Timothy Green Beckley - Mystery of the Men in Black: The UFO Silencers

Introduction: Watch Out Behind You!

By John A. Keel author, Disneyland of the Gods

and Strange Mutants

"Close the doors! They're coming in the windows!"

That was a popular expression about thirty years ago, taken from the lyrics of a hit song now long forgotten. "Close the windows! They're coming in the doors!" The songwriter had probably never heard of the mysterious Men In Black (MIBs) but he might have been writing about them. They have been sneaking up on unwary UFO witnesses and ufologists for generations, often causing great confusion and sometimes outright terror. In more recent years they have been the subject of a number of commercial motion pictures and, back in the 1960s, an actor named Roy Thinnes chased them week after week in a highly rated TV series. In England , a rock group named The Men In Black has achieved great notoriety. The MIBs have become a part of the underground culture everywhere.

Most UFO fans credit the late Gray Barker with having "invented" the MIBs for his classic book They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers Actually Gray simply rediscovered an ancient phenomenon. Their presence has been observed throughout history, in many different contexts. In the Middle Ages, there were constant reports of sinister gentlemen in black garments who appeared in remote areas of Greece , Hungary , Poland , etc. where they were credited with acts of vampirism. Dead animals and humans were often found in their wake, sucked dry of blood. Like our modern MIBs, they were often described as having an oriental cast to their features and they spoke with strange accents.

In the ancient religion of Wicca or witchcraft a Man In Black holds a prominent symbolic meaning. In many rites of witchcraft, a member of the coven dresses in black to represent the MIB.

The fairy lore of the Celtic countries is also filled with tales of Men In Black. In fact, part of the fairy belief includes fairies who are the size of normal men and who walk almost unnoticed among humans except for their black clothing. Like their smaller counterparts, they were said to be great mischief-makers.

When the MIBs began appearing in areas where UFO sightings were numerous, the early UFO investigators tried to connect them exclusively to UFOs and their usual reasoning was that the mystery men were somehow related to the government or the Air Force. It was true that some government agents wereand arefond of black suits and wrap-around sunglasses. For example, after Lee Harvey Oswald was linked with the assassination of President Kennedy it was reported that a group of men in black suits descended on his old military unit and rifled the files. Obviously they must have belonged to some Intelligence group like the C.I.A. Their black suits were almost a uniform, like the dark clothes worn by the Secret Service men who attempt to protect the President.

When, in August 1967, an enraged grizzly bear killed two campers deep in the woods in the Glacier National Park in Montana , a mystery man in a black suit, tie and black oxfords appeared briefly. What he was doing in the middle of the forest in such impractical clothing...and how he managed to hike there...was never explained. He briefly joined the horrified group of campers clustered around the mutilated victims and then faded back into the night. Was he a true MIB or just an out-of-place tourist?

Men In Black are also an integral part of the Oriental belief in the King of the World. Ancient tradition in parts of China , Tibet and India claims that there is an underground city where the King of the World runs everything by sending spies and minions to the surface. They dress in black robes and suits and, of course, their countenances are very Oriental. In the Middle East , they move around the deserts in

black robes and headdresses. All of these characters are known liars and hoaxers...and kidnappers. They might claim to be from Agartha, the underground city, or from a far-off kingdom or even a distant star system like the Pleiades. This is why the Christian bible pointedly warns us to beware of those who profess to "represent powers and principalities" and tells us not to go out into the desert to meet with them. No Oriental would be surprised to hear that an MIB had turned up deep in the Glacier National Park on the night of two terrible deaths.

As you can see, Men In Black is really a generic term. Many types of mystery men can...and do...fall into this ominous category. There are literally thousands of detailed reports scattered throughout the UFO literature describing very peculiar strangers who appeared during UFO flaps. Sometimes their clothes are ill-fitting and their demeanor is very weird. Sometimes they themselves are hunchbacked, crippled or grotesquely malformed. They can speak in a mechanical-like voice or appear to have trouble breathing. They behave irrationally, too. They might try to drink a bowl or jello...or they might eat a cigarette.

In many cases, they appear to be wearing ill-fitting wigs. Witnesses have often commented on their bad toupees. If they represent some superior technology from some other star system, as many UFO fans like to believe, why can't they cover their bald pates with a decent wig?

Very often the witness doesn't even realize he or she has encountered an MIB-type. They can pose as salesmen, Seventh Day Adventists or just lost tourists. If they arrive in an automobile, it is likely to be an expensive model with mud-stained license plates. In many cases, they have visited isolated farms in hard-to-reach places without any car in sight and walking through mud and goo without dirtying their pristine shoes. How can you tell if they aren't who they claim to be? Simple, they don't really try to sell you anything if they say they are a salesman. Instead, they try to pump you for information or they make disquieting remarks about your past or your future. They also have a startling way of simply disappearing after they speak with you. That is, instead of walking back down the muddy road they just seem to vanish when you look away and then look back again.

Some of our MIBs could be apparitions or hallucinations. They need not be a part of our reality although they may seem very real while you are confronting them. Some witnesses have, in fact, reported spells of dizziness, lapses of memory and other symptoms that clearly indicate their MIB encounter was not real. Many of the same symptoms occur in close UFO sightings so there is a positive relationship between some MIB experiences and some UFO manipulations. The human mind is being assaulted and the powers of perception are being deceived. This could be a form of hypnosis or something more subtle.

In the fairy lore, victims of this process were said to be "enchanted."

There doesn't seem to be one simple answer to the MIB mystery. As you read the many varying accounts in this book you will realize the frightening complexity of it all. Some reports seem to be pointless practical jokes. Others contain elements that suggest these beings are desperately trying to convey something to us, that they are trying to communicate with us on our own level and usually botching it.

One thing is certain, though. The reports in this book will keep you awake at night and make you nervous whenever you see a black Cadillac parked near your home. There is someone or some thing out there...and they are watching YOU.

_________ John A. Keel - New York , N.Y.

The Men in Black: Agents of Terror

Visits by unknown agents are seeded throughout UFO literature and newspaper accounts of flying saucer sightings. For many years they were overlooked or not recognized for what they were. Today just about every UFO investigator has encountered these "Men in Black" during their research. The history of Demonology, Witchcraft and the Occult are filled with similar incidents leading one to speculate that the UFO phenomena is at least partly "psychic" in nature.