Little green men

For other uses, seeLittle Green Men (disambiguation).

A typical depiction

Little green menis the stereotypical portrayal ofextraterrestrialsas littlehumanoidcreatures with green skin and sometimes with antennae on their heads. The term is also sometimes used to describegremlins,mythical creatures known for causing problems in airplanes and mechanical devices.

Although there have been references to small, green-colored men or children going back much further, the term "little green men" came into popular usage in reference to aliens during the reports offlying saucersin the 1950s. In one classic case, theKelly-Hopkinsville sightingin 1955, two ruralKentuckymen described a supposed encounter with metallic-silver, somewhat humanoid-looking aliens no more than 4 feet (1.2 m) in height. Employing journalistic licence and deviating from the witnesses' accounts,The Evansville Courierused the term "little green men" in writing up the story.Other media then followed suit.

History of the term

Usage of the term clearly predates the 1955 incident; for example, in England reference to little green men or children dates back to the 12th centurygreen children of Woolpit,although exactly when the term was first applied to extraterrestrial aliens has been difficult to pin down. In his historical satireA History of New York(1809), American authorWashington Irvingdescribed Lunatics (or men from the Moon) as "pea green", in contrast to the "white" inhabitants of Earth.

Folklore researcher Chris Aubeck has used electronic searches of old newspapers and found a number of instances dating from around the turn of the 20th century referring to green aliens. Aubeck found one story from 1899 in theAtlanta Constitution,about a little green-skinned alien, in a tale calledGreen Boy From Hurrah,"Hurrah" being another planet, perhaps Mars.Edgar Rice Burroughsreferred to the "green men of Mars" and "green Martian women" in his first science fiction novelA Princess of Mars(1912),although at 10 to 12 feet (3.0 to 3.7 m) tall, they were hardly "little". However, the first use of the specific phrase "little green man" in reference to extraterrestrials that Aubeck found dates to 1908 in theDaily Kennebec Journal(Augusta, Maine), in this case the aliens again beingMartians.

In 1910 (or 1915), a "little green man" was allegedly captured from his crashed spaceship inApulia,in south-east Italy.

Extraterrestrials inArthur Leo Zagat's novelDrink We Deepdepicted as little green men on the cover of the January 1951 issue ofFantastic Novels.

Green aliens soon came to commonly portray extraterrestrials and adorned the covers of many of the 1920s to 1950s science fictionpulp magazineswith such things as pictures ofBuck RogersandFlash Gordonbattling green alien monsters. The first documented print example specifically linking "little green men" to extraterrestrialspaceshipsis in a newspaper column satirizing the public panic followingOrson Welles' famous "War of the Worlds"Halloweenbroadcast of October 31, 1938. The column by reporter Bill Barnard in theCorpus ChristiTimesthe next day begins, "Thirteen little green men from Mercury stepped out of their space ship at Cliff Maus Field [local airport] late yesterday afternoon for a good-will visit toCorpus Christi"and ends with:" Then the 13 little green men got in their space ship and flew away. "The familiarity with which the term was used suggests that this probably was not the first instance where it was applied to extraterrestrials in spaceships.

In 1946, Harold M. Sherman published a pulp science fiction book entitledThe Green Man: A Visitor From Space.The cover illustration was of a normal-looking and proportioned human being, albeit with a green skin.

Nationally syndicated columns by humorist Hal Boyle spoke of a green man from Mars in his flying saucer in early July 1947 during the height of the brand new flying saucer phenomenon in the U.S. that started June 24 afterKenneth Arnold's famous sightingand theRoswell UFO incident.However, Boyle did not describe his green Martian as "small".

The 1951 science fiction bookThe Case of the Little Green Men,byMack Reynolds,tells of a private detective hired to investigate disguised aliens living among the human population. As he was being hired, the detective referred derisively and familiarly to the aliens in the flying saucers being "little green men". The cover illustration is notable for depicting the LGM with the classic antennae sticking out of the head. Mack Reynolds would go on to write the firstStar Treknovel in 1968 (Mission to Horatius).

By early 1950, stories began circulating in newspapers about little beings being recovered from flying saucer crashes. Though largely considered to be hoaxes, some of the stories from the sources about little aliens eventually made it into the popular 1950 bookBehind the Flying SaucersbyVariety magazinecolumnistFrank Scully.

A witness reporting a flying saucer sighting to aWichita, Kansasnewspaper in June 1950 stated that he saw "absolutely no little green men with egg on their whiskers".

The term "little green men" was specifically used in reference to science fiction and flying saucers by at least 1951 inThe New York TimesandThe Washington Post(in thePost,a book review of a mystery/science fiction novel calledThe Little Green Man), and 1952 in theLos Angeles Timesand theChicago Tribune(theTribunemocking flying saucer reports using a "little green man with pink polka dots" ).The New York Timesused the term in 1955 in a book review of the sci-fi satireMartians, Go Home,saying the Martians were obnoxious "little green men" whose appearance was "true to prophecy".

Following a nationally publicized flurry of UFO sightings in November 1957, syndicated Washington columnist Frederick Othman wrote:

"New Flying Saucer Epidemic On. All over this land again are flying saucers... No little green men have climbed out of these celestial vehicles so far, but in another couple of days I wouldn't be surprised..."

Origins and other uses

The term also shows up much earlier in other contexts. Film gossip columnistHedda Hopperused it in 1939 referring to small cast members ofThe Wizard of Oz(1939), and admonished against drinking on the set. In 1942,The Los Angeles Timesused the term in a pictorial on Marines training for jungle combat. In this case, "little green men" referred tocamouflagedJapanese soldiers.The Washington Postin 1942 likewise used the term "little green man" in reference to a camouflaged Japanesesniperwho nearly killed one of their war correspondents.

Before its more modern application to aliens,little green menwas commonly used to describe varioussupernaturalbeings in old legends and folklore and in later fairy tales and children's books such asgoblins.Aubeck noted several examples of the latter in 19th and early 20th century literature. As an example,Rudyard Kiplinghad a "little green man" inPuck of Pook's Hillfrom 1906.

Another example, and the earliest use oflittle green maninThe New York Timesand theChicago Tribune,dates from 1902, in a review of a children's book calledThe Gift of the Magic Staff,where a supernatural "Little Green Man" is a boy's friend and helps him visit the cloudland fairies. The next use inThe New York Timeswas in 1950, and references a planned film byWalt Disney Companyof a 1927 novel by poet/novelistRobert NathancalledThe Woodcutter's House.The only animated character in the picture was to be Nathan's "Little Green Man", a confidant of the woodland animals. (The film was never made.)

In 1923, a serialized romance,When Hearts Commandby Elizabeth York Miller, which appeared in newspapers such as theChicago TribuneandThe Washington Post,has a former mental patient who still sees "little green men" and who simultaneously comments that a fellow patient "conversed with the inhabitants of Mars".

Other instances of imaginary small green beings have been found in a newspaper column from 1936 sarcastically discussing doctors and their medical advice, saying these are the same people who have breakdowns in middle age and start hallucinating "a little green man with big ears". Syndicated columnistSydney J. Harrisused "little green man" in 1948 as a child's imaginary friend while condemning the age-old tradition of frightening children with stories of "boogeymen".

These examples illustrate that use oflittle green menwas already deeply engrained in Englishvernacularlong before the flying saucer era, used for a variety of supernatural, imaginary, or mythical beings. It also seems to have easily extended beyond the imaginary to real people, such as the reference to small actors in theWizard of Ozor camouflaged Japanese soldiers. Similarly, Aubeck and others suspect that when flying saucers came along in 1947, with subsequent speculation about alien origins, the term naturally and quickly attached itself to the modern age equivalent.The Mekon,the green-skinned adversary inDan Dare, Pilot of the Future,fromEaglecomic'slong-running series, first appeared 1950.It is also clear that by the early 1950s, the term was already commonly used as a sarcastic reference to the occupants of flying saucers. By 1954, the image of little green men had become inscribed in the public's collective consciousness.

Further electronic searches suggest that the term became increasingly more common in the 1960s and always used in a derisive or humorous way. TheChicago Tribunein 1960 carried a front-page story on the speculations of a Harvard anthropologist about how aliens might look and alien sex. The article opens with the comment, "If there really are 'little green men' out there in space, there are probably also little green women–and sex." A cartoon was attached showing two amorouscentaur-like male and female aliens with antennae sticking out of their heads. The article also Enigma tically states, "The 'little green men' designation came from Dr.Otto Struve,director of the national radio astronomy observatory, Green Bank, W. Va. He said that's what the possible outerspacers are called 'among themselves'. "

The term even penetrated into the commentary ofThe Wall Street Journal.First use in theJournalwas 1960 in an article on theBrookings Reportcommissioned byNASA,studying the possible social effects of the discovery of extraterrestrial life. TheJournalcommented that they thought the report overly pessimistic, assuming that "the little green men with the wiggly antennae" would be hostile. AnotherJournaluse of the term occurred in 1968 in an editorial on a planned Congressional investigation ofUFOs.The writer sarcastically asked how they planned tosubpoena"a little green man". In 1969, they commented that theCondon CommitteeUFO study commissioned by the Air Force was a waste of money. The editorial stated that even if they did prove that "UFOs were people with little green men", what were we supposed to do about it?

A green-skinned little green man had even appeared inThe Flintstonesas a recurring character.The Great Gazoo(introduced in Episode 145) typified the representation of a little green man with his short, green stature and helmet with antennae. However, the 1960s also marked a transition in the way people imagined a stereotypical alien. Inalien abductionstories they are often small butgrey beingsand inArthur C. Clarke's2001: A Space Odyssey(1968) they are unseen.

Current usage

Aliens

Little green aliens and the term "little green men" have fallen out of general use in serious science fiction circles and are most commonly used to ridicule the notion that aliens may exist, with a few exceptions, such asYodain theStar Warsmovie saga. A derisive usage can be seen in theoriginalStar Trekepisode "Tomorrow Is Yesterday",set in 1969, asCaptain Kirk,captured by the US Air Force while attempting to steal film showing theEnterprisein Earth's atmosphere, calls himself a "little green man fromAlpha Centauri"when interrogated by the base security officer. Earlier in the same episode, a rescued Air Force captain brought aboard theEnterprisetells Kirk he's never believed in little green men, immediately before meeting the obviously alien Mr. Spock (who replies, "Neither have I" ). In the 1988Doctor WhoserialRemembrance of the Daleks,the line is parodied when the Doctor states that the Daleks are aliens. Group Captain Gilmore asks if he's fighting little green men, to which the Doctor says "no, little green blobs in bonded polycarbide armour".

Instead, the little green alien image seems to have migrated mainly to the world of children's media where it can still be found in abundance. Examples include

• The small, greensqueeze toy aliensfrom Pizza Planet in the 1995 filmToy Storyand its sequels). In some pieces ofToy Storymedia, most prominently the cartoonBuzz Lightyear of Star Command,they are even referred to as the "LGMs".
• ThePokémonspecies "Elgyem"is based on little green men (" LGM ") in its design, characteristics, and name.
• The Irkens fromInvader Zimbear a similarity to green little men.
• In the space-simulation gameKerbal Space Program,Kerbals are the only species in the game and are portrayed as little green men with a large head compared to their bodies.
• The Saibamen in the animeDragon Ball Zare depicted as little green men.
• InDestroy All Humans!,many of the human characters refer to the main character Crypto as a little green man, much to his annoyance, where Crypto himself resembles a stereotypicalgrey alien.

"Unidentified defending objects"

See also:Little green men (Russo-Ukrainian War)

The pro-Russian uniformed "local self-defence" forces with camouflage and modernRussian weaponrybut no identifying badges or insignia, operating in 2014 during theRusso-Ukrainian Warwere also called "martians"or "little green men"by the locals and the media.

Astronomy

In 1967,Jocelyn Bell BurnellandAntony Hewishof theUniversity of Cambridge,UK dubbed the first discoveredpulsarLGM-1for "little green men" because the regular oscillations of its signal suggested a possible intelligent origin. Its designation was later changed toCP 1919,and is now known asPSR B1919+21.

See also

• Bug-eyed monster
• Extraterrestrial life
• Fairies
• Green Man(folklore and ornamentation)
• Grey alien
• Irkens
• Jinn
• Leprechaun
• List of alleged extraterrestrial beings
• Little people (mythology)
• Men in black
• Nordic aliens
• Orbit (mascot)
• Reptilians
• The Awful Green Things from Outer Space

Further reading

• Karyl, AnnaThe Kelly Incident,2004,ISBN0-9752645-2-4
• Roth, Christopher F. (2005) "Ufology as Anthropology: Race, Extraterrestrials, and the Occult." InE.T. Culture: Anthropology in Outerspaces,ed. by Debbora Battaglia. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press.
• Vallee, JacquesAnatomy of a Phenomenon: Unidentified Objects in Space,1965,ISBN0-8092-9888-0.

External links

• Summary of folklore LGM research by Chris Aubeck
• Summary of electronic LGM search of New York Times and Wall Street Journal by David Rudiak