The so-called ‘alien mummies’ discovered in Peru, supposedly near the Nazca lines, have been dismissed as a hoax by skeptics and most of the scientific community, with claims that a definitive study released in 2024 has exposed the fraud. But researchers who’ve been studying the small and oddly shaped specimens for many years feel otherwise, and they are now fighting back to save their reputations and let the public know about the latest evidence suggesting the mummies are something organic and real.

The lead investigator on the ongoing investigation of the strangely shaped mummified bodies is Dr. José Zalce, the former director of the Mexican Navy Medical Department, and by anyone’s measure, a legitimate scientist with bonafide credentials. He has analyzed 21 of the strange bodies, all of which were recovered during excavations in Peru, and he told the Daily Mail that he has identified “fingerprints, bone wear, dental formations, muscular features and internal organs – proving they’re 100 percent real biological organisms.” He even claims to have found evidence that one of the females mummies was pregnant at the time of her death and mummification, which in his words is something “impossible to fake or replicate fraudulently.”

To back this ᴀssertion, Dr. Zalce has provided a recent scan of the “pregnant” mummy that seems to show an intact fetus inside of her body.

All of this is important for those who advocate for the reality of the alien mummies, as the debunking study put out in 2024 claimed the mummified beings weren’t “beings” at all, alien, mutated human, lost hominin species, or anything else, because they were actually “dolls” ᴀssembled from animal bones fixed together with glue and then wrapped up to make fake mummies. This is the theory that Dr. Zalce has had to respond to, as he attempts to keep the story of the Peruvian mummies and their true identify alive.

The Science is On Our Side, Leading Advocate Declares

The mummies emerged from obscurity in 2023, when controversial UFOologist and journalist Jaime Maussan brought two small wrapped beings before the Mexican Congress, in his version of alien disclosure. He said they were not part of ‘our terrestrial evolution’, as a third of their genetic features had proven to be unidentifiable.

Ufologist and journalist Jaime Maussan presenting an “alien mummy” to the Mexican Congress. (Cámara de Diputados ).

This presentation was not particularly helpful to the cause of those who swear the mummies are legitimate, since Maussan has a reputation as a grifter and attention-seeker even among those who take the UFO phenomenon seriously.

Dr. Zalce and his team, however, have carried out a range of scientific tests on the mummies over the past several years, including X-rays, CT scans with 3D reconstruction, fluoroscopy, DNA analysis, forensic fingerprinting and tissue sample examinations. This is the sort of analysis that is required for the story of the alien mummies to be taken seriously, and Dr. Zalce insists his findings debunk the debunkers.

“These confirm with 100 percent certainty their organic, biofunctional, and skeletal anatomical authenticity,’ Dr. Zalce stated, throwing down the gauntlet to the scientific community as a whole.

Jois Mantilla, a Peruvian journalist who has worked closely with the doctor’s team, accepts this conclusion, having been persuaded finally by the pregnant mummy called Monserrat.

Scanned image showing alleged fetus inside alleged “alien” mummy from Peru. (Dr. José Zalce).

“The fact that the fetus is a tridactyl [three-fingered being] makes it one of the most important proofs of the authenticity of these bodies,” he said.

Dr Zalce and his team have determined that Monserrat was  between 15 and 25 years old at time of her mummification, based on her “bodily condition, gestational state, and a comparison of her anthropomorphic bone structure.” He estimates Montserrat’s remains are from 1,200 to 1,600 years old.

While much has been made of the claim by Maussan and others that the Peruvian mummies are alien, Dr. Zalce and his team and supporters are only interested in proving they are anomalous. In fact Mantilla believes that the mummies are remains from an unknown species of hominin, due to the mixture of features that match humans in some cases but differ in others (the three-fingered hands, facial features, and elongated skull and feet are variants).

‘It could be a different species of hominid that had not been described before by science,’ he said.

This idea is backed by a different study of a Peruvian mummy named Maria, which was published in May 2024. The researchers involved in this work found biological similarities with humans but also “many morphological and anatomical structural differences.”

Image of skull of mummy known as Maria, studied by researchers in 2024. (Hernandez Huaripaucar, et.al./Revista de Gestao Social e Ambiental).

This creature’s bones were observed to fit together naturally under the mummified casing, as would be the case with a human body, and the elongated skull showed no signs of artificial cranial deformation.

Image of three-fingered hand from mummy named Maria. (Hernandez Huaripaucar, et.al./Revista de Gestao Social e Ambiental).

Skeptics Respond to Believers, Believers Respond to Skeptics

While Dr. Zalce is more convinced than ever that he and his team are studying a truly bizarre lifeform, from Earth or elsewhere, scientists outside this group who’ve tried to squash the story because they see it as a hoax aren’t backing down from their conclusions, either.

Peruvian forensic archaeologist Flavio Estrada, who led the much-cited analysis that refuted Dr. Zalce’s ᴀssertions, said the claims that the two objects came from another world, or are truly anomalous in any way, are “totally false.”

“The conclusion is simple: they are dolls ᴀssembled with bones of animals from this planet, with modern synthetic glues, therefore they were not ᴀssembled during pre-Hispanic times,” he stated definitively. “They are not extraterrestrials; they are not aliens.”

As confident as this sounds, Estrada’s statements have not stopped Zalce and his team from continuing their research.

 “All serious researchers involved have confirmed that these are non-human bodies with unique anatomical differences, such as tridactyl, without any traces of artificial manipulation or alteration,” Dr Zalce countered, insisting that the mummies’ “authenticity is supported by fingerprints, DNA analysis showing remarkable differences from human DNA, and other surprising genetic and pathological findings.”

One intriguing discovery, according to Dr. Zalce, are many metal plates that have been found in different areas of the mummies’ bodies. They are located “from the interior covering some bones to external attachments on the skin, forming a biofunctional implant with no signs of rejection. These polymetallic plates have been analyzed using [a light-based measurement], revealing an alloy composed of copper, cadmium, osmium, aluminum, gold, and silver. Notably, the silver has a purity of over 95 percent, which is rare in nature,” he continued.

According to Mantilla, Montserrat was found with a metallic-like object on its head that was put into the body before death.

“They have been placed on the skin using a technique that we still do not know,” he said. “In some cases, [like Montserrat], the skin has been seen to have grown around the implant.”

Dr. Zalce, Mantilla, and everyone advocating for the legitimacy of the Peruvian mummies are making some extraordinary claims, which have been rejected in at least one peer-reviewed study (that of Dr. Estrada). To progress further, they plan to work collaboratively with the Peruvian Ministry of Culture to complete additional genetic and forensic testing.

‘There are a lot of unknowns about these tridactyl specimens that could be definitively answered through additional testing modalities not currently available in Peru, “Mantilla said. “Our position is simply that they should be tested, in a legal and culturally sensitive manner, with the best methods available today.”

Top image: Mysterious Peruvian mummies with unusual physical features, leaving some to suspect they are not human.

Source: Unearthing Nazca/Gaia/YouTube.

By Nathan Falde

Tags: mummies, aliens, UFOs, strange discoveries, Peru, unexplained mysteries

FB: If you thought the story of the alien mummies from Peru had been totally debunked, think again—the story is back, and the former director of the Mexican Navy Medical Department says his work proves the mummies are real and not human.

Meta: The former director of the Mexican Navy Medical Department, Dr. José Zalce, says that several