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The Nazca 'Mummies'

VisitorsNazca, Ica, Peru · Shown from 2017Hoax

Three-fingered 'mummies' from the Peruvian desert were shown to the world, and even to Mexico's Congress.

What was reported

In 2017 a set of small, three-fingered mummified bodies, said to come from a cave in the Nazca desert, was promoted online as evidence of non-human beings. The Mexican journalist Jaime Maussan became their best-known champion.

In September 2023 Maussan presented two of the bodies at a hearing in Mexico's Congress, and the images went around the world.

Explanations offered

Peruvian forensic experts who examined some of the figures in 2024 reported they were dolls made from animal bones held together with modern glue and paper. Others appear to have been made from looted human remains, and Peru treats the case as a matter of protecting its archaeological heritage.

When
Shown from 2017
Where
Nazca, Ica, Peru
Witnesses
Promoters, journalists and Peruvian forensic scientists
Status
Hoax

Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.