During the UFO sighting craze of the ‘50s and ‘60s, another mysterious tale began to appear. People who had seen or were investigating the possible presence of alien space craft would often claim to have been visited by mysterious men dressed in dark suits. These Men in Black would threaten sinister consequences if the individual didn’t stop their search for “the truth.” While reports of Men in Black are fairly pervasive, they can be traced back to a pair of writers named Albert Bender and Gray Barker. Bender founded an organization called the International Flying Saucer Bureau, but abruptly shuttered it in 1953, claiming he was pressured to do so by a trio of men in black suits, accompanied by three beautiful women in form-fitting white uniforms. Barker took Bender’s story and spun it into a successful career, producing such books as They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers, as well as building the Men in Black mythos by writing fictional “first-hand” accounts and perpetrating the occasional hoax. Is it possible that Bender was actually visited by conservatively-dressed mystery men who tried to force his silence? Sure. But considering their ineffectiveness in doing so, it appears that the Men in Black are nothing to fear.
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