Thursday, March 24, 2011

MIB Terror!




Although my own book on the mysterious MIB, The Real Men in Black, is not published until June, a year or more ago I wrote an Introduction for a new edition of Gray Barker's classic book MIB: The Secret Terror Among Us. Slightly re-worded in its title, the new edition is now available as Men in Black: The Secret Terror.

Here's the product information on the book:


"Men in Black: The Secret Terror Among Us" was the last major work by West Virginia author Gray Barker, a legendary figure in the history of ufology. In many respects, this is the sequel to his earlier bestsellers "They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers" (a chronicle of the harassment faced by early UFO researchers) and "The Silver Bridge" (Barker's on-the-scene investigation of the Mothman events of the 1960s). Since Barker died a year after the release of "MIB: Secret Terror," it was not widely distributed. As such, it became enormously rare and expensive. Now, for the first time, it is being made available to the general public.

Barker was the first researcher to coin the term "Men in Black” in the 1950s. Along with John Keel, author of "The Mothman Prophecies," Barker was responsible for making the subject famous. As a publisher and author, Barker popularized several classic parapolitical tales, such as the Flatwoods Monster, the Roswell Incident, the Philadelphia Experiment, and the Maury Island Affair. "MIB: Secret Terror" is thus an undiscovered gem for folklorists, UFO buffs, Forteans, cryptozoologists, and conspiracy theorists alike - the grand, final statement from a master of many genres.

Within these pages, Barker ties together many of the shadowy threads exposed during his years as editor of "Saucer News" and Saucerian Press. Penned after the release of top-secret CIA and FBI files in the late 1970s, it constitutes a seasoned overview of the issues involved. In this taught, sober, and enlightening tale, the reader can sense what was really happening behind the scenes of ufology in West Virginia, Ohio, and other parts of the country. Due to the inherent penalties for revealing national security secrets (which the MIB seemed determined to prevent), this work is filled with hidden, symbolic clues. For those who can read between the lines, this may be Barker's best book ever.

This special 2011 edition features new introductions by noted paranormal researchers Andy Colvin, Adam Gorightly, Allen Greenfield, and Nick Redfern, as well as original passages from legendary ufologists John Keel and Jim Moseley.

"My ufological hero... Deserves to be read by one and all..." -Greg Bishop, editor of "The Excluded Middle"

"Without Gray there would be no Men in Black mystery..." - Nick Redfern, author of "Memoirs of a Monster Hunter" and "On the Trail of the Saucer Spies"

"Complex and intelligent... Be very careful..." -John Keel, author of "The Mothman Prophecies" and "The Eighth Tower"

"A breath of fresh air... Well written, sometimes humorous, always entertaining. Pivotal in defining the flying saucer mythos..." - Adam Gorightly, author of "Shadow Over Santa Susana: Black Magic, Mind Control & the Manson Family Mythos"

"One of the leading lights of classic, four-dimensional saucering..." -Jim Moseley, author of "Shockingly Close to the Truth: Confessions of a Grave-Robbing Ufologist"

"Captures the emotional mood, gothic imagery, and sheer, dreamlike weirdness of the Men in Black even better than 'The Mothman Prophecies'" -Allen Greenfield, author "Secret Cipher of the UFOnauts" and "Secret Rituals of the Men in Black"

"Transcendent, meaningful, and artistic..." - Andy Colvin, author "The Mothman's Photographer" and "The Mothman Speaks"