Men in Black Phenomenon

Ufologist and researcher Nick Redfern joined John B. Wells for a discussion on the Men in Black (MIB) phenomenon. The MIB mystery began in the early 1950s with researcher Albert Bender of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Redfern said. Bender set up one of the world's first UFO organizations, the International Flying Saucer Bureau, which he reportedly shut down after being visited by three menacing men dressed in dark suits, he continued. In the 1960s, Bender released a book on the topic in which he talks about the MIB spontaneously materializing in his home (to the smell of brimstone), their weird glowing eyes, and how they could place him into an altered state of mind, Redfern added. This has led to the notion that two categories of MIB exist, regular government agents and supernatural/alien entities, he noted. "Whoever these MIB are they're far stranger in terms of their modus operandi and their origin than just the government," Redfern stated.

Not only do the MIB manifest to police the UFO subject, they also show up when other paranormal-type events occur, he said. The MIB often appear to people involved in occult-based activities as well as to witnesses of supernatural events, such as the Mothman sightings in the 1960s, Redfern revealed. There are more than 500 reported MIB cases and reports are still filed to this day, he added. The picture of the MIB that emerges from these reports is of pale, unsmiling, emotionless automatons that turn up in groups of three, usually driving a pristine vintage automobile, to intimidate the witness of some strange occurrence, Redfern explained. He wondered if the MIB experience could be a visionary internal experience by an intelligence capable of projecting images to those who claim to see them. UFO researcher Ray Boeche believes the MIB phenomenon is "a manifestation of evil," he reported. Perhaps the MIB are warning people to stay away from something for their own good, Redfern suggested.

Private Space Race

In the first hour, space researcher Robert Zimmerman talked about SpaceX's launch of the Falcon 9 rocket and successful docking of their Dragon capsule with the International Space Station. "This is historic and significant, and it's going to shake the American effort to explore space," he said. Dragon carried cargo to the ISS as well as sold payload capacity to a company that put aboard the cremated remains of 308 people, one of whom was Star Trek's James Doohan, Zimmerman continued. With NASA's Space Shuttle program ended, SpaceX's capsule is the only way to bring cargo back from the ISS, he added. Zimmerman also briefly spoke about Orbital Sciences Corporation's Antares rocket and Cygnus capsule, the Chinese and Russian space programs, and how several private companies are vying to bring people to space.

News segment guest: Douglas Dietrich