Scientists give their verdict on ‘extraterrestrial bodies’ displayed in Mexico

Scientists and fellow presenters say viral claims are unsubstantiated

Andrew Griffin
Friday 15 September 2023 05:51 BST
Comments
alien corpses presented in mexico
alien corpses presented in mexico (Reuters)
Leer en Español

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Supposed aliens found in Mexico “make no sense”, a scientist has said, and are lacking in proof.

This week, strange looking, humanoid bodies were presented in Mexico’s Congress. They were claimed to be extraterrestrial, and immediately kicked off internet excitement that the first ever alien remains had been found.

But scientists have been quick to point out that there is no good evidence that the remains are real – and that they might not be bodies at all. Even others who had taken part in the same hearings criticised the reveal as an “unsubstantiated stunt”.

At the Congress hearings, Mexican journalist José Jaime Maussan presented two boxes with supposed mummies found in Peru, which he and others consider “non-human beings that are not part of our terrestrial evolution.”

The shrivelled bodies with shrunken, warped heads left those in the chamber aghast and quickly kicked up a social media fervour.

“It’s the queen of all evidence,” Maussan claimed. “That is, if the DNA is showing us that they are non-human beings and that there is nothing that looks like this in the world, we should take it as such.”But he warned that he didn’t want to refer to them as “extraterrestrials” just yet.

The apparently desiccated bodies date back to 2017 and were found deep underground in the sandy Peruvian coastal desert of Nazca. The area is known for gigantic enigmatic figures scraped into the earth and seen only from a birds-eye-view. Most attribute the Nazca Lines to ancient indigenous communities, but the formations have captured the imaginations of many.

In 2017, Maussan made similar claims in Peru, and a report by the country’s prosecutor’s office found that the bodies were actually “recently manufactured dolls, which have been covered with a mixture of paper and synthetic glue to simulate the presence of skin.”

The report added that the figures were almost certainly human-made and that “they are not the remains of ancestral aliens that they have tried to present”. The bodies were not publicly unveiled at the time, so it is unclear if they are the same as those presented to Mexico’s congress.

On Wednesday, Julieta Fierro, researcher at the Institute of Astronomy at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, was among those to express skepticism, saying that many details about the figures “made no sense.”

Fierro added that the researchers’ claims that her university endorsed their supposed discovery were false, and noted that scientists would need more advanced technology than the X-rays they claimed to use to determine if the allegedly calcified bodies were “non-human”.“

“Maussan has done many things. He says he has talked to the Virgin of Guadalupe,” she said. “He told me extraterrestrials do not talk to me like they talk to him because I don’t believe in them.”

The scientist added that it seemed strange that they extracted what would surely be a “treasure of the nation” from Peru without inviting the Peruvian ambassador.

Congressman Sergio Gutiérrez Luna of the ruling Morena party, made it clear that Congress has not taken a position on the theses put forward during the more than three-hour session.Believing or not was up to each member of the legislative body, but those who testified had to swear an oath to tell the truth.

Gutiérrez Luna stressed the importance of listening to “all voices, all opinions” and said it was positive that there was a transparent dialogue on the issue of extraterrestrials.

After the hearings were over, Ryan Graves – a former US fighter pilot who has described unexplained encounters with flying objects – said that he had been disappointed by who he had shared a stage with. He said that he had accepted the invitation “hoping to keep up the momentum of government interest in pilot experiences with UAP”.

“Unfortunately, yesterday’s demonstration was a huge step backwards for this issue,” he wrote on Twitter. “I will continue to raise awareness of UAP as an urgent matter of aerospace safety, national security, and science, but I am deeply disappointed by this unsubstantiated stunt.”

Popular scientist Brian Cox also said that the supposed corpses were “way too humanoid”.

“It’s very unlikely that an intelligent species that evolved on another planet would look like us. Secondly - send a sample off to 23andme - let alone the University down the road - and they’ll tell you within 10 minutes,” he wrote on Twitter.

Additional reporting by Associated Press

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in