Men in Black
There are reports of ominous strangers who approach UFO witnesses and threaten them with violence unless they keep silent. Are these visitors shady government agents or do they come from elsewhere?
As dawn broke over Ilkley Moor, in West Yorkshire, on 30th November 1987, a former policeman, whom will be called Philip Spencer, was focusing his camera on the village of Menston below, when he noticed a strange entity with a green cast’ some distance in front of him. The next thing he remembers was arriving in Menston some time later, confused and disorientated. He took the film to be developed that morning when he collected the prints two hours later, he discovered that he had taken a photo of the entity.
Alarmed by this strange ‘encounter’, Spencer sought out the address of UFO researcher Jenny Randles from the local library and wrote to her about his experience. She put him in touch with another researcher, Peter Hough, who suggested that Spencer subject himself and his photo to a thorough investigation. Spencer agreed to co-operate fully.
About six weeks into the investigation, Spencer received an unexpected visit from two men, who presented themselves as Royal Air Force Intelligence officers. Flashing their ID cards at him, they gave their names as Jefferson and Davis. Their mission, they explained, was to recover the photo he had taken on Ilkley Moor. Unfortunately for them, Spencer had given the photo they wanted to Hough. Aggrieved, the strangers left empty-handed.
What puzzled Spencer was how these strangers had known of the photograph’s existence. Only his wife, Peter Hough, Jenny Randles and Arthur Tomlinson, another researcher working on the case, had any knowledge of it. Hough contacted RAF Intelligence to confirm the visitors identities. He was told that no such men existed and that non of their staff had ever visited Spencer.
When Hough’s enquiries drew a blank, he decided that Spencer must have been the victim of one of the strangest by-products of modern UFO phenomenon - a visit from the ‘Men in Black’.
It would be tempting to dismiss Spencer’s account as the creation of an overactive imagination were it not for the fact that Dr. Jim Singleton, the clinical psychologist who ran a series of tests on him, reported that Spencer ‘was telling the truth as he believed it’. Furthermore, Spencer’s experience is far from unique. The files of UFO researchers around the world are bulging with similar tales of sinister Men In Black (MIB) who call on their victims with the sole intention of terrorising them into silence.
Secret Agents.
Although account vary widely in detail, there are enough similarities to suggest an underlying pattern. Typically, MIB’s make their presence felt shortly after an UFO sighting or an encounter with an extraterrestrial (ET), either by visiting or telephoning the UFO or ET witness or an investigator handling the case. When they appear in person, usually in pairs or groups of three, they are dressed in black of in military uniform. Often they arrive in an old-fashioned black car which is in mint condition.
Some MIB’s provide proof of their identity, but when names are given, they invariably turn out to be false. Most curious of all, in almost every case, MIB’s appear to have detailed information about the victim and his experience which only the victim can verify. Given that the visit often takes place within hours of the UFO incident, how do they acquire this knowledge so quickly?
To some UFO researchers, the only people with access to this kind of information are government intelligence agents. They believe these shadowy strangers are involved in a campaign of disinformation to conceal the true nature of covert government operations. Just what they are covering up is not entirely clear, but it is generally assumed to be top-secret military programmes. This, so the theory goes, accounts for the NIB’s false identities and why government organisations always deny any involvement.
On the same theme, a number of ufologists claim that governments are anxious to prevent the truth about UFO’s from becoming public knowledge.
By this reckoning, MIB’s are part of a government conspiracy, carried out by secret intelligence agencies, to manipulate UFO witnesses and investigators into silence.
The main drawback to these conspiracy theories is that if these visits are the work of undercover intelligence agents why are there no reports of their threats ever being carried out? It is a curious fact that none of the victims who have defied MIB instructions have ever been punished with physical violence.
Bizarre Behaviour.
What complicates the mystery further is that while some MIB visits appear to be entirely credible - the only grounds for suspicion being a false identity claim or unaccountable access to private information - others are riddled with implausible details.
One extraordinary case followed a UFO abduction of two men that occurred in October 1975, at the height of UFO activity in the State of Maine, USA. Nearly a year after the incident, on September 11th 1976, the investigating psychiatrist, Dr Herbert Hopkins, was working alone at home when he received a telephone call from a man purporting to be a UFO investigator. The stranger asked if he could visit the doctor and, within less than a minute appeared at the back door. ‘I saw no car, and even if he did have a car he could not possibly have gotten to my house from any pay phone,’ Dr Hopkins later observed.
His visitor advised Dr Hopkins to destroy all his records on the abduction case. But when the conversation turned to UFO’s, Dr Hopkins noticed that the stranger’s speech began to falter. Shakily, the man stood up and, stumbling towards the door, excused himself, saying, ‘My energy is running low... must go now.’
It was only after he had gone that Dr Hopkins registered his visitors’ odd appearance. He wore an old-fashioned black suit, which looked brand new. He was also completely bald and had no eyelashes or eyebrows. Stranger still, he was wearing lipstick.
Paranormal Link?
Dr Hopkins’ experience is one of the most reliable and detailed accounts of an MIB visit. As some aspect of his story border on the absurd, it also presents the mystery at its most bizarre. Some researcher have observed that the behaviour and appearance of many MIB’s seem to have a surreal quality reminiscent of a dream sequence. This suggests that MIB’s may not be an entirely physical phenomenon - a view supported by those who are convinced that MIB’s are ET’s.
Other investigators have tried to find a psychological answer to the MIB phenomenon. American UFO researcher Dr Alvin Lawson notes that all alien figures linked to UFO sightings - and the vast majority of reports, especially in the US, describe MIB’s as ‘foreign-looking’ - seem to correspond to the archetypes that psychologist Carl Jung proposed lie buried in everyone’s unconscious imagery. Could it be that a real visitor triggers the victim’s imagination to draw upon this well of imagery and create a bizarre, dream-like sequence of events? The real enigma for Dr Lawson is not so much what the victim sees but what triggers the archetypal images in the first place - a puzzle to which he has no solution.
Lack of Evidence.
What is most strange about the MIB phenomenon is that it has become part of the UFO mythology on the basis of mere hearsay. Although reports of MIB visits continue unabated, no-one has ever been able to provide irrefutable proof that a visit has taken place.
