Doubts Raised About Guy Who Told Mexican Congress “Non-Human Beings” Were Discovered in a Peruvian Mine
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On Tuesday, a Mexican “journalist” named Jaime Maussan presented some humanoid but purportedly “non-human” bodies to Mexico’s Congress. Maussan, who does Unsolved Mysteries–style coverage of UFOs, said they had been found in Peruvian mines and once “lived with our ancestors.“ The reaction has been skeptical:
No, This Is Not an Alien. Here’s Why (Wired)
Scientists Call Fraud on Supposed Extraterrestrials Presented to Mexican Congress (Associated Press)
A self-proclaimed ufologist showed members of Congress what he claimed were two mummified specimens of extraterrestrial beings. Experts scoffed. (New York Times)
Maussan appears to be reiterating claims about Peruvian remains that he and others have made previously; according to the AP, officials investigating the matter in that country concluded that the “bodies” in question were “recently manufactured dolls” that had been “covered with a mixture of paper and synthetic glue.” (The Times notes that one analysis of a related specimen determined its skull was “largely made of a deteriorated llama braincase.”)
The concern here, as articulated by Defector’s Barry Petchesky, is that Maussan’s stunt will overshadow more legitimate inquiries into the possibility of extraterrestrial life, whether it’s the unassailably scientific work done by the Webb space telescope or the more contested discussion of UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomena) reported by pilots. (One such pilot, Ryan Graves, also testified at the Mexican hearing and tweeted that he was dismayed to be associated with Maussan.)
On the other hand, no one—in the press, at least—really knows where Maussan got the “bodies” he showed off Tuesday. Can’t we let a guy and a Mexican legislature have some fun from time to time?
Eh, maybe not: The manufacture of the bodies may have involved the manipulation of actual human remains, as the Atlantic wrote in 2017, and fits into a history of treating the bones of Indigenous populations as freakish or abnormal. Regrettably, we must conclude that there is no fun to be had, today, with UFO stuff—especially for the llama.
