I Want To Believe but This UFO ‘Expert’ Is Making It Tough

Mexican journalist and Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) researcher Jaime Maussan appeared before Mexico’s Congress on Tuesday, presenting the nation’s lawmakers with what he claimed are the actual mummified corpses of aliens. Maussan, a regular fixture on the topic in Mexican media, cited DNA sampling and showed X-rays of the bodies before telling Congress, “These specimens 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.”

So, are there definitely aliens on Earth now? Is that just definitely a thing? Maybe. But It’s not completely convincing that Maussan’s supposed unearthly specimens are it. Let’s unpack. 

Maussen presented the “non-human” corpses in windowed boxes. The bodies, which Maussen says are between 700 and 1800 years old and were found in Peru in 2017, are the size of small children, have three fingers on each hand, and look an awful lot like a cross between unofficial X-Files mascots and ET. OK sus, but I still want to believe.

Maussen said, under oath, that the bodies had been studied by scientists at the Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM), who performed DNA testing resulting in the finding that 30% of the corpses’ DNA is “unknown.” It’s unclear whether he presented any hard evidence for this claim. It’s definitely not impossible, but I want to note here that extracting DNA from mummies is really hard, and it’s only recently that scientists have been able to do it at all. 

The researcher did present those x-rays of the bodies, which appeared to show that one of the creatures carried eggs inside its body. (#Girlboss.)

Whatever we believe, this unveiling is timed well for maximum believability (even if it is shot through with holes) as it comes a few short months after the U.S. Congress’ own hearing on the possible existence of otherworldly UAPs. You probably remember back in July, retired Air Force Major David Grusch testified that the U.S. government has been hiding evidence of UAPs. Specifically of note, Grusch mentioned claims that the government had possession of “non-human” biological matter. 

Grusch may not necessarily be the most reliable guy. And we actually know that Maussen was connected to a debunked case involving a possible alien mummy also found in Peru in 2017. But this whole UAP/alien/we are not alone thing is not just for folks on the fringe anymore. If Trump ever did one meaningful thing in his life, it could be when he declassified those UFO documents. Since then, the possibility of UAPs has been taken much more seriously on the world stage. Just last year, NASA formed a committee of experts to study UAPs and I’m excited to hear more from them.

(featured image: FOTOKITA/Getty Images)