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As most people know, have guessed, or have assumed, the Gaians in Black are more-or-less based on the organization Men in Black from the movie of the same name.

But the legacy of the Men in Black goes much deeper!

For instance, did you know that the movie was based on a comic book?

As you can tell, the movie made a few... changes. In the comic book, Agent Jay is a square, boring white guy with a mullet. Meanwhile, Agent Kay is a power-mad, amoral sociopath who kills with abandon and gets unhealthy amounts of pleasure from controlling other people.

The agency itself is a bit different, too. Most noticeably, they're not limited to dealing with only extraterrestrials--they deal with any paranormal threat, including aliens, cultists, demons, monsters, and cryptids. Their goals are also rather questionable--they seek to control and shape society, in part by keeping the populace ignorant about the paranormal.

But this rabbit hole goes much deeper, Agents! For the comic book was in turn based on something else: the "real" Men in Black.

I use the term "real" loosely, of course. However, the Men in Black were, and continue to be, a very real part of UFO folklore/legends/mythology. Supposedly, these MiB would show up at the houses of people who witnessed UFOs or other alien behavior, claiming to be members of various government agencies, and attempt to intimidate them into silence.

The most interesting thing about the MiB is their odd appearance and behavior. They are often described as being olive skinned or swarthy, sometimes with glowing red eyes. They are said to drive old, vintage cars that appear brand new, and sometimes use slang and idioms that are horribly out of date. In addition, they often appear baffled by ordinary, everyday object, such as pens, clocks, and eating utensils.

Various theories exist to explain who the Men in Black are and what they want. The most prosaic is that they are bona-fide government agents who are interested in covering up UFOs and related phenomenon. But that hardly explains their odd behavior. To explain that, there are two alternate theories: one is that the MiB are themselves extraterrestrial, and they are attempting to cover up their own presence on earth. Their strange behavior is a result of the aliens' unfamiliarity with how actual human beings act. The other theory is a bit odd, but probably my favorite: The MiB are, in fact, government agents out to suppress information about UFOs and aliens. However, they purposefully act in a bizarre and outrageous manner, counting on the fact that their targets will tell others about their strange encounter. The idea is that no one will believe the witnesses' story, due to the oddball behavior of the MIB, and the witness will be written off as just another UFO conspiracy kook.

I myself find it doubtful that aliens have ever visited Earth, and I am doubly skeptical of the existence of some shadowy organization out to cover up these incidents. Still, it's fun theory, and an interesting bit of trivia.

Well, I hope you've found this short lecture informative and entertaining. If you want to read the original MiB comics, it is unfortunately rather difficult/expensive to track down physical copies. However, you can probably get them from your Dear Elderly Mother Over Near Old Independence Drive.

Well, then you'd probably love the original comics. XD

The MiB are such jerks.

I've never read the comic, but I know ALL about the "real" MiBs, heheh.

They were made up by a guy in the fifties because he wasn't able to get any real information for his UFO publication after promising something huge to his readers (all two of them), so he claimed to have been forced to stop publishing and keep his mouth shut by three creepy guys in dark suits (and later, he added three beautiful women in tight white uniforms... emotion_eyebrow Riiiight...).

Of course, that's probably what THEY want us to think.
ninja

The whole MiB phenomenon is as interesting as anything else having to do with UFOs. I've been fascinated by all of it (along with cryptozoology and all things paranormal) since I used to watch The X-Files with my dad when I was younger. It's almost like a religion with some people.

Personally, I'm of the belief that extraterrestrial life does exist, but it most likely hasn't visited Earth (though they may be watching us from afar surprised ). Some of those UFO sightings ARE pretty weird, though. Others are just ridiculous and seriously make one wonder about the average intelligence of humanity. rolleyes

I think it's more likely that we will discover extraterrestrial life on another planet before we discover it on our own. With all the extrasolar planets being found recently, I don't think it'll be very long at all. Probably within our lifetimes. It was just announced a few days ago that a planet very similar to Earth (as far as we can tell) has been confirmed to be in orbit right in the middle of the habitable zone around a star similar to our own. They don't know if it's rocky or not, yet, but with the possibility of water comes the possibility of life, even if only microbial. It's very exciting!

Well, we could of hitched a ride on one of the many asteroids and that would mean we would be aliens. How about that Zi?

Still trying to get my hands on the comic.

Also, I'M STILL PISSED THAT THEY AREN'T GETTING A PUG TO BE FRANK'S SUCCESSOR IN MIB3!

....and I'm pretty sure the original Frank passed on D:

Haha, really? I hadn't heard that. I actually just ordered a book on the Men in Black from Amazon. It looks like it's gonna be some good trashy fun. XD
Tight white uniforms, eh?

ATTENTION ALL AGENTS: I AM HEREBY ANNOUNCING SOME CHANGES TO THE DRESS CODE.
I really, REALLY need to watch the X-Files at some point. gonk I'm planning on starting it when I finish Futurama. Paranormal stuff is neat, but I really can't take it, or the people who are hardcore believers in it, that seriously. I'm a skeptic, so I tend to be a little... skeptical about such claims.

I think there's no doubt that there's life elsewhere in the universe. I mean... just LOOK at the place. It's so HUGE. I mean, let's say that the chances of any one particular star having life located on one of its orbiting planets is one in a billion. Considering that there's an estimated three hundred sextillion stars in the universe, then that means that there would be 300 TRILLION planets with life on them. eek

The odds are in favor of extraterrestrial life. Whether we'll ever meet any of it... that, I'm not so sure of.

Well Mr. Skeptical, I'm Mr. Analytical and I say there are aliens out, way over tons of planets with life on them. I also think aliens have been to Earth and are currently on it. I think that if the MIB are real that they are aliens.

Those are some extraordinary claims. What's your extraordinary evidence?