The true story of the fake "alien mummies" is wilder than actual aliens

All the greed, fraud, centuries of racism, and deteriorated llama skulls behind Mexico’s unboxed aliens (Aja Romano, 'The true story of the fake unboxed aliens is wilder than actual aliens', Vox Sep 16, 2023). The article discsses:

"two recently unboxed 1,000-year-old aliens, revealed to the world by a crew of conspiracists with a history of trying (and failing) to make 1,000-year-old aliens happen.

The Mexican Congress was holding a hearing on the existence of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), on Wednesday, September 13 [2023], when the alleged Peruvian aliens were hand-delivered in a dramatic coffin-like box. The box contained a pair of dusty figures with elongated skulls on hose-like necks. They had three fingers instead of the usual five, and bore a faint resemblance to Spielberg’s E.T.

Alas for truthers: These skeletons are not alien life forms. Instead, they are most likely a composite of pre-Columbian human remains and animal bones, all pieced together with some plaster.

But how they aren’t real is a story that’s frankly wilder than aliens.

In fact, these little guys appear to have been literally crowdfunded into existence in 2017 as part of an ongoing attempt to create the illusion that these hucksters are sitting on an ancient alien gold mine. And that’s just the tip of the alien scam iceberg. The full picture includes a long lineup of skeevy con men dedicated to passing themselves off as pseudoscientific “experts,” from media veterans to fake archaeologists and doctors with dubious degrees — all committed to insisting (even as a litany of real scientists line up to object) that their fake aliens are real.

[more here].

The Nazca Mini-mummies

 

Late 2016 — Initial Discovery
According to accounts associated with the “Alien Project,” huaqueros (grave robbers/looters) discovered unusual remains, including small humanoid bodies, in the Nazca region around late 2015 to late 2016. These finds were reportedly shared among private collectors and researchers before any major public announcement.

Earliest Publicised Appearance
In June 2017, a video and associated publicity were published showing a mummified body discovered near Nazca, Peru, with three-fingered hands and an elongated skull. This was disseminated widely by the streaming platform Gaia and replayed across conspiracy and UFO media sources.

In January (?) of that same year French researcher Thierry Jamin announced online the discovery of several unusual “mummified bodies and organs”, including small and anomalous specimenshad been found in southern Peru in early 2016, and began crowdfunding analyses of these specimens. He interpreted them as possible biological relics of unknown species. Early 2017 — First Public Reports and Media Mentions

In May 2017, some of these small mummies and anomalous remains were reported in Peruvian press, describing them as assembled from human and animal bones and covered with artificial materials — effectively publicising them for the first time in mainstream media (Korlaet 2021).

2017–2022 — Gradual Circulation in UFO/Paranormal Circles Throughout this period, images and claims about the small mummies appeared in online UFO and paranormal communities, often without rigorous scientific context. There were occasional debates over whether they originated near Nazca or Cusco, and whether they were biological or fabricated.

September 2023 (Mexican Congress Presentation) On 12–13 September 2023, two tiny mummified bodies were publicly exhibited before the Mexican Congress by journalist and UFO proponent Jaime Maussan. He claimed they were non-human and dated to ~1,000 years old. This event generated international media coverage and became the most widely publicised moment for these small Nazca mummies. [Update] 2024–2025 — Continued Media Attention and Scientific Scrutiny... After the 2023 congressional hearing, forensic and archaeological institutions (notably in Peru) analysed the specimens and publicly rejected claims that they were extraterrestrial, describing them instead as modified human and animal remains. This analysis further drove coverage and debate around the small mummies]. References Sanja Korlaet, 'NAZCA’S MUMMIES The Reality, Media Coverage and Scientific Proof', Jan 2, 2021.

Orrin Grey, 'Nazca Mummies: Proof of Ancient Aliens or Modern-Day Hoax?',Jul 18, 2024.