The Mystery of the Green Children

In the 12th century near Suffolk, England local farmers made a remarkable discovery: a boy and a girl weeping in a field… both with green skin.

The children spoke no English and refused to eat food. They both wore oddly-colored clothing that appeared to be metallic. Eventually they began to eat beans exclusivly after going without food for several days, but only after they were shown how to open the stalks.

The boy grew weak shortly after and eventually died. The girl survived, learned to speak English, and eat other food. Her skin turned to a normal color.

When asked about her origins, the girl described a place with no sun where all the inhabitants were of green color. She claimed that she and the boy were separated from their people as they wandered in a large cavern and, upon exiting, were “struck senseless by the excessive light of the sun and the unusual temperature of the air.”

As if this were not strange enough, the same thing happened again almost 700 years later in 1887 in Banjos, Spain. A boy and a girl with green skin were found abandoned near a cave. They did not speak Spanish and wore unfamiliar clothing. Their eyes were described as Asian in appearance.

As with the first account from England, both children refused to eat at first. The boy grew weak and died, but the girl survived, learned Spanish, and explained that she and her companion came from a sunless land. The account differs from the first as the girl was reported to have claimed they had been caught up in a whirlwind and found themselves in the cave. The girl died in 1892.

The children’s true origins were never discovered.  Some say that they were aliens, others say that they are members of a subsurface human culture, while others say they they were lost children whos green coloring was the result of malnourishment.  It’s even been put forward that both stories are actually the retelling of one story.

In any case, it’s widely accepted that the children did exist… the question is, where did they come from?