“The Facts of Life”: everyone remembers this classic 1980s sitcom about a group of young women attending a private school in upstate New York. I’ve been watching a lot of it lately because my roommate acquired the DVD box set containing all nine seasons (lord have mercy). Repeated viewings of the season one intro have brought something very odd to our attention.

The last bit of footage in the opening montage shows the main characters rolling around playfully on the lawn of their school, as young women are so often known to do. If you look in the upper right hand corner you’ll notice a lone figure on the sidewalk in the background. Arms folded over a red shirt, the figure is looking directly at the frolicking girls…it’s hard to tell if this person is just observing or passing some kind of judgment.

In the grand tradition of conspiracy vernacular I have dubbed this individual “Jeans Man,” because it looks like a man and they are wearing jeans. Who is Jeans Man? A curious student of California’s Pomona College, where they shot the “Facts of Life” intro? A bored crew member? A time traveler from the far off year of 1991? Someone the director deliberately placed to confound viewers during late night DVD binges?

A Google search for “red shirt facts of life season one” yields nothing. If you have any information about the true identity of Jeans Man, what he was doing in 1979 when this footage was shot, and what he’s doing today, please do not hesitate in contacting local authorities. Together we can get through the looking glass on this one.