Little Green Men!

Where did the concept of "Little Green Men" come from? Most UFO occupant stories involve entities that are not little, not green, and -- let's be honest -- not men, so how did the term arise?

I am just starting to research a 1955 UFO case for my J. Allen Hynek biography that may provide the answer. Not only was the famous Kelly-Hopkinsville incident Dr. Hynek's first attempt at actually investigating a UFO sighting (albeit by proxy), it was perhaps the first human-Little Green Men encounter in history...

It all began on a night in March, 1955, near the small Kentucky towns of Kelly and Hopkinsville, when the "Lucky" Sutton family were hosting a visit with the family of Billy Ray Taylor at their rural farmhouse. Billy Ray and his family were the only guests invited that night, so it came as a surprise when a flying saucer landed nearby and a phalanx of a dozen or so diminutive jade males emerged from the saucer and approached the farmhouse.

Imagine seeing 12 of these things marching up your front sidewalk... Shotgun time!

Were they just dropping in for a chat? Did they bring beer? Sadly, no one knows, because when the first of the undersized viridescent geezers showed its face at the screen door, Mr. Sutton blasted it with his shotgun.

Strangely, that didn't seem to phase the green beasties at all. In fact, the more Lucky and Billy Ray shot at the creatures, the more they tried to get in the house. The more they tried to get in the house, the more terrified the humans became... For the next four hours the Sutton and Taylor families were held captive by the creatures, which not only seemed impervious to bullets and shot, but had an unusual ability to float around in the air.

Finally, scared completely shitless, the families ran out to their cars and raced to the police station in Hopkinsville. The police were convinced enough by the story they heard to drive out the farmhouse to investigate. They were spooked enough to call in backup from the Kentucky State Police. And the County Sheriff. And the County Sheriff from the next County over. And more State Police. Twenty-five cops in all descended on the Sutton farmhouse, scoured the house and property for evidence of the attack, and found nothing but a hole in the screen door where Lucky Sutton shot the first alien...

Despite the lack of evidence, the officers found the two families' testimony convincing and came up with no reason to disbelieve the story...

And thus the Little Green Men became a beloved fixture of UFO lore.