Men in Black

Author: CBow

When you hear “Men in Black,” you might think of Will Smith in the movie Men in Black. Some think of the Men in Black as a “secret” government agency, but most think of UFO’s (Unidentified Flying Objects.)Most people don’t even believe that Men in Black nor UFOs exist. The first story that launched conspiracies about the Men in Black dates back to June 27, 1947, involving a man named Harold Dahl. Dahl was out gathering logs, when he saw “six donut-shaped obstacles hovering” (Justin Sablich) over him in his boat. Sooner than later, one of the obstacles fell, scattering debris and water, killing Dahls dog. The next morning after the ordeal, Dahl was visited by a Man in Black who told Dahl not to speak of what he had witnessed, or else bad things would happen. The mysterious man was able to tell him what exactly had happened, frightening Dahl, which enticed him to tell others. He reached out to a magazine editor, who then reached out to a pilot named Kenneth Arnold, who had also experienced a UFO sighting. In July of 1947, “two Army A-2 Intelligence officers came to investigate.” (Sablich) The next day, when the officers were leaving, their plane crashed, killing both of them. Was this just a coincidence? Or did it have something to do with the Men in Black?

Albert K. Bender was the man who really kicked the Men in Black Conspiracy into full gear. He was a ufologist and conducted multiple counts of paranormal research. Because of his love for paranormal activity, he formed the International Flying Saucer Bureau (IFSB). In November of 1952, Bender was at a local movie theatre in Bridgeport, Connecticut, when he noticed a “strange man with glowing eyes observing him.” (Bielawa). Bender also noticed that there was an increasingly worsening stench of burning sulfur filling his attic. In July of 1953, he was paid a visit by three men in black suits. According to Bender, they communicated telepathically with him, demanding him to stop all UFO work and research. In October of 1953, the last issue from the IFSB Space Review was published, including a cryptic message and warning of those who are engaged in “saucer work to be very cautious” (Bielawa). The IFSB was shut down by Bender, obeying the Men in Black that had threatened him.

Bender’s story attracted a UFO Magazine Publisher, Gray Barker. According to multiple sources, Barker was not considered the most factual reporter on UFO phenomena, as he was a “gifted writer with a gentle, understated sense of humor” (Radford). Barker wrote the book, “They Knew Too Much about Flying Saucers" and included Bender's story inside. The book elaborated upon the Men in Black and UFO conspiracy. For some it expanded their belief of the Men in Black existence, and for some it was just a goofy, fictional, book. After this book was released, more and more people started encountering the Men in Black.

So, what could be a possible explanation behind the Men in Black? Are they really a result of paranormal activity, or do they have nothing to do with aliens at all? It has been reported that many people have experienced the Men in Black when experiencing sleep paralysis. According to Spencer Heathcliff Peters, sleep paralysis “can be described as an inability to move or speak for several seconds after waking up from sleep.” Some say that when they have seen a Man in Black, they saw a black, shadowy figure. When some people experience sleep paralysis, they have also reported seeing a black, shadowy figure. In the 1970s, a survey was conducted by David F. Rudiak that studied the correlation between Men in Black sightings and sleep paralysis. The study concluded that there was no correlation between MIB sightings and sleep paralysis. Rudiak also found that since there was a large amount of people that had never seen a UFO but had an experience with Men in Black, most “alien abductions” are most likely sleep paralysis episodes.  

Other resources suggest that the Men in Black aren’t, have never been, and never will be real. According to Steve Rose, “the UFO community is a textbook case of a gullible group susceptible to manipulation. Having spent too long watching the skies and the X-Files, it's implied, they'll readily swallow whatever snippet of "evidence" suits their grand theory.” Rose claims that movies and documentaries about UFO/paranormal activity are clearly fictionalized and made to feed into the imagination of ufologists. Rose states, “Rather than covering up the existence of aliens, could it be that the real conspiracy has been persuading us to believe in them?” Roses theory is that the Men in Black phenomenon/paranormal activity is not real, but the government wants us to think that they are. But why? Is there something that we don’t know that we should? Are movies just a coverup of something that’s really out there? Or are we just a bunch of paranoid weirdos? I guess we might not know until we see a UFO for ourselves.

Works Cited: 

Bielawa, Michael J., “Bridgeport’s UFO Legacy: Men in Black and the Albert K. Bender Story” Bridgeport History Center, Bridgeport Library. https://bportlibrary.org/hc/authors/bridgeports-ufo-legacy-men-in-black-and-the-albert-k-bender-story/

Peters, Heathcliff Spencer. “Men in Black: Shadow Figures and UFOs throughout History.” Astral Citizens, Astral Citizens, 29 Sept. 2022, https://astralcitizens.com/men-in-black-shadow-figures-and-ufos-throughout-history/.

Rose, Steve. “The real Men in Black, Hollywood and the great UFO cover-up”. The Guardian, Guardian News & Media, 14 Aug. 2014, https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/aug/14/men-in-black-ufo-sightings-mirage-makers-movie

Sablich, Justin. “The UFO Sightings That Launched 'Men in Black' Mythology.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 23 Aug. 2018, https://www.history.com/news/men-in-black-real-origins.

“Who is the Hat Man? The Real-Life Nightmare Shared By Thousands.” AnomoAlien.com, Photograph, 20 Aug. 2020 https://anomalien.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/hatman-s.jpg,

Links for further research : 

Geers, Jacob. “9 Freaky Encounters with the Real 'Men in Black' That'll Seriously Give You the Creeps.” Thought Catalog, The Thought & Expression Company, LLC., 13 Sept. 2021, https://thoughtcatalog.com/jacob-geers/2016/04/creepy-stories-of-the-real-men-in-black/. This source explores different accounts of witnesses of the MIB.  

“List of reported UFO sightings” Wikipedia, MediaWiki, 7 Oct. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reported_UFO_sightings This source provides multiple alien sightings, including the time they were reported as well as where they were reported.

“Real Men in Black Sightings Caught on Camera.” Slapped Ham, 10 Apr. 2019, https://slappedham.com/real-men-in-black-sightings-caught-on-camera/. This source provides pictures of the Men in Black as well as strange personal experiences of those who have encountered the MIB 

Men in Black

 by Loyda E. Paz

Men in Black isn’t just a movie it also a conspiracy theory. The conspiracy is about men who reach out to people that have encounters with UFOS or do a lot of research of UFOS. There are people that say that they have been contacted by these ‘Men in Black’ and they always have weird creepy encounters with them.

People who have had encounters with these men say that their features are different than a human. Some even think that the ‘Men in Black’ are aliens themselves because they have no hair, like eyebrows or even eyelashes. They wear black suits with black trench coats, and black shoes as well. Not only do they have different features than humans, but they also don’t go by names they go by numbers.

The first person to encounter the ‘Men in Black’, that is known of, is the encounter of
Harold Dahl. Harold Dahl was one day picking up logs with his son and dog, while he was doing this, he saw six donut like shaped figures above his boat. One of the figures dropped and killed his dog, but luckily him and his kid were okay. Dahl couldn’t believe what he saw and took a picture of the object that just fell in front of him. The next morning Harold Dahl was contacted by a man in all black, the man told him to not talk about the incident again or something bad could happen. This isn’t the only encounter that people have had with the ‘Men in Black’ but this is the first one that is talked about.

Another person that has had an encounter with the man in black was Dan Aykroyd. His encounter was in New York, he was shooting a show and he stepped outside for a bit, while he was outide he saw a man that was wearing a black suit standing by a lack Ford sedan, whenever Aykroyd looked at something else and then looking back for the Ford Sedan it wasn’t there anymore. To make things a little bit creepy when he went back inside he was told that the show was over with.

Works Cited:

Gatollari, Mustafa. “Real Life ‘Men in Black’ Exist and These Creepy Stories Pretty Much Prove
It.” Distractify. Nov. 8, 2018. https://www.distractify.com/omg/2017/05/31/Z1bT0sp/men-in-
blackreal. Accessed Oct. 17, 2021.

Geers, Jacob. “9 Freaky Encounters with The Real ‘Men in Black’ That’ll Seriously Give You The
Creeps” Thought Catalog. October 29, 2021. Accessed Oct. 20, 2021.

https://thoughtcatalog.com/jacob-geers/2016/04/creepy-stories-of-the-real-men-in-black/
“Not a movie, But A Reality: Men in Black Phenomenon.” Anomalien.com. November 10, 2019.
Accessed Oct. 29, 2021. https://anomalien.com/not-a-movie-but-a-reality-men-in-black-phenomenon/
 

Sablich, Justin. “The UFO Sightings That Launched ‘Men in Black’ Mythology.” History. July 20,
2018. Accessed October 29, 2021. https://www.history.com/news/men-in-black-real-origins

Links for Further Research: 

https://anomalien.com/men-in-black-they-visit-and-terrify-people-after-ufo-or-alien-sighting/If you want to know about more encounters people have had with men in black click this link.https://newsorb360.com/the-men-inblack/This link has just basic information about the MIB but helpful information.https://sites.psu.edu/emilyspassionblog/2018/10/03/how-real-are-the-men-in-black/This article will talk more about the Dahl encounter with the MIB and an encounter that happenedrecently. https://anomalien.com/men-in-black-they-visit-and-terrify-people-after-ufo-or-alien-sighting/
If you want to know about more encounters people have had with men in black click this link.

https://newsorb360.com/the-men-inblack/
This link has just basic information about the MIB but helpful information.

https://sites.psu.edu/emilyspassionblog/2018/10/03/how-real-are-the-men-in-black/
This article will talk more about the Dahl encounter with the MIB and an encounter that happened
recently.

https://anomalien.com/men-in-black-they-visit-and-terrify-people-after-ufo-or-alien-sighting/If you want to know about more encounters people have had with men in black click this link.https://newsorb360.com/the-men-inblack/This link has just basic information about the MIB but helpful information.https://sites.psu.edu/emilyspassionblog/2018/10/03/how-real-are-the-men-in-black/This article will talk more about the Dahl encounter with the MIB and an encounter that happenedrecently.

Area 51

Author: Myliyah Bogans

Thoughts
When you think of Area 51, your brain instantly thinks aliens and UFO’s and all those other weird conspiracy theories. When I think of Area 51, I think of the movie Independence Day when they were at the top-secret science lab testing alien spaceships and had alien bodies held in containment. I also think of them coming to take over the planet as well. We shouldn’t just think that all the time because that’s not what it’s all about.

History
After the attack the Japanese did on Pearl Harbor America was super afraid of other things of this sort occurring again. Under the order of President Eisenhower, the secret development of the U-2 program was started in November of 1954. They needed a more secret remote place away isolated from the public eye. When they discovered Grooms Lake . It was once used an Army/AirForce base during WW2.Outsiders were brought in to work and weren’t allowed to share their top-secret information with the others on the outside. When They started testing circular aircrafts that could reach higher altitudes then regular one’s people notice them and didn’t have a clue about what they were. That is where the claim of UFO’s sightings came in affect. People were so wowed that they were supposedly seeing creatures from a different universe. Many people claimed they had encounter Aliens. A man by the name of Robert Lazar claimed he had with Extra-Terrestrial technology while employed at the site, thus sparked many conspiracy theories at that time.

The Name
Since Area 51 lies in the grid line of 51 on the map that is where the name comes from. It also could be referred to as Homey Airport. The name had also been changed to Paradise Ranch when it came time to draw in workers to work, so it wouldn’t sound so dull and boring. It can also be referred to a Dreamland.

Recent Discoveries
For many years people have been wandering what really happens at Area 51 not to long ago it all started as a Facebook joke “Storm Area 51”, they also including some Alien Merch for the people to wear as they attempted to get in. It really turned out to just be a party that was planned for millions but only a few millennials showed up. People were supposed to Naruto Run as they stormed the base. Some may ask what a Naruto run is, it comes from a Japanese Anime Series. If you're not into stuff like that you most likely wouldn’t know, but the following video may help.

Some people showed up dressed in full Alien Costumes. A few people got arrested for going on the property.

Works Cited:

https://www.exploringlifesmysteries.com/area-51-facts/

Netzley, Patricia D. "Area 51." The Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Paranormal
Phenomena, Greenhaven Press, 2006, pp. 36-37. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints

Fortin, Jacey. "Invitation to 'Storm' Area 51 Gets Noticed." New York Times, 18 July 2019, p. A15(L). Gale in Context: Science

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=sxVbl%2bn7&id=265CB64B1B89E0BC49EAF0A9551451F735B6301F&thid=OIP.sxVbl-n7rFmBkZGUp9IkvgElDU&mediaurl=http%3a%2f%2fslapwank.com%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2017%2f03%2fFunny-UFO-Memes-3.jpg&exph=521&expw=720&q=Funny+Alien+Memes&simid=607988444257259401&selectedIndex=1&ajaxhist=0

For further information or Want to get involved?

PURCHASE your very own “Storm Area 51”:Merchandise:
https://www.zazzle.com/area+51+tshirts?
This website is for information about ordering T-Shirts

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2019/07/13/half-million-people-signed-up-storm-area-what-happens-if-they-actually-show-up/
Article talks about the viral Facebook post about Storming Area 51.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjE5gg_zbzQ
This is a YouTube video on conspiracy and history on Area 51.

The Truth behind the Nazca Lines?

Author: Erin McLaughlin

Monkey image of the Nazca lines

The Nazca lines are very large geoglyphs, pictures drawn in the earth by moving rocks and other objects, located in the Nazca desert in southern Peru. The drawings in the sands depict a killer whale, a spider, an "astronaut", a monkey, and a heron as well as lines and geometric figures ("The Nazca Lines--Alien Landing Strips?"). Since their initial discovery in the 1920's by Alfred Kroeber and Toribio Mejia much controversy has surrounded the geoglyphs. The fact the full figures of the Nazca Lines are only visible from very high in the sky (in aircraft) has sparked many theories as to the purpose and meaning of the lines themselves (Aron 52). Who were the pictures intended for and what inspired the ancient Nazca to create the images?

            In his book Unsolved Mysteries of History Paul Aron describes the discovery of the Nazca Lines and some studies that have been conducted on the geoglyphs. Aron states when Kroeber and Mejia first stumbled upon the Nazca Lines in 1926 they were at ground level and therefore thought the lines were nothing more than an ancient irrigation system; both archeologists were content with ending their investigation there. The lines finally gained more recognition in the 1930's when commercial flights began to fly over Peru. It was then that people finally saw that the lines in the desert actually formed pictures in the sand. Consequently, archeologists became very interested in the lines. Upon investigation of the lines themselves and the area around them, scientists found remains of pottery that were over two thousand years old; they estimated the lines had to have been equally aged.  The arid and virtually windless environment in which the lines lie allowed them to be preserved for many generations. The first in depth study of the lines was performed in 1941 by Paul Kosok, an American historian. Kosok noticed that as the sun was setting on the Nazca lines, the position of the sun and the lines were actually in alignment. Kosok hypothesized that the lines must be a sort of large-scale astronomical calendar. Upon further investigation, however, he and his colleges found that more lines did not match up with astronomical bodies than those that did. Therefore, the theory could not be proved correct (52-55).

            There are many more theories surrounding the Nazca lines, however. The subterranean water  theory, proposed by  researcher David Johnson, suggests that the Nazca lines actually marked underground water systems ("The Nazca Lines--Alien Landing Strips?"). A popular theory among archeologists proposes that the lines and images were a form of religious art made for sky-dwelling deities (Oliveto). The most well-known and controversial theory first proposed by Erich Von Daniken in his book Chariot of the Gods? says that the lines and the images were the Nazca's way of communicating with extraterrestrials (Aron 53).

            Däniken and other ancient alien theorists believe that beings from other planets visited earth in the past and lent some of their culture and technology to ancient cultures, thus helping the world become what it is today. When it comes to the Nazca lines, these theorists suggest that the full pictures were a way of directing the aliens to their civilization while the individual lines served as runways for the aliens to land their spacecrafts ("Evidence of Ancient Aliens?").

Do they look like runways to you?

The image of a strange-looking human or "astronaut" depicted in the Nazca lines perpetuates the theory even further as some supporters of the ancient alien theory say the Nazca modeled it after their space-traveling acquaintances. In addition to those that believe the lines were created for aliens, some are convinced that aliens made the Nazca lines all on their own with no interaction with humans (Oliveto).

"Astronaut" image carved into a plateau

            No theory pertaining to the Nazca lines has yet to be entirely proved or entirely disproved. Were they irrigation systems, spiritual art, an astronomical map, a map to much-needed water sources, communication to or from aliens, or simply pretty pictures in the sand? Without direct scientific proof these theories will continue to be debated, and perhaps more theories will continue to form for many decades to come. What do you think the Nazca lines truly mean?

Works Cited:

Alien or Astronaut. Photograph. OurWildRide.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.

Aron, Paul. Unsolved Mysteries of History. New York. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2000. Print.

"Evidence of Ancient Aliens?" History.com. A&E Television Networks, LLC. 2012. Web. 23       Oct. 2012.

Nazca Lines Monkey. Photograph. ParadiseInTheWorld.com. Paradise in the World. 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.

"The Nasca Lines -Aliens Landing Strips?" TruthBehindtheScenes.org. Truth Behind the Scenes, 2012. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.

Oliveto, Joseph. "The Mystery of the Nazca Lines." WeirdWorm.com. Weirdworm. 2 Oct. 2010.   Web. 24 Oct. 2012

Pallete, G. Nazca Lines Trapezium figures. Photograph. Go2Peru.com. COMELTUR. 2000.         Web. 26 Oct. 2012. 

Links for Further Research:

Ancient Aliens Blog

http://ancient-aliens-were-here.blogspot.com/2011/02/nazca-lines-ancient-alien-theory.html

A blog dedicated to ancient alien theories. This entry talks about the Nazca lines.

Between The Nazca Lines: Evidence Vs. “I Wanna Believe”

http://www.science20.com/archyfantasies/between_nazca_lines_evidence_vs_%E2%80%9Ci_wanna_believe%E2%80%9D-75630

A person's article on a website discussing her opinion on the ancient alien theory. She disagrees.

National Geographic

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/03/nasca/hall-text

Firsthand account by a researcher visiting the Nazca lines. The article contains information about ancient Nazca culture.

The Nazca Lines and the "Eye in the Sky"

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/nazca/esp_lineas_nazca_16.htm

Author of the web page discusses the alien theory and religious theory behind the Nazca lines. This person believes that the Nazca created the lines for non-alien deities.