Who are the Men in Black?
In many UFO reports, visitors show up after the sighting: two or three men in black suits, often driving a large black car. They know more than they should, ask questions, take photos away with them and strongly advise the witness not to talk about what they saw. Some witnesses described them as stiff, pale and oddly alien, as if they were not human themselves.
Where the story comes from
An early trace leads to the Maury Island case of 1947, in which a witness reported a visitor in a dark suit. The motif became widely known in 1953 through Albert K. Bender, founder of a UFO club in Connecticut. He suddenly stopped his work and said that three men in black had warned him. In 1956, Gray Barker turned this into the book They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers. John Keel took up the subject in the 1960s, including in connection with the Mothman sightings. The films, starting in 1997, turned the horror into comedy.
What might be behind it
Some visits can be traced back to real government officials or military personnel who were interested in sightings. Others probably grew out of a mix of fear, secrecy and the expectation that someone wants to suppress the truth.
Episodes on this topic
- Men in Black: Where Does the Phenomenon Come From? (in German)
- The Wild 1920s: Aliens, UFOs and the Men in Black (in German)
- Related: Mothman
Further reading
- Gray Barker: They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers, 1956.
- John A. Keel: The Mothman Prophecies, 1975.