The Atacama 'Alien'
A tiny skeleton with a long, pointed skull was shown as an alien, until its DNA was read.
What was reported
In 2003 a mummified skeleton only about 15 cm long was found in La Noria, an abandoned nitrate-mining town in the Atacama Desert. It had a cone-shaped skull, large eye sockets and fewer ribs than usual, and it was sold on and shown as possible evidence of an extraterrestrial.
It featured in the 2013 documentary Sirius. Many people, including scientists in Chile, objected to human remains being displayed in this way.
Explanations offered
Genetic studies published in 2013 and 2018 showed it was human: a girl, most likely born very early, with local ancestry, and with changes in genes linked to bone growth that may explain her shape. The remains are only a few decades old. In Chile, there have been calls for them to be returned and buried.
- When
- Found in 2003
- Where
- La Noria, Atacama Desert, Chile
- Witnesses
- Found in an abandoned mining town
- Status
- Explained
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