The truth is...
People do "disappear" in and around Nome.
There is a incredibly high rate of alcohol abuse.
As isolated as the real Nome is, it would be quite easy to wander off into the wilderness and not return. Exposure in the winter, bears in the summer...it's a dangerous place if you're not operating at 100%.
Hmmmmmmmmm...
But yes, after my mother moved there in '99, she heard rumors of sightings of little green men outside town. Common consensus was that the LGMs were "spirits" (as in the liquid kind).