This weekend, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones will attempt to conquer the box office yet again with the third installment of the Men in Black franchise. The films, centered on a secret group of dark-suited agents responsible for keeping alien life from the eyes of the public, are based on Lowell Cunningham’s comic book series of the same name. That comic book series was in turn inspired by actual reports of clandestine, black-clad figures, reports that date back several decades and are an integral part of UFO folklore.
The producers of Men in Black III are even attempting to cash in on that folklore through a viral marketing campaign that mimics “men in black” accounts of old. Cheap-looking billboards (which don’t mention the movie at all) declare that “The Men in Black Suits are Real” and direct the curious to call a hotline, which then encourages them to leave a message detailing their own supernatural experiences. (There is also, of course, a blog that further exploits MIB culture in the hopes of a box office bonanza.)
This got us thinking: Given the enormous commercial success of the Men in Black films—as well as the popularity of TV’s The X-Files, which also drew on “men in black” mythology—do UFO seekers still report such sightings? Or has the mainstreaming of this phenomenon rooted it out of the UFO subculture that produced it?