Unexplained Phenomena

In late 1944, the unlikely small town of Mattoon, Illinois was the setting for one of the most interesting unexplained crimes that the United States had ever seen.

Artists Concept of The Mad Gasser

During the two weeks between August 31 and September 13 of that year, there were over 20 reports of citizens being temporarily paralyzed by a mysterious odor. The odor, or “gas”, was often accompanied by sightings of a tall, dark man believed to be the assailant. The press later identified this person as “The Mad Gasser of Mattoon”.

Founded less than 100 years previous to the attacks, Mattoon has a rich railroad history and has seen many famous civil war icons passing through on their way to shape modern America. Here is a map of Mattoon during this time period.

The reports told of a sweet smelling odor that was almost instantly followed by weakness of the knees or total paralysis. Even to this day, it is still not known what gas (if any) was being described.

The first Mad Gasser attack occurred on August 31, 1944 at the home of Urban Raef on Grant Ave. Mr Raef said that he was awakened in the early morning by a strange odor. The odor reportedly made him “nauseous and weak” and forced him into a fit of vomiting. Raef’s wife, thinking that her husband was suffering from domestic gas poisoning, attempted to see if there was a problem with the pilot light, but much to her horror, found that she was unable to leave her bed, temporarily paralyzed. Read more

Welcome back to Paranormala’s Top 10 Unexplained Phenomena. We hope that you enjoyed the last installment of our favorite unexplained, mysterious and just plain weird happenings. In the final 5, things get weirder as we highlight some of the darker unexplained phenomena that has intrigued us. As noted in the comments of Part 1, we will be developing each topic into it’s own in-depth article in the near future.

The comments last time around were great! If you have something to say about any of these, please, leave a response and let’s discuss these as a community! Read more

Skeptics and believers alike, nothing gets people talking and debating like a good old urban legend or ghost story. What’s even better, is when there is no definitive answer as to whether the event happened or not, and why. Here at Paranormala, this is our modus operandi.. to bring to you, our beloved reader the most interesting and sometimes ridiculous unexplained phenomena. Read more