About Men in Black
Men in black are figures of UFO folklore and conspiracy theory described as tall, pale, and expressionless men in dark suits and sunglasses who question or threaten UFO witnesses to keep them silent. Popularized during the 1950s and 1960s by writers like Gray Barker and John Keel, they have been interpreted as government agents, aliens, demons, time-travellers, or hoaxes. These figures inspired numerous characters, comics, and films in popular culture, beginning with early accounts in 1947 through events up to 2009.
The full story, section by section
The story of Men in Black in 5 parts. Tap any part to read it in full.
-
OriginsIn the 1950s and 1960s, ufologists adopted a conspiratorial mindset and began to fear organised intimidation for discovering "the truth of the UFOs."Read this part →
Albert K. Bender, who said men in dark suits warned him to stop investigating UFOs · Photo: Alber K bender, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons -
Barker, Keel and the hoaxesJohn C. Sherwood, a Gannett reporter and editor for 28 years, wrote "Gray Barker: My Friend, the Myth-Maker" for the Skeptical Inquirer.Read this part →
Gray Barker, posing with promotional materials for his book, They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers. · Photo: Gray Barker, CC BY-SA 1.0, Wikimedia Commons -
Official recordsOn 1 March 1967 Lt. Gen. Hewitt T.Read this part → Illustration drawn for this site — not a photograph.
-
InterpretationsSagers notes that the MIB are rarely benevolent in fiction.Read this part → Illustration drawn for this site — not a photograph.
-
In popular cultureLowell Cunningham and Sandy Carruthers' early-1990s Men in Black comic portrayed agents who tracked the paranormal and killed witnesses.Read this part →
Noisy Cricket from the Men in Black film series displayed at ExpoSYFY, San Sebastián, Spain. · Photo: Urko Dorronsoro from Donostia - San Sebastian, Euskal Herria (Basque Country), CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Key people
The people at the centre of the story — witnesses, investigators, officials and sceptics:
- Gray BarkerGray Barker was an American writer and publisher from West Virginia who wrote popular books about UFOs and paranormal subjects from the 1950s to the 1980s. He is best known for creating and populariz…
- Albert K. BenderAlbert K. Bender was an American ufologist who founded the International Flying Saucer Bureau in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1952. In 1953, he suddenly closed the organization after claiming that thr…
- John KeelJohn Alva Keel was an American journalist, television writer, and influential ufologist who lived from 1930 to 2009. He rejected the extraterrestrial hypothesis, instead arguing that UFOs, monsters, …
- Hewitt WhelessHewitt Terrell Wheless was a decorated U.S. Air Force lieutenant general and World War II B-17 pilot who later held major command and staff positions.
- Jerome ClarkJerome Clark is an American writer, editor, and songwriter who specializes in UFOs and other anomalous phenomena. He is best known for writing The UFO Encyclopedia and has served on the board of the …
- Fred CrismanFred Lee Crisman was an American wartime fighter pilot and educator from Tacoma, Washington, known for paranormal claims and links to twentieth-century conspiracy theories. He became prominent throug…
Related cases & events
Events and sightings linked to Men in Black:
🛸 Case · 8 min readMaury Island incidentThe Maury Island incident is a 1947 claim that a man named Harold Dahl saw doughnut-shaped craft drop debris over Puget Sound near Tacoma, Washington. An FBI investigation quickly concluded the story was a fabricated hoax created by Dahl and his associate Fre…
🗓️ Event · 7 min readWheless memo on UFO impostors (1967)The Wheless memo on UFO impostors was a 1967 U.S. Air Force memorandum issued by Lieutenant General Hewitt T.
🗓️ Event · 8 min readGeorgia witness visited by agents (2009)In May 2009 in North Georgia, a man reported seeing a large, silent triangular aircraft that struck him with a beam of light and caused physical injuries. According to a 2021 book, two men in dark suits later visited his home to question and warn him about hi…
🗓️ Event · 7 min read4602d AISS crashed-object claim (1954)The article is about an unverified 1954 claim that the U.S. Air Force's 4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron operated a crashed-object recovery program.
🗓️ Event · 6 min readAir Force Regulation 200-2Air Force Regulation 200-2 was a United States Air Force directive first issued on August 26, 1953, that governed how unidentified flying objects were reported and investigated. The regulation established procedures for field investigations, assigned analysis…
🛸 Case · 11 min readRhodes UFO photographsThe Rhodes UFO photographs are two pictures of a disc-shaped object reportedly taken over Phoenix, Arizona, on July 7, 1947, by amateur astronomer William Albert Rhodes. The images were published on the front page of The Arizona Republic two days later amid a…
🛸 Case · 9 min readMichigan swamp gas UFO reportsIn March 1966, a widespread wave of UFO sightings occurred across southern Michigan, highlighted by mass sightings near Dexter and Hillsdale involving dozens of residents, students, and law enforcement officers. Project Blue Book investigator J. Allen Hynek a…
🛸 Case · 8 min readSolway Firth SpacemanThe Solway Firth Spaceman is an anomalous photograph taken on May 23, 1964, by firefighter Jim Templeton at Burgh Marsh in Cumberland, England. The picture of his five-year-old daughter features an unexplained white figure in the background that resembles a p…
🗓️ Event · 7 min readNeedles crash reports (2008)In May 2008, witnesses near Needles, California, reported that a large, glowing turquoise-green object fell from the sky and crashed near the Colorado River. According to these witnesses, several helicopters quickly arrived and carried the object away. Journa…Programs, organizations & documents
The official programs, groups and papers involved:
🏢 Organization · 12 min readAir Force Office of Special InvestigationsThe Air Force Office of Special Investigations is a United States federal law-enforcement agency and criminal investigation and counterintelligence service founded in 1948. Headquartered in Quantico, Virginia, it operates outside the normal military chain of …
🏢 Organization · 13 min readU.S. Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the air service branch of the U.S. armed forces that became an independent service in September 1947.
🏢 Organization · 10 min read4602d Air Intelligence Service SquadronThe 4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron was a United States Air Force intelligence unit headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado. During the 1950s, its wartime responsibility was examining downed enemy aircraft and questioning captured airmen, while it…
🏛️ Program or study · 5 min readProject Moon DustProject Moon Dust was a covert U.S. Air Force program active during the Cold War from 1954 to 1982 to locate, recover, and deliver foreign space vehicles, debris, and fallen hardware.
🏢 Organization · 6 min readNORADThe North American Aerospace Defense Command is a joint defense organization established by the United States and Canada in 1957 to provide aerospace warning and control for North America. Headquartered in Colorado, its responsibilities have expanded over tim…Books, films & documentaries
Where to read and watch more:
🎬 Book or film · 5 min readThe X-FilesThe X-Files is an American science-fiction drama series created by Chris Carter that originally ran on Fox from September 1993 to May 2002. FBI agents Fox Mulder, a believer, and Dana Scully, a skeptic, investigate unsolved paranormal cases and uncover a gove…
🎬 Book or film · 4 min readProject Blue Book (TV series)Project Blue Book is an American historical drama television series broadcast on History from January 2019 to March 2020. Created by David O'Leary, the show is loosely based on the U.S.Related topics & places
Ideas, terms and places that come up in the story:
📖 Term · 17 min readUnidentified flying objectAn unidentified flying object, or UFO, is an unexplained phenomenon or object seen in the sky, with the modern craze originating in the United States in June 1947. While popular culture often equates UFOs with alien spacecraft, most investigations reveal them…
📖 Term · 13 min readUnidentified anomalous phenomenaUnidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) is the U.S. government's current term for unidentified objects or events in the air, space, or underwater.
📖 Term · 7 min readNon-human intelligenceNon-human intelligence (NHI) is a term used to describe non-human beings or systems, which has become prominent in recent discussions and whistleblower claims regarding unidentified anomalous phenomena. Although various individuals and legislative proposals h…
📖 Term · 5 min readPsychosocial hypothesisThe psychosocial hypothesis is a skeptical approach that explains UFO reports through psychological and social factors rather than alien craft. The term gained prominence in English in 1984, drawing on earlier French debates and research from the 1970s. Suppo…
📖 Term · 4 min readContacteeA contactee is a person who claims to have ongoing, generally positive contact with friendly, human-like extraterrestrials who deliver messages of peace and warnings against nuclear weapons. This cultural phenomenon began in the late 1940s and peaked during t…
📖 Term · 4 min readReptiliansReptilians are reptile-like humanoids that feature in fantasy, science fiction, ufology, and conspiracy theories. The idea that shape-shifting reptilian aliens secretly control the Earth was popularized by British conspiracy theorist David Icke. The concept t…🛸 UFO sightings about Men in Black
Sightings that mention Men in Black
![Regarding the 2018 stolen USB drive in Brandon Fugal’s hotel room which had the Skywalker presentation on it…. “Nothing else [stolen] including stack of cash next to it” … “No chance of misplacing…](/media/thumbs/13724-47684560.webp)
More in the encyclopedia
Other articles that link to or mention Men in Black:
- Black triangleA black triangle is a type of UFO report describing a large, dark, triangular object usually seen at night with pulsing colored lights at the corners. Numerous sightings have occurred internationally…
- Black budgetA black budget is government funding set aside for classified military and intelligence operations kept secret for security reasons. While such unacknowledged funds have fueled claims that hidden pro…
- Paul BennewitzPaul Bennewitz was an American businessman and UFO investigator based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who came to believe he was filming alien craft and uncovered a secret underground alien base near Kir…
- Nick RedfernNick Redfern is a British author and journalist born in 1964 who writes about UFOs, cryptozoology, and conspiracy theories. He has campaigned for official UFO disclosure, helped bring once-classified…
- Project Windfall claimThe article is about the "Project Windfall claim," an unverified assertion made by American writer and ufologist John Keel that the CIA operated a covert investigation into UFO contactees during the …
- Bradshaw Ranch black site claimIn 2022, ufologist Steven Greer claimed that Bradshaw Ranch near Sedona, Arizona, had become a secret government "black site" due to local UFO activity. The property has a history of reported paranor…
- Ultraterrestrial hypothesis paper"Ultraterrestrial Models" is a 2022 paper by physicist Harold Puthoff that surveys possible Earth-based explanations for UFOs and unidentified anomalous phenomena. The paper argues that the available…
- Jonathan Weygandt's Peru crash claimFormer U.S. Marine lance corporal Jonathan Weygandt claimed that in late March or early April 1997, while deployed on a counter-drug mission in Peru, he discovered a crashed egg-shaped craft embedded…
- Bill EnglishBill English was an American former Army officer who claimed that in mid-1977 in England, he analyzed a top-secret document about crashed flying saucers and captured aliens. His unverified account la…
- Jonathan WeygandtFormer U.S. Marine lance corporal Jonathan Weygandt claimed that in March or April 1997 in Peru, he came upon a crashed egg-shaped craft and was subsequently detained, interrogated, and threatened by…
- 1978 in UFO historyThe text outlines UFO and UAP events in 1978, including government secrecy controversies, freedom of information lawsuits, and sightings such as the disappearance of pilot Frederick Valentich and the…
- Raechel's EyesRaechel's Eyes is a 2005 book by Helen Littrell and Jean Bilodeaux about Marisa Littrell and her college roommate Raechel, who was allegedly a human-alien hybrid placed by an Air Force colonel. The b…
- Ilkley Moor UFO incidentThe Ilkley Moor UFO incident is an alleged alien abduction and photograph that occurred on the morning of December 1, 1987, on Ilkley Moor in West Yorkshire, England. A retired police officer known b…
- 1967 in UFO historyThis article outlines UFO and UAP events from 1967 in Canada and the United States, including notable incidents like the Falcon Lake and Shag Harbour cases, as well as government investigations and m…
Questions & answers
What is Men in Black?
Men in black are figures of UFO folklore and conspiracy theory described as tall, pale, and expressionless men in dark suits and sunglasses who question or threaten UFO witnesses to keep them silent. Popularized during the 1950s and 1960s by writers like Gray Barker and John Keel, they have been interpreted as government agents, aliens, demons, time-travellers, or hoaxes. These figures inspired numerous characters, comics, and films in popular culture, beginning with early accounts in 1947 through events up to 2009. Read: Men in Black →
Who is Gray Barker?
Gray Barker was an American writer and publisher from West Virginia who wrote popular books about UFOs and paranormal subjects from the 1950s to the 1980s. He is best known for creating and popularizing the concept of the "Men in Black" in his 1956 book They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers. Although his works championed extraterrestrials and influenced major pop culture lore, friends and family later revealed that he was privately skeptical, wrote for money, and participated in hoaxes. Read: Gray Barker →
Who is Albert K. Bender?
Albert K. Bender was an American ufologist who founded the International Flying Saucer Bureau in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1952. In 1953, he suddenly closed the organization after claiming that three men dressed in black visited and frightened him into silence. Read: Albert K. Bender →
Who is John Keel?
John Keel: John Alva Keel was an American journalist, television writer, and influential ufologist who lived from 1930 to 2009. He rejected the extraterrestrial hypothesis, instead arguing that UFOs, monsters, and ghosts were hallucinations or deceptions created by Earth-based non-human intelligences he called ultraterrestrials. He is best known for writing The Mothman Prophecies, a 1975 book that connected his paranormal theories to sightings in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and the 1967 collapse of the Silver Bridge. Read: John Keel →
What was Maury Island incident?
Maury Island incident: The Maury Island incident is a 1947 claim that a man named Harold Dahl saw doughnut-shaped craft drop debris over Puget Sound near Tacoma, Washington. An FBI investigation quickly concluded the story was a fabricated hoax created by Dahl and his associate Fred Crisman to profit from publicity. Two Army Air Forces investigators who interviewed the men were killed when their B-25 crashed on their return flight. Read: Maury Island incident →
What was Wheless memo on UFO impostors (1967)?
Wheless memo on UFO impostors (1967): The Wheless memo on UFO impostors was a 1967 U.S. Air Force memorandum issued by Lieutenant General Hewitt T. Read: Wheless memo on UFO impostors (1967) →
What is Air Force Office of Special Investigations?
Air Force Office of Special Investigations: The Air Force Office of Special Investigations is a United States federal law-enforcement agency and criminal investigation and counterintelligence service founded in 1948. Headquartered in Quantico, Virginia, it operates outside the normal military chain of command to investigate serious crimes, terrorism, espionage, and cyber threats affecting the Department of Defense. The agency is also known for handling early UFO sighting reports and conducting an early-1980s disinformation campaign involving false stories and forged documents fed to businessman Paul Bennewitz. Read: Air Force Office of Special Investigations →
What is U.S. Air Force?
U.S. Air Force: The United States Air Force is the air service branch of the U.S. armed forces that became an independent service in September 1947. Read: U.S. Air Force →
What is The X-Files?
The X-Files is an American science-fiction drama series created by Chris Carter that originally ran on Fox from September 1993 to May 2002. FBI agents Fox Mulder, a believer, and Dana Scully, a skeptic, investigate unsolved paranormal cases and uncover a government plot involving extraterrestrial life. The highly rated and critically acclaimed series became a major 1990s pop-culture touchstone that helped bring conspiracy theories to a mainstream audience. Read: The X-Files →
What is Project Blue Book (TV series)?
Project Blue Book (TV series): Project Blue Book is an American historical drama television series broadcast on History from January 2019 to March 2020. Created by David O'Leary, the show is loosely based on the U.S. Read: Project Blue Book (TV series) →
What is Unidentified flying object?
Unidentified flying object: An unidentified flying object, or UFO, is an unexplained phenomenon or object seen in the sky, with the modern craze originating in the United States in June 1947. While popular culture often equates UFOs with alien spacecraft, most investigations reveal them to be known objects, natural phenomena, hoaxes, or mirages, and no government investigation has ever concluded they are extraterrestrial. Read: Unidentified flying object →
What is Unidentified anomalous phenomena?
Unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) is the U.S. government's current term for unidentified objects or events in the air, space, or underwater. Read: Unidentified anomalous phenomena →