View source for Men in black

{{Short description|Government agents who supposedly intimidate UFO witnesses}}
{{About|the UFO conspiracy theories|the film franchise|Men in Black (franchise){{!}}''Men in Black'' (franchise)|the first film in said franchise|Men in Black (1997 film){{!}}''Men in Black'' (1997 film)|other uses|Men in Black (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Gray Barker.jpg|thumb|right|[[Gray Barker]], posing with promotional materials for his book, ''[[They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers]]''. Several MIB appear in silhouette on the cover.]]
{{Ufo}}
[[File:MiB.svg|thumb|right|An artistic depiction of a man in black.]]
In popular culture and [[UFO conspiracy theories]], '''men in black''' ('''MIB''') are government agents dressed in dark [[suit]]s, who question, interrogate, harass, and threaten [[unidentified flying object]] (UFO) witnesses to keep them silent about what they have seen. The term is also frequently used to describe mysterious men working for unknown organizations, as well as various branches of government allegedly tasked with protecting government UFO secrets or performing other strange activities. They are typically described as tall men with expressionless faces, slightly pale skin, and usually wearing black suits with black sunglasses. “Men In Black” encounters are very common tales told in American UFO conspiracy theories. 

The term is generic, as it is used for any unusual, threatening or strangely behaved individual whose appearance on the scene can be linked in some fashion with a UFO sighting.<ref>Clark, Jerome (1996). The UFO Encyclopedia, volume 3: High Strangeness, UFO's from 1960 through 1979. Omnigraphis. 317–18.</ref> 

Stories about men in black inspired the [[science fiction comedy]] franchise [[Men in Black (franchise)|''Men in Black'']] and an [[The Gospel According to the Meninblack|album]] by [[the Stranglers]].

==Folklore==
Folklorist [[James R. Lewis (scholar)|James R. Lewis]] compares accounts of men in black with tales of people encountering [[Lucifer]], and speculates that they can be considered a kind of "psychological trauma".<ref name="Lewis1995">{{cite book|author=James R. Lewis|title=The Gods Have Landed: New Religions from Other Worlds|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KCEtC3xnzuAC&pg=PA218|date=9 March 1995|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-2330-1|pages=218–|access-date=16 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702152239/http://books.google.com/books?id=KCEtC3xnzuAC&pg=PA218|archive-date=2 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Ufologists==
Men in black feature prominently in [[ufology]], UFO folklore, and fan fiction. In the 1950s and 1960s, ufologists adopted a conspiratorial mindset and began fearing they would be subject to organized intimidation in retaliation for discovering "the truth of the UFOs".<ref name="Gulyas2016">{{cite book|first=Aaron John |last=Gulyas|title=Conspiracy Theories: The Roots, Themes and Propagation of Paranoid Political and Cultural Narratives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F3etCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT86|date=2016-01-25|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|isbn=978-1-4766-2349-8|page=86}}</ref>

In 1947, Harold Dahl claimed a man in a dark suit warned him not to discuss his alleged [[Maury Island incident|UFO sighting on Maury Island]]. In the mid-1950s, ufologist [[Albert K. Bender]] claimed he was visited by men in dark suits who threatened and warned him not to continue investigating UFOs. He maintained that the men were secret government agents tasked with suppressing evidence of UFOs. Ufologist [[John Keel]] claimed to have had encounters with MIB and referred to them as "[[demon]]ic supernaturals" with "dark skin and/or 'exotic' facial features". According to ufologist [[Jerome Clark]], reports of men in black represent "experiences" that "don't seem to have occurred in the world of [[consensus reality]]".<ref name=Slate>{{cite web|last1=Harris|first1=Aisha|title=Do UFO Hunters Still Report "Men in Black" Sightings?|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/05/23/men_in_black_sightings_do_they_still_happen_.html|website=Slate|date=2012-05-23 |publisher=Slate.com|access-date=2014-07-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714141835/http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/05/23/men_in_black_sightings_do_they_still_happen_.html|archive-date=2014-07-14 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Historian Aaron Gulyas wrote: "During the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, UFO conspiracy theorists would incorporate the MIB into their increasingly complex and paranoid visions."<ref name="Gulyas2016" />

Keel has argued that some MIB encounters could be explained as entirely mundane events perpetuated through folklore. In his book ''[[The Mothman Prophecies]]'' (1975), he describes a late-night outing in 1967, where he was mistaken for an MIB while searching for a phone to call a tow truck.<ref name="mothman prophecies">[[John Keel|John Alva Keel]], ''[[The Mothman Prophecies]]'', Tor, 2002. Chapter 1: "Beelzebub Visits West Virginia".</ref>

In his article "Gray Barker: My Friend, the Myth-Maker", John C. Sherwood claims that, in the late 1960s, at age 18, he cooperated when [[Gray Barker]] urged him to develop a hoax—which Barker subsequently published—about what Barker called "blackmen", three mysterious UFO inhabitants who silenced Sherwood's pseudonymous identity, "Dr. Richard H. Pratt".<ref>{{cite web|last=Sherwood |first=John C.|title=Gray Barker: My Friend, the Myth-Maker|work=[[Skeptical Inquirer]]|url=http://www.csicop.org/si/show/gray_barker_my_friend_the_myth-maker/|access-date=2006-10-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512004941/http://www.csicop.org/si/show/gray_barker_my_friend_the_myth-maker/|archive-date=2011-05-12|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==In popular culture==

=== Music ===
Songs that reference the urban legend include "E.T.I (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)" by the [[Blue Öyster Cult]] (1976),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Murphy |first=Kelly |date=2023-08-08 |title=Did Blue Öyster Cult popularise the 'Men in Black' concept? |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/blue-oyster-cult-men-in-black-concept/ |access-date=2025-12-29 |website=faroutmagazine.co.uk |language=en-US}}</ref> "Meninblack" by [[The Stranglers]] (1979),<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Raven in retrospect – The Stranglers (Official Site) |url=https://thestranglers.co.uk/the-raven-in-retrospect/ |access-date=2025-12-29 |website=thestranglers.co.uk}}</ref> and"Men in Black" by [[Running Wild (band)|Running Wild]] (1995).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chorianopoulos |first=Costas |date=2025-12-29 |title=Running Wild: Masquerade {{!}} Imperishable By Τime |url=https://metalinvader.net/en/running-wild-masquerade-imperishable-by-time/ |access-date=2025-12-29 |language=en-US}}</ref> In 1981, The Stranglers also released a concept album, ''[[The Gospel According to the Meninblack]]''.<ref name="twomey">{{cite book |last1=Twomey |first1=Chris |title=The Stranglers - The Men They Love To Hate |date=1992 |publisher=EMI Records Ltd|pages=102–104}}</ref>

=== Film and television ===
''[[The Alien Encounters]]'' (1979) features Men in Black who harass a UFO investigator.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Godzilla|first=Glitter|title=The Alien Encounters|url=http://www.outpost-zeta.com/2019/03/alien-encounters.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928063103/http://www.outpost-zeta.com/2019/03/alien-encounters.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=September 28, 2020|access-date=2021-12-12}}</ref> In ''[[The Brother from Another Planet]]'' (1984), two Men in Black try to capture the alien protagonist.<ref>{{cite web | url= https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=940DEEDA143AF937A2575AC0A962948260 | title=Sayles's ''Brother'' | date= September 14, 1984| author= Vincent Canby| author-link= Vincent Canby| work=[[The New York Times]] | accessdate= 2010-08-13}}</ref>

The 1997 science-fiction film [[Men in Black (1997 film)|Men In Black]], starring [[Will Smith]] and [[Tommy Lee Jones]], was loosely based on [[The Men in Black (comics)|The Men in Black]] [[comic book]] series created by [[Lowell Cunningham]] and [[Sandy Carruthers]].<ref name="hughes">{{cite book | author = David Hughes | title = Comic Book Movies | publisher = [[Virgin Books]] | year = 2003 | location = London | pages = 123–129 | isbn = 0-7535-0767-6}}</ref> Also that year, television movie [[The Shadow Men (1997 film)|The Shadow Men]] presented a more serious take on the concept.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Media : Shadow Men, The : SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia|url=http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/shadow_men_the|access-date=2020-08-19|website=www.sf-encyclopedia.com}}</ref>

Men in Black also appear in television series, ''[[The X-Files (franchise)|The X-Files]].''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tung |first=Angela |date=2015-03-31 |title=12 'X-Files' Terms and the Truth Behind Them |url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/62632/12-x-files-terms-and-truth-behind-them |access-date=2025-12-29 |website=Mental Floss |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Video games ===
The video game franchise ''[[Half-Life (video game)|Half-Life]]'' features a character known as the G-Man, widely regarded as a [[pastiche]] of the concept.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sagers |first=Aaron |last2= |first2= |last3= |date=2012-05-24 |title=The legacy of ‘men’ in black |url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/05/24/living/the-legacy-of-men-in-black |access-date=2025-12-29 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lucas |first=James |date=2023-01-04 |title=Half-Life's G-Man Mystery Should Never Be Answered |url=https://www.thegamer.com/half-life-g-man-mystery/ |access-date=2025-12-29 |website=TheGamer |language=en}}</ref> The Men in Black also feature in ''[[Deus Ex (video game)|Deus Ex]]'' as agents of [[Majestic 12]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Porter |first=Will |date=2010-06-13 |title=Retrospective: Deus Ex |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/deus-ex-retrospective |access-date=2025-12-29 |work=Eurogamer.net |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=12em}}
*[[Agent (The Matrix)]]
*[[Black helicopter]]
*[[G-man]]
*[[The Silence (Doctor Who)]]
*[[Confidence trick]]
{{end div col}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book
  | last = Clark
  | first = Jerome
  | author-link = Jerome Clark
  | title = The UFO Encyclopedia, volume 3: High Strangeness, UFO's from 1960 through 1979
  | publisher = Omnigraphis
  | year = 1996
  | isbn = 1-55888-742-3 }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Condon
  | first = Edward
  | editor = Gilmor, Daniel S.
  | title = Final Report of the Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects
  | publisher = [[Bantam Books|Batnam]]
  | year = 1968
  | location = [[New York City]]
  | id = ISBN
  | isbn = 0-552-04747-3 }}
* {{cite web
  | last = Wallace
  | first = Chevon
  | title = Albert Bender and the M.I.B. Mystery
  | publisher = Bridgeport Public Schools
  | url = http://bridgeport.ct.schoolwebpages.com/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=25228
  | access-date = 2006-09-10
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110719090402/http://bridgeport.ct.schoolwebpages.com/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=25228
  | archive-date = 2011-07-19
  | url-status = dead
  }}
*''[[The Mothman Prophecies]]'' - 1975 book by John Keel an account of alleged sightings of a large, winged creature called [[Mothman]] in the vicinity of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, during 1966 and 1967, it also narrates encounters of the author with "Men In Black"
*''[[Los Hombres De Negro y los OVNI]]'' - 1979 book by Uruguayan [[ufologist]] [[Fabio Zerpa]]
{{Refend}}

{{Conspiracy theories}}
{{Urban legends}}
{{UFOs}}
{{Men in Black}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Men in black| ]]
[[Category:American urban legends]]
[[Category:Extraterrestrial life in popular culture]]
[[Category:Fictional government agents]]
[[Category:Fictional spies]]
[[Category:Stock characters]]
[[Category:UFO conspiracy theories in the United States]]