The Original “Men In Black” Was Inspired By A Real-Life 1947 Conspiracy When A Man Had A UFO Encounter And Was Later Visited By A Man In A Black Suit, Who Told Him To Keep Quiet

In July 1947, the officers came out to look into the story. The next day, they left in their plane, which caught fire and crashed. Both of the officers were killed, which seemed highly suspicious to UFO conspiracists.

In 1956, Gray Barker authored a book called “They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers.” He wrote about the Maury Island case and linked Dahl’s experience to the case of Albert K. Bender. In 1953, Bender had been visited by three men wearing dark suits.

After the publication of the book, the idea of the men in black really took off. To this day, the events that occurred at Maury Island have served as the basis for several other conspiracy theories, even though the U.S. government deemed it a hoax after launching an investigation.

Dahl and Crisman even admitted that they made the whole thing up. But at least it led to some compelling films!