Image of US Navy training centre bears a striking resemblance to ‘Men in Black’

Egg-shaped chairs at naval training centre look eerily similar to furniture used in 1997 film starring Will Smith

Images shared on Twitter by US Special Operations Command show that some facilities at a US Navy training centre bear a striking resemblance to the <em>Men in Black</em> headquarters in the movie starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.

The egglike chairs showed at the Human Performance Training Center at the Naval Special Warfare Command prompted Twitter users to compare the facility to the 1997 film.

The Naval Special Warfare headquarters is located at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado near San Diego in Southern California.

The chairs at the naval facility look almost exactly like the chair used by Will Smith as he portrays New York City detective James Edwards when he takes a test to enter the secret agency that polices aliens living on Earth.

In the scene, detective Edwards, along with a group of uniformed men, sit awkwardly in the all-encompassing egg-shaped chairs while trying to jot down their exam answers on a flimsy piece of paper.

After struggling for a moment, the detective gets up and loudly drags a heavy futuristic-looking coffee table across the room as the uniformed men stare at him in unison.

One Twitter user wrote: “This is one of the greatest scenes in movie history and now it's real. I hope there’s a coffee table situated in the middle of the room, just out of reach of all the seats.”

According to US Special Operations Command, “Vice Chief of Naval Operations William Lescher toured the Human Performance Training Center during a visit to [Naval Special Warfare Command] last week to see how the command is assessing and developing character, cognitive, and leadership traits throughout the Force.”

Another Twitter user wrote: “I’d love to know what came first, and especially I’d like to know how many awards will be given to the designer who got this past his [60-year-old] commanding officer who hasn’t seen the movie.”

The Ovalia egg chair was featured in both Men in Black and its 2002 sequel Men in Black II. The chair was designed by Henrik Thor-Larsen from Denmark. It was first shown to the public in 1968.