107: Our Strange Silencers (Tales of the Men in Black) with Aaron Gulyas
06/27/22 • 110 min
The Men in Black, MIBs, the UFO silencers; since the 1950s, UFO witnesses have reported encounters with shadowy figures who've threatened them into silence. Or as Nick Redfern puts it in his book, The Real Men in Black: “For years—or perhaps even for centuries — the Men in Black have been elusive, predatory, fear-inducing figures, hovering with disturbing regularity upon the enigmatic fringes of the UFO subject, nurturing their own unique brand of terror and intimidation. Like true specters from the outer edge, the MIB appear from the murky darkness, and roam the countryside provoking carnage, chaos, paranoia, and fear in their wake, before returning to that same shrouded realm from which they originally oozed.”
The Men in Black were born in a cold war age full of paranoia and deception, from the minds of two people: Albert Bender and Gray Barker. From there, these cloak and dagger menaces took on a life of their own as more and more witnesses came forward with tales of these strange silencers.
Aaron Gulyas of The Saucer Life and Great Lakes Lore podcasts joins me to discuss the origins of the Men in Black and we trade off stories of encounters with these enigmatic figures.
Sources:
They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers by Gray Barker
Flying Saucers and the Three Men by Albert K Bender
Short clip of Carlos’ call to the radio tower in Mexico City, YouTube
“Captured in Mid Air: The Carlos Antonio de Los Santos” by Red Pill Junkie Case Mysterious Universe
“Carlos De Lost Santos and The Men in Black” by Jerome Clark Flying Saucer Review 1979 V 24 N 4
The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry by J. Allen Hynek
The Edge of Reality: A Progress Report on Unidentified Flying Objects by J Allen Hynek and Jacques Vallee
“The Man in Black Syndrome...1” by Berthold E. Schwarz Flying Saucer Review 1978 V 23 N 4
“The Man in Black Syndrome...2” by Berthold E. Schwarz Flying Saucer Review 1978 V 23 N 5
“The Man in Black Syndrome...3” by Berthold E. Schwarz Flying Saucer Review 1978 V 23 N 6
Otherworldly Encounters: Evidence of UFO Sightings and Abductions by Nomar Slevik
“Muscatine’s ‘men in black’ lurk on roads and online by Kyle Munson, Des Moines Register
“Who are those mysterious ‘Men in Black’ along Iowa roadways? Associated Press
Theme song:
"Ufo" by Floats, available on Soundcloud, iTunes and Spotify
Logo designed by Megan Lagerberg
T-Shirt Designs by The Great
The Men in Black, MIBs, the UFO silencers; since the 1950s, UFO witnesses have reported encounters with shadowy figures who've threatened them into silence. Or as Nick Redfern puts it in his book, The Real Men in Black: “For years—or perhaps even for centuries — the Men in Black have been elusive, predatory, fear-inducing figures, hovering with disturbing regularity upon the enigmatic fringes of the UFO subject, nurturing their own unique brand of terror and intimidation. Like true specters from the outer edge, the MIB appear from the murky darkness, and roam the countryside provoking carnage, chaos, paranoia, and fear in their wake, before returning to that same shrouded realm from which they originally oozed.”
The Men in Black were born in a cold war age full of paranoia and deception, from the minds of two people: Albert Bender and Gray Barker. From there, these cloak and dagger menaces took on a life of their own as more and more witnesses came forward with tales of these strange silencers.
Aaron Gulyas of The Saucer Life and Great Lakes Lore podcasts joins me to discuss the origins of the Men in Black and we trade off stories of encounters with these enigmatic figures.
Sources:
They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers by Gray Barker
Flying Saucers and the Three Men by Albert K Bender
Short clip of Carlos’ call to the radio tower in Mexico City, YouTube
“Captured in Mid Air: The Carlos Antonio de Los Santos” by Red Pill Junkie Case Mysterious Universe
“Carlos De Lost Santos and The Men in Black” by Jerome Clark Flying Saucer Review 1979 V 24 N 4
The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry by J. Allen Hynek
The Edge of Reality: A Progress Report on Unidentified Flying Objects by J Allen Hynek and Jacques Vallee
“The Man in Black Syndrome...1” by Berthold E. Schwarz Flying Saucer Review 1978 V 23 N 4
“The Man in Black Syndrome...2” by Berthold E. Schwarz Flying Saucer Review 1978 V 23 N 5
“The Man in Black Syndrome...3” by Berthold E. Schwarz Flying Saucer Review 1978 V 23 N 6
Otherworldly Encounters: Evidence of UFO Sightings and Abductions by Nomar Slevik
“Muscatine’s ‘men in black’ lurk on roads and online by Kyle Munson, Des Moines Register
“Who are those mysterious ‘Men in Black’ along Iowa roadways? Associated Press
Theme song:
"Ufo" by Floats, available on Soundcloud, iTunes and Spotify
Logo designed by Megan Lagerberg
T-Shirt Designs by The Great
Previous Episode
106: Miniature UFOs with Astonishing Legends
On September 7, 1956, Thomas Hutchinson, a resident of Moneymore, Ireland, put a head lock on a miniature UFO that had landed on his property. Thomas attempted to escort the object to the police department, but after placing it on a bush, the object spun quickly and took off into the sky.
Stories of miniature UFOs, like Thomas Hutchinson's are often brief, no matter the means employed to capture it. On this episodes I'm joined by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess from Astonishing Legends to discuss stories of tiny UFOs, holes in roofs, an encounter in an Argentinian school room, and a pair of small objects that may have cause the disappearance of a Brazilian diamond prospector.
Sources:
“The Mysterious Caconde Case” by Dr. Walter Buhler, FSR 1969 V 15 N 4
“The Brazilian Abduction” Translated by Gordon Creighton, FSR 1962 V 8 N 6
The Disappearance of Rivalino Mafra da Silva: Alien Abduction or Foul Play? Bizarre and Grotesque
Man Kidnapped by Globes, The A.P.R.O. Bulletin September 1962
“A Weird Case from the Past” by Gordon Creighton, FSR 1970 V 16 N 4
“Tiny Entities Reported in Colombia” by Gordon Creighton, FSR 1975 V 21 N 5
“Schoolroom ‘Landing’ in Loreto, Argentina” by Heriberto Janosch, FSR 1979 V 25 N 2
“A Wave of Small Humanoids in Malaysia in 1970” by Ahmad Jamaludin, FSR 1983 V 28 N 5
Source: “Mini-UFOs, Metal Pieces in Finland” The A.P.R.O. Bulletin Vol 28 N 5
Theme song:
"Ufo" by Floats, available on Soundcloud, iTunes and Spotify
Logo designed by Megan Lagerberg
T-Shirt Designs by The Great Desdymona
Check out my links here
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Next Episode
108: The Soria Abduction with Willow Truman
In February of 1978 a man known only as Julio F packed up his car, his dog and his .22 rifle and headed out into the woods to hunt for hare. Almost immediately, everything got weird. From the start, he took a direction he never intended to. He stopped at a "wayside bar" that wasn't normally opened this early for breakfast and was directed to a hunting site by the strange man that ran Hostal 113. The last thing Julio F remembered was speeding toward his destination.
Not long after, Julio's brother, Manuel, would catch a presentation by José Luis Jordán Peña, a man who became synonymous for devising one of the greatest hoaxes of all time, the UMMO affair. While we only briefly touch upon this great hoax, Julio F's story becomes wrapped up into the world of UMMO, leaving you with question surrounding his story, and whether he experienced something extraordinary, or was a victim at the hands of Jordán Peña.
This week I'm joined by Willow Truman of the Nonsense Bizarre podcast to discuss aliens that look like Megamind, Argentinian music, "Pine Smell," and the lives that Jordán Peña ruined. (the Nonsense Bizarre's episode about UMMO is finally out and can be found here)
Sources:
“The Soria Abduction: Part 2” by Antonio Ribera Flying Saucer Review 1985 V 30 N 4
“The Soria Abduction: Part 3 (Conclusion)” by Antonio Ribera Flying Saucer Review 1985 V 30 N 5
UMMO: the great UFO fraud forged in Spain Committee for the Study of Anomalous Aerial Phenomena
Julio F. Story of a Ufological Fraud El Ojo Crítico
UMMO AT BAY: Jose Luis Jordan Peña Discusses the Greatest UFO Hoax of the 20th Century Inexplicata
Theme song:
"Ufo" by Floats, available on Soundcloud, iTunes and Spotify
Logo designed by Megan Lagerberg
T-Shirt Designs by The Great Desdymona
Check out my links here
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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