Within the field of Ufology, the term “little green men” turns up now and again – usually in a disparaging, fun-poking, debunking fashion. The fact is, though, that real LGM are not as common as some might think. After all, the most visible and well-known aliens of Ufology (and of pop-culture, too) are the large-headed, black-eyed Grays. And they’re called the Grays for a very good reason: they are gray in color! The real Men in Black (who are clearly not human) have pale skin, sometimes almost milk-white. The Space Brothers and Sisters of the 1950s had a skin color the same as us. And, yet, the LGM words still circulate. Of course, the so-called Reptilians of both Ufology and the world of conspiracy-theorizing are said to be green in color. It has to be said, though, that the Reptilians are certainly not little in stature. In fact, quite the opposite: they tower over even us – if you buy into the tales, it must be said. With that said, just how popular is the LGM phenomenon? Let’s have a look.

Edgar Rice Burroughs

A researcher of folklore named Chris Aubeck has been able to determine that those three, now-famous words – little green men – date back to the final years of the 19^th century. The renowned fantasy novelist Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote of the “green men of Mars” in his 1906 story, A Princess of Mars. On May 22, 1947, just one month before the term “flying saucer”” was coined (following the sighting of a squadron of UFOs seen over Mount Rainier, Washington State by a pilot named Kenneth Arnold) a reference to “little green men” was made in a Harrisburg, Illinois newspaper, the Daily Register. Although the small article was on a medical condition that can cause the skin to turn green, it demonstrates that the terminology was in popular use before UFOs were, themselves, a part of our culture. Four years later, in 1951, a sci-fi novel, Mack Reynolds’ The Case of the Little Green Men was published.

Let’s now take a look into the distant past. So the tale goes, back in the 12^th Century, a young girl and boy, of strangely green-hued skin, appeared in the  village of Woolpit, England, which is situated between the towns of Bury St. Edmunds and Stowmarket. The children claimed to have come from a magical place called St. Martin’s Land, which existed in an atmosphere of permanent twilight, and where the people lived underground, on nothing but green beans. While the story has been relegated by many to the realms of mere myth and folklore, it may not be just that. It might, actually, be much more. According to the old legend, the two children remained in Woolpit and were ultimately baptized by the villagers, who accepted them as their very own. And although the boy ultimately grew sickly and eventually died, the girl did not. She thrived and finally lost her green-tinged skin to normal colored skin of healthy appearance.

Aliens? Not in my opinion (you can find my views on all this at this link). I have, however, heard several UFO researchers say that the children were what we might call “proto” little green ETs. Researcher-writer Melanie Koslovic says: “It has also been suggested that the children may have been aliens, or inhabitants of a world beneath the Earth. In 1996 an article was published in the magazine Analog concerning this mystery; astronomer Duncan Lunan hypothesized that the children were accidentally sent to Woolpit from their home planet due to a malfunction in their ‘matter transmitter.'” Such is the passage of time, we’ll probably never get the full story of those strange kids. What all of this tells us is that yes, the “little green men” terminology is indeed ingrained in the field of Ufology. The extent to which it has a place in reality, however, is quite a different thing. For me, at least.

Related videos, selected and posted by peter2011

“To infinity … and beyond!”

The U.S. Space Force – the first military service branch tasked with operations in the space domain – has deployed its first Space Force airmen (that’s what they’re called, even if they’re female – at least until the Space Force switches over to Navy rankings) on their first mission. Where will they be stationed? Infinity? The International Space Station? Cape Canaveral? Area 51? A secret base testing secret anti-Tic-Tac-UFO aircraft?

I’m hoping its infinity.

“While a sunset would usually have signaled the end of just another day at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, for 20 military members the golden hour glow seemed to symbolize the promise of a new beginning. Enlisted and commissioned Airmen assigned to the 16th Expeditionary Space Control Flight and the 609th Air Operations Center joined the U.S. Space Force during enlistment and oath of office ceremonies at the Silent Sentry compound Sept. 1, 2020.”

That’s right – the first deployment of the Space Force is to Qatar. The twenty officers and Airmen in core space career fields such as space operations and space systems operations were formerly members of Space Operations. Now, as U.S. Air Force Col. Todd Benson, director of Space Forces for U.S. Air Forces Central Command, said in the press release, they are “joining our nation’s newest service.”

They have been deployed to the Middle East will they will conduct space operations from their base

Credit: US Air Force/Staff Sgt. Kayla White

But … Qatar?

We hear you. Let’s see if we can figure out why. Al Udeid Air Base did not exist until Operation Desert Storm, the Gulf War in 1991 between coalition forces and Iraq. Sensing a need for a base in the Gulf, Qatar secretly built Al Udeid Air Base in 1996 at the cost of more than $1 billion. It was first used by the U.S. in 2001 by the U.S. to prepare for operations in Afghanistan and eventually in Iraq and Syria. Al Udeid now serves as logistics, command, and basing hubs for the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of operations.

And?

Well, that’s about it. No invasion has been announced. Al Udeid Air Base is probably the most modern based used by the U.S. military and it was once secret, so it could still have some new secret operations for the Space Force. It most likely has had more Air Force operations than any other base, so its pilots have had the most opportunities to encounter UFOs/UAPs. This seems like a good place for Space Force to be … especially since their uniforms are already desert camouflage.

Not blue? Or something stolen from Star Trek?

Nope … camo. The ‘official’ reasons are to save money (not a good sign) and that the Space Force is a ground force supporting ground personnel. That’s disappointing to the Trek-loving public and not really great for recruiting future Space Force members.

The US Space Force has its own flag

Credit: Reuters

What would Buzz Lightyear think?

“Years of academy training wasted.”

On August 15 I wrote an article here at Mysterious Universe titled “My Time Spent in the World of Crop Circles.” It began as follows: “Now and again, people ask me for my views on the Crop Circle phenomenon. Well, I’m sure the vast majority of them are made by people, although calling the creators ‘hoaxers’ is way off the mark. To understand my views on the phenomenon, check out this link which will take you to one of my earlier articles here at Mysterious Universe. Personally, I think that article gets to the heart of the matter – albeit in a very strange and alternative way. With that said, I’ll share with you a few of my many experiences in the weird world of the Crop Circle.” Now, onto today’s article. It is focused on a phenomenon that came long before Crop Circles were on the scene. It is, however, a phenomenon that has some degree of connection to the famous formations that appear in the fields of Wiltshire, U.K. every summer. With that said, read on. On February 10, 2018, journalist Anna Levy wrote an article for Australia’s Brisbane Times titled “UFO Culture: State Library of Queensland collects its own X-Files.”

In part it stated:

“A banana grower [named George Pedley] drove his tractor along a narrow track at the edge of a sugar cane farm in Tully, north Queensland on January 16, 1966. The weather was calm, the morning sun high in the sky. The tractor passed over the track with its usual rumble, but beneath it the banana grower detected a faint hiss. He leant forward to investigate, assuming his tyres had a leak, but his eye caught something else instead. A saucer-shaped object, silver-grey and about 25 feet in diameter, rose before him. The object ascended slowly from the nearby lagoon to the treetops before tilting slightly and speeding away to the south-western horizon. The man ran through the thick reeds and sword grass surrounding the lagoon, forcing his way through the undergrowth until he could see the water. A large whirlpool had formed, devoid of all plant life. Over the next few hours, the dead reeds below the eddy rose to the surface, forming a ‘nest’ within which there lay a perfect imprint of an inverted saucer.”

Pedley himself said: “Suddenly, an object rose out of the swamp. When I glanced at it, it was already 30 feet above the ground, and at about tree-top level. It was a large, grey, saucer-shaped object, convex on the top and bottom and measured some 25 feet across and 9 feet high. While I watched, it rose another 30 feet, spinning very fast, then it made a shallow dive and took off with tremendous speed. Climbing at an angle of 45 degrees it disappeared within seconds in a south-westerly direction.”

Over at the Old Crop Circles website, there is the following: “The ‘saucer nests’ of Tully, 1966 are undoubtedly the most famous circles known before the modern era. Even Doug Bower, who claimed to have started the crop circle phenomenon in 1978, cited Tully as his initial inspiration, remaining virtually mute on what might have caused the nests. (It definitely wasn’t him; he once stated that local farmers had made them, without further explanation.) Although these are universally called the Tully nests, they were in fact much closer to the very small town of Euramo, which lies to the south of Tully. The spot is known informally as Horseshoe Lagoon. These are very widely documented, particularly in the crop circle press, where virtually all publications mention them. Although the body of literature pertaining to this event is sizeable, we will only provide a basic outline below. If readers want more detailed accounts, there is plenty of information available in books and on the internet.”

As is noted at ufo.fandom.com: “During the course of the investigations, as many as five other ‘nests’, all smaller than the original, were discovered. In some of these, the reeds were rotated in a counter-clockwise direction and a couple of them showed signs of burning in the center of the nest. Samples of the original nest were sent to Brisbane for analysis, but nothing unusual was detected. Other than being part of the ‘nest’, the only unusual thing about the reeds was that they turned brown in about 8 hours, whereas reeds uprooted by hand in the lagoon took three days to turn brown. In a 2018 interview with Robbie Graham, Australian UFO researcher Bill Chalker said: “Northern Queensland around Tully has had a rich UFO history particularly since the classic 1966 daylight UFO physical trace in Horseshoe Lagoon. St. George and Boulia Queensland also had a prolonged history. Coonabarrabran in NW NSW has a prolonged UFO focus, as well as the Bourke area. Tyringham on the Dorrigo Plateau and around Mount Butler/Armidale in the New England district has had a recurring focus. The Kempsey area, the Central coast and Blue Mountains regions of NSW also have long UFO focuses. The South coast of NSW, particularly around Kiama has a lot of UFO activity. Leitchville- Echuca, Rosedale- Gippsland and the Mallee district of Victoria seem to host a lot of activity.”

While the “UFO Nests” of Australia did not create as much publicity as the Crop Circle phenomenon certainly has, they are an important part of 1960s-era Ufology.

Back in late April of 2020, Japan’s Defence Minister Taro Kono asked/demanded that the U.S. government give him more data on the Nimitz Tic-Tac UFO videos, even though Kono said that no Japanese military pilot has even admitted to seeing a UFO/UAP. At the time, it seemed the U.S. government wasn’t too keen on sharing anything more than the already-public videos with Japan. Well, something has changed since then. On September 8, 2020, during a question-and-answer session in a press conference, Minister Kono had this to say:

Q: Regarding UFO, we would like to ask about your policy. It was in May, and when I heard it on this occasion, I thought that I would consider it, but what about the status of the examination? Also, what are your thoughts on cooperation between Japan and the United States and cooperation between the United States and Japan when you find an unidentified flying object?

A: We will soon be addressing the policy. Japan and the United States were talked about during the meeting with Secretary Esper in Guam the other day. I must refrain from elaborating on the details, but I would like to continue to cooperate firmly in the future.

Q: Does that mean that you have been working together on UFOs in the future?

A: I would like to refrain from elaborating on the details.

According to TheUnidentified.net, the “meeting with Secretary Esper in Guam the other day” refers to a confab on August 29.

“On August 29, Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper hosted Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono in Guam, where they reaffirmed the strength of the U.S.-Japan Alliance and discussed ways to deepen and expand bilateral defense cooperation. Secretary Esper and Minister Kono exchanged views on their shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific region. The Secretary expressed serious concern regarding Beijing’s decision to impose a national security law in Hong Kong, as well as coercive and destabilizing actions vis-à-vis Taiwan. Both Ministers restated their commitment to maintain a rules-based order in the East and South China Seas, and more broadly in the region and world.”

As usual, public discussions of UFOs/UAPs by military and government officials stress that they are “security” issues with other countries – in this case, China – and not about extraterrestrial crafts. That’s reinforced in the U.S. Defense Department press release on the meeting:

“Secretary Esper and Minister Kono agreed to continue efforts to support interoperability and to enhance Alliance capabilities, particularly for integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) and for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) functions. They also agreed on the importance of secure networks and of strengthening information security to protect advanced defense technologies.”

While the U.S. stands firm on releasing anything other than the Tic Tac videos, the Japanese Defence Minister hints that he may lean the other way on UFOs, stating that “We will soon be addressing the policy.” Soon? What’s the hurry, Minister Kono? Do you know something already that you would like confirmed by the U.S.? Is this a veiled threat to make a revelation public if the U.S. doesn’t share what it has in the files with you?

“Friends, we are working diligently on Phase II of our efforts to validate this topic. We now MUST engage our international friends and partners. As you already know, this is not only a U.S. phenomenon, it is indeed global. Is the international stage ready? I think so.”

People like Luis Elizondo, former director of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (ATTIP) and current proponent for disclosure, think pressure like this from Japan will help.

There was a time when the U.S. always won these contests of “Mine is bigger than yours so we do what I say.” Those days seem to be over and countries like Japan, especially with its proximity to China, are swinging big ones too. Let’s hope this pushes more UFO disclosure before the big one swings back the other way and the zipper closes.