Men in Black intimidate UFO enthusiast

The following is from an interview I conducted in 1995 with a fellow who lives here in Hamilton and this story appears in my book: "Glimpses 2" It Could Happen To You!" 

     Barry Roberts cannot hide his obvious Indian heritage. His thick black hair, dark skin and deep brown eyes give him away on first meeting. Barry’s ancestry on his mother’s side includes a Native Indian, who was a medicine man.

     Relaxing in his Hamilton, Ontario apartment, you automatically get the feeling that this is a likeable fellow, but very secretive. In fact, if it weren’t for the “Men in Black,” he’d probably tell you everything. Anyone familiar with unidentified flying objects also knows about the infamous MIBs. They are believed to be the government operatives, who attempt to deter anyone from sharing or revealing information about UFO’s.

      Raised in the small mining town of Atikokan, Ontario, Barry enjoyed nighttime skies in a panorama of lights that city folk can only imagine. As soon as he could read, he developed an interest in astrology and by the time he was a teenager, he could name just about anything he viewed in the heavens. In Grade 5, he read a book entitled The Interrupted Journey.

     This book, which is very well known, told the experience of Betty and Barney Hill. For those unfamiliar with it, the American couple found that a trip home from visiting friends was much longer than it should have been. Later, under hypnosis, they both told the same story about being taken into a space ship and examined by aliens. Now, back to Barry.

     “Me and my sister used to sit out in the back yard and it was just like a light show,” he said. “When I first saw a UFO, I was 12 years old.”

     This actually occurred during the day. He said a flying saucer with lights, but no sound, passed from one cloud to another. He raced inside to get his telescope, but when he returned the object was gone. With no one to back him up, Barry had to wait until one night when other members of his family were gathered outside.

     “We could see five or six of them. There was me, my mother, my sister – we all saw it. The objects we saw had numerous white lights that flew with complete disregard for aerodynamics.”

     Steep Rock Lake, which is just north of Atikokan, was the subject of a number of UFO investigations in the fall of 1950. It was reported in the local newspaper (which surprises me), that an executive employee of Steep Rock Iron Mines Limited had seen a UFO. Apparently, he was picnicking by the lake with his family, when they noticed a large, shiny object hovering above the water on the far shore about a quarter of a mile away. They described this saucer-shaped object as having “round, black-edged ports” about four feet apart, all around it.

     The account of this event in Mysterious Canada, by John Robert Columbo is somewhat complicated. However, the gist of it is that this family saw what appeared to be “humanoid creatures” that were about three and a half feet tall. They wore dark blue headpieces and shiny metallic body coverings, with a darker material on the legs and arms.”

       This story, which also appeared in the mining company’s employee publication, The Steep Rock Echo, was later called “fictitious” by the president of the mining company. He claimed it had been written simply for the amusement of folks in that rather isolated community. As far as I know, many people have spoken about the MIB phenomena, but that too is difficult to prove. Barry said it’s not difficult for him to believe at all.

     “My brother-in-law and I were moving furniture for my mother into an apartment building. We both were leaving to go home. We pushed the button (on the elevator) to go down. The doors opened and a man dressed totally in black was on it. He stepped to the side, as any polite person would, so we could get on. But in the time it took us to step in the elevator, he disappeared.”

     “My brother-in-law and I both started humming the Twilight Zone theme.” Barry noted that his brother-in-law had also experienced the UFO phenomenon and knew about the MIBs. He said they both got a quick glance at the being in the elevator and both of them saw “alien-type features.”

     “I’m still trying to figure out what that thing was. When we are together, we are stronger and things happen. To us, it was just another weird episode amongst weird episodes,”

     Barry claims he has seen many UFO’s in the glorious northern sky, as well as one in Scarborough, which is in southern Ontario. No one can convince him that they are not real. In fact, he said he developed physical side effects from them that have never gone away.

     “They are of the kind often reported by people who have seen or had contact with a UFO.”

     First, there is the voice that speaks aloud inside his head. If he refuses to listen, he gets a buzzing sound.  I noticed, at this point, that Barry was pressing hard on one ear. I wondered if a few serious accidents involving head injuries might be affecting him. However, Barry displayed no signs of a mental deficiency and was noticeably physically fit. He said the latter is due to his passion for running and lifting weights. At 36, he could lift 300 pounds. And his best time running was six miles in 36 minutes. He said he runs primarily as a “hobby” and to clear his head. However, he has run for specific causes.

     “I ran for a charity. I raised over $1,000 for them. I raised over $13,000 for an animal shelter.”

     Another symptom Barry attributes to his UFO sightings is his ability to know things, before they happen. When the telephone rings, he knows who is calling. If there’s a knock at the door, he knows who is visiting. If he dreams about someone, he knows he will soon hear from the person. One time, when his mother was in hospital for an operation, he said an unseen hand grabbed him.

     “I heard a voice say, ‘Don’t let me go.’ I called mom to find out what time the operation was and it was at the same time.”

     He also has a knack for finding and winning money, something a lot of us would love to have. When he worked in maintenance, he said sometimes money would just float down the garbage chute.

     One time, he found a Wintario ticket, took it to the store, cashed it in and bought another one and won on that one as well. He said it has come to the point that the fellow who runs the local corner store dreads seeing him coming.

     “Almost every ticket I pick up, I win. The guy at the store doesn’t like me coming in and winning all the time.”

     Whether Barry’s experiences are genuine or not, one thing is for sure. He certainly has Lady Luck on his side.

     “Where other people have to keep looking for work, jobs just come to me. People say I live a charmed life.”