Gray Barker is a name synonymous with early investigation of UFO's. He was on hand in his native Braxton County, West Virginia when the notorious "Flatwoods Monster" appeared in 1952 and as a consequence, he began a lifelong involvement with such bizarre events. He started publishing his own UFO magazine called The Saucerian. He was on hand when the Mothman appeared in the late 60's and his book The Silver Bridge is the best account of those weird times I've read, superior to the more famous Mothman Prophecies by John Keel that was published five years later. Barker's most successful book was They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers, published in 1956 in which he covered (as best he could) the events concerning a man named Albert Bender and his run in with the mysterious Men in Black. Barker is credited with making these infamous characters a popular aspect of UFO research.
(The Flatwoods Monster)
They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers details several UFO events, but eventually settles in on Bender and his early UFO organization the Internation Flying Saucer Bureau. Barker was a member of his earliest of UFO outfits and it was growing and becoming more and more effective when suddenly Bender closed up shop. He was questioned by Barker and other members but he refused to give details, save to suggest that he had discovered the real story behind the flying saucers and that he was unable to say more. Much of the book is spent trying to get to the bottom of the story but ultimately the secret remains with Bender.
That is until some years later in 1962 when Bender revealed the secret in a book titled Flying Saucers and the Three Men. Barker not published this book but also helped to craft it, presumably because Bender was not a fine a writer as Barker. This is book is not as compelling, but we do learn why Bender shut down his UFO operation. It turns out he was visited by three Men in Black who demanded that he close down his operations or come to personal harm. Later he is taken to Antarctica where there are bases. Further he was taken into a space ship, and given a special metal disk which was active as long as the aliens were operating on Earth. They were apparently harvesting some substance from Earth's oceans which they needed and when that was completed they would be on their way. Other aliens from other worlds might arrive, but this particular batch would be gone. After much hemming and hawing they do leave and the metal disappears. Bender then feels it is safe for himself and his wife to tell his story.
So the mystery was solved at long last, but Barker among others is quite skeptical of the story. But he takes his colleague at face value. I'll take a look at Barker's The Silver Bridge next week.
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I haven't read either of those two books, but I'm always sceptical of such claims. There's money to be made in this area as long as people continue to feed their appetite for tales of UFO encounters, so no doubt further books on the topic will appear.
ReplyDeleteThere's much to be skeptical about. I approach stuff like as if I'm reading modern folklore, curious narratives which can be interesting in themselves but also are very suggestive about the interests and the nature that developed them. I have found that Barker's books are great reads in their own right and no acceptance is required, just a momentary suspension of disbelief. People really see things, that I accept. Beyond that, I get exceedingly skeptical.
DeleteOutside of comics, TV and movies, the first book I read about the subject was Frank Edwards' 1966, Flying Saucers, Serious Business. I remember being absorbed by the text and the accompanying photos are, in retrospect, pretty dubious. Still, it was exciting.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to look that one up and possibly add it to my reading. I find the more I read on this subject the more I find to follow up on. I came into this subject with Von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods, but these earlier UFO classics have real charm.
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