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Black-Eyed Kids

Tribble said:
On the wall of a swim school in Australia... Imagine trying to learn to swim and seeing this looking at you...
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Sometimes no other phrase will do but that ancient northern English expression of consternation, 'Fuck my old boots!!!'
 
Spookdaddy said:
Sometimes no other phrase will do but that ancient northern English expression of consternation, 'Fuck my old boots!!!'
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In what art of God's green earth does anyone think that picture looks OK? Whoever signed that off, is a sociopath.
 
Dunno if there are any other Adventure Time fans on this board, but they've recently done a wonderfully fun (and creepy!) send-up of BEKs and late-night paranormal talk radio called "blank-eyed girl".
Definitely worth a watch if you like Adventure Time. :D
 

This man tries to be fair and presents the issue in a balanced way, I think.
 
The (usually very good) "Astonishing Legends" Podcast is publishing a three-part series on the Black Eyed Kids. This includes an interview with Brian Bethel, who was the first one to describe them on the internet.

They also delve into much older myths and folklore that includes beings similar to Black Eyed Kids, like the Scandinavian "mylings". I'm only half way through episode 2, but this seems to be a very well done look at the background of these accounts.

http://www.astonishinglegends.com/
 
Kingsize Wombat said:
The (usually very good) "Astonishing Legends" Podcast is publishing a three-part series on the Black Eyed Kids. This includes an interview with Brian Bethel, who was the first one to describe them on the internet.

They also delve into much older myths and folklore that includes beings similar to Black Eyed Kids, like the Scandinavian "mylings". I'm only half way through episode 2, but this seems to be a very well done look at the background of these accounts.

http://www.astonishinglegends.com/
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Yep its a great podcast

For a funnier look at BEK's http://www.blurryphotos.org/episode-53-black-eyed-kids/
 
Probably a joke but I just spotted this on Facebook

IMG_20190829_204817.jpg
 
'Threw up a shield'. What does that even mean?
 
A PBS piece from 2021:
https://www.pbs.org/video/dont-let-them-in-the-urban-legends-of-black-eyed-children-oht8de/

And an interesting article on the phenomenon from the earliest modern reports:
https://texashillcountry.com/black-eyed-kids-legend-abilene/

Which had this interesting bit in the story:
It’s easy to disbelieve Bethel’s story. The internet has made growing new legends relatively easy with sites like Creepypasta and the subreddit, nosleep (both full of stories about black-eyed kids.) However, Bethel’s story predates these websites. It wasn’t until his story became more widely known that lots of folks came forward with their own Black-eyed Kids encounters. Some of them take place in Texas. There’s a couple stories dating back to 1974 and 1950, in other countries.
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The 1974 and 1950 link goes to this website:
https://listverse.com/2016/06/15/10-bizarre-but-chilling-encounters-with-black-eyed-children/
Both early stories being reported by David Weatherly, a tale from France being the 1974 one:
According to David Weatherly’s investigations, a strange encounter involving black-eyed children occurred in the small village of Aisne, France, in 1974. The case was originally investigated by Joel Mesnard and Jean Marie Bigorne and involved two men named only as Alain G. and Patrick V.


While leisurely driving around the small village, the two men stopped their car in front of a house while attempting to do a turn in the road. As they glanced into the property’s courtyard, they saw five mysterious figures, who appeared to be looking at them. The figures were around 1.3 meters (4 ft) tall and were all dressed in the same long garments. Their hair was long, seemingly right down to their waists. The strangest thing by far, however, was their solid black eyes.


The figure closest to the men’s car gestured to them to come into the courtyard. Unnerved and frightened, the men sped away from the scene. It is claimed that they returned later with more people with them, but there was no sign of the strange figures they’d seen earlier that day.


When investigators spoke to people in the area, one neighbor stated that he had also seen the strange figures. He believed they were children and had seen them playing in the road.
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And the earliest one from that website is from Virginia in 1950:
One of the earliest known accounts of black-eyed children dates back to 1950 in Virginia and concerns a 16-year-old boy, known only as “Harold.”


According to the story, which was researched and investigated by David Weatherly, the teenager was walking home one afternoon when he came across another boy leaning against a fence, as if waiting for someone. Harold attempted to speak to him but received no response. He was about to walk off and go on with his journey, when the strange boy suddenly stated to Harold, “I want to go to your house. You’re going to walk me up to your house.”


It was then that Harold noticed the blackness of the boy’s eyes. There was no white, just solid black. Then something even stranger and more chilling happened: Harold had begun to contemplate turning and running home as fast as he could when the boy blurted out, “Now, don’t you run away from me. You’re going to walk me up to your house.”


Harold turned and ran anyway, faster than his legs had ever carried him before. He later recalled to his parents that as he did so, he heard a scream behind him—a scream that sounded very similar to that of a bobcat.


Interestingly, his parents believed their son’s account, so much so that his father was said to have grabbed his gun and immediately gone out looking for the menacing boy who had demanded his son take him to their family home. His mother apparently thought her son had an encounter with the Devil himself and stated that she would take him to see the local priest.
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According to David Weatherly’s investigations, a strange encounter involving black-eyed children occurred in the small village of Aisne, France, in 1974. The case was originally investigated by Joel Mesnard and Jean Marie Bigorne and involved two men named only as Alain G. and Patrick V.
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Aisne is not a village but a "département", the French equivalent of a county.

Joel Mesnard and Jean Marie Bigorne are French ufologists. Bigorne was a former customs officer. Both published books about UFOs but I did not manage to find any book they would have authored together (I searched on Google Books, and on the main French bookseller websites). All I could find (on Google Books) was Mesnard quoting Bigorne in one of his books. I could not find the source of the black-eyed children story.
 
MrRING said:
A PBS piece from 2021:
https://www.pbs.org/video/dont-let-them-in-the-urban-legends-of-black-eyed-children-oht8de/

And an interesting article on the phenomenon from the earliest modern reports:
https://texashillcountry.com/black-eyed-kids-legend-abilene/

Which had this interesting bit in the story:

The 1974 and 1950 link goes to this website:
https://listverse.com/2016/06/15/10-bizarre-but-chilling-encounters-with-black-eyed-children/
Both early stories being reported by David Weatherly, a tale from France being the 1974 one:

And the earliest one from that website is from Virginia in 1950:
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That 1950 Virginia one is a great find, more so for me personally as I was starting to lose faith in BEKs
 
Unless there is disease or genetic problem, nature will not allow us to have true black eyes.

People can have dark brown eyes that kinda look black.

Our body protects us because if we had true black eyes, black eyes would let too much UV light into the retinas.

I don’t think there are kids with black eyes walking around.
 
charliebrown said:
Unless there is disease or genetic problem, nature will not allow us to have true black eyes.

People can have dark brown eyes that kinda look black.

Our body protects us because if we had true black eyes, black eyes would let too much UV light into the retinas.

I don’t think there are kids with black eyes walking around.
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The idea is that these have totally black eyes, pupil, iris and sclera - that it is meant to be something other than natural.
 
charliebrown said:
Our body protects us because if we had true black eyes, black eyes would let too much UV light into the retinas.
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That's why children instinctively know that when they spot a monster under their bed or in their wardrobe, all they have to do is to turn the lights on. This will instantly blind the black-eyed monster, who will have to run to his ophtalmologist in order to cure his wounds. Hence my question : are ophtalmologists more prone to see black-eyed people ? :p

Seriously. I think Charliebrown is right to point out the importance of physics, even when we consider a "supernatural" phenomenon. We tend to call "supernatural" things we don't understand, but it doesn't mean that these phenoma, should they be proven real, are above the laws of nature.

It is therefore sensible to admit that, if fully black-eyed people do exist, this would have some impacts on what stands as their "body". The blackness of these eyes would have a purpose. If it doesn't, it may simply mean that this purpose is of symbolic nature. And if this purpose is symbolic, as we don't live on symbols, it is all the more likely that such or such creature is rather a cultural creation, or a myth.

So on the physical plane, what could explain pitch black eyes ? Sunglasses, for instance. A black-eyed being perhaps hides is true eyes under a sunglass-like device we mistake for his eyes. Or perhaps, such a creature would have black eyes because he lives in a very luminous environment. By comparison, the Earth being extremely dark, he has to widen his pupils to the extreme in order to adapt his vision. Or perhaps, as it has been shown on various experiments that humans tend to find people with enlarged pupils more attractive, black-eyed people would widen their pupils in order to influence us (and awkwardly achieve the opposite ...).

On the symbolic plane, there is a common saying that the eyes are the "windows of the soul". So pitch black eyes would be indicative of a dark soul or worse, as absence of soul. We find plenty of red-eyed creatures in the Western folklore for the same kind of reasons.

I suspect black-eyed kids are just a urban legend, and therefore, their black eyes are simply a symbol of their lack of soul.
 
AmStramGram said:
That's why children instinctively know that when they spot a monster under their bed or in their wardrobe, all they have to do is to turn the lights on. This will instantly blind the black-eyed monster, who will have to run to his ophtalmologist in order to cure his wounds. Hence my question : are ophtalmologists more prone to see black-eyed people ? :p

Seriously. I think Charliebrown is right to point out the importance of physics, even when we consider a "supernatural" phenomenon. We tend to call "supernatural" things we don't understand, but it doesn't mean that these phenoma, should they be proven real, are above the laws of nature.

It is therefore sensible to admit that, if fully black-eyed people do exist, this would have some impacts on what stands as their "body". The blackness of these eyes would have a purpose. If it doesn't, it may simply mean that this purpose is of symbolic nature. And if this purpose is symbolic, as we don't live on symbols, it is all the more likely that such or such creature is rather a cultural creation, or a myth.

So on the physical plane, what could explain pitch black eyes ? Sunglasses, for instance. A black-eyed being perhaps hides is true eyes under a sunglass-like device we mistake for his eyes. Or perhaps, such a creature would have black eyes because he lives in a very luminous environment. By comparison, the Earth being extremely dark, he has to widen his pupils to the extreme in order to adapt his vision. Or perhaps, as it has been shown on various experiments that humans tend to find people with enlarged pupils more attractive, black-eyed people would widen their pupils in order to influence us (and awkwardly achieve the opposite ...).

On the symbolic plane, there is a common saying that the eyes are the "windows of the soul". So pitch black eyes would be indicative of a dark soul or worse, as absence of soul. We find plenty of red-eyed creatures in the Western folklore for the same kind of reasons.

I suspect black-eyed kids are just a urban legend, and therefore, their black eyes are simply a symbol of their lack of soul.
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Plus, if they didn't have 'all black eyes' they would just be...kids?
 
In nature, there are plenty of dark eyed animals. Technically these animal's eyes aren't black, but likely dark brown, with some shapes apparent within them that conform more with the typical eye parts. While the writers talk about the eyes as being straight black, if real and biological they are likely more like these natural animals and just very dark. Perhaps they are seeing a spectrum of light that we can't see with these dark eyes, and that to our limited lightwave spectrum the eyes appear dark but that in fact they are actually a brilliant color we can't detect. If they are real and supernatural, there doesn't need to be a logical or biology-based reason for the black eyes per se that I know of, at least to my way of thinking.


lemur.pngowl.pngraccoon.png
 
In old American western films the bad guys wore black hats and black clothes on dark color horses, and the good guys wore white hats and light colored clothes on light colored horses.

So kids with black eyes are the devil’s kids, and kids with light colored eyes are angelic which is not true.

This is how we are taught with color what is good and evil when we are young.

Kids are just kids and some behave and some are more difficult.
 
MrRING said:
In nature, there are plenty of dark eyed animals. Technically these animal's eyes aren't black, but likely dark brown, with some shapes apparent within them that conform more with the typical eye parts. While the writers talk about the eyes as being straight black, if real and biological they are likely more like these natural animals and just very dark. Perhaps they are seeing a spectrum of light that we can't see with these dark eyes, and that to our limited lightwave spectrum the eyes appear dark but that in fact they are actually a brilliant color we can't detect. If they are real and supernatural, there doesn't need to be a logical or biology-based reason for the black eyes per se that I know of, at least to my way of thinking.


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One suggestion is that black eyes help prey animals stay hidden:

https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/do-any-mammals-other-than-humans-have-whites-of-the-eyes/
 
charliebrown said:
In old American western films the bad guys wore black hats and black clothes on dark color horses, and the good guys wore white hats and light colored clothes on light colored horses.

So kids with black eyes are the devil’s kids, and kids with light colored eyes are angelic which is not true.

This is how we are taught with color what is good and evil when we are young.

Kids are just kids and some behave and some are more difficult.
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People aren't talking about eye colour. Not about brown, grey, whatever in the iris. They are talking about the entire visible part of the eyeball being black - no iris, no pupil visible, just a black surface.

The phenomenon being reported isn't about "good" or "naughty" kids. It's about something that looks like a child until you see its eyes... which are totally black: pupil, iris and sclera!

Like this from a review on https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/black_eyed_children_let_me_in

1651775943198.png
 
The 1950 Virginia case, if of trustworthy provenance, strongly argues against the BEK phenomenon being just a recent urban legend spawned by Brian Bethel’s tale. I wonder if there are other reports and unreported experiences like this. The appearance and behavior of the 1950 BEK and the way the story unfolds is strikingly similar. It suggests that this is either some kind of psychic manifestation of a Jungian archetype, like the dark-side equivalent of a BVM appearance, or God help us evidence of shape shifting demons among us. As someone who has had close second hand experience of apparent malevolent entities that try to enter one’s mind and exert bad influence, I’m willing to at least entertain the possibility of the latter. Straddling the fence is my preferred position on almost all stuff like this - if there’s a chance that these things actually exist, it’s wise to at least be somewhat familiar with them just in case.

The symbolic meaning of the black eyes is obvious. But I think the choice of the form of a young teen or pre-teen is interesting because I for one harbor at least some fear as to what real flesh-and-blood kids of this age group, perhaps badly raised and poorly supervised, without a fully formed moral compass and with weak impulse control, heavily influenced by the nihilistic violence of movies etc, are capable of. It reflects a fear about the state of our society.
 
ChrisBoardman said:
A real photo for once, Omayra Sanchez, just a child in poor health. ...
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Just for the record ... The photo illustrates someone with the completely darkened eyes associated with the BEK descriptions.

However, this child isn't merely "in ill health."

This famous photo is of Omayra Sánchez - a 13-year-old Colombian girl who died after being entrapped by catastrophic mudflows triggered by a 1985 volcanic eruption. The photo was taken in the final day (perhaps the final hour(s)) of her 60-hour ordeal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omayra_Sánchez
 
EnolaGaia said:
Just for the record ... The photo illustrates someone with the completely darkened eyes associated with the BEK descriptions.

However, this child isn't merely "in ill health."

This famous photo is of Omayra Sánchez - a 13-year-old Colombian girl who died after being entrapped by catastrophic mudflows triggered by a 1985 volcanic eruption. The photo was taken in the final day (perhaps the final hour(s)) of her 60-hour ordeal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omayra_Sánchez
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Sad and horrifying
 
And my dog has completely black eyes. There's only a tinge of white when she rolls her eyes (which she does quite a lot, living with me). She's a hunter, not a prey animal and her vision is extraordinarily good, even in bright light. So I'm not sure where that leaves us re BEKs.

ETA, she does have a darker pupil, but you have to get really close in order to see it, and by then she's had your face off.
 
Sometimes people's pupils can become so dilated, their eyes appear black, though I'm not sure to what extent. Belladonna can cause dilation of pupils.

Years ago when I worked with kids in the care system, there was a 10 year old girl who'd been sexually abused (mom would lock her in her bedroom with men). She of course was not living at home when I knew her. She had a favourite male staff who she just adored. It was a treatment residence that she lived at and it had a gym area which we would use to allow a child having some behavioural difficulties to blow of steam in a safe space.

One day this girl ended up in the gym and the male staff was monitoring her. His words were " I didn't even think. I just shut the (gym) door." Because of her abusive history, the poor girl had an immediate psychotic break (ie all connection to reality is gone). She was so terrified and out of her mind that the staff attending said that her eyes went black.

I did not witness this and so am not certain how they looked, but can imagine that her pupils were as big as they could be.
 
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