Behold the Behemouth: The Collected Poems of Gray Barker

by Gray Barker, Gabriel Mckee

A master storyteller, prankster, and mainstay of the UFO world, Gray Barker (1925-1984) is best known for his bizarre tales of Men in Black, the Mothman, and the Philadelphia Experiment. Barker is widely recognized for his skill as a prose stylist in books like They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers—skill that he developed through a lifelong practice of composing poetry, most of which remained unpublished at the time of his death.

In Behold the Behemouth, Gabriel Mckee (author of the biography The Saucerian: UFOs, Men in Black, and the Unbelievable Life of Gray Barker) compiles all of Barker’s surviving poetry, from his early experiments as a college student through enigmatic verse about UFOs and other uncanny subjects in his later career.

At turns melancholy, otherworldly, and side-splittingly hilarious, Barker’s poetical writings enrich the picture of midcentury ufology in general and the life of this peculiar literary outsider in particular.

256 pages, Paperback

Published March 29, 2026

About the author

American writer best known for his books about UFOs and other paranormal phenomena.

His 1956 book They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers introduced the notion of the Men in Black to UFO folklore.