the risk of injuring friendly forces. Dispersion is placing the chemical agent upon or adjacent to a target immediately before dissemination, so that
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#17327757967891474-432: Is the efficiency of its delivery, or dissemination, to a target. The most common techniques include munitions (such as bombs, projectiles, warheads) that allow dissemination at a distance and spray tanks which disseminate from low-flying aircraft. Developments in the techniques of filling and storage of munitions have also been important. Although there have been many advances in chemical weapon delivery since World War I, it
1541-720: The Allied Powers never did, and the Axis used them only very sparingly. The reason for the lack of use by the Nazis, despite the considerable efforts that had gone into developing new varieties, might have been a lack of technical ability or fears that the Allies would retaliate with their own chemical weapons. Those fears were not unfounded: the Allies made comprehensive plans for defensive and retaliatory use of chemical weapons, and stockpiled large quantities. Japanese forces, as part of
1608-892: The Syrian civil war . The Syrian government has used sarin, chlorine, and mustard gas in the Syrian civil war – mostly against civilians. Russia has used chemical weapons during its invasion of Ukraine . This has been done mainly by dropping a grenade with K-51 aerosol CS gas from an unmanned drone. Although crude chemical warfare has been employed in many parts of the world for thousands of years, "modern" chemical warfare began during World War I – see Chemical weapons in World War I . Initially, only well-known commercially available chemicals and their variants were used. These included chlorine and phosgene gas. The methods used to disperse these agents during battle were relatively unrefined and inefficient. Even so, casualties could be heavy, due to
1675-485: The gas chambers of Nazi extermination camps , resulting in the overwhelming majority of some three million deaths. This remains the deadliest use of poison gas in history. The post-war era has seen limited, though devastating, use of chemical weapons. Some 100,000 Iranian troops were casualties of Iraqi chemical weapons during the Iran–Iraq War . Iraq used mustard gas and nerve agents against its own civilians in
1742-569: The lethal dose causes incapacitation, e.g., through nausea or visual problems. The distinction between lethal and incapacitating substances is not fixed, but relies on a statistical average called the LD 50 . Chemical warfare agents can be classified according to their persistency , a measure of the length of time that a chemical agent remains effective after dissemination. Chemical agents are classified as persistent or nonpersistent . Agents classified as nonpersistent lose effectiveness after only
1809-652: The tear-producer ethyl bromoacetate , and was used in autumn 1914 – with little effect on the Germans. The German military contrarily tried to increase the effect of 10.5 cm shrapnel shells by adding an irritant – dianisidine chlorosulfonate . Its use against the British at Neuve Chapelle in October 1914 went unnoticed by them. Hans Tappen, a chemist in the Heavy Artillery Department of
1876-405: The warded lock . The term derives from the fact that the key has been reduced to its essential parts. A skeleton key is a key that has been filed or cut to create one that can be used to unlock a variety of warded locks each with a different configuration of wards. This can usually be done by removing most of the center of the key, allowing it to pass by the wards without interference, operating
1943-476: The 1925 Geneva Protocol and the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 . The 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention prohibits signatories from acquiring, stockpiling, developing, and using chemical weapons in all circumstances except for very limited purposes (research, medical, pharmaceutical or protective). Chemical warfare is different from the use of conventional weapons or nuclear weapons because
2010-690: The 1988 Halabja chemical attack . The Cuban intervention in Angola saw limited use of organophosphates . Terrorist groups have also used chemical weapons, notably in the Tokyo subway sarin attack and the Matsumoto incident . See also chemical terrorism . In the 21st century, the Ba'athist regime in Syria has used chemical weapons against civilian populations, resulting in numerous deadly chemical attacks during
2077-701: The Axis, used them more widely, though only against their Asian enemies, as they also feared that using it on Western powers would result in retaliation. Chemical weapons were frequently used against the Kuomintang and Chinese communist troops, the People's Liberation Army . However, the Nazis did extensively use poison gas against civilians, mostly the genocide of European Jews , in The Holocaust . Vast quantities of Zyklon B gas and carbon monoxide were used in
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2144-528: The CWC. Under the convention, chemicals that are toxic enough to be used as chemical weapons, or that may be used to manufacture such chemicals, are divided into three groups according to their purpose and treatment: Chemical weapons are divided into three categories: Simple chemical weapons were used sporadically throughout antiquity and into the Industrial Age . It was not until the 19th century that
2211-673: The Russians at the Battle of Bolimów on January 31, 1915; the liquid failed to vaporize in the cold weather, and again the experiment went unnoticed by the Allies. The first effective use were when the German forces at the Second Battle of Ypres simply opened cylinders of chlorine and allowed the wind to carry the gas across enemy lines. While simple, this technique had numerous disadvantages. Moving large numbers of heavy gas cylinders to
2278-645: The War Ministry, suggested to his brother, the Chief of the Operations Branch at German General Headquarters, the use of the tear-gases benzyl bromide or xylyl bromide . Shells were tested successfully at the Wahn artillery range near Cologne on January 9, 1915, and an order was placed for 15 cm howitzer shells, designated 'T-shells' after Tappen. A shortage of shells limited the first use against
2345-541: The chemical to sicken the townspeople, and that factory workers would have experienced similar symptoms long before anybody outside of the factory was affected. At the time of the gassing, the Atlas plant had been certified as safe by the State Department of Health. After analyzing events, some researchers have concluded that at least some of the gasser incidents were the work of an actual attacker who carried out
2412-556: The cloth had been left on the porch in order to knock out the family dog, which usually slept there, so that the prowler could gain access to the house unnoticed. In addition to the cloth, a skeleton key , described as looking "well used," was reportedly found on the sidewalk adjacent to the porch, along with a large, almost empty, tube of lipstick. The cloth was analyzed by the authorities, but they found no chemicals on it that could explain Beulah Cordes' reaction. The same night
2479-399: The destructive effects of chemical weapons are not primarily due to any explosive force . The offensive use of living organisms (such as anthrax ) is considered biological warfare rather than chemical warfare; however, the use of nonliving toxic products produced by living organisms (e.g. toxins such as botulinum toxin , ricin , and saxitoxin ) is considered chemical warfare under
2546-594: The enemy time to protect themselves, though many soldiers found the sight of a creeping gas cloud unnerving. This made the gas doubly effective, as, in addition to damaging the enemy physically, it also had a psychological effect on the intended victims. Another disadvantage was that gas clouds had limited penetration, capable only of affecting the front-line trenches before dissipating. Although it produced limited results in World War I, this technique shows how simple chemical weapon dissemination can be. Shortly after this "open canister" dissemination, French forces developed
2613-429: The front-line positions from where the gas would be released was a lengthy and difficult logistical task. Stockpiles of cylinders had to be stored at the front line, posing a great risk if hit by artillery shells. Gas delivery depended greatly on wind speed and direction. If the wind was fickle, as at the Battle of Loos , the gas could blow back, causing friendly casualties . Gas clouds gave plenty of warning, allowing
2680-545: The gas. Initially, it was suspected that robbery was the primary motive for the attack. At the time of the incidents, the Kearneys had a large sum of money in the house, and it was surmised that the prowler could have seen Aline Kearney and her sister counting it earlier that evening. Local newspapers incorrectly reported this incident as being the first gasser attack. In the days following the Kearney attack, there were half
2747-403: The gas. The first of the 1944 gasser incidents occurred at a house on Grant Avenue, Mattoon, on August 31, 1944. Urban Raef was awakened during the early hours of the morning by a strange odor. He felt nauseated and weak, and suffered from a fit of vomiting. Suspecting that he was suffering from domestic gas poisoning, Raef's wife tried to check the kitchen stove to see if there was a problem with
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2814-533: The gasser should be disbanded for reasons of public safety. Chief of Police C. E. Cole also warned concerned citizens to exercise due restraint when carrying or discharging firearms. During this period, there was also an increase in physical evidence of attacks being reported, ranging from footprints allegedly being discovered underneath windows to tears being found in window screens. By September 12, local police had received so many false alarms (mostly from citizens believing that they smelled gas, or that they had seen
2881-420: The initial blast and by being forced onto the ground. Second, the sizes of the particles vary greatly because explosive dissemination produces a mixture of liquid droplets of variable and difficult to control sizes. Skeleton key A skeleton key (also known as a passkey ) is a type of master key in which the serrated edge has been removed in such a way that it can open numerous locks , most commonly
2948-423: The lock. To counteract the illicit creation of such keys, locksmiths can put wards not just in the center but on the outside as well, making the creation of a skeleton key more difficult. Lever lock skeleton keys are used in a lock with usually three or five levers and a set of wards that come into contact with the bit of the key only on the sides—the top is for pushing the levers to their correct heights while
3015-452: The mainly static troop positions which were characteristic features of trench warfare . Germany, the first side to employ chemical warfare on the battlefield, simply opened canisters of chlorine upwind of the opposing side and let the prevailing winds do the dissemination. Soon after, the French modified artillery munitions to contain phosgene – a much more effective method that became
3082-419: The manner in which they affect the human body. The names and number of categories varies slightly from source to source, but in general, types of chemical warfare agents are as follows: Non-living biological proteins, such as: There are other chemicals used militarily that are not scheduled by the CWC, and thus are not controlled under the CWC treaties. These include: Most chemical weapons are assigned
3149-418: The material is most efficiently used. Dispersion is the simplest technique of delivering an agent to its target. The most common techniques are munitions, bombs, projectiles, spray tanks and warheads. World War I saw the earliest implementation of this technique. The actual first chemical ammunition was the French 26 mm cartouche suffocante rifle grenade , fired from a flare carbine . It contained 35g of
3216-443: The menace of the relatively harmless gas he is spraying. The whole town is sick with hysteria. On September 12, local Chief of Police C. E. Cole took Wright's hypothesis a step further, announcing that there had likely been no gas attacks at all, and that the reported incidents had probably been triggered by chemicals carried on the wind from nearby industrial facilities and then exacerbated by public panic. Wright and Cole's diagnosis
3283-481: The mist produced by an aerosol can. In this form not only the gaseous part of the agent (around 50%) but also the fine aerosol can be inhaled or absorbed through pores in the skin. Modern doctrine requires very high concentrations almost instantly in order to be effective (one breath should contain a lethal dose of the agent). To achieve this, the primary weapons used would be rocket artillery or bombs and large ballistic missiles with cluster warheads. The contamination in
3350-430: The modern conception of chemical warfare emerged, as various scientists and nations proposed the use of asphyxiating or poisonous gasses. Multiple international treaties were passed banning chemical weapons based upon the alarm of nations and scientists. This however did not prevent the extensive use of chemical weapons in World War I . The development of chlorine gas , among others, was used by both sides to try to break
3417-422: The odor, and determined that it was coming from the direction of the bedroom window, which was open at the time. The police were contacted, but no evidence of a prowler was found. At around 12:30 am, Bert Kearney, Aline Kearney's husband (a local taxi driver who had been absent during the time of the attack), returned home to find an unidentified man hiding close to one of the house's windows. The man fled and Kearney
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#17327757967893484-573: The physical symptoms recorded during the Botetourt and Mattoon incidents (including choking, swelling of mucous membranes, and weakness/temporary paralysis) have all been suggested symptoms of hysteria . Some experts believe that the mass hysteria was fueled by the headline in the Mattoon Journal-Gazette , "Mrs. Kearney and Daughter First Victims," which assumed there would be more attacks. On September 12, Chief of Police Cole told
3551-400: The pilot light, but found that she was partially paralyzed and unable to leave her bed. Later that night (some contemporary accounts refer to the time as the morning of the following day), a similar incident was also reported by a young mother living close by. She was awakened by the sound of her daughter coughing but found herself unable to leave her bed. The next day, September 1, there was
3618-432: The primary company implicated in this affair, released a statement of its own saying that their facility had only five gallons of carbon tetrachloride in stock, which was contained in firefighting equipment. Atlas-Imperial officials also denied that any quantities of trichloroethylene (an industrial solvent used by Atlas) could be responsible for sickness in the town, reasoning that it would have taken significant quantities of
3685-466: The principal means of delivery. Since the development of modern chemical warfare in World War I, nations have pursued research and development on chemical weapons that falls into four major categories: new and more deadly agents; more efficient methods of delivering agents to the target (dissemination); more reliable means of defense against chemical weapons; and more sensitive and accurate means of detecting chemical agents. The chemical used in warfare
3752-399: The principal method of disseminating chemical agents today. Most thermal dissemination devices consist of a bomb or projectile shell that contains a chemical agent and a central "burster" charge; when the burster detonates, the agent is expelled laterally. Thermal dissemination devices, though common, are not particularly efficient. First, a percentage of the agent is lost by incineration in
3819-487: The problem was the Livens Projector . This was effectively a large-bore mortar, dug into the ground that used the gas cylinders themselves as projectiles – firing a 14 kg cylinder up to 1500 m. This combined the gas volume of cylinders with the range of artillery. Over the years, there were some refinements in this technique. In the 1950s and early 1960s, chemical artillery rockets and cluster bombs contained
3886-679: The provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Under this convention, any toxic chemical, regardless of its origin, is considered a chemical weapon unless it is used for purposes that are not prohibited (an important legal definition known as the General Purpose Criterion ). About 70 different chemicals have been used or were stockpiled as chemical warfare agents during the 20th century. The entire class, known as Lethal Unitary Chemical Agents and Munitions , has been scheduled for elimination by
3953-461: The reported attacks and treated the accounts as fact. The attacks are widely considered to be a case of mass hysteria . However, others maintain that a Mad Gasser actually existed, or that the perceived attacks have another explanation, such as industrial pollution. Most contemporary descriptions of the Mad Gasser are based on the testimony of Mr. and Mrs. Bert Kearney of 1408 Marshall Avenue,
4020-735: The stalemate of trench warfare . Though largely ineffective over the long run, it decidedly changed the nature of the war. In many cases the gasses used did not kill, but instead horribly maimed, injured, or disfigured casualties. Some 1.3 million gas casualties were recorded, which may have included up to 260,000 civilian casualties. The interwar years saw the occasional use of chemical weapons, mainly to put down rebellions. In Nazi Germany , much research went into developing new chemical weapons, such as potent nerve agents . However, chemical weapons saw little battlefield use in World War II . Both sides were prepared to use such weapons, but
4087-628: The suspected assailant. The gasser's supposed victims reported smelling strange odors in their homes which were soon followed by symptoms such as paralysis of the legs, coughing, nausea and vomiting. No one died or had serious medical consequences as a result of the gas attacks. Police remained skeptical of the accounts throughout the entire incident. Many reported gassings had simple explanations, such as spilled nail polish or odors emanating from animals or local factories. Victims made quick recoveries from their symptoms and suffered no long-term effects. Nevertheless, local newspapers ran alarmist articles about
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#17327757967894154-440: The target area is only low or not existent and after four hours sarin or similar agents are not detectable anymore. By contrast, persistent agents tend to remain in the environment for as long as several weeks, complicating decontamination. Defense against persistent agents requires shielding for extended periods of time. Nonvolatile liquid agents, such as blister agents and the oily VX nerve agent, do not easily evaporate into
4221-413: The victims of the first Mattoon case to be reported by the media. They described the gasser as being a tall, thin man dressed in dark clothing and wearing a tight-fitting cap. Another report, made some weeks later, described the gasser as being a female dressed as a man. The Gasser had also been described as carrying a flit gun , an agricultural tool for spraying pesticide, which he purportedly used to expel
4288-410: The warded section of the key just has to pass uninterrupted to allow the key to rotate fully. A master key system of lever locks has the same lever heights in all locks. Each door will have different wards and can only be opened by the correctly warded key or the master key. A skeleton key has the warded section of the key removed so that it opens all the doors of a system. Some applications, such as
4355-493: Was given further validity in 1945 when the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology published "The 'phantom anesthetist' of Mattoon: a field study of mass hysteria" by Donald M. Johnson, which documented the Mattoon incident as a case study in mass hysteria . In 1959, his opinion was seconded by psychologist James P. Chaplin, and went on to form the basis for several subsequent studies of the phenomena of mass hysteria. Most of
4422-434: Was not toxicity, but development of agents that can affect a target through the skin and clothing, rendering protective gas masks useless. In July 1917, the Germans employed sulfur mustard . Mustard agents easily penetrate leather and fabric to inflict painful burns on the skin. Chemical warfare agents are divided into lethal and incapacitating categories. A substance is classified as incapacitating if less than 1/100 of
4489-405: Was unable to catch him. Kearney's description of the prowler was of a tall man dressed in dark clothing, wearing a tight fitting cap. This description was reported in the local media, and became the common description of the gasser throughout the Mattoon incident. After the attack, Aline Kearney reported suffering from a burning sensation on her lips and throat, which were attributed to the effects of
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