Help solve the mystery of the Messrs. 1569 and 1571

Today is the second anniversary of the Central Intelligence Agency’s declassified archives being published online after a lengthy legal battle. While we’ll be examing some of the larger impact the release has had in a little bit, we also wanted to share what’s hands down the weirdest thing we’ve found so far.

If you find yourself wandering the creepier corridors of CREST, you might stumble upon a file entitled “PICTURE OF A MAN.” Pretty straightforward title, sure, but when you actually click on through …

you’re faced with pure nightmare fuel.

All we know about Mr. 1569 and his equally dapper companion, Mr. 1572 …

is that they’re from a collection related to what is now the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and what was then the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and that the photos were taken in November 1971. If you have any clues, please let us know via email, Twitter, or the form below. Last time we asked for your help in identifying mystery objects from CREST we were pretty darn successful, so let’s keep the streak alive!