The Real Men In Black: Evidence, Famous Cases, and True Stories of These Mysterious Men and their Connection to UFO Phenomena Paperback – Illustrated, June 15, 2011

I read extensively on all subjects of a strange nature and have always had a fascination with the Men In Black phenomenon but have never fully explored it until Redfern's fantastic new book. I've been a long-time admirer of Nick's work but this new book shines out as among his best. It is an important work as it chronicles the history of the Men In Black in a fresh, new way that is as engaging as it is compelling.I can't recommend this book enough to anyone with even the most remote interest in the subject of UFOs, aliens, or general weirdness. You will be informed, unsettled and thoroughly entertained by Redfern's comprehensive guide into the mysterious world of these (perhaps) otherworldly visitors!

I can't think of too many subjects that would be as hard to wrap one's head around than Men In Black. Let's face it, the whole idea of these appearances and interactions is simply ludicrous. Preposterous. Inane. Yet while Looney on its face, the phenomenon has been "around" for a while and "MIB" events/contacts have been attested to by a lot of earnest-seeming and "solid citizen" types who are NOT considered wacko flakes by their peers or serious researchers. On the other hand, there HAVE been some dodgy assertions made over the years regarding these "visitors" and some of these assertions point accusatory fingers at the likes of Albert Bender and Gray Barker (among others). There are implications of "spins" and MIB "fish stories" that GROW IN THE TELLING. Bender & Barker, it would seem, should not be wholeheartedly trusted. Not without reservation.On the scary side, while these "visitors" can look and act like real DORKS (a couple of snapped photos of---allegedly---two of "them" are in the book, and they do, indeed, look rather dorky) when they manifest themselves, the way they can almost instantly appear or disappear (usually the latter) is quite phenomenal. They can walk out your door and literally vanish. Or turn a streetcorner ahead of you and do the same thing. Poof! Gone! In "impossible" circumstances.Truthfully,as I stated at the outset of this review, I would think this would not be an easy subject to write about as the temptation would seem to always be there to burst out laughing in the middle of each and every sentence. The question "What were THEY smoking???" leaps immediately to mind. Or "How much Jim Beam preceeded all this?". Or "Don't they know to just say 'no' to drugs?".Yet people who encounter these MIB seem ABSOLUTELY SERIOUS----often uncomfortably so---in recounting these run-ins. They don't all come across as looney-tunes AT ALL.Case in point is in this book. Raven Meindel is someone I KNOW. She has been a member of one of my yahoo groups for quite a while and I know her to be someone with a good head screwed on her shoulders. Raven is NOT a "dip" and NOT a "flake", yet she HAS had an MIB interaction and this is recounted (a version of it, anyway)in Nick's book. This is something that upset her, knocked her "off balance",and remains disconcerting to her. It scared her, to be blunt about it. Like virtually all the OTHER "experiencers" of this phenomenon, it WASN'T FUNNY to her! It gave her the creeps.Looking at it from HER perspective, it isn't a big joke at all. Its something that puts all of one's reality paradigms into flux, and that can be very unsettling.That may be one reason why Nick's narrative seems a bit schizoid. HE really doesn't know what to make of it, so sometimes his text reads very serious and at other times he comes across very tongue-in-cheek (indeed, I think there is more tongue-in-cheek showing in long stretches of this book than in anything I've ever read of his). Indeed, when Hollywood decided to make a movie out of this subject (with sequels), the only choice they really had in terms of orientation was to go with satire and tongue-in-cheek parody. To treat this subject with seriousness would have gotten them laughed out of the theatres, so they discerned that laughing WITH it was better than being laughed AT. I think Nick is doing a bit of that kind of balancing act here,himself.There are some notions that are presented here as "explanations" for the MIB and they may have some merit. Or not. Hard to tell. Some hypothesizing involves demons (or "Djinn") as the actual culprits. Others feel it is "trans-dimensionals" at work, while still others go straight to the "ET" paradigm (which is the orthodox view). Still others, the "realist/rationalist" contingent, hold that these are government agents involved in mind games and the twisting of reality perceptions. In the book, anomalistics researcher Joshua Warren, who typically comes up with thinking-man's positings, here speculates that maybe the MIBs are "Time Cops" of a sort; "policemen" from the future who travel time paths into the past to "correct" historical malfeasances on the part of time-traveling Bad Guys who change history to suit their own ends. By this notion the MIBs work to "set right" what has been "tinkered with". While I find this an interesting intellectual "what if" exercise, I don't credit it as a viable explanation as, as I see it, such "Dr. Who" types would work to be INCONSPICUOUS in their interferences and not so bizarrely attention-grabbing, AND they would be working as incognito as possible to do things like saving FDR from assassination, making sure neither Al Franken nor Nancy Pelosi were ever elected President, or even (however distasteful) making sure Hitler DID come to power (as CAME to pass in reality---thus keeping "history" well and truly on track). The premise of the old television series "The Time Tunnel" comes to mind here. Going around discoursing inanely with "Joe Citizen" about something he saw briefly in the sky one night doesn't strike me as being a very productive way of keeping history on its "proper course".All in all this is an entertaining book (All of Redfern's books are) and worth a read. It makes a good bookend to his volume on Contactees and gives one a real realization of what a well & truly GOOFY planet we live on.

This is the first book of Nick Redfern’s that I’ve had the pleasure to read. I have to say that the content is in depth and you get the “feel” of the situations described. I am happy to also find that I thoroughly enjoy Redfern’s writing style. I am definitely going to investigate more of his books!

Okay where to begin. I thought it would be interesting to read about "The Real Men in Black" I figured that it would lend some diverting info into the satirical movie version. Well you can see where the movie came up with there plot reading this book but the way some of the info is presented it was just boring and just a little dijointed for me. I know the author was trying to give important info that is factual and also debunk some myths. I guess it just seemed that the info was much better seen in a documentary. I saw this author on a science channel and he seemed credible and I was very interested in anything UFO when I was younger and was ready to believe all sorts of conspiracys. Well now I guess I have gotten less interested and I feel that is probably why I didn't particularly enjoy this read. I have to say thought that the author was very good a pointing out what could be real and what can be explained in real way and not out worldly. So the author was very well researched and I believe very credable. If scifi with reality is your stick then maybe you might enjoy this book. I just realised that it is not mine.

The Real Men In Black is an excellent book by an excellent author. Nick Redfern leaves no stone unturned in his attempt to shed light on this truly mysterious subject. As usual, Nick's book is well researched and he provides as much detail as possible to try to answer the question on the Men In Black phenomenon. Forget the silly movies of the same name, this stuff is very real and extremely scary! I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the strange and paranormal.

Oh man.....Nick has done it again. The MIB have always fascinated me since I was younger and this book definitely opened my eyes more. Nick is such a great author as I've previously have other books of his but also folly Jim on Mysterious Universe as well.

This book details several prominent MIB tales. Some quite old some somewhat recent. The book gives a decent amount of detail based on the accounts of the witnesses.To a degree the book seems like it is taking what the witnesses say at face value, until the end where it gives possible alternatives as to what MIB are, if they are not actually MIB.I found the book interesting. I also found the accounts from the instances where people thought they were encountered, or were encountered by MIB quit interesting and made you think about what's out there.I found the part of the book at the end attempting to give ideas as to what MIB are often grabbing at straws. Some of the possibilities (if you believed in those things) could explain MIB, but some make no sense as why they would be harassing people who saw a UFO.