men in black

{{Short description|Government agents who supposedly intimidate UFO witnesses}}

{{About|the UFO conspiracy theories|the film franchise|Men in Black (franchise){{!}}Men in Black (franchise)|the first film in said franchise|Men in Black (1997 film){{!}}Men in Black (1997 film)|other uses|Men in Black (disambiguation)}}

File:Gray Barker.jpg, posing with promotional materials for his book, They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers. Several MIB appear in silhouette on the cover.]]

File:James Cagney in G Men trailer.jpg," agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), with dark suits (James Cagney in the film G Men is pictured here).{{Cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/24/living/the-legacy-of-men-in-black/index.html|title=The legacy of ‘men’ in black|date=May 24, 2012|website=CNN}}]]

In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are government agents dressed in dark suits, who question, interrogate, harass, threaten, unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesses to keep them silent about what they have seen. The term is also frequently used to describe mysterious men working for unknown organizations, as well as various branches of government allegedly tasked with protecting government UFO secrets or performing other strange activities. They are typically described as tall men with expressionless faces, slightly pale skin, and usually wearing black suits with black sunglasses. “Men In Black” encounters are very common tales told in American UFO conspiracy theories.

The term is generic, as it is used for any unusual, threatening or strangely behaved individual whose appearance on the scene can be linked in some fashion with a UFO sighting.Clark, Jerome (1996). The UFO Encyclopedia, volume 3: High Strangeness, UFO's from 1960 through 1979. Omnigraphis. 317–18. Several alleged encounters with the men in black have been reported by UFO researchers and enthusiasts. The "MIB" supposedly appeared throughout different moments in history. In many American UFO lore stories, they are typically described as tall men with expressionless faces, slightly pale skin, and usually wearing black suits with black sunglasses. They often interrogate alleged witnesses and strive to suppress all evidences regarding UFOs and alien encounters.

Stories about men in black inspired the science fiction comedy franchise Men in Black and an album by the Stranglers.

Folklore

Folklorist James R. Lewis compares accounts of men in black with tales of people encountering Lucifer, and speculates that they can be considered a kind of "psychological trauma".{{cite book|author=James R. Lewis|title=The Gods Have Landed: New Religions from Other Worlds|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KCEtC3xnzuAC&pg=PA218|date=9 March 1995|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-2330-1|pages=218–|access-date=16 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702152239/http://books.google.com/books?id=KCEtC3xnzuAC&pg=PA218|archive-date=2 July 2014|url-status=live}}

Ufologists

Men in black feature prominently in ufology, UFO folklore, and fan fiction. In the 1950s and 1960s, ufologists adopted a conspiratorial mindset and began fearing they would be subject to organized intimidation in retaliation for discovering "the truth of the UFOs."{{cite book|author=Aaron John Gulyas|title=Conspiracy Theories: The Roots, Themes and Propagation of Paranoid Political and Cultural Narratives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F3etCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT86|date=25 January 2016|publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=978-1-4766-2349-8|pages=86–}}

In 1947, Harold Dahl claimed a man in a dark suit warned him not to discuss his alleged UFO sighting on Maury Island. In the mid-1950s, ufologist Albert K. Bender claimed he was visited by men in dark suits who threatened and warned him not to continue investigating UFOs. He maintained that the men were secret government agents tasked with suppressing evidence of UFOs. Ufologist John Keel claimed to have had encounters with MIB and referred to them as "demonic supernaturals" with "dark skin and/or 'exotic' facial features." According to ufologist Jerome Clark, reports of men in black represent "experiences" that "don't seem to have occurred in the world of consensus reality."{{cite web|last1=Harris|first1=Aisha|title=Do UFO Hunters Still Report "Men in Black" Sightings?|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/05/23/men_in_black_sightings_do_they_still_happen_.html|website=Slate|date=23 May 2012|publisher=Slate.com|access-date=3 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714141835/http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/05/23/men_in_black_sightings_do_they_still_happen_.html|archive-date=14 July 2014|url-status=live}}

Historian Aaron Gulyas wrote, "During the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, UFO conspiracy theorists would incorporate the MIB into their increasingly complex and paranoid visions."

Keel has argued that some MIB encounters could be explained as entirely mundane events perpetuated through folklore. In his 1975 book The Mothman Prophecies, he describes a late-night outing in 1967, where he was taken for an MIB while searching for a phone to call a tow truck.John Alva Keel, The Mothman Prophecies, Tor, 2002. Chapter 1: "Beelzebub Visits West Virginia".

In his article "Gray Barker: My Friend, the Myth-Maker," John C. Sherwood claims that, in the late 1960s, at age 18, he cooperated when Gray Barker urged him to develop a hoax—which Barker subsequently published—about what Barker called "blackmen", three mysterious UFO inhabitants who silenced Sherwood's pseudonymous identity, "Dr. Richard H. Pratt."{{cite web|author=Sherwood, John C.|title=Gray Barker: My Friend, the Myth-Maker|work=Skeptical Inquirer|url=http://www.csicop.org/si/show/gray_barker_my_friend_the_myth-maker/|access-date=2006-10-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512004941/http://www.csicop.org/si/show/gray_barker_my_friend_the_myth-maker/|archive-date=2011-05-12|url-status=dead}}

In popular culture

The 1976 Blue Öyster Cult song "E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)" contains the line: "Three men in black said, 'Don't report this.'" Their 1983 song "Take Me Away", about the singer's desire to leave Earth with "good guy" aliens, has the line: "The men in black, their lips are sealed."{{cite web| url = https://www.songfacts.com/facts/blue-oyster-cult/take-me-away| title = ShieldSquare Captcha}}

In 1979, British punk rock and new wave rock band The Stranglers recorded a song entitled "Meninblack" for their album The Raven, released that year. In 1981, their concept album The Gospel According to the Meninblack featured alien visitations to Earth.{{cite book |last1=Twomey |first1=Chris |title=The Stranglers - The Men They Love To Hate |date=1992 |publisher=EMI Records Ltd|pages=102–104}}

James T. Flocker's 1979 film The Alien Encounters included Men in Black who harass a UFO investigator portrayed by Augie Tribach.{{Cite web|last=Godzilla|first=Glitter|title=The Alien Encounters|url=http://www.outpost-zeta.com/2019/03/alien-encounters.html|access-date=2021-12-12}}

The 1984 film The Brother from Another Planet features two Men in Black who try to capture the alien hero. One is played by the film's director, John Sayles.{{cite web | url= https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=940DEEDA143AF937A2575AC0A962948260 | title=Sayles's Brother | date= September 14, 1984| author= Vincent Canby| author-link= Vincent Canby| work=The New York Times | accessdate= 2010-08-13}}

The 1995 album Masquerade by German heavy metal band Running Wild has a song called "Men in Black". The song tells about a UFO sighting and the arrival of the Men In Black and the covering up of the sighting.

The 1997 science-fiction film Men In Black, starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, was loosely based on The Men in Black comic book series created by Lowell Cunningham and Sandy Carruthers.{{cite book | author = David Hughes | title = Comic Book Movies | publisher = Virgin Books | year = 2003 | location = London | pages = 123–129 | isbn = 0-7535-0767-6}} Cunningham got the idea for the comic when he and a friend saw a black van on the street and his friend joked about government "men in black"."Metamorphosis of 'Men in Black'", Men in Black Blu-Ray

The video game franchise Half-Life features a character known as the G-Man, widely regarded as being inspired by urban legends associated with the men in black.

The Men in Black are featured in the 2000 video game Deus Ex as agents of Majestic 12.

In The X-Files (franchise) there are numerous instances of Men In Black references. The episode Jose Chung%27s From Outer Space has 2 characters, portrayed by Jesse Ventura and Alex Trebek, among many other characters in the television series and movies.

men in black

Folklore

Ufologists

In popular culture

See also

References

Further reading