Men in Black

The Men In Black (sometimes abbreviated to the acronym MIB coined by John Keel) are strangers dressed in black suits who threaten UFO witnesses into silence. They also harass witnesses to other paranormal events to keep them quiet about what they have seen.

Description

The MIB usually travel in a group of three and drive black cars. They show strange or otherworldly behaviors, such as trying to drink jello or not knowing what a ball point pen is, and they seem to have advanced technology. One woman even claimed that The Men In Black took part of her memory. The MIB were seen after Mothman sightings and Dover Demon sightings. They told witnesses of both these creatures not to talk about their experiences. There are also Women In Black or Female MIBs but they are rarely seen.

Sightings

Modern Accounts

Men In Black figure prominently in UFO folklore. In 1947, Harold Dahl claimed to have been warned not to talk about his alleged UFO sighting on Maury Island by a man in a dark suit. When the Skunk Ape phenomenon was popular, a group investigating him had a hair sample stolen from them by two men in sunglasses and dark suits driving a black Sedan.

In the mid 1950s, UFOlogist Albert Bender claimed he was visited by men in dark suits who threatened and warned him not to continue investigating UFOs. Bender believed Men In Black were secret government agents tasked with suppressing evidence of UFOs. The late UFOlogist John Keel claimed to have encounters with Men In Black, 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.”

Explanations

Government Agents

The strange men are seen as a sort of damage control and it is sometimes said that they may be government agents or even aliens themselves.

Past Accounts of Demons

Folklorist Peter Rojcewicz compared Men In Black accounts to tales of people encountering the devil and speculated they could be considered a kind of "psychological drama". For example, in the 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter, "the black man" is used as a euphemism for Satan who is said to haunt the forest, and Washington Irving's story "The Devil and Tom Walker" includes the character of Satan, named as "the black man". In 1932, H. P. Lovecraft also used the figure of "the black man" in his tale "The Dreams in the Witch-House" as a synonym for Satan.

Popular Culture

The first appearance of Men in Black in film was in John Sayles' 1984 film The Brother from Another Planet. In this film, John Sayles himself and David Strathairn, both credited as Man In Black, are aliens in search of an escaped alien slave (the titular "Brother").

There was a Men In Black Comic book in 1990 based on the UFO Folklore that eventually lead to the creation of the popular Men In Black film franchise and animated series.

In BBC's Doctor Who, the aliens known as the Silents are inspired by the men in black, as well as the character of Mister Dread from the episode 'Dreamland'.