Flying Saucers and the Three Men

Clarksburg, WV: Saucerian Books, 1962. First Edition. First edition, first printing. Signed by Albert K. Bender on the front free endpaper and warmly inscribed in the year of publication, "Best wishes to my good friend George Lush 9/3/62." 194 pp. Bound in publisher's blue cloth stamped in dark blue. Fine in dust jacket, trivial wear at crown and edges else Fine. A superlative copy of an autobiographical expose of aliens and mysterious happenings by the founder of International Flying Saucer Bureau. Most notably, this book was one of the first to mention the phenomenon of the Men in Black (referenced in the popular comic book & film series). Reputedly (truncated) the MIBs harassed the author and eventually made him abandon ufology altogether. Less well-known are the circumstances that may have led to these encounters. Bender was also an active practitioner of the occult with (ahem) singular interior design tastes that may have influenced his state of mind, as mentioned in this passage by Michael Bielawa: "Albert was employed as chief timekeeper at Acme Shear Co., the world’s largest manufacturer of scissors. [...] Perhaps it was Bender’s sense of humor, but in an ironic salute to his job Bender filled his living space with an assortment of twenty chiming clocks. Every fifteen minutes, half hour and on the hour, 784 Broad Street resounded with the din of bells, bells, bells. But the cacophony of ticking timepieces and alarms were merely a small part of Bender’s eccentricities. The timekeeper enjoyed his privacy living in the attic (and its small connected den) of his step-father’s three-story Broad Street home. At some point when Bender entered his late-20s, Albert adorned his realm with a collection of monstrosities. Faux skulls, shrunken heads, and his own original, outsider art. Should friends stop-over Albert made sure to compliment the atmosphere with unnerving sound effects featuring thunder, sobbing and hissing noises on his record player. Enamored with ghost stories and horror movies, the terror connoisseur claimed his blood flowed with ancestral witchcraft. Fittingly Bender dubbed this attic room his 'Chamber of Horrors.'". (Inventory #: 140947822)