April 24, 2016 — MIB Roundtable with Nick Redfern & Greg Bishop

[Gene Steinberg]

Observing the death of Albert K. Bender, whose encounters with alleged Men In Black became the stuff of legend, we held a special roundtable featuring Nick Redfern and Greg Bishop.

So are the MIB real, psychic, space beings — or just a cultural meme based on a hoax?

 

[Spectre73]

Enjoy the roundtable discussions Gene. Looking forward to this one

 

[wwkirk]

Gene, did you agree with your friend that there was something wrong with Albert K Bender?

 

[DaveM]

I actually enjoyed the self publishing segment more than I did hearing about Albert Bender.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Gene, did you agree with your friend that there was something wrong with Albert K Bender?

I didn't notice anything irregular. I was quite young at the time in the scheme of things. Such things as obsessive-compulsive disorder weren't in my radar then, and I do not recall any specifics about what the former Mrs. Moseley might have said. She might have explained it in more detail to Jim later, but I didn't inquire further. It might have been just the sensational nature of Bender's claims. That's the impression I had at the time.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

I actually enjoyed the self publishing segment more than I did hearing about Albert Bender.

I've only done it twice myself over the years, but I did handle the desktop publishing of dozens of books from Tim Beckley's little company in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Before he found an even cheaper way to have it done.

Most of the books I've written were handled by more or less traditional publishers in the traditional way.

Nowadays, I'd probably do it via Lulu or Amazon CreateSpace.

 

[Wade]

Very cool episode. Although I was aware of the Bender/Barker "relationship" I wasn't aware that it was Gray that put a more earth bound face on the MIB phenomena. I thought this was something that broke off and evolved over the years.

Given the description by Nick early on of Albert's background and lifestyle this show cemented my feelings that more and more I am way more fascinated with the characters and the sociological , emotional and mythological side of the UFO enigma than any analytical breakdown of specific cases or pages long threads of what constitutes proof.

I care little about proving to myself or others whether UFOs exist than in discussing their impact on our belief system and of their possible (probable?) connection to our own religious and cultural mythological history.

I was also sort of surprised that the MIB were still being reported to the extent they are. I've seen a few things pop up here and there.

 

[Randall]

There's no question that Prince deserves credit, and that was a generous homage to him from Chris, but speaking for me personally, I was never a huge fan, and always felt he treated his guitars as more of a fashion accessory than as a serious instrument. There's no way I'd even begin to compare him to the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughn, Santana, Mark Knopfler, or half a dozen others, let alone Hendrix. Add in all the other fashion accessories including makeup, and that his knee and hip problems were due to jumping off risers in heels, and I just have to laugh, because for some reason that just seems ridiculous to me.

Add his affiliation with the JWs and that his main hit Purple Rain was a take on the apocalypse, and I really don't get what fuss is all about. There are other talented multi-instrumentalists out there too, like Todd Rundgren and Trent Reznor. There's probably many more. But do they have the dance moves ... LOL ... because we know that they're really important. Anyway, enough about the Artist Formerly Known as an Unpronounceable Graphic Symbol. He was born the same year I was and I'll be lucky if I ever get an actual record produced, let alone my own elevator. But if I do, and I'm found dead inside it, please just leave me there and bury the whole elevator.

The show was another very enjoyable episode. I always enjoy Redfern's appearances. Bishop had some great input too, though I would question how it was that Moore proved to him that The Philadelphia Experiement and The Rosewll Incident turned out to be true. Chris had his usual insights and colorful commentary. Forum participant questions were great, and I agree with Gene that Nick's own voice would sound great for his own English language books. A real flare of authenticity with a personal touch would be cool .

• Oh ... and totally cracked up at the "You're in the Paracast" lead out at 02:10:15 ... LOL.
• Also some really inspirational words from Chris toward the end for all those trying to make it on their own in their creative efforts .
• But what about the MIB? Trust me they're real. I've seen 'em. Don't know exactly what to make of 'em, but they're definitely real.

On a somewhat unrelated note. Maybe we could get a guest on who specializes in "black helicopters". I wonder if they're related to the MIB? I've been joking around about them a bit with friends lately and the other night I went to the store to grab a late night snack, and I hear a helicopter, but I don't see one, so I keep looking, and sure enough there was a dark colored helicopter cruising slow directly overhead at about 600 feet without any lights on at all. It was just a little darker than the cloud layer above it that was lit up by the city lights, otherwise I'd have missed it.

It's probably just another coincidence among many, but how many coincidences do we need before we begin to think that maybe it's not just a coincidence? Helicopters fly over me or my house far more often than winged aircraft, but there are far more winged aircraft around, so why all the helicopters? Are helicopters allowed to fly around at night without any lights on? Even police helicopters? Is this one of those situations where as Nick suggests, just being involved tends to amplify the weirdness in some objective rather than subjective way?

 

[GhostSensor3000]

I picture the characters the 'Observers' on the Fox TV show 'Fringe' when I think of the actual MIB.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

They used the MIB legend, clearly, in creating those characters.

 

[GhostSensor3000]

I will tell you that since listening to the recent Paracast episodes that dealt with MIB, I've taken an interest in the subject and can't wait to get started reading up on the subject.