Manifestations of Folklore
On one occasion, an MiB encounter occurred because of the direction of scholarly research. It was November 1980, and University of Pennsylvania PhD candidate Peter Rojcewicz was investigating the folkloric aspects of UFOs (much in the manner of Carl Jung). Rojcewicz had a late-afternoon encounter in a library with a man in black who approached, as Rojcewicz recalled, “[w]ithout any sound.” The stranger wore an oversized black suit, a black, Texas-style string tie, and scuffed black shoes. He walked around Rojcewicz’s table, stared through a nearby window, and then sat down. His actions were “mechanical,” his accent unorthodox and unidentifiable (though Rojcewicz later recalled it as “European”). Contrary to the nature of many other MiB encounters, the apparent
purpose of this visit was to instruct rather than to threaten. Nevertheless, the man became agitated over Rojcewicz’s inclination toward the abstract, and loudly said, “Flying saucers are the most important fact of the century, and you’re not interested?” At this, Rojcewicz grew alarmed, and noticed—to his dismay—that the library was suddenly, inexplicably empty but for him and the stranger.
The man insisted to Rojcewicz that the central issue of UFO studies was the crafts’ simple reality. Folklore, the scholar was told, was merely an interpretive sidelight—an intellectual diversion.
Rojcewicz was undeterred. His 1984 doctoral dissertation is called “The Boundaries of Orthodoxy: A Folkloric Look at the UFO Phenomenon.” He went on to teach at the Juilliard School, and hold administrative positions with John F. Kennedy University and Antioch University Seattle. Today, Rojcewicz operates a consulting firm that tutors business executives in holistic leadership. He remains a noted folklorist.
Dr. Rojcewicz said nothing about the odd stranger for many years; indeed, in 1987, when he first published details of his MiB encounter, he wrote his paper in the third person, identifying the scholar as “Mark Elliott” (a name the article identifies as a pseudonym). Rojcewicz later admitted that he was Elliott.
Regardless, Rojcewicz’s published papers invoking the MiB phenomenon apprehend men in black as ancient archetypes, perhaps akin to the three mysterious men that visit Abraham in the Book of Genesis. In Rojcewicz’s view, MiB “are part of the extraordinary-encounter continuum—fairies [in the malevolent mold of medieval belief], monsters, ETs, energy forms, flying saucers, flaming crosses,” and other oddities. The devil, the professor says, is another MiB analogue. (Dr. Rojcewicz’s thoughts about alien abduction are shaped along similar lines; he equates abduction claims to a belief in fairies, and warns that memories of abduction encounters can culminate in “severe depression” and “paralysis, burns, and disorientation.”)
It is vital to note, particularly in light of the Rojcewicz/Elliott relationship, that a) Rojcewicz described Mark Elliott as a person who had “never heard or read about” MiB, and b) Rojcewicz’s published works do not assume that encounters with MiB are invariably faked, or otherwise not real. To the contrary, he invoked his 1987 paper (called “The ‘Men in Black’ Experience and Tradition”) to remind other folklorists to “seriously entertain the possibility that a real experience lies behind traditional belief” [emphasis added]. Personal experience is everything.