Caught in a Web of Deception Have Experienced the Phenomenon First Hand
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seem to reflect poorly on their attempts to legitimize UFOs the bastard science of Ufology. One would also need to include in this group, those serious investigators who Caught in a Web of Deception have experienced the phenomenon first hand. A group of men and women who would much rather have lived This paper was originally presented at the out their days without adding an mib encounter to their Gulf Breeze UFO Conference, catalogue of life–experiences. Gulf Breeze Florida, February 12, 1994 Many relegate the mib question to some dusty men- © R. W. Boeche, 1994 All Rights Reserved tal shelf where they like to hide all of the oddball data they would rather not have to deal with in developing Today I intend to address the phenomenon of UFOs gen- theories regarding the UFO phenomena. This is the erally, by addressing an often-ridiculed, little-explored, shelf where they think they can safely put all of the real- subset of the UFO phenomenon. This area, known as ly wacky stuff. the Men-in-Black1 or mib phenomenon contains some This “really wacky stuff” has changed over time. Once, of the strangest and most bizarre events in the annals such things as UFO landings and sightings of UFO occu- of UFO research. And before anyone asks, I don’t mean pants were ignored by the ‘serious’ investigators for years. the Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones movies. And then there is the problem of the contactees3: those What are UFOs? Some 85–95% of sightings have mun- chosen few who — beginning in the late 1940’s — were dane explanations. Planes, birds, meteors, space junk, visited by our benevolent space brothers and encouraged astronomical bodies, etc., observed under unusual condi- to remake society. That space brother stuff sure doesn’t tions explain most events. Hoaxes explain a few more. But sound very scientific, does it? UFO abductions4 aren’t what about that 5–15% of reports which defy explanation? real, are they? After all, they’re just sleep paralysis! And Are they extraterrestrial in origin? Results of secret mili- how can we possibly consider this mib stuff? Halluci- tary development projects? Or something else all togeth- nations, pathetic cries for attention, sure, but I mean er. Let’s take a look and see what we find. really. mibs don’t seem to have much of anything to The Men-in-Black phenomenon has been part of UFO do with the real issue — UFOs are from another planet research since 1953. That’s when an early researcher, and are here doing terrible things to us (or really good Albert Bender2, disbanded the International Flying Sau- things for us, depending on your point of view)! Every- cer Bureau after having been threatened by three “men one knows that, don’t they? in black” who allegedly explained to him the horrible I have been privileged to have many colleagues — names secret behind the saucers. At roughly this same time, who would be known to most of you hearing this pre- Edgar Jarrold, an Australian researcher was silenced, sentation — feel confident enough to confide in me their as were New Zealand researchers Harold Fulton, John mib experiences. I believe that if you knew who these Stuart, and Doreen Wilkinson, and Canadian research- individuals were, and were able to question them, they er Laimon Mitris. Not only were these researchers visit- would deny their experiences. I wouldn’t blame them. The ed by men ostensibly from a “secret government agency,” mib experience is something that is extremely disturb- but they and their families suffered a barrage of polter- ing at the time it occurs, something that is very difficult geist-like activity, which included — in at least two of the to discuss with anyone, and something that continues cases — physical attacks by invisible entities, and even to haunt the victim for the rest of their lives. an alleged rape. Today, I want to talk about the absolute reality of these The mib enigma, is first and foremost, a subject about experiences. They are, most emphatically, not halluci- which many would prefer to forget. In this group of those nations, and with the exception of a few instances, not who would like to invoke selective amnesia, one could hoaxes. The mib event is long overdue for serious study. include those “serious” investigators who feel embar- I want to discuss very briefly, the history of themib phe- rassed about these reports, and the way in which they nomena, several mib encounters of prominent investi- gators, who will remain anonymous, and a look at how ally intelligent young woman of the peasant stock, whose ignoring the oddball data, especially mib reports, may bedroom has been visited three nights in succession by have diverted us from a study of the real nature of the a man dressed in black. This figure has delivered a mes- UFO phenomena, and left us on the sidewalk, admiring sage to the girl which she is too frightened to relate.” It the window dressing. is interesting to note that this event comes in the midst Traditional accounts of the devil, from the folklore of of the great Welsh Christian revival of 1904–05. many societies, have obvious connections with the Men A researcher whose name would be recognized by in Black. Reginald Scott, in The Discourse on Witchcraft, everyone in this auditorium has been plagued at various published in 1584, described the Devil as being repug- times by mib incidents. This man’s story begins some nant in appearance, ugly, and with black skin. Charles 25 years ago, when, after investigating a number of inci- Wall, in his 1902 book Devils, cites an 11th century Greek dents which included low-level UFO sightings, occupant manuscript in which the Devil appears human-like, and sightings, and even one apparent UFO attack16 of sorts black. The Devil also traditionally must possess some on a witness, this researcher began to receive a series of defect when appearing as a human, much like the mib harassing telephone calls. who walk awkwardly, or display some other obvious and Many times there would be nothing on the line. Often usually blatant defect. a strange, metallic whistling sound, mixed with what In The Devil in Massachusetts, historian Marion Starkey he could only describe as “electronic noise” would be relates Cotton Mather’s experience with a poltergeist-like present. Sometimes a garbled voice speaking in an unin- devil, the “black man”, who as Mather said was, “damna- telligible language would be heard. Sometimes threats bly dangerous and eternally a nuisance. ”. Native Amer- against himself, or his family would be made by a voice ican tradition speaks of the Trickster, a figure which has which sounded vaguely “unhuman.” Changing his tele- close ties to descriptions of the mib, and a figure whom phone number didn’t seem to help. The telephone com- Carl Jung described in his hierarchy of archetypes, as pos- pany could find no tap on his line, and was never able to sessing a “compensatory relationship to the saint.” locate the perpetrator of the calls. There are ties to the Eastern mystical tradition’s enig- His mail began to be tampered with. Letters to oth- matic Brothers of the Shadow, whom Michael Talbot er researchers would go astray, as would letters to him describes as “. cunning and evil; intent upon keeping from others. Tape recordings vanished in the mail, sam- the student of the occult from finding out the proverbi- ples of “angel hair” (a fine filament-type substance of al answer. The Brothers of the Shadow, like the mib, are unknown origin, said to be dispersed from UFOs as they known for threatening students whenever they get too fly overhead) being sent to a laboratory for analysis disap- close to [the truth].” peared en route, important letters of a non-UFO nature A number of mysterious visitors who seem to fit the would fail to arrive, and much mail would arrive having description of our modern-day mibs were active across obviously been opened and tampered with. He received the United States during the great mystery airship5 wave numerous threats through the mail, and many documents of 1896-1898. These strangers usually appeared to col- which consisted of odd hieroglyphic-like symbols with lect some artifact left (either intentionally or accidental- no explanation. ly) by the airship and its crew. On three different occasions, the office located in his The Welsh airship flap of 1909, resulted in manymib - home was ransacked, files rifled, and in two instances, like encounters, the mysterious visitors usually reported research material of significance to current cases disap- to have been speaking in some strange, unknown lan- peared. This was made even more mysterious by virtue of guage. An event from four years earlier, in 1905, may be the fact that his home was protected by an elaborate elec- even more interesting. During the spring of that year, tronic security system connected directly to the police Wales was inundated with sightings of mysterious aerial department. The alarm system was never triggered. lights. On March 30, 1905, the Barmouth Advertiser car- This man and his family experienced many bouts of ried this item: “In the neighborhood dwells an exception- very intense poltergeist-like activity. Objects would fly across rooms, doors open and shut by themselves, strange quent examination of the original master tape revealed sulphurous smells would plague them, shapes and shad- that it, too, had suffered some sort of unexplained “era- ows would be seen fliting around corners, or in a few sure,” subsequent to the copy having been made.