Neil Armstrong and the Men in Black?

Although Neil Armstrong’s FBI file is not overflowing with mystery, it’s still well worth noting it, and for several intriguing reasons. The file – on the first man to step on the surface of our nearest neighbor, the Moon – is certainly not a long one, as I quickly found out when I secured a copy. The FBI states, in a covering note: “This release consists of 18 pages of FBI file references to Armstrong ranging from 1969 to 1985 relating primarily to requests for FBI name checks in consideration of executive appointment; no derogatory personnel information was found. Redactions were made primarily to protect the privacy of living persons.”

Neil Armstrong

One specific portion of the small file stands out. On February 2, 1976, the FBI’s Special Agent in Charge at the Cincinnati, Ohio office prepared a memo titled “Neil Armstrong – Information Concerning.” It provides the following information: “On January 29, 1976, Detective [deleted], Lebanon, Ohio advised that he had been contacted by several people working at the Lebanon Town Hall, including his mother. [Deleted] stated that on the previous day, two individuals, one a male Negro, the second a white male, had appeared at the Town Hall asking numerous questions about Neil Armstrong, the former astronaut, what his address was, how many children he had, where his children went to school, and inquired if he frequently ate at the Golden Lamb Restaurant and other personal question.”

The document continues: “These two individuals also went to the Town Tax Map Department and viewed diagrams of subject’s property and adjacent property and asked several questions in that department. According to [deleted] no one really questioned these two individuals, although they were suspicious and these individuals stated they had been in town just to take some photographs of the house as they were tourists.

“[Deleted] advised the only description he was able to get was they were both fairly young and male, and well-dressed. The Negro appeared to have a type of necklace, which had a quarter moon with a star on it. No one observed what type of automobile or any other details about these individuals. [Deleted] advised that on the following day, [deleted] came to the Town Hall and was quite concerned as to these two individuals and made a statement to one of the town employees, ‘I didn’t think they would go this far.’” Precisely what that means is anyone’s guess.

The report continues: “[Deleted] stated he is providing the information because of the notoriety of the Armstrong family and the strange activities by these two ‘tourists. [Deleted] stated he could be contacted at number [deleted] and that if anyone were to contact his mother regarding this situation, he wished to be contacted first as his mother has a heart condition.”

Having read the relevant section of the file a couple of times, it wasn’t hard for me to notice the MIB-style aspects of the story. The two men were described as being “well-dressed,” which strongly suggests they were wearing suits. The reference to the mysterious pair being “in town just to take some photographs of the house as they were tourists,” strongly and eerily echoed the actions of the so-called “phantom photographers” of MIB lore and legend and which John Keel investigated in the 1960s and 1970s. Finally, the issue of the pair asking questions concerning “how many children” Armstrong had, and “where his children went to school,” very much reminded me of the actions of the MIB-linked “Phantom Social Workers” (PSW) and “Bogus Social Workers” (BSW) which I wrote about, here at Mysterious Universe, just recently.

Men in Black and the world’s most famous astronaut? Or, a strange and innocent affair that got completely blown out of proportion? Who knows?

Nick Redfern
MysteriousUniverse