The Ufo Silencers: Mystery of the Men in Black (22 page)

The descriptions of the MIB range from the common "short men, dark complexions, Oriental features, heavy accents" to "tall, blond, crewcut, fair-complexioned, Scandinavian-types." Sometimes they appear as "odd-couples," a tall blond with a short, dark companion.

Spreading Confusion and Discouraging Research

In the summer of 1968,1 received a long-distance telephone call from a journalist friend who was covering a UFO flap area for his local newspaper. "Blast Brad Steiger and Joan Whritenour and down with John Keel!" he thundered.

Recognizing my friend’s voice, I asked him what the trouble was.

"I'm trying to cover this flap over here—My lord! Everyone has seen these UFOs!—but every time I try to dig deep, the witness clams up and says, 'I won't say any more. Brad Steiger says awful things will happen to me if I tell too much!' One lady said that John Keel had told her that she would be carried off by the saucer people if she talked to anyone about her sighting."

I knew that neither Keel nor I were in that particular flap area at that time, and that neither of us would say such things in even a jesting manner if we had been in the locale, so I pressed my friend for details.

"Well, damn near everywhere I go, the witness has been given a copy of one of the Steiger-Whritenour books or a magazine with an article in it by you or Keel!"

"And the books and articles are supposed to frighten them?" I questioned. "Whoever is delivering these things must be adding their own interpretation."

"I don't know about that, but what the hell are you people saying in these articles?" the frustrated newsman wanted to know.

"Haven't you read them?" I countered.

"I don't need to read them!" the journalist roared. "Every UFO witness I interview is waving a copy in my face and telling me about all the terrible things that will happen to him if he elaborates on his sighting report."

"But who are the delivery boys?" I asked. "Have you seen them?"

"Not until this afternoon," the newsman answered. "I guess I must have arrived at this farmhouse just a few minutes after they did. Damn unfriendly little monkeys!"

"Could you describe them?"

"Well, I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to them. I just shot an irritated glance at them every once in a while. You see, I was trying to talk to the farmer's wife, while they were chattering at the farmer and waving a copy of this magazine in their hands and telling the man how Brad Steiger was warning all UFO sighters not to talk."

"I see," I mused. "How ironic that they should use Keel, Whritenour, and myself to silence saucer sighters. But you must have an impression of their general description."

"Oh," the newsman hesitated. "They were short men in dark suits. All three of them had deep suntans."

"Notice anything about their eyes?"

"Nope. I can't recall even seeing their eyes. Come to think of it, they all wore dark glasses."

"Did you speak to them?"

"Well, I spoke with one. But he lied to me."

"What do you mean?"

"He told me that he and his friends were NICAP investigators, but when I checked with the area NICAP man a bit later to get a quote for my article, he said that he didn't recognize any of the names they gave me and he knew no one in the local group who would fit their general descriptions."

What is the meaning of this experience? My journalist friend had not read the articles or books which dealt with the MIB enigma. He described the short, dark-complexioned men in a tone of naiveté. It was after he had given their description that I urged his reading of the material that dealt with UFO silencers.

I discussed the MIB with several members of NICAP. Certainly neither the central office of NICAP, nor its responsible members, would tolerate their investigators "silencing" UFO sighters. It is possible that some NICAP-ers become overly enthusiastic with their investigative work or become overly impressed with themselves, but it would seem libelous to suggest that NICAP is in any way responsible for the MIB reports. The serious, responsible NICAP member never leaves an interviewee with the impression that he represents the government, rather than a private, civilian, organization.

Certain witnesses of UFO activity have been approached by "Major Smedleys," that is, by individuals impersonating military or other governmental investigative organizations. Colonel George P. Freeman, Pentagon spokesman for Project Blue Book told John Keel that these men were not connected with the Air Force in any way, and Keels investigations could turn up no other
United States
security group that would claim them. Colonel Freeman informed Keel that they would like to catch one of the MIB themselves, since the silencers are committing a federal offense by posing as Air Force officers and government agents.

The MIB Recover A Metal Specimen From A UFO

Late one evening, I received a long distance telephone call from a close friend who is a traveling salesman for a large, automotive parts company.

"Hey, Brad," he said, after telling me that he was calling from a city about 300 miles from my home, "would you believe that I'm in the midst of a damned saucer flap?"

I did not believe it. My friend was a skeptic. For four years he had kidded about my interest in flying saucers and had never missed an opportunity to give me the needle.

"But it is true," he persisted. "You should come on over and interview these people."

I was putting the finishing touches on a new book and could ill afford the time to be taken in by one of my friend's practical jokes. "Tell me about the flap," I challenged him.

"A mother and a daughter say they saw a UFO in their field. Several farmers have been seeing UFOs land regularly. Hell, the locals here drive out on certain evenings and watch the things hover over high wires and transformers. Everyone in this town, including the cops, take the flying saucers as a matter of course."

"Have you talked to the observers?," I asked.

"Too busy selling, man," he replied, "but that's what I've been hearing. Are you coming over?"

"Too busy writing, man," I answered, thinking that I had thwarted my friends joke. "You go chase the lights in the sky and the little green men on the ground."

Two nights later, my friend called back. An intelligent fellow with a lion's share of curiosity, he had stayed in town to track down the facts behind the UFO flap. He had been amazed at the high level of intelligence of those who had reported sightings. But his tone had changed in another way. This man was no naive teenager filled with imaginative terror tales telling me that mysterious men-in-black were after him. Someone, he told me, had been following him.

I became extremely concerned about my friend's welfare. The man was unfamiliar with recent areas of UFO research, and had no idea of what he might be up against. He fired questions at me, and I advised him to get out of town. True to form, he told me that he planned to stick around to ask some more questions. He promised to call again the following night.

The next night he did not call. At
midnight
, I tried calling his motel. I was told that such a party had never been registered. I persisted and told the clerk that my friend had been staying there for nearly a week when at last the man's card was found. The clerk expressed amazement that it was not in its regular place in the file. I, however, was unable to contact my friend that night.

The next morning I was comforted to hear my friend's sleepy voice answer my call. He had just begun to fill me in on what he had uncovered when the call was cut off. It took my operator five minutes and three channels to re-establish the connection. "That's odd," the operator kept mumbling, as she tried one plug after another.

My friend said that he had been given something of great interest. He would stay over one more night to acquire some additional information before leaving for home.

Two nights later, I was working in my attic-office when one of my children ran up to say that they had heard someone moving around on the first floor. When I investigated, I was surprised to find my friend standing halfway up the stairs. He had driven nearly 300 miles out of his way to visit me. He looked terrible. Dark circles rimmed his bloodshot eyes, and it was apparent that he had not slept for quite some time.

Three days before, a farmer had given him a specimen of a metal that he had seen fall from a UFO. The farmer kept one of the metal shavings for himself.

The next night, the salesman had returned to his hotel room to find two men waiting for him. They did not smile at his wry, "Where's the third man"! they came directly to the point. They wanted that piece of metal which my friend had intended to bring to me. They had taken the farmer's specimen from his pickup when he had gone into the store. They had been unable to discover where the salesman had hidden his piece, and without further delay, they wanted that strip of metal.

My friend had come up against hard men before. When he asked his two visitors, "What happens if I say no?" their response convinced him that they meant business.

"Besides being specific about what would happen to me," the salesman said, "they told me that it was for the good of my family, my country, and my world.'"

My friend stood before me, trembling in fear and unreleased rage, wanting to know who these men had been and how they had known about the metal specimen. "What does all of this mean?" he repeatedly asked. I could do little to answer the former skeptic.

The MIB on the Telephone Line

On the evening of
July 13, 1968
, at approximately
8:15 P.M.
, youthful investigator Dan O. was conversing with another UFOlogist when their call was suddenly interrupted by an unknown third party on the line. Dan O. assured me that one of the telephone lines was a private business line and the other a private residential line.

"The third party identified herself as a Mrs. Slago, who, as she said, was accidentally connected with our line," Dan O. writes. "She had been listening to our conversation strictly out of curiosity. A check with the telephone company revealed that a misconnection of this type could not possibly have been made."

"Mrs. Slago" began to question Dan O. about his research. When he told her only a few ambiguous details, she told him that he should not be inquiring into the question of whether or not aliens exist on Earth.

"She also stated that UFO organizations should not attempt to further the investigation and study of UFOs, because as she put it, 'Earthpeople do not understand....' She suddenly stopped short of what she was about to say, as if she caught herself about to say something that I should not hear," Dan O. remembers.

At this point, Mrs. Slago said that no more could be discussed on the telephone, but it would be wise to discontinue all UFO research. Dan O. asked the woman where she might be reached so that they could discuss the matter in greater detail. He requested her name once again. The woman then told Dan O. that her name was Mrs. Nelson and that she was engaged in research for the local police authorities.

"When we checked with the police headquarters, the officers told us that they had no knowledge of either a 'Mrs. Nelson' or a 'Mrs. Slago' being connected with any phase of police research," Dan O. says. "Following this incident, we had a complete check made on our telephone lines, but the check revealed no evidence of wire-tapping or anything of that sort."

The MIB Invade
Pittsburgh

Major Joseph Jenkins, Retired, Field Investigations Director for the UFO Research Institute of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, presented "A Serious Look at the Men in Black" for a recent issue of the bulletin of his organization.