Alleged “non-human” alien corpses that were displayed to the Mexican Congress have prompted scepticism among scientists.
A self-described UFO expert claimed the two small “corpses” were retrieved from Cusco, Peru. They were presented in windowed boxes in Mexico City on Wednesday, stirring excitement within the UFO conspiracy-theorist community.
The event was spearheaded by journalist Jaime Maussan, who claimed, under oath, that the mummified specimens are not part of “our terrestrial evolution”, with almost a third of their DNA remaining “unknown”, reported Mexican media.
Mr Maussan’s claims have not been proven and he has previously been associated with claims of discoveries that have later been debunked.
His claims have also drawn scepticism from scientists. Antígona Segura, one of Mexico’s top astrobiologists, toldThe New York Times: “These conclusions are simply not backed up by evidence. The whole thing is very shameful.”
Meanwhile, Julieta Fierro, a scientist at the Institute of Astronomy at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, told ABC that Mr Maussan’s claims were “all made up”.
Mr Maussan claimed the remains are about 1,000 years old, saying researchers at the National Autonomous University of Mexico used carbon dating to determine the age of the corpses.
The university has distanced itself from Mr Maussan, claiming its scientists were not involved in the research and never came into contact with the full specimens.
“In no case do we make conclusions about the origin of these samples,” the university’s National Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry With Accelerators said in a statement.
At the public hearing, Mr Maussan showed US officials and members of the Mexican government several videos of “UFOs and unidentified anomalous phenomena” before unveiling the alleged alien corpses.
He said: “These specimen(s) are not part of our terrestrial evolution... These aren’t beings that were found after a UFO wreckage. They were found in diatom (algae) mines, and were later fossilized.”
Mr Maussan has previously been associated with claims of “alien” discoveries that have later been debunked, including five mummies found in Peru in 2017 that were later shown to be human children.
Former US Navy pilot Ryan Graves, who also attended the hearing to share his personal experience with sightings of “unidentified anomalous phenomena” (UAP) heaped criticism on the presentation.
“Yesterday’s demonstration was a huge step backwards for this issue,” Mr Graves said on the X, formerly known as Twitter. “I am deeply disappointed by this unsubstantiated stunt.”
Meanwhile, Peruvian culture minister Leslie Urteaga said no scientific institution in the South American country had identified the remains as non-human and questioned how the specimens had left Peru.
“There is a criminal complaint from the Ministry of Culture against some people who had a relationship with these gentlemen,” Ms Urteaga said in reference to Mr Maussan and his associates.
“I am going to ask for information to see what has happened ... about the removal of pre-Hispanic objects, because I understand they are part of pre-Hispanic bone remains,” she added.
Earlier this year, veteran and former member of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency David Grusch, testified during a US congressional hearing that the US government is in possession of “intact” craft of “non-human origin” from UAP crash sites.
