The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong Jumping Jack Flash (It's a Gas Gas Gas)
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Feb 24, 2026 A dive into the 1944 Mattoon ‘gas’ scare and how reports spread across a small town. Tales of sweet smells, paralyzed victims, an alleged ape-man, and vigilante patrols. Examination of newspapers, call logs, wartime anxieties, and competing theories about leaks, suspects, and mass suggestion.
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Kearney Family Incident That Ignited the Panic
- Aline Kearney and her daughter smelled a sweet gas that caused paralysis in Aline and illness in Dorothy late on September 1st 1944.
- Bert Kearney saw a tall thin prowler at 00:30 who fled before capture, which sparked the first newspaper article that widened the panic.
Newspaper Framing Fueled Mass Suggestibility
- The Mattoon Journal-Gazette conflated separate events and used a sensational headline, implying ongoing attacks and priming readers to expect more victims.
- The paper named the Kearneys "First Victims" and speculated on anesthetics, which transformed anecdote into a townwide narrative.
Retroactive Reports Multiplied The Number Of Attacks
- After the Journal-Gazette published, earlier isolated smells and illnesses were retroactively claimed as attacks, swelling reported incidents across town.
- Within days the story reached Chicago papers and national outlets, causing call volumes and sightings to spike.