Encounter Atlas

Creature index / Strange visitors

Men in Black

Also called MIB, Men in black, Black-suited men, Silencers, Three men in black

Pale, oddly behaved men in black suits who warn UFO witnesses to keep quiet.

Men in Black are strangers in dark suits, hats and sunglasses who turn up after a UFO sighting and warn witnesses not to talk. Reports describe them as pale or oddly tanned, stiff, with flat voices, unfamiliar with everyday things like ballpoint pens, and arriving in old but brand-new-looking black cars.

In 1947 Harold Dahl claimed a man in a dark suit warned him about his Maury Island sighting. In 1953 Albert K. Bender shut down his UFO research group, saying three men in black had visited him. Author Gray Barker turned the story into a 1956 book, and John Keel reported MIB visits around Point Pleasant during the Mothman flap.

Folklorists compare them to old tales of meeting the devil on the road. The 1997 film made them comic heroes.

What witnesses report

  • Black suits, hats and sunglasses
  • Pale skin and stiff, odd movements
  • Knowing details they could not know
  • Warnings to stay quiet
  • Old-model black cars that look new

Famous cases

  1. 1947Maury Island warning
    Tacoma, Washington
  2. 1953Albert K. Bender visit
    Bridgeport, Connecticut
  3. 1967Point Pleasant visits
    Point Pleasant, West Virginia

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Related

Indrid Coldaka Grinning Man, Smiling ManA smiling man in a shiny suit who stepped out of a UFO in West Virginia in 1966.Mothmanaka The Bird, Red-eyed winged manA winged figure with glowing red eyes seen around Point Pleasant in 1966 and 1967.Black-eyed childrenaka Black-eyed kids, BEKPale children with solid black eyes who knock at night and insist on being invited in.Grey aliensaka Greys, GraysSmall, grey, big-headed beings with huge black eyes, the classic face of alien encounters.Shadow peopleaka Shadow person, Shadow figuresDark, human-shaped silhouettes seen at the edge of vision, including the infamous Hat Man.UFO crashesaka Crashed saucer, RoswellStories of objects falling from the sky and being quietly taken away.