This is a topic mentioned to me by a Mr.Byers. After my topic on Mothman he asked if I had anything on black eyed children. A little perplexed I asked him about it he gave me a link to ufodigest to read on for myself. This is what I’ve learned as well as connecting the dots in my head.
For anyone that has seen the Ju-on* movies will be familiar with the appearance of a BEK, though I don’t believe they’re purely just spirit related. My reason for saying this is that the BEK’s strongly remind me of some books on the paranormal my dad has. When I was little, about six or seven, he’d let me read them and I devoured the information. Due to my limited reading capacity at the time I could only read so much, but there was a passage that stuck with me the most. Don’t worry this anecdote is almost over. The passage in question involved the so called MIB and people that have had them visit into their home. The “guests” would put the home owner in a state of unease in their presence as well as showing ignorance to everyday household items. The reports in the book also stated they were deathly pale and appeared to be wearing make up in an attempt to mimic a more normal appearance. From this between the BEK’s and MIB reported in the book(s) a couple parallels can be drawn.
A) Both appear to be ordinary humans at first. There is a sense of unease about them but until we place our finger on what’s wrong we might ignore it. With the BEK’s it’s when it’s realized their eyes are pitch black, cornea and all. The MIB, depending on who it is (there have to be some human ones in the ranks after all), may show an ignorance of common items or while try to mimic our behaviors but do so in jerky or mechanical way, again creating a sense of unease.
B) A sense of urgency in both. For the BEK’s they attempt to try and enter ones home or vehicle. The reason for such will vary on the situation but the longer they are denied entry the more urgent they become. For the MIB the urgency is in secrecy. Again the situation will vary but the usual cause for their appearance is to enforce some level of secrecy even going so far as to threaten the individuals in question at the time.
To the BEK’s, a connection to them and “classical” vampires can be drawn via the needing an invitation. For me that connection just isn’t there. I’m more inclined to think that they’re more than likely related in some form to extraterrestrials. They tend to pop up around evening and later, much like most ufo sightings. They also have the dark eyes which, for anyone that is familiar with the stereotypical “greys” appearance, can see similarities there. Perhaps the BEK’s are in disguise to act as scouts for potential marks and for whatever reason they still need their eyes exposed. In to the artical linked below it is stated perhaps the fear they instill in us is sourced to their eyes. Mayhaps if their disguise covered them it would act in a similar way to why they don’t wear sunglasses to cover the unsettling feature. They need us to see their eyes.
However there is one small problem with the BEK’s, or rather the sightings of them. Like many possible spectres of the paranormal, e.t. or spirit, they fall prey to Hoaxitis. One I’m sure everyone knows of is the famous picture of nessie that turned out to be a modified toy sub. While it lasted it was grand, but once it was shown false the skeptics had many an “I told you so” to rub in. Unless someone has a security camera the time the BEK, or anything else for that matter, comes knocking there will be no real evidence to validate the experience. To make matters worse we are the easiest ones to convince when it comes to something we believe. There was an episode of the Unexplained that put that point across nicely. If everyone will allow me to ramble again the study they performed went as such:
They took a group of people out by some caution tape. Said tape was supposed to be guarding off a fake ufo crash sight. They then took their group and asked them what they saw. Needless to say a majority of the group had fabricated something in their minds, all without meaning to. Their study being a test on the mind and how time affects memory they repeated the questions to the group sixth months later. The earlier fabrications now almost wildly different from before. One of them even stated the fake MP’s there pointed guns at them even though the group hadn’t even gotten anywhere near them to see them.
Now then the point to the secondary anecdote. A portion of all sightings are fake in one form or another. Whether an unintended creation of our own mind or a hoax played on us, we have to accept some aren’t real. I don’t doubt that BEK’s exist just that there is cause to believe that some sightings aren’t credible. That can be said till were all blue in the face though it would change few peoples minds. In the words of my former communications teacher, it’s easier to change someones attitude than it is to change ones beliefs.
Now then, I leave everyone with one last BEK picture because I wanted to shove it in somewhere. I’m off to go read up more information.
Credits : Ju-on the curse, Spectrumville.net, Mysteriousuniverse.org, and information via http://www.ufodigest.com/news/0806/bek2.html
* The Ju-on movies are the original Japanese “grudge” movies that the American versions were based off of.
Paranormal Explained 
hey
thanks for doing this- its interesting reading your thoughts on this subject. i particularly like your comparison to MIBs…i have two storys to tell you on this
the first one is one i read in a book. im not sure if you’re british or not, but anyways, i am and i remember reading about a story from a couple of decades back (think it was the 80s) that happened in the UK. the story was of officials who would come to peoples houses and claim to be social services- they would ask about the person’s children and even try to take them away under various stories (assumably that they werent safe in the parent’s care etc.)
now the interesting thing is, is that this phenomenon spread throughout england. cases sprung up in a similar fashion, and then i think it spread to the US, but not to the extent of the UK…not sure what you think of that, being the skeptic i am, perhaps once the story was talked about people fabricated their own ideas, much like your stated experiment. now number 2…..
the second one is a story that is rather interesting for me personally, as it happened relatively close to where i live. if you wish to research it type in ‘solway spaceman’.
the story here is that a man and photographed his daughter in the n. england area and when it came out, there was a rather silly looking figure in a spacesuit just ‘hovering’ in the background.
now, the man had the photo inspected by whichever processing film it was and they said it hadnt been tampered with, so he was left a little perplexed by it.
some time later, he was approached by two men in black, who i believe questioned him about it, then left him stranded.
now here i think there is two stories….firstly the ‘spaceman’ – was it real? a hoax?..and secondly we have the men afterwards…was that real? a hoax?
its an interesting story, though i dont think there is a lot written on it
anyways- thanks for reading
rich
You’re very welcome, it was a pleasure to write on the subject. I’m not British but American of mostly Irish descent.
To the first story that sounds more like it could have been a kidnapping ring than MIB (or their affiliates). If those stories were genuine I could only hope that they were still able to keep their children and for the ring to have been busted up. It’s bad enough there are people that steal infants trussed up as nurses, we don’t need fake services nicking our kids.
To the second story that does sound rather interesting. Sounds a lot like another case here though there wasn’t any photographic evidence of it. I believe you’ve given me another topic to write on my fine sir. Though I’ll need to dig my dad’s books back out to do some research again.
yes- i agree it does sound like that, even taking my skeptism into account i would have said it was less unusual than many stories i have read.
what i actually forgot to add it (and the reason i mentioned it at all) was that the people showed the signs you listed- unawareness of normal human behaviour, wierd features…just something plainy off
paranormal? no…i dont think so- all of these symptoms are the sign of people who are poorly trying to portray something theyre not, and show all the signs of nervousness too.
still its worth considering if most of these BEKs are just children wanting access to someones home. but then again its worth also thinking that given the relatively young age of most of the reports, how many would have came across such stories of BEKs in the first place to replicate? the teenage ones yes- that is very likely, however the younger ones are very interesting
i should probably state here that i do not at all believe in BEKs, which may seem strange given i suggested them to you. i do however find the legend itself interesting, as it draws similarities to other stories.
now the other factor to think about- lack of images. i have yet to find a real image of one of these BEKs. something that may be accounted for due to the reciever’s terror, however more likely is the fact that 99% of the stories are made up.
the other 1%? well thats a good question. i assume (a dangerous thing to do i know 🙂 ) that the person had an experience they *think* was a BEK, perhaps they were approached by someone who scared them and then the thought grew in their mind until it was blown out of proportion.
if the story was told by her, after that it may be basic pyschology….tell someone to expect something and the chances of the experiencing it go up vastly….the mind creates what it expects.
lastly im interested in the books you use to research…they sound a lot like what i used to have (i sold them)…they had a lot of similar accounts in, though there are of course many books on the paranormal.
i can remember a few of the phenomena discussed, so if you want to share ideas, im all up for a skeptical pros and cons paranormal discussion sometime 🙂
rich
And there’s the folly to many things researched within the paranormal in that there’s always the 99% that can be debunked. It’s that holy grail of the one percent we strive for.
To the books I mentioned they were black hardcovers with paper made to look like leather with “silver” embossing on the covers and spines. They covered things from UFO’s to hauntings and I loved them very much. I’ll need to dig them back up from somewhere in the house. Aside from that My other books that I use are in my recommendations post. A lot of it can use as fun to read material since I learn as I read. I need to delve into more research when my back quits hurting. Hard to concentrate when you feel like you have a rod going through you.
As to the offer I’d be more than happy to gain more information from you to type on about. After all that was my main purpose for this blog, haha.