An Encounter with the Creepiest Couple of All | Mysterious Universe
In the early part of 1987, an extremely weird affair – one that was, perhaps, even supernaturally orchestrated – occurred in the confines of a Manhattan bookstore. It involved someone who was heavily masked, hidden, camouflaged, who was clearly not human, and who left a deep, lasting impression on the witness. That impression was most assuredly not a positive one, however. The strange character may very well have been a Woman in Black, a female equivalent of the dreaded Men in Black that have plagued UFO witnesses for decades – and maybe for longer. The woman was not alone, however. She had a male companion, as the WIB sometimes do. The time-frame, the location, and the witness, are three of the most important aspects of the story, as will now become apparent. It was a wintry, freezing, and dark Saturday afternoon in the latter part of January 1987 and a man named Bruce Lee – who worked as a senior editor at a New York publishing house, William Morrow & Co. – walked into a bookstore on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It was the now- closed-down Womrath’s, on Lexington Avenue. Also with Lee was his wife.
It turns out that William Morrow & Co. had then very recently published Whitley Strieber’s New York Times’ bestseller, Communion – it was a book that told of Strieber’s very own and deeply personal encounters of the so-called “alien abduction” variety. But, you probably know that, right? Womrath’s had a large display set up for Communion and they also stocked a couple of Lee’s own books. Quite naturally, Lee, who had also worked for Reader’s Digest and Newsweek, was curious to see how both of the displays looked. At this point, Lee and his wife parted and she headed off to the fiction section. Lee’s attention was suddenly drawn to a strange couple that entered the store. In his own words, the pair headed “directly for Communion.” He explained: “I mean, it was just, you could see them come in – they didn’t know where the book was, you couldn’t see it from the street – and they came in and headed right back for where that rack was. Most unusual, if you see what I mean.” Yes, we do.
That was not the only unusual thing about that fateful, Saturday afternoon, however. Both the man and the woman were barely five feet in height – maybe even slightly smaller. They had scarves that covered their chins, hats pulled tightly down, and huge, black sunglasses. They also appeared to begin speed-reading the book, noting out loud – one might even suggest for Lee’s benefit – where Strieber had “got this wrong” and “got that wrong.” They also “giggled” in a strange, unsettling fashion. Such creepy laughter is far from being unknown in the world of the Men in Black.
Quite naturally, taking into consideration the fact that he worked for the very publisher that had just released Communion, Lee walked over and asked the pair what was wrong with the book. The woman suddenly looked up, at which point Lee was able to see through her sunglasses that her eyes were not just large, but huge, and shaped like almonds. Lee, by his own admission, felt the hackles on the back of his neck rise, and got a “mad dog” feeling emanating from the woman. He was likely not wrong when he observed: “I got to feeling that I was in eyeball contact with somebody who did not like me at all.”
Such was the nature of the woman, Lee literally began to shake, backed away, quickly looked for his wife, and fled the store. “I didn’t want to get bitten” he said.
In the early part of 1987, an extremely weird affair – one that was, perhaps, even supernaturally orchestrated – occurred in the confines of a Manhattan bookstore. It involved someone who was heavily masked, hidden, camouflaged, who was clearly not human, and who left a deep, lasting impression on the witness. That impression was most assuredly not a positive one, however. The strange character may very well have been a Woman in Black, a female equivalent of the dreaded Men in Black that have plagued UFO witnesses for decades – and maybe for longer. The woman was not alone, however. She had a male companion, as the WIB sometimes do. The time-frame, the location, and the witness, are three of the most important aspects of the story, as will now become apparent. It was a wintry, freezing, and dark Saturday afternoon in the latter part of January 1987 and a man named Bruce Lee – who worked as a senior editor at a New York publishing house, William Morrow & Co. – walked into a bookstore on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It was the now- closed-down Womrath’s, on Lexington Avenue. Also with Lee was his wife.
It turns out that William Morrow & Co. had then very recently published Whitley Strieber’s New York Times’ bestseller, Communion – it was a book that told of Strieber’s very own and deeply personal encounters of the so-called “alien abduction” variety. But, you probably know that, right? Womrath’s had a large display set up for Communion and they also stocked a couple of Lee’s own books. Quite naturally, Lee, who had also worked for Reader’s Digest and Newsweek, was curious to see how both of the displays looked. At this point, Lee and his wife parted and she headed off to the fiction section. Lee’s attention was suddenly drawn to a strange couple that entered the store. In his own words, the pair headed “directly for Communion.” He explained: “I mean, it was just, you could see them come in – they didn’t know where the book was, you couldn’t see it from the street – and they came in and headed right back for where that rack was. Most unusual, if you see what I mean.” Yes, we do.
That was not the only unusual thing about that fateful, Saturday afternoon, however. Both the man and the woman were barely five feet in height – maybe even slightly smaller. They had scarves that covered their chins, hats pulled tightly down, and huge, black sunglasses. They also appeared to begin speed-reading the book, noting out loud – one might even suggest for Lee’s benefit – where Strieber had “got this wrong” and “got that wrong.” They also “giggled” in a strange, unsettling fashion. Such creepy laughter is far from being unknown in the world of the Men in Black.
Quite naturally, taking into consideration the fact that he worked for the very publisher that had just released Communion, Lee walked over and asked the pair what was wrong with the book. The woman suddenly looked up, at which point Lee was able to see through her sunglasses that her eyes were not just large, but huge, and shaped like almonds. Lee, by his own admission, felt the hackles on the back of his neck rise, and got a “mad dog” feeling emanating from the woman. He was likely not wrong when he observed: “I got to feeling that I was in eyeball contact with somebody who did not like me at all.”
Such was the nature of the woman, Lee literally began to shake, backed away, quickly looked for his wife, and fled the store. “I didn’t want to get bitten” he said.