Women in Black | Ep. 110
Welcome to another episode of Believing the Bizarre.
Everyone has heard about the infamous Men In Black, and no, we aren’t talking bout the film starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. But, what about the Women in Black?
Not quite as popular, the WIB are creepy, unsettling women that appear after witnesses experience paranormal events, commonly UFO sightings.
In addition, they also seem to appear when folks start investigating a little too deeply into massive conspiracies. Scary? Yes! Believable? Listen to find out.
What Are The Women In Black?
Have you ever witnessed something paranormal, only to have an encounter with a strange human-like entity?
Were you threatened, or strongly suggested to keep the events you had witnessed quiet?
What’s up Bizarros?! This week we dive into the mysterious Women In Black.
But before we get into that, let’s touch on their more known counterparts, the Men In Black.
Men In Black
So, essentially Men in Black are people dressed in all-black suits that have no expression, very limited recognizable facial features, and often show up when a witness has experienced something supernatural – especially regarding aliens.
This can go from an eerie demand to literally threatening you to keep quiet about what you witnessed and to not keep investigating anything paranormal.
Some people say these are government agents dedicated to keeping alien activity hush. Others say, due to their odd appearance and uncanny ability to just randomly show up, that the Men in Black are aliens.
But, this episode is NOT about Men in Black. That is for a different day. This is an acknowledgment of one side of the paranormal coin. While many men have heard about Men in Black, the Women in Black are less known but equally as terrifying.
Women in Black
Who are the Women in Black?
Here is a quote from the book: “While much as been written on the sinister and occasionally deadly actions of the MIB, very little has been opened on the subject of their equally bone-chilling companions: The Women in Black. Make no mistake: the WIB are all too real. And they are as ominous, predatory, and dangerous as their male counterparts.”
Similar to the MIB, Women in Black are odd, unsettling women dressed completely in black attire that seem to pop up out of nowhere following an usual event.
In the mid-1960s, there were many reports of women in black outfits roaming around towns and specifically bothering people who claimed to have UFO experiences.
In fact, it was reported that these women would be seen almost as still as a statue, peering inside the windows of the homes of people who claimed to have experienced UFOs.
And any attempt to confront these women was met with intense hostility.
Let’s jump into some of the personal encounters people have had with the WIB.
Encounters With The Women In Black
1. Truman Bethurum – 1952
In 1952, Truman claimed to experience a UFO in the desert of Nevada.
On a 2000-foot-high mount in Moapa Valley, Truman went into a strange sort of mental trance.
In this altered state of mind, he claims that aliens suddenly manifested right before his eyes.
Behind them was a traditional UFO flying saucer.
The aliens were 4 to 5 feet in height and eerily human-like. They claimed to be from a distant planet named Clarion and their captain was a woman named Aura Rhanes.
She was later described by Truman as being very beautiful.
This was the extent of the initial meeting, but for months after this initial encounter, Truman’s relationship with his wife was strained because he continually met up with this alien leader, Aura Rhanes, late at night in random remote places in the Nevada desert.
The intimacy of their relationship has led to some folks considering this whole encounter a hoax as if materializing aliens is all cool but an alien being into a normal dude is just impossible.
And we all remember our boy Antonio Villas-Boas.
Anyway, eventually, Truman discussed an encounter with Aura that was very different from their nighttime desert escapes.
Instead, it was almost as if Aura was undercover and very much in the vein of a woman in black.
This encounter actually happened at the witching hour of 3 am. Truman and a work friend, Whitey, were finishing up a late shift and decided to head to an all-night diner in Glendale, Nevada for a bite to eat.
Whitey is was one of the few people that Truman trusted with his stories of Aura and for the most part, Whitey was skeptical, but also fascinated.
So, they are at the diner and are drinking coffee when a pair of people walk in.
Almost immediately, Whitey got a feeling in his stomach that something was off and he nudged Truman and said, “that’s her, isn’t it?”
Truman quietly nodded and was pretty shocked to see her under these circumstances.
They watched as Aura and a creepy-looking man, equally as short, walked in and sat down at a booth by a window.
Aura had a black beret, black sunglasses, a black blouse, and black boots.
Truman composed himself and walked over to the table. Whitey, freaked out, left the diner, and decided he’d rather just sit in his truck until the whole ordeal was finished.
Trying to be a gentleman and ease the tension, Truman asked Aura, “I beg your pardon lady, but haven’t we met before?”
Aura slowly looked up, glaring in a very hostile way, and only uttered a single word, “no.”
Truman said it was a chilling, almost demonic tone.
Startled, Truman walked back over to his table. The man with Aura never acknowledged Truman – almost as if he didn’t even notice he was there.
The waitress came over to Truman and asked if those two were the “saucer people” that Truman would talk about.
Truman told her that he thought so initially, but maybe not. It was tough to tell with the sunglasses she had on and the man had a scar on his face.
The waitress only said, “I noticed that too…but it’s not a scar. It is only penciled on.”
So, this creepy, small man with the only distinguishable trait being a scar on his face, wasn’t even real. He penciled it on himself.
Truman paid his check and when he went to glance back at the odd couple, they were gone.
He rushed outside to Whitey, still in his truck, and he asked when they left. Whitey said no one had left the diner since he was in the truck.
2. Air Marshal Horsley – 1955 Encounter With Women In Black
In 1955, Air Marshal Sir Beresford Peter Torrington Horsley was involved in a very top-secret investigation of a man who claimed to contact a very human-looking alien in 1954.
This alien was known as Mr. Janus.
All of this began for Horsley when he learned of the Duke of Edinburgh’s fascination with UFOs and aliens.
So, he began to study aliens in his spare time. Soon, Horsley was introduced to General Martin who led the way for him to eventually make contact with this, Mr. Janus.
General Martin told Horsley a disturbing fact – that a race of human-looking aliens had already infiltrated Earth and are secretly living amongst us.
One factor that Martin expressed to Horsley was that the aliens were very concerned about our atomic arsenals.
But, these could be things discussed with Mr. Janus.
However, before this could be done, Horsley would have to meet Mrs. Markham.
So, essentially this high-ranking British official is diving into these highly sensitive topics which has turned into alien-hunting but for him to continue, he needs to first speak with this mysterious woman named Mrs. Markham.
General Martin told Horsley to expect a visit from Mrs. Markham soon.
A few nights later, around 8 pm, there was a loud knock on Horsley’s door.
She had arrived.
He opened the door to find a woman dressed entirely in black – a thick black coat, black heels, black hair, but her skin was very, very pale.
This lady in black was almost vampire-like.
He felt ill at this moment but knew he had to invite her in to continue his research.
She introduced herself as Mrs. Markam in a very emotionless, monotone way.
He got a distinct impression almost immediately that there was a very good chance this woman was not human.
She invited him to take a seat and told him that she could arrange for him to meet with Mr. Janus.
He tried to keep his calm but couldn’t help but notice that she didn’t smile, she didn’t blink.
She warned him that Earth was in grave danger due to all of the atomic weapons that were being produced.
She told him to consider aiding in lessening the tension between superpowers on Earth and to work with a group of extra-terrestrials that wished to see all of the atomic weapons disarmed.
Horsley gathered all of his courage and refuted her point, saying that by disarming each side would leave Earth vulnerable to potential attacks that could be greater than anything the Soviets had.
Upon this revelation, Mrs. Markham did not say anything, but she exposed the one and only a little, wry smile that he witnessed the entire meeting.
The conversation ended with Horsley agreeing to meet with Mr. Janus. Abruptly, Mrs. Markham got up and left into the darkness of the night.
Later that evening Horsley woke in a cold sweat to the sound of a woman’s loud wailing that lasted about 15 seconds.
3. Jane and Richard – 1967
The year was 1967 and it was a chilly May evening. Jane and Richard were driving around Huntington, New York.
They were a young, teenage couple just killing time on a Saturday night. No TikTok or Netflix in the 60s.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Richard became severely ill. Thankfully, he managed to pull the car off to the side of the road.
Jane was freaking out and worried and not sure what to do to help Richard.
Almost as soon as Richard pulled off the road, a blinding white light engulfed Jane, Richard, and their car.
Jane had the inclination that the light was coming from deep inside the lush woods that were surrounding the car and the rural road, but it was so bright that it was hard to accurately tell.
Jane felt completely frozen, unable to move a single muscle.
Then, within a flash, they found themselves driving along a different country road, a significant distance away from where they had been stopped by Richard’s illness and the penetrating light.
Jane and Richard were unable to discern exactly how much time they are missing from their recollection of the evening.
A few days after the horrifying event, Jane received a disturbing phone call.
When she picked up her phone, she heard a mysterious woman on the other end of the line.
She never identified herself to Jane, but in a very robot, monotone fashion she instructed Jane to visit her local library, ask the staff for a specific book on Native American history, and to turn to page 42.
She was told to read this specific page very, very carefully.
That was the end of the phone call. Naturally, given everything she’s been through, Jane was confused and more than a little nervous about the whole thing – but she couldn’t stifle her curiosity.
She felt oddly drawn to the woman’s request. So, she headed to her local library the next morning.
Jane wasn’t someone who frequented the library all the time, but upon arrival, she said it felt different – and not just for the reasons she was there.
There was a stillness, emptiness, almost a painful lack of sound. Like being in a vacuum.
There were also no other people in there, just Jane and the librarian – who was dressed oddly, to Jane.
She had long, dark black hair, she had a black outfit on like an old-fashioned black suit with flat black shoes.
Her demeanor seemed cold and distant. But, without saying a word, as soon as Jane walked in the librarian stood up and handed Jane the exact Native American book she was intended to look for.
She could feel her heart beating out of her chest, but she had come this far, and couldn’t turn back now despite being ridiculously spooked.
She sat down, took a deep breath, and immediately flipped to page 42.
As she did, the writing changed from large to small text, and then back to large. Then, almost magically, the text itself morphed into a completely different message intended specifically for Jane.
She later said that she assumes that what she read and what she saw was actually put in her head by the woman in black, it wasn’t truly what was in the book.
This is word for word what she claims was on page 42:
“Good morning friend. You have been selected for many reasons. One is that you are advanced in auto-suggestion. Through this science, we will make contact. I have messages concerning Earth and its people. The time is set. Fear not. I am a Friend. For reasons best known to ourselves, you must make your contacts known to one reliable person. To break this code is to break contact. Proof shall be given. Notes must be kept of the suggestion state. Be in peace.”
She wrote the message down so that she wouldn’t forget, blinked twice, and shut the book – completely in shock.
She looked up and the woman in black was nowhere to be seen.
Without the presence of the woman in black a particular calmness or spell seemed to dissipate and Jane fled the library in absolute terror.
Autosuggestion is a psychological technique where people can conduct self-hypnosis on themselves, by the way.
Likely to fall into self-produced trances, maybe why the woman in black and aliens sought them out, perhaps?
Shortly after this experience in the library, Jane fell ill similar to the pains, aches, and sickness that Richard had experienced the night of the bright lights.
She was vomiting and developed a fever. Once the sickness started going away, and Jane started feeling better and going out and about, something odd began happening.
She started noticing the same woman in black that was at the library in various locations.
One day at a gas station Jane looked as her car was being filled and she saw the woman in black. Fearful, but trying to be polite, she gave the woman a small nod in acknowledgment.
The woman didn’t respond at all, she just stared at her with what Jane described as a menacing, murderous smile.
The next day, the woman in black appeared in a convenience store that Jane was visiting. This time, she tried to engage Jane in conversation but it was a very stilted, broken form of English.
One other very odd aspect of seeing the woman in black now was that she moved very irregularly. Her motions were very jerky, her steps were off balance and she wasn’t making any sense.
She almost said it felt like she was a zombie – anything but human.
Jane asked the woman if she lived locally and the woman in black only responded with a loud, wailing, hysterical-like laugh.
4. Colin Perks – 2000s
Colin Perks had always been fascinated with the legends behind the fabled King Arthur of Britain.
He first become enamored with the folkloric figure when he was a child, and grew up to possess an astoundingly large library of Arthurian literature by the time he reached his thirties.
However, Colin’s research eventually took him on a mission to find the burial site of this once-living legend.
He had decided that this was possible to find based on a series of ‘complex codes and ciphers’ that he was given by a fellow Arthurian researcher in 1978.
Perks came to the conclusion that Arthur’s grave must have been somewhere near the old English town of Glastonbury.
In the Fall of 2000, he traveled to this town and began his investigation.
Not long after his adventure started, Perks’ phone rang late one evening.
He had spent the previous day and early evening relentlessly digging in the woods in an attempt to find the ancient treasure that he was seeking.
He picked up the phone and was greeted by a female voice who insisted that they discuss his Arthurian studies.
There was something rather disturbing about this unknown woman, but he eventually agreed to meet the odd woman at 7:00 pm in a few days’ time.
At the arranged time, Perks was frightened – but perhaps not shocked – to hear a knock on his front door.
He took a deep breath and nervously opened the door, whereupon he was confronted by the female figure responsible for the previous menacing phone call.
She was described as a beautiful woman, around 35 or 40 years old and clad in a ‘smart and expensive-looking outfit’ of black coloration.
She had long black hair and pale, smooth skin that likely seemed to glimmer under the moonlight. For a moment there was silence, as Perks stood before her like a deer in headlights. The woman’s face was completely devoid of emotion, and yet Perks could somehow sense a nebulous air of hostility or even hatred emanating from her.
She introduced herself as Sarah Key and said that she and her poorly-defined ‘select group of people within the British ruling elite’ had been watching Perks for a long time.
She made it abundantly clear that the purpose of her menacing visit was to request that Perks cease his Arthurian studies immediately.
Dumbfounded but ‘suddenly defensive’, he retorted that he wouldn’t stop his research, and also scoffed at the idea that there were ‘shadowy figures’ watching his every move.
It seemed like something out of a thriller movie as opposed to anything that one might expect to encounter while researching King Arthur.
His skepticism was quickly put to bed, however, when Sarah Key responded to his jeering by listing off everything he had done in recent memory – right down to which local pubs he would visit for dinner and a pint of Guinness.
Colin, now listening in stunned silence, was further bewildered when Key described how Arthur’s gravesite (or ‘chamber’) had been built atop some sort of portal or supernatural gateway and claimed that the chamber had been constructed as a defense system to prevent the monstrous denizens of this alternate dimension from entering our reality and wreaking havoc.
Apparently, Colin’s research may have had innocent intentions, but it could potentially result in paranormal catastrophe if he went any further with it.
Key’s expression became grimmer and her tone somehow even more menacing as she stated that Perks had made a big mistake and would be destined to receive another visit (from who or what she didn’t specify) if he continued with his search for the site.
Roughly two months later, this nebulous visit would come to pass in a dramatic and terrifying fashion.
Perks was driving down a small and winding road from the city of Bath back to Glastonbury when he approached an area of the road that was devoid of traffic or illumination.
He was already going quite slowly due to the twisty nature of the road, only moving at around 25mph, and so he was luckily able to easily apply the brakes when a horrific figure suddenly appeared in the middle of the road in front of him.
This dark humanoid figure had bat-like wings and red eyes blazing with supernatural light. Utterly terrified, Perks immediately hit the accelerator with every intention of running down the monstrous gargoyle – but the demonic creature vanished before it was hit by the speeding vehicle.
About a week later, the gargoyle made another appearance. Perks was woken up in the middle of the night by the visceral sensation of pure terror.
He was paralyzed in his bed, and monstrous hands were tightly gripping his wrists – the Arthurian Gargoyle was looming over him, its red eyes aflame in the darkened bedroom.
A message appeared in Colin’s mind, once again warning him to stay away from the grave of King Arthur and to stop digging in the woods.
Immediately after, the gargoyle vanished – leaving Perks unsure of if the visitation was just a horrific nightmare. Deep down he knew it wasn’t.
5. Tampa Bar Owner & Women In Black
This one is pulled from the mysterious universe and involves a bar owner.
“I worked as a bar manager at a sports bar in Tampa, Florida, and at 2:00 AM I cashed out the servers and sent them home and closed down the kitchen.
The bar itself closed at 3:00 AM, but my last few barflies stumbled out before 2:30. I closed out the credit cards, counted the register, abused my free credits on the jukebox, and sat down to wait out the clock.
At about ten minutes to three, a couple walked in. I told them it was the last call and cash only at this point, and locked the doors behind them, not even really paying attention to them (rude, I know, but after 12 hours, give me a break).
When I did notice them, I began to feel uneasy.
Neither one of them sat down on the stools in front of the bar. They each ordered a non-alcoholic beer, and then just stood there holding their drinks, about two stools apart.
Then I noticed how they were dressed.
The man, who appeared older than the woman, maybe about 40-ish, wore a black double-breasted suit of an outdated cut. I’d say maybe 1950’s style, with a rumpled black shirt and a crooked black tie.
I’d say he was about 5’9 with a thin build. He had incredibly pale skin that showed blue veins underneath (I had turned on all of the house lights by this point, so they stood out in stark contrast), a very high forehead, prominent cheekbones, and deep-set, large, brilliant blue eyes, possibly the most vibrant blue I have ever seen.
He had thin, dry, unhealthy-looking silvery-grey hair pulled back in a ponytail, with seemingly random dark brown patches in it, as if he gave a half-assed attempt to dye it and gave up halfway through the process.
“The woman, who was about 5’6, emaciated, and looked about mid-20s, wore a black evening gown with elbow-length satin gloves and had a clashing bright green knit shawl around her shoulders. She had a short bob haircut with bangs, though it really looked like a poorly cared-for wig.
She had the same high forehead, cheekbones, and blue eyes as her partner, although her eyes were more narrow and slightly slanted.
Neither one had eyebrows. As I started cleaning up behind the bar, the woman began clearing her throat impatiently, so I walked over to see what they wanted (I wanted them to get the hell out of my bar).
That’s when I noticed the stench emanating from this woman. Not only did she smell like she hadn’t bathed in a month, but she also smelled like chemicals.
I used to apprentice as an embalmer, and I swear that woman smelled just like formalin.” We’re still not over:
“When I walked over, the man beckoned me to him and placed a black leather satchel on the bar, from which he removed several photographs and asked me if I knew any of the subjects in those pictures.
I decided I would humor him (part of me suspected this must be a police investigation), but when I looked at the pictures I became truly terrified.
As I said, I am in the Goth culture here in Tampa, and as I am sure you know, that subculture attracts many paranormal enthusiasts.
Some of the people in these photographs were my friends! Most of the photos looked candid and snapped from hiding, and some of them bore time stamps and were obviously stills from CCTV footage.
As I looked over the photos, she kept staring and grinning at me. I had the feeling that even though the man was talking, she was the one in charge.
I have no idea why I knew this, but I did. I feigned ignorance and told them I had no idea who those people were, and that I was closing now, so they needed to leave. Mind you, they never sat down during this entire period.
They both grinned at me like they knew I was lying, the man unlocked the door, and both quietly walked out. They had not even taken a sip from their beers.
“The whole experience seemed dream-like to me, and I almost wanted to believe I had hallucinated it.
Remember how I said I abused my free credits on the jukebox? Well, once the two left I realized the juke was dead. I even remember what bands were playing before the two walked in: Iron Maiden followed by Siouxsie and the Banshees.
That particular model of a jukebox cannot be shut off by the remote; it would only die like that in the event of a power outage or if it had been unplugged. It was still plugged in, and no power outage had occurred. The bar closed two months later and I never saw the two again.
I contacted my former assistant manager and the one server I still keep in contact with, and asked them, nonchalantly, if they had experienced any odd occurrences involving black cars or odd phone calls. I did not tell them why I was asking.
Neither I nor they had any experiences with black cars, but they both told me that someone kept calling the bar on my nights off, asking for me by my full name. These calls only occurred in the two weeks prior to my encounter (or whatever you want to call it).
No one outside of my family, close friends, or lawyer know my middle name. It’s not even on my social security card.”
“Both the assistant manager and server told me that after they said I was not working that night, the voice on the other end, always female, would giggle and hang up.”
What Are The Women In Black?
What do you think Bizarros?
Are the Women In Black from the government trying to control the information that comes out about aliens and other paranormal events?
Could they be aliens themselves that are trying to control the human race?
Are the Women In Black and Men In Black the same thing? Or are they two different aliens/organizations that have competing interests in humans?
Let us know what you guys think.