# Please Tell Me This Is a Joke **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 12, 2002, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266 "2002-04-12T17:16:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266/1 "2002-04-12T17:16:10Z")
Look I am as concerned as the next guy about Alien mind control, but I cannot believe you can stop it with such a crude homeade device. [http://www.stopabductions.com/](http://www.stopabductions.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266/2 "2002-04-12T17:49:34Z")
Eh, it worked for me. Sometimes, the simple ways are best. ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266/3 "2002-04-12T17:53:57Z")
No, it’s not a joke. It’s part of a conspiracy by the aliens. Everyone knows you need tin foil! ---
**Author:** ![Fin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@Fin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fin_man)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266/4 "2002-04-12T18:17:34Z")
But it keeps your head warm, right? ---
**Author:** ![Fibonacci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Fibonacci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fibonacci)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266/5 "2002-04-12T18:20:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ferrous \* > \*\*No, it’s not a joke. It’s part of a conspiracy by the aliens. Everyone knows you need tin foil! \*\* Oh…TIN foil… No wonder my aluminum foil helmet has proven ineffective. Where can I obtain some tin foil? ---
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266/6 "2002-04-12T18:27:38Z")
> [@](#): > > Prototype #1 > 20 sheets of aluminum foil, two made, one using a fiberglass helmet and one from a leather hat. These were made in February, 1998. The investigator lost them and did not provide a report They’re up to the new and improved Prototype #3B now. ---
**Author:** ![Ich\_Bin\_s](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Ich\_Bin\_s](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ich_Bin_s)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266/7 "2002-04-12T18:31:43Z")
My favorite: This helmet has worked 100% successfully for every abductee who has worn it No abductee has been abducted while wearing this helmet. - Inventor Michael Menkin Yee gods he’s crazy in the coconut ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266/8 "2002-04-12T18:33:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fibonacci \* > \*\* > > Oh…TIN foil… > No wonder my aluminum foil helmet has proven ineffective. > Where can I obtain some tin foil? \*\* But that’s just it. You can’t really find tin foil anymore. And do you know why? Because _they_’ve bought up all of the tin foil and taken it off the market. I’ve already said too much ---
**Author:** ![Lyllyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@Lyllyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lyllyan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266/9 "2002-04-12T18:46:07Z")
:::_snicker, snicker:::_ Those hats are SO last week! The new high tech way to avoid alien abduction and mind control is to have the tin foil embedded in your skull. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266/10 "2002-04-12T18:47:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ich Bin’s \* > \*\*This helmet has worked 100% successfully for every abductee who has worn it No abductee has been abducted while wearing this helmet. - Inventor Michael Menkin \*\* It also prevents rhino attacks. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266/11 "2002-04-12T20:10:50Z")
NO! NO! NO! This guy Menkin has it all wrong! You have to make tin foil underwear! I know, because before I started making my underwear out of tinfoil those sneaky aliens were controlling my penis and making it do all sorts of terrible, sinful things! ---
**Author:** ![Clever\_Hans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Clever\_Hans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clever_Hans)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266/12 "2002-04-12T21:05:55Z")
So THAT’S what has been making my penis do all those bad things. Bad alien controlled penis, Bad! If it’s between the aliens controlling my penis and the scabs promised by the tinfoil undies. I say, hey, the aliens haven’t shown their taste to be to bad… yet. On the other hand now I know what to get my little cousin for his birthday this Saturday. ---
**Author:** ![Clever\_Hans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Clever\_Hans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clever_Hans)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266/13 "2002-04-12T21:13:50Z")
Upon reading the above reply I realized it could be taken multiple ways, the hat not the undies. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266/14 "2002-04-12T21:30:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Legomancer \* > It also prevents rhino attacks. It’s true. Has a rhino ever attacked someone wearing this? It also protects me from visits from a mother-in-law. (We don’t need to note that I’m not married.) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266/15 "2002-04-12T23:13:12Z")
[This](http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues00/jul00/images/mosesa.jpg) is the only alien isolation helmet I trust. ---
**Author:** ![Rosebud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rosebud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rosebud)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266/16 "2002-04-13T01:14:11Z")
If you look at the testimonials page, you’ll find a woman who claimed that her particular alien gave her orgasms via telepathy. She now wears her helmet all the time, even when bathing, according to her husband, and, one would assume, doesn’t have those pesky orgasms anymore. (psst… alien dudes… I’m free Saturday…) ---
**Author:** ![Grelby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a5b964/32.png) [@Grelby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grelby)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266/17 "2002-04-13T02:21:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lyllyan \* > \*\*:::_snicker, snicker:::_ > Those hats are SO last week! The new high tech way to avoid alien abduction and mind control is to have the tin foil embedded in your skull. \*\* Um… is it just me, or is this a Tripod Trilogy ref? “The Capping was a passage into adulthood…” (paraphrased) ---
**Author:** ![ninevah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/46a35a/32.png) [@ninevah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ninevah)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266/18 "2002-04-13T03:00:25Z")
just make sure you don’t put the aluminium helmet in the microwave. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266/19 "2002-04-13T05:30:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ninevah \* > just make sure you don’t put the aluminium helmet in the microwave. Right - could be very dangerous. Remove helmet before inserting head in microwave. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266/20 "2002-04-13T05:54:56Z")
[http://www.unc.edu/~segedy/games/meekmok.htm](http://www.unc.edu/~segedy/games/meekmok.htm) > [@](#): > > Meekmok? > > * * * > > What is a meekmok, you ask? Well, it all began with Michael Menkin… > > You see Michael Menkin- the man behind www.stopabductions.com- is leading the fight against the aliens in the “telepathic war.” On his site he covers this war in a variety of ways, including thought-screen helmets and descriptions of actual alien encounters. Among these encounters were tales of… the Meekmoks. > > The abductee who claimed to have encountered these aliens described them as being about 6’ 4" and around 180 pounds in weight, with small heads that come to a point and small eyes like “black dots.” He said that they do “severe anal probes” and speak with a language that sounds like “meekmok, meekmok.” These aliens apparently have a distinct odor as well, and are inclined to “rub their victims with an ointment before probing them.” They have the same telepathic powers as the grays. According to Menkin’s site, this abductee wears a thought screen helmet almost 24 hours a day and says he has not been abducted since wearing it. > > For some of us, the meme of the meekmok has come to represent many things. You can take it as you will- a statement or a question- a warning… or a threat. But however you take it- be sure to use the ointment. > > Meekmok! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke/103266.md?page=2)