Yeah, they are very much like those bedroom invader type cases.

Joseph:

You’re absolutely right when you say: “…it’s probably an old tradition with a new, sleeker undefined face.’

Whatever the MIB are, they have been around a lot longer than since the modern era of Ufology kicked off. You can find them here, there and just about everywhere in Forteana if you look closely.

RPJ:

Yep, the MIB are indeed pure theater.

Greg:

666 - uh-oh, my satanic cover is blown!

If they were really serious about silencing witnesses, they should just kill them. Instead they give them the heeve jeebes with their awkward staged presence —the theatricality of the encounter is paramount— which refrains the witness from discussing his experience; but this is only temporary, since eventually we all learn from them, don’t we? And those “we” are the people who are fascinated by these kind of weird shit, in other words: the underdogs, who might have a cultural impact in the very long run.

So the MIBS are another control system that ensures the public gets acquainted with the phenomenon, but in a very subliminal and slow way.

From Witchcraft and Sorcery of the American Native Peoples, edited by Deward E. Walker:

“Well, first I should say that the old Indian doctors could see sickness like a shadow, as it passed from one person to another. Now there was an old fellow lived back of Zoar. He said one day he saw a shadow coming a northwesterly direction, a shape. It went into all the houses, just slapped the people as it went past…Sure enough, the next day all those people were sick with deep colds, this phlegm, h’naek, was bad.

“Now my girlfriend had a fever. It was high. I was going to call the doctor the next day, but I decided to take some peyote. I did, and I gave her some. She quieted down, breathed easier. All of sudden she screamed and jumped at me, and said, “Look! Look out the window!” I did, while holding her, and there was this thing. It looked like those advertisements for Jack Frost or the West Wind. I saw it there. If he touched her she’d have pneumonia. But I felt sure. I was full of the Holy Spirit. I knew he couldn’t touch me, and I told him to go, and he did. The next day she was well and healthy. This thing looked like the disease shape. It has no definite form and is all shadowy.”

This account was drawn from interviews with Peyote Cult members of the Menomini Indian Tribe.