This is one of my rare blog entries. I am currently working on a novel inspired by the work of John Keel. In the course of research I believe I have run across the earliest mention of the Men in Black. Previously I had believed the earliest known mention of MIBs was found in a book titles The Coming of the Saucers, by Kenneth Arnold and Ray Palmer. Arnold, you may know, became famous for being the first to report “flying saucers” in 1947.
I have just found the story of “The Mad Gasser of Mattoon.” You can read every known detail of that event in Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Gasser_of_Mattoon
This event occurred in 1944 in Mattoon, Illinois. Briefly, a married couple thought they smelled gas at night. The husband got out of bed to check but found nothing, although there was a bad smell. His wife proved unable to get out of bed, suffering from nausea and paralysis. They reported seeing an individual outside their home dressed in black and wearing a tight fitting cap. He was holding an object that resembled a flit gun, used for spraying bug killer.
Over the next two weeks about two dozen other people had similar experiences. Authorities investigated but could find no evidence of gas or other chemicals. All victims recovered without permanent damage. The last reporting witnesses again reported the PIB (person in black), claiming it was a woman dressed as a man.
Ultimately this entire incident was dismissed as “mass hysteria.” My own take is this: Mass hysteria is close but no cigar. The PIBs were the kind of beings described by John Keel. They are masters of illusion. It was not exactly mass hysteria. It was mass hypnosis.
That is my opinion, and I’m stuck with it.
Steve Bartholomew
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