 Cover of a later edition | |
| Author | Gray Barker |
|---|---|
| Published | April 1956 |
| Publisher | University Books |
| Media type | Hardcover |
| Pages | 256 |
| ISBN | 9781515038986 |
They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers is a 1956 book by paranormal author Gray Barker. It was the first book to allege that "Men in Black" were covering up the existence of flying saucers. [1]
In the summer of 1947, pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing objects that would come to be called Flying saucers; Arnold's report triggered a wave of copycat sightings. By 1949, authors like Frank Scully and Donald Keyhoe were suggesting that the Air Force knew more about the Saucers than they were publicly revealing. [1]
In 1952, amateur UFO researcher Albert K. Bender founded the International Flying Saucer Bureau, the first major civilian UFO club. [2] Gray Barker was a member. In October 1953, the group published the final issue of its newsletter, announcing the disbanding of the organization. The final issue reported that "The mystery of the flying saucers is no longer a mystery. The source is already known, but any information about this is being withheld by orders from a higher source." [2]
In April 1956, University Books of New York City published They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers, Barker's dramatized account of his involvement with the IFSB. [3]
The book famously claimed Bender and other UFO investigators had been "silenced" by strange men in black suits. [1] [4]
The work begins with Barker's initial interest in saucers during his 1952 investigation of the "Flatwoods Monster" and his subsequent saucer investigations in Brush Creek, California. [5]
Barker describes his interest in the Shaver Mystery and the magazines of Raymond Palmer, which ultimately led him to correspond with Albert K. Bender and join Bender's "International Flying Saucer Bureau. [6] According to the narrative, Bender receives a metal sample allegedly from a UFO, after which he is visited by three men, each wearing black, who confiscate back issues of the group's newsletter. Bender recalls that one of the men told Barker his research was pointless, claiming "In our government we have the smartest men in the country. They can't find a defense for it. How can you do anything about it?" Before they depart, one of the men warns Bender: "I suppose you know you are on your honor as an American. If I hear another word out of your office you're in trouble". [7]
Barker recounts the 1947 tale of the Maury Island incident, where an alleged saucer witness claimed to have been warned not to discuss the incident by a man in a black suit. [8] [1] Barker speculates saucers may be linked to Antarctica or poltergeists. [9] Barker lists others he believes have been "shushed", some in other countries. [10]
They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers briefly made the best-seller lists in 1956. [11]
Conspiracism scholar Michael Barkun writes that the book's 'Men in Black' "quickly became a staple of UFO folklore". [12] Historian Aaron Gulyas, describing the book as "one of the few saucer books I can read over and over again", noted that "during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, UFO conspiracy theorists would incorporate the MIB into their increasingly complex and paranoid visions." [2] [13] Folklore historian Curtis Peebles suggests that Barker's tale of the Men in Black may have been inspired by "contactee" George Adamski's story of an encounter with FBI agents. [1]
According to the Skeptical Inquirer article "Gray Barker: My Friend, the Myth-Maker", there may have been "a grain of truth" to Barker's writings on the Men in Black, in that government agencies did attempt to discourage public interest in UFOs during the 1950s. However, Barker is thought to have greatly embellished the facts of the situation. In the same Skeptical Inquirer article, Sherwood revealed that, in the late 1960s, he and Barker collaborated on a brief fictional notice alluding to the Men in Black, which was published as fact first in Raymond A. Palmer's Flying Saucers magazine and some of Barker's own publications. In the story, Sherwood (writing as "Dr. Richard H. Pratt") claimed he was ordered to silence by the "blackmen" after learning that UFOs were time-travelling vehicles. Barker later wrote to Sherwood, "Evidently the fans swallowed this one with a gulp." [14]
In 1962, Bender himself authored an account of the events, Flying Saucers and the Three Men, which described the "Men in Black" as supernatural, floating about the floor and emitting bluish light. [15] [16] The Knew Too Much About Flying Saucer influenced 1990s popular culture, most notably The X-Files and Men in Black films . [17] [18] One author would liken The X-Files to a "spinoff of the gospel according to Barker". [19]
In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are government agents dressed in black suits, who question, interrogate, harass, threaten, allegedly memory-wipe or sometimes even assassinate 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 secrets or performing other strange activities.
UFO conspiracy theories are a subset of conspiracy theories which argue that various governments and politicians globally, in particular the United States government, are suppressing evidence that unidentified flying objects are controlled by a non-human intelligence or built using alien technology. Such conspiracy theories usually argue that Earth governments are in communication or cooperation with extraterrestrial visitors despite public disclaimers, and further that some of these theories claim that the governments are explicitly allowing alien abduction.
John Alva Keel, born Alva John Kiehle, was an American journalist and influential ufologist who is known best as author of The Mothman Prophecies.
The Roswell incident is a conspiracy theory which alleges that the 1947 crash of a United States Army Air Forces balloon near Roswell, New Mexico was actually caused by an extraterrestrial spacecraft. Operated from the nearby Alamogordo Army Air Field and part of the top secret Project Mogul, the balloon was intended to detect Soviet nuclear tests. After metallic and rubber debris was recovered by Roswell Army Air Field personnel, the United States Army announced their possession of a "flying disc". This announcement made international headlines but was retracted within a day. Obscuring the true purpose and source of the crashed balloon, the Army subsequently stated that it was a conventional weather balloon.
Dulce Base is the subject of a conspiracy theory claiming that a jointly-operated human and alien underground facility exists under Archuleta Mesa on the Colorado–New Mexico border near the town of Dulce, New Mexico, in the United States. Claims of alien activity there first arose from Albuquerque businessman Paul Bennewitz.
The Maury Island incident refers to claims made by Fred Crisman and Harold Dahl of falling debris and threats by men in black following sightings of unidentified flying objects in the sky over Maury Island, Washington, United States. The pair claimed that the events had occurred on June 21, 1947. The incident is widely regarded as a hoax, even by believers of flying saucers and UFOs.
Paul Frederic Bennewitz, Jr. was an American businessman and UFO investigator. According to multiple sources, Bennewitz was the target of a government disinformation campaign that ultimately led to his psychiatric hospitalization.
James Willett Moseley was an American observer, author, and commentator on the subject of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Over his nearly sixty-year career, he exposed UFO hoaxes and engineered hoaxes of his own. He was best known as the publisher of the UFO newsletters Saucer News and its successor Saucer Smear, which became the longest continuously published UFO journal in the world.
Gray Barker was an American writer best known for his books about UFOs and other paranormal phenomena. His 1956 book They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers introduced the notion of the Men in Black to ufology. Recent evidence indicates that he was skeptical of most UFO claims, and mainly wrote about the paranormal for financial gain. He sometimes participated in hoaxes to deceive more serious UFO investigators.
A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America is a 2003 non-fiction book written by Michael Barkun, professor emeritus of political science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
Albert K. Bender, author of the 1962 nonfiction book Flying Saucers and the Three Men, was a ufologist. He served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He was obsessed with the UFO phenomenon and became a UFO researcher, founding the International Flying Saucer Bureau. In 1965, he founded the Max Steiner Music Society, dedicated to the eponymous composer.
Jesse Antoine Marcel Sr. was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force who helped administer Operation Crossroads, the 1946 atom bomb tests at the Bikini Atoll.
The Coming of the Saucers is a 1952 book by original 'flying saucer' witness Kenneth Arnold and pulp magazine publisher Raymond Palmer. The book reprints and expands early articles the two had published in Palmer's Fate magazine. The work blends first-person accounts attributed to Arnold with third-person summations of UFO reports.
John Olsen Lear, son of Learjet magnate Bill Lear, was an aviator who set multiple records, later flying cargo planes for the CIA during the Vietnam era.
The 1947 flying disc craze was a rash of unidentified flying object reports in the United States that were publicized during the summer of 1947. The craze began on June 24, when media nationwide reported civilian pilot Kenneth Arnold's story of witnessing disc-shaped objects which headline writers dubbed "Flying Saucers". Such reports quickly spread throughout the United States; historians would later chronicle at least 800 "copycat" reports in subsequent weeks, while other sources estimate the reports may have numbered in the thousands.
The Rhodes UFO photographs, sometimes called the shoe-heel UFO photographs, purport to show a disc-like object flying above Phoenix, Arizona, United States. The two photographs were reportedly taken on July 7, 1947, by amateur astronomer and inventor William Albert Rhodes. They were printed in The Arizona Republic newspaper on July 9, along with Rhodes's account of his sighting of the object. Published near the end of the 1947 flying disc craze, the photographs were among the first showing an unidentified flying object. They continue to be discussed in the media into the 21st century.
The Flying Saucer Conspiracy is a 1955 book authored by early UFO researcher Donald Keyhoe. The book pointedly accused elements of United States government of engaging in a conspiracy to cover up knowledge of flying saucers. Keyhoe claims the existence of a "silence group" of orchestrating this conspiracy.
The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects is a 1956 book by then-retired Air Force UFO investigator Edward J. Ruppelt, detailing his experience running Project Bluebook. The book was noted for its suggestion that a few UFO sightings might be linked to spikes of atomic radiation. Contemporary media summarized four topics discussed in the book:
Thomas Allen LeVesque (1948-2018) was an influential American conspiracy theorist who promoted legends of the Hollow Earth, The Shaver Mystery, and Dulce Base. According to the author Adam Gorightly, in the final years of his life LeVesque confessed to fabricating his Dulce Base tales as a form of creative writing.