master^ is not a local branch -- huh?!?

[ron@mickey]$ git checkout master
Already on 'master'
[ron@mickey]$ git checkout master^
Note: moving to 'master^' which isn't a local branch
If you want to create a new branch from this checkout, you may do so
(now or later) by using -b with the checkout command again. Example:
  git checkout -b <new_branch_name>
HEAD is now at 7be05e0... test
[ron@mickey]$ git branch
* (no branch)
  master
[ron@mickey]$

Huh?!?

This is a test repository which has never been pulled from nor pushed to anywhere. So how is it possible that I have a non-local branch?

Thanks, rg