INTRODUCTION |
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The case
An ever-increasing number of Peruvian "mummies", both complete bodies and body parts, are promoted by Mexican UFOlogist Jaime Maussan and The Alien Project and a team at University of Ica, with speculation they are new species that evolved on Earth, or hybrids, aliens, or future humans. These tridactyl (three-fingered, three-toed) mummies are allegedly being unearthed by a grave robber known as Mario.
On these pages I've collated the data being reported by Maussan's team on the official website The Alien Project (belonging to Thierry Jamin of the Inkari Institute) as well as data from other sources.
On these pages I've collated the data being reported by Maussan's team on the official website The Alien Project (belonging to Thierry Jamin of the Inkari Institute) as well as data from other sources.
Defining our terms
Real
Much has been made of the definition of "real" in the context of discussing the mummies. Clearly the Nazca mummies are real, in that they exist. Here, "real" is used in determining whether the specimens were once living beings.
The Alien Project website has stated the specimens are real: "The countless examinations carried out... show in fact that these are indeed entities that lived on Earth at a remote time in human history." Given the title of the website, they seem to think the entities are not originally from Earth.
Alien
For the sake of simplicity, I sometimes refer to the specimens as alien without specifying that those who believe they are not hoaxes have speculated they could be extraterrestrial; new species that evolved on Earth; the product of genetic engineering by an advanced intelligence; future humans; or any other non-mundane (non-hoax) explanation.
Mummies
The larger specimens retain internal organs. The smaller specimens have brains and other indistinct internal organs, including dense egg-shaped objects. These are desiccated bodies (or simulated bodies) and not true mummies, but I use the word mummies here, as it's become associated with the specimens.
Much has been made of the definition of "real" in the context of discussing the mummies. Clearly the Nazca mummies are real, in that they exist. Here, "real" is used in determining whether the specimens were once living beings.
The Alien Project website has stated the specimens are real: "The countless examinations carried out... show in fact that these are indeed entities that lived on Earth at a remote time in human history." Given the title of the website, they seem to think the entities are not originally from Earth.
Alien
For the sake of simplicity, I sometimes refer to the specimens as alien without specifying that those who believe they are not hoaxes have speculated they could be extraterrestrial; new species that evolved on Earth; the product of genetic engineering by an advanced intelligence; future humans; or any other non-mundane (non-hoax) explanation.
Mummies
The larger specimens retain internal organs. The smaller specimens have brains and other indistinct internal organs, including dense egg-shaped objects. These are desiccated bodies (or simulated bodies) and not true mummies, but I use the word mummies here, as it's become associated with the specimens.
Two different species
If we assume for the sake of argument that these mummies are real, i.e. were once living beings, it's important to note that they are two very distinct species. The larger mummies are almost indistinguishable from human, while the smaller mummies are said to be "humanoid reptiles". If they had a common ancestor like every other living thing on Earth, note that mammals and reptiles diverged on the evolutionary tree 200 million years ago.
Given these are unrelated species, it's important to always specify which mummy type (and which specimen) is being referred to when any results are discussed. The terms M-type and J-type were coined by Dr Steven Brown's team whose preliminary findings are included here.
Given these are unrelated species, it's important to always specify which mummy type (and which specimen) is being referred to when any results are discussed. The terms M-type and J-type were coined by Dr Steven Brown's team whose preliminary findings are included here.
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M-type mummies
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M-type specimen
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J-type mummies
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J-type specimen
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There are some smaller mummies around 30cm tall acknowledged as fakes by Maussan's team - none of the data presented on this website is referring to these "dolls" made from animal bones and sold to tourists.
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Fake dolls
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Tridactyl hands
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Disembodied hand
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How science works
In scientific inquiry, we start with a claim to be tested. The claim made by Maussan's team on The Alien Project website is that the mummies are real - they were once living beings. This extraordinary claim is our experimental hypothesis (H1) that various analyses are testing, while our null hypothesis (H0) is that they are faked specimens, created in various ways to appear extraordinary.
In order to prove H1, we need to rule out H0.
In order to prove the specimens are real, we need to rule out that they are fakes.
In this case, much of the data can be interpreted to support either real or fake. For example, artificial cranial deformation (ACD) is a well known practice in cultures across the globe, including in ancient Peru, so the M-type elongated skull could be a example of ACD. It could also be a natural feature of an alien. Which conclusion should we draw? The scientific method requires us to rule out the mundane explanation (the simple one we already know is true in other cases) - in this case, while the skull could be alien, the mundane explanation of ACD can't be ruled out since it fits the evidence of an elongated skull.
Every piece of data needs to be subjected to this test. The hypothesis "the mummies are real" should stand up to such scrutiny... if the mummies are real.
In order to prove H1, we need to rule out H0.
In order to prove the specimens are real, we need to rule out that they are fakes.
In this case, much of the data can be interpreted to support either real or fake. For example, artificial cranial deformation (ACD) is a well known practice in cultures across the globe, including in ancient Peru, so the M-type elongated skull could be a example of ACD. It could also be a natural feature of an alien. Which conclusion should we draw? The scientific method requires us to rule out the mundane explanation (the simple one we already know is true in other cases) - in this case, while the skull could be alien, the mundane explanation of ACD can't be ruled out since it fits the evidence of an elongated skull.
Every piece of data needs to be subjected to this test. The hypothesis "the mummies are real" should stand up to such scrutiny... if the mummies are real.
Real or hoax?
The following pages will show that mundane explanations for the data can't be ruled out. This leads to the inevitable conclusion that the mummies are hoaxes. However, the two species were hoaxed in very different ways:
- M-type: These are "real" in the sense that they were once living entities - they are regular humans. The modifications were made after death, in the past few years, in order to create a hoax.
- J-type: These were never living entities. They are recently constructed from the old bones of various animals and baby humans.
References and useful sources on the mummies
- Luca's website articles
- Scientists Against Myths videos: part one, two, three (based on the work of anthropologists from Antropogenez)
> NEXT: M-type mummies
© Charlie Wiser 2024. Material is reproduced for research, study, criticism, review, parody and satire under The Copyright Act 1968 fair dealing exception to copyright infringement.
