Pterygium is thought to be a common benign lesion of the corneo-conjunctival limbus. We report a case in which the pathological examination of an apparently trivial pterygium disclosed the presence of a conjunctival intraepithelial neoplasm in a 53-year-old white male who has been living in Kenya for 35 years. An atypical grayish area on the lesion convinced the surgeon to request the histological examination.