The Cosmic Jokers: Malaysian Humanoids

The Little People of Malaysia

One Small Step

La Planete Sauvage: a 1968 sci-fi animation inspired by Gulliver's Travels.

On the morning of July 2nd 1969 (only 3 weeks before Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon) a silver flying saucer no larger than a dinner plate landed in the grounds of a primary school in Johore Bahru, Malaysia.

Five tiny men in red uniforms stepped out of it and surveyed their surroundings. Seeing a crowd of inquisitive children running towards them, they jumped down a hole in the ground and disappeared. Their saucer simultaneously vanished into thin air.

It was the prelude to an unlikely invasion. During the following decade, Malaysia was visited by a veritable plague of tiny humanoids. They seemed particularly attracted to young children and had a knack of disappearing whenever cornered.

Aerial Invasion

On August 19 1970, five 3-inch-tall humanoids marched down the gangplank of a miniature flying saucer into the playground of the Stowell Primary School in Bukit Mertajam. Four wore identical blue uniforms. The fifth - who seemed to be in charge - wore a yellow tunic decorated with stars and had a pair of horns on his head. The entities climbed a tree and began to erect an aerial-like device in its branches.

A group of six young boys advanced on the visitors, and the boldest, K. Wigneswaran, made a grab for their colourful leader. The little men promptly drew tiny laser pistols and opened fire on the children, who fled in terror. Wigneswaran later found a red scar on his leg where the beams had struck him.

The Men in White

In April 1973, a Lilliputian flying saucer landed in the playground of a primary school in Ipoh Perak. Several tiny humanoids in shiny white suits emerged but beat a hasty retreat when they saw a teacher approaching.

The previous year, a girl playing in rice fields in Rantau Panjang saw a miniature man marching through the furrows. He had long white hair and wore a white shirt with matching trousers. When she tried to catch him, he jumped down the nearest hole and vanished. A young boy chased a similar figure sporting a white shirt and purple trousers in the same neighbourhood. Again, the figure escaped down a hole.

The Incredible Shrinking Monkey Man

One June morning in 1980, two Lumut schoolgirls saw a pair of tiny monkey-like creatures roaming their school playground. One wore a white outfit complete with matching hat and boots. The other was dressed entirely in black.

A third pupil encountered a full-sized monkey-like beast, which shrunk down to only a few inches high when it saw her looking at it. Understandably, the girl fainted in terror.

Teachers mounted a hunt for the bizarre intruders and briefly glimpsed three tiny entities scuttling away behind a rock.

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