A team of Peruvian archaeologists has found a 1,300-year-old pre-Hispanic cemetery near Lima's main zoo, a researcher said Friday.

Credit: Diffusion

"We have found three human burials that belong to the pre-Inca culture of Lima with an antiquity of 1,300 years," Lucenida Carrión, head of the Directorate of Archaeology of the Parque de Las Leyendas, told AFP.

The human remains, including two skulls belonging to the Peruvian culture (100-650 AD), were shown to the press by the researchers.

Credit: Diffusion

Carrión explained that the remains were found at the end of February in the 'huaca' or pre-Hispanic sanctuary 'El Rosal' in the district of San Miguel, on the coast of Lima.

The remains, which belong to two adults and one child, were found more than a metre deep. In addition, archaeologists found an oven for ceramics, earthenware vessels and two 'piruros' or spindle whorls.

Credit: Diffusion

The archaeologist explained that one of the adults was found lying face down, while the child, who was about three years old, was lying on his right side with bent legs.

"At the moment we are also excavating a third adult burial, some of the bones of which can be seen protruding from the earth," she said.

Credit: Diffusion

La Huaca El Rosal is located in the northeast corner of Peru's main zoo, Parque de Las Leyendas.

The objects found in this park contain traces of three civilizations and are located in the archaeological complex of Maranga.


According to the archaeologist, the inhabitants of the Lima culture built the first structures in Huaca El Rosal.

In 2016, adobe walls and mud floors were discovered in the lower part of the huaca, and the walls of an oven between 400 and 500 AD.

"These findings are contemporary with the nine human burials found between 2016 and 2017," Carrión noted.

Source: El Pais [March 10, 2018]

The idea of binding and reshaping a baby's head may make today's parents cringe, but for families in the Andes between 1100-1450, cranial modification was all the rage.

Starting around 1300, high-ranking members of a pre-Inca population increasingly had their heads bound into a narrow, elongated shape during infancy [Credit: M. Velasco/Current Anthropology 2018]

Like Chinese foot binding, the practice may have been a marker of group identity. Its period of popularity in what is now Peru, before the expansion of the Inca empire, was marked by political upheaval, ecological stress and the emergence of new cultural practices. In a study published in Current Anthropology, Matthew Velasco, assistant professor of anthropology at Cornell University, explores how head-shaping practices may have enabled political solidarity while furthering social inequality in the region.

Velasco analyzed hundreds of human skeletal remains from multiple tombs in the Colca Valley of highland Peru and discovered that before 1300 most people did not have modified heads. He found that the number of individuals with cranial modifications increased over time, from 39.2 percent to 73.7 percent during the later portion of the Late Intermediate Period.

Above-ground tombs at the cemetery site of Yuraq Qaqa (Colca Valley, Peru) [Credit: David Rodriguez Sotomayo]

Skeletal samples of two major ethnic groups showed that the Collaguas employed methods to make their heads assume a longer, narrower shape, while the Cavanas sought to make their heads wide and squat. Eventually, the elongated head shape of the Collaguas became the predominant style of modification in the upper Colca Valley. According to Velasco, this shift toward embodying a shared identity may have strengthened ties between groups engaged in protracted conflict with outsiders, including the Incas.

"The increased homogeny of head shapes suggests that modification practices contributed to the creation of a new collective identity and may have exacerbated emerging social differences," Velasco said. "Head shape would be an obvious signifier of affiliation and could have encouraged unity among elites and increased cooperation in politics."

About 300 years before the Inca arrived, low-ranking members of the Collagua people sometimes had their heads flattened at the back during infancy (left). More often, their heads were not modified (right) [Credit: M. Velasco/Current Anthropology 2018]

Whether head modification conferred distinct privileges and higher status is unclear, but Velasco found bio-archaeological evidence that modified females possessed greater access to diverse food options and were less likely to encounter violence. Cranial modification thus appears to be a factor in societal inequality, Velasco said.

One explanation for the cranial modifications is offered by a 16th-century Spanish colonial document Velasco examined, which described groups molding skulls into the shape of the volcano from their origin myth. "If this is true, then cranial modification reflects a deeply religious worldview and was fundamental to a person's being and existence, and not simply a fashion statement," Velasco said.

Author: Linda B. Glaser | Source: Cornell University [February 21, 2018]

Archaeologists in Peru have unearthed three 19th-century mummies of Chinese immigrants. The bodies were found inside their wooden coffins by workers of Calidda, a natural gas distributor in Lima and Callao.

Archaeologist Sulema Zelaya shows a 19th century mummy of a Chinese immigrant inside a wooden coffin [Credit: Guadalupe Pardo, Reuters]

The mummies were buried less than a metre (3.2 feet) deep in the Lima district of Carabayllo. Their coffins contained traditional Chinese artifacts, such as lighters and pipes to smoke opium.

The coffins contained traditional Chinese artifacts, such as lighters and pipes to smoke opium [Credit: Guadalupe Pardo, Reuters]

Archaeologists believe the mummies belonged to immigrants from the first wave of Chinese who travelled to Peru in the mid-19th century to work in the country's booming sugar and cotton industries.


The three mummies were found on Jan. 22, 2018, as Calidda employees worked to install new natural gas pipelines.


Archaeologist Cecilia Camargo, in charge of the excavation and conservation of these bodies, believes more remains of Chinese immigrants will be found in the area.

Source: Reuters [February 06, 2018]

The Peruvian government has ordered increased security at the country's world famous Nazca lines after a truck driver ploughed his vehicle through the ancient archaeological site.

This Peruvian Ministry of Culture picture shows damage caused by a truck that illegally entered the archaeological site where the ancient Nazca lines are located on January 27 [Credit: AFP]

In future, the 450-square-kilometre area will be protected day and night with drones, the Culture Ministry said on Tuesday.

The 2,000-year-old Nazca lines are giant drawings of around 370 plants and animals, which can only be seen from the sky. They were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

The ministry said that the truck driver ignored warning signs when he drove onto the heritage site on Saturday, leaving deep tyre marks in a 50-by-100-metre area and damaging the lines.

 The truck driver, who was arrested later that day, said he had wanted to change a tyre, according to the newspaper El Commercio.

In May last year, Austrian Greenpeace activist Wolfgang Sadik was handed a suspended jail sentence of two years and four months and a 200,000-dollar fine for marring the lines during a 2014 protest.

He was accused of laying out fabric letters to form a slogan between the lines, which was meant to draw attention to climate change, leaving tracks in the process that irreparably damaged them.

Credit: DPA [January 31, 2018]

A long-buried group of enclosures and agricultural terraces have been discovered at an archaeological park in the southern Peruvian region of Cuzco, officials said Wednesday.

Undated photo shows workers at an archaeological site, in Chinchero, Cuzco region, Peru [Credit: EPA-EFE/Peru's Ministry of Culture]

The Decentralized Culture Directorate of Cuzco said in a statement that the find was made in the Qentepata sector of the Chinchero Archaeological Park during restoration and enhancement work that began in 2013 and is to be completed this year.

The project head, archaeologist Felix Vilca, said the farming terraces and enclosures had been buried due to the construction of homes and an archaeological museum in Chinchero, a town 28 kilometers (17 miles) from the colonial city of Cuzco.

Undated photo shows workers at an archaeological site, in Chinchero, Cuzco region, Peru [Credit: EPA-EFE/Peru's Ministry of Culture]

A total of 1,262,000 soles (around $382,000) was invested in 2017 to execute works at terraces 1, 2, 3 and 10 of the Qentepata sector, Vilca said.

The work encompassed more than 200 linear meters of Inca walls that form "part of the stair-step like terraces rising to the top, where the Chinchero site museum is located," the archaeologist added.

Undated photo shows workers at an archaeological site, in Chinchero, Cuzco region, Peru [Credit: EPA-EFE/Peru's Ministry of Culture]

Excavation work at terrace No. 1 revealed small enclosures dating to the Inca era and an aqueduct at the foot of the wall that was used for irrigating crops.

At terrace No. 2, excavators found on one side part of a multi-section enclosure and evidence of another wall pointing northward, as well as another enclosure with similar characteristics on the opposite side.

Undated photo shows workers at an archaeological site, in Chinchero, Cuzco region, Peru [Credit: EPA-EFE/Peru's Ministry of Culture]

Three large rectangular enclosures that fully cover the cultivation area were discovered at terrace No. 3.

Evidence of a stone floor was found at one of those enclosures, indicating it dates from the colonial or republican period.

Source: EPA-EFE [January 26, 2018]

It has long been recognized that the Inka incorporated diverse peoples into their empire, but how these ethnic groups developed historically during the political upheaval of the preceding Late Intermediate Period (LIP; AD 1100-1450) is only now receiving commensurate attention.

Proto Nazca deformed skull, c 200-100 BC [Credit: WikiCommons]

Before the expansion of the Inka empire, the Late Intermediate Period was marked by political upheaval and the emergence of new cultural practices. In "Ethnogenesis and Social Difference in the Andean Late Intermediate Period (AD 1100-1450): A Bioarchaeological Study of Cranial Modification in the Colca Valley, Peru," published in Current Anthropology, Matthew C. Velasco examines how the prevalence and evolution of cranial modification practices during the Late Intermediate Period influenced ethnic identity formation in Peru's Colca Valley. In the study, Velasco explores how head-shaping practices may have enabled political solidarity and furthered social inequality in the region.

The study employs ethnogenetic research to determine the historical processes responsible for the formation and embodiment of new group identities during this period.

Cranial modification is a deliberate, permanent, and highly visible identity marker that is inscribed during infancy. Head shape may have served as an indicator of ethnic affiliation, kin categorization, or geographic origin. Archaeological and ethnohistoric data offer insights into the head-shaping practices of two major ethnic groups in the Colca Valley, the Collaguas and the Cavanas. The Collaguas employed methods to make their heads assume a longer, narrower shape while the Cavanas sought to make their heads wide and squat.

To analyze how the frequency and significance of cranial modification changed over time, skeletal samples were collected from two mortuary sites in the Collagua region and submitted for radiocarbon measurement. Crania were assorted into five categories based on modification type. Utilizing newly-calibrated radiocarbon dates, the samples were divided into two groups representing the early LIP (AD 1150-1300) and the late LIP (AD 1300-1450).

Bioarchaeological and radiometric data present a significant increase in the prevalence of cranial modification practices. During the early LIP, 39.2% of individuals exhibited modification. This percentage rose to 73.7% during the later portion of the Late Intermediate Period. The study also reveals a significant change in the distribution of modification types as time progresses. Initially, there is an equal distribution of individuals among four modification types: tabular, erect, oblique, and slight. However, results indicate that by the late LIP, oblique modification -- similar to the elongated head shape of the Collaguas -- became the predominant style of cranial modification.

Increased homogeny of head shapes in the late LIP suggests that modification practices contributed to the creation of a new collective identity, and while cranial modification consolidated prior social boundaries, the author argues that the standardization of these practices may have exacerbated emerging social differences.

Acting as a signifier of affiliation, head shape may have encouraged unity among elites and fostered increased cooperation in politics. Involvement in political and social matters may have, in turn, elevated the status of modified individuals and conferred on them distinct privileges that were not available to unmodified individuals. Bioarchaological evidence also suggests that modification practices reinforced structures of inequality that prioritized modified females. Compared to unmodified females, modified females possessed greater access to diverse food options and were less likely to encounter violence.

Source: University of Chicago Press Journals [January 22, 2018]

Archaeologists have discovered two chambers used for political ceremonies on Peru’s desert coast more than 1,500 years ago that had previously only been glimpsed in the illustrations of the ancient Moche people, an archaeologist said on Monday.

Credit: El Comercio

The finding, at the ruins of the Limon archaeological complex in the region of Lambayeque, will provide key clues to understanding the Moche’s political life before the desert society’s sudden decline, said lead archaeologist Walter Alva.

One room features two thrones where a powerful leader and guest likely enjoyed elaborate feasts, said Alva. The other has a circular podium, possibly for making announcements.

Credit: El Comercio

The events that took place in the chambers were so important they had been featured repeatedly on Moche ceramics, Alva said.

“These scenes had been depicted in the iconography of the Moche world but we had never been lucky enough to physically find where they took place,” he said. “It’s a very important finding.”

Credit: El Comercio

The Moche, one of several complex societies that thrived in Peru long before the rise of the Incan empire, ruled over a vast swath of coastal desert from 100 to 700 AD, thanks to irrigation canals they built to grow crops in desert valleys. The Moche are known for their elaborate gold work and sculptures featuring a wide variety of sexual acts.

Many researchers believe a disastrous climate event, such as the El Nino phenomena that still triggers severe flooding in northern Peru, probably led to the collapse of Moche society.


Alva said construction on part of the recently unearthed chambers appears to have halted abruptly in the 5th century. The rooms were believed to have been used only by the elite, and paintings of fish and sea lions can be seen on the walls.

Women are believed to have held political and religious positions in Moche society. Last year, Peruvian officials and archaeologists unveiled a replica of the face of an ancient female Moche ruler, the Lady of Cao, whose elaborately tattooed body had been buried with weapons and gold objects.

Author: Marion Giraldo | Source: Reuters [January 09, 2018]

var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true};

You know, our catchphrase used to be “people really believe this stuff” and I’m always amazed at how many times one individual can be caught promoting outrageous hoaxes and still keep on doing it with many falling his absurd claims over and over again. They so wish

By Sharon Hill doubtfulnews.com 6-21-17

to believe that there was alien (non-human) influence in Latin American history. It’s just bizarre. The latest is an incredibly fake-looking “alien mummy” said to have been found in Peru.
Read more »

var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true};

During the course of a recent investigation carried out by members of the Asociacion Peruana de Ufologia (APU), contact was made with the new owners of strange archaeological relics of supposedly alien origin, who have been given the pseudonym "Guardians of Atok Marka" in

By Alex Sender Inexplicata 4-23-17

order to safeguard the identities of these people who live in the southern mountains of Peru, where they have over 2000 of these strange relics in their possession.

As will be recalled, in late 2016, two characters from the city of Cuzco - "Luis Quispe" or "Krawix" as well as Dante Rios, brought some of these remains to light, which added up to a dozen, and which included small mummified beings, skulls of extraterrestrial (sic) appearance, as well as giant hands with metallic incrustations. But in this case, the "Guardians of Atok Marka" have a much larger number of pieces, some of them similar to those held by the collectors in Cuzco, along with many other relics, each more intriguing than the previous one.

The "Guardians of Atok Marka" have over 2000 pieces in their possession, as was mentioned earlier. Among these are the mummified remains of entities ranging from 7 centimeters to 3 meters tall (3 inches to 9 feet). Upon detailed observation and contact by APU researchers, everything pointed to these objects being bones and soft tissue mummified with the passing of time and the conditions in which they were found.

When the existence of these remains in the hands of the collectors from Cuzco became known, all of these parts had been removed in a clandestine manner from a subterranean gallery located under the Ica Desert, specifically the Nazca Area, a province located to the south of the region.

According to the story offered by the "Guardians of Atok Marka", these remains were removed from a sacred site, protected by ancestral tutelary spirits for thousands of years, and which had never been located by the archaeological work being carried out at various locations of Nazca Province.

The Asociación Peruana de Ufología awaits the results of scientific tests that have already been commissioned by the "Guardians of Atok Marka" from a specialized organization with a view toward reaching a more satisfactory conclusion as to the origin and authenticity of these enigmatic relics. However, everything seems to suggest that we could be facing evidence of transcendental importance that would definitely change the course of humanity.

Dr. Anthony Choy, APU's director, and Lic. Rafael Mercado, e representatives of the Asociación Peruana de Ufologia, are the first Peruvian researchers to reach the guardians of this priceless and impressive collection of over 2000 pieces of seemingly non-human origin. The completion of the scientific tests being performed on them is crucial. It is also necessary to keep this subject from being distorted or manipulated by shadowy political interests.

The Asociación Peruana de Ufología shall continue to pursue this case.
Read more »



Credit: Inexplicata

The images caused some fear among local residents. A camera employed by a resident of the Ocuviri District, Province of Lampa, Puno (Perú) raised doubts yet again as to whether we are alone

By Inexplicata 1-11-17

in the universe.

The object was taken on the morning of January 1, 2017 at approximately 7:00 a.m.. The image shows an unidentified flying object (UFO) in the Puna skies.

The images caused some fear among local residents, who at first thought they were looking at an airplane, but dismissed the hypothesis after seeing it was motionless.

It should be noted that the object appeared a few days after the earthquake that occurred in the district. Some locals noted that these sightings are in some way related to the tremor.
Read more »

A UFO sighting was a cause for commotion among residents of the Alonso de Alvarado-Roque district, Provicne of Lamas. The object remained visible in the skies over this locality for several minutes, visible to a considerable number of townsfolk who had no idea what they were looking at.

From Inexplicata By Franclin Lavan/Diario Voces 11-23-16

The event took place around 5:30 in the afternoon. At times the object resembled a satellite; at others, it resembled a triangular object that generated a radiant light from within.

The UFO's manifestation became a source of diverse opinions in the community, even causing some citizens to say that the coming of Christ was at hand, while others stated that the object was part of the modern technology used by developed countries to monitor Peruvians.

[Translator's note: the following paragraph is unclear] Following investigations, it is believed to be a satellite called the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, which began making its first monitoring tests on the planet Mars [sic], coinciding with information disclosed by the European Space Agency (ESA), saying that the likelihood of such observations will be more forceful and exact in coming days.
Read more »

A luminous UFO was recorded as it flew very close to an airliner. It was taken in the city of Trujillo, Perú, on 22 July 2016. The images were shared on YouTube by user OVNIS ACTUALES on 23 July 2016.

By Prensa www.radiosantiago.cl 7-25-16

The clip shows a luminous object crossing the sky at high speed. As the witness records the transit of a commercial airplane, the UFO passes very close to the craft. The witnesses did his best to follow the object, but it vanished from sight on account of its speed.

* Translation By Scott Corrales Institute of Hispanic Ufology (IHU)
Read more »

Credit: diariocorreo.pe

This morning an Unidentified Flying Object was sighted by villagers in the town of Pucyura in Vilcabamba (Cusco), reporter Raul Puma managed to videotape it and states that it is something never before seen in the area.

By diariocorreo.pe 4-13-16

"I got it on film at about 07:30 hours, but the object was flying over the area Habaspata very early, sometimes it approached and moved away from where we were not emitting any kind of sound and from one moment to another disappearing the clouds, " he stated.

So far it is unknown what was reocrded on video, however many times the balloons used for meteorological measurements are confused with flying saucers. [...]
Read more »

MEXICO CITY - Former president and current presidential candidate Alejandro Toledo shook his country's news media in a press conference when he confessed to discussing UFOs with the international media.

By Inexplicata 4-4-16

"I was interviewed by CNN on a subject that would be considered outlandish, seemingly proper of the realm of science fiction, but it isn't: extraterrestrials."

As of the end of this edition, this interview has not been made public, and some have described it as an attention-getter in the midst of the country's political season.

When UFO researchers in Peru were asked about these statements, they admitted to not having more information on the subject, but are certain that a number of UFO sightings took place during the term of President Alberto Fujimori from 1990 to 2000.

One of the most memorable ones took place on 7 December 1991 at 21:00 hours, when the presence of a UFO was reported over Laguna de Charo, located in the city of Iquitos in the Peruvian Amazon. The military staff accompanying the president looked on in bemusement.

"Fujimori as well as the military watched as an enormous object flew over the lagoon before fleeing the area, passing over the witnesses' heads," according to Julio Chamorro, former commander of the Peruvian Air Force.

The retired military man said that following the sighting, Fujimori asked his officers to keep quiet about it, telling them that what they had just seen had never happened.

It was nevertheless a source of much conversation within the Peruvian armed forces, and led to the creation of the first phase of OIFA, the Anomalous Aerial Phenomena Research Office attached to the Peruvian Air Force, which has currently been elevated to departmental status with a well-defined structure, featuring both military and civilian advisors.

Several Latin American presidents have discussed their sightings. It should be remembered that Mexican presidents Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Luis Echeverría and Miguel de la Madrid were very aware of the activities of these strange unidentified flying objects.

It seems that this secret, kept by the political class, is slowly coming to light, giving way to a new era of general openness.

* Source:www.informador.mx.co and Planeta UFO

* [Translation (c) 2016 S. Corrales, IHU with thanks to Guillermo Gimenez)
Read more »

Tweet!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');

var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true};

In the late 1990s, a strange-looking relic known as the “Star Child” skull first began to appear on the UFO lecture circuit. With its odd, bulbous shape, the skull appeared to bear obvious cranial deformation, causing it to have marked similarity to the alleged alien “Grays” represented in UFO abductee literature since the 1960s. This similarity had been what prompted researcher Lloyd Pye, whose interest early on had involved reports of anomalous primates and mysteries of human origin, to take up the cause, championing the skull as bonafide evidence of alien visitation to Earth. Thus, throughout the rest of his life Pye proceeded with raising funds for scientific tests, in an effort to credibly present what became known as the “Star Child” to the world. Pye himself had said, upon first being shown the specimen, that it became his hope to “shove it down science’s throat.”

By Micah Hanks The UFO Chronicles 3-15-16

For all his enthusiasm, the “alien” origin of the skull that became the focus of Pye’s efforts throughout the remainder of his life has yet to be proven. Though he had remained ever hopeful that the skull would turn out to be a likely candidate for ET, much of the data available today suggests otherwise, though certain ambiguities about its exact nature do persist.

The true aim of science, rather than to “prove” the unexplained, seeks to rule out the improbable, through tests for falsification which might yield new data that helps form future hypotheses and, eventually, new understandings of the nature of things around us.

In lieu of this, it would indeed be difficult to “prove” the existence of alien life with such a specimen, even in the event that it were found to bear anomalous, non-human traits, the likes of which Pye might have hoped for. After all, against what other information might the specimen and its traits be compared, in order to help indicate it hadn’t been of earthly origin?

For all of the specimen’s unusual traits, it is a human cranium that it most closely resembles. Nonetheless, this has done little to dissuade advocates of human-alien hybrid programs, nor the opposing critics who eagerly assert that it belonged to some other mammalian creature; these range from dogs or some variety of monkey, to perhaps the most absurd suggestion of all: that of a common mole (and this, despite the fact that the very largest species within the mole family, the Russian desman, clocks in at just 18 ounces, at its very heaviest).

Despite the controversy over its identity and origin, also amidst the persistent questions about the specimen are those dealing with where it was discovered, by whom, and most troubling of all, why it was dubbed the “Star Child” in the first place.

To understand these questions, one must trace the specimen back to its actual owners, from whom Lloyd Pye had initially borrowed the skull in February, 1999. It was through this meeting that Pye himself learned the story of its discovery in rural Mexico in the 1930s, alongside what had been a rather normal-looking companion.


Melanie and Ray Young are residents of El Paso, Texas. Some time in the mid 1990s, Melanie learned about the skull from a longtime friend, who inherited it from its original owner that passed away several years earlier.

“He had it in his garage for a number of years,” Young recalls of its years prior to entering her possession. Young had been operating a day spa at the time, and the wife of the skull’s owner had been one of her employees. After producing a number of photographs of the skull, Young asked if she could actually see the specimen. “He gave it to me, and said he didn’t know what it was. I started to examine it, and it had all the same bones you or I have, but they were misshapen.”

“It was the weirdest deformity I had seen,” Young said. “I also worked at the teaching hospital at the time, and it matched nothing that I had seen in our reference manuals.”

Young had worked in the medical profession for a number of years already. She attended the Methodist School of Nursing in Lubbock, Texas, and worked in the area of neonatal care for nearly two decades, prior to which she had been part of a pediatric oncology unit based in Lubbock. “It’s the highest stress area to work in a hospital,” Young says. “My care for kids is one reason why I felt this (skull) belonged to a child. Why did I think it was a child? Well that’s my love, and its size was small.”

Young’s friend explained that the specimen had been discovered in a cave or abandoned mine, which was said to have been located southwest of Chihuahua, Mexico. At the time of its discovery, the original owner had been in her teens, and traveled to Mexico on vacation with family members. Despite being instructed not to visit the mine shafts nearby due to safety concerns, the individual in question had done so anyway, leading to the discovery of a small skeleton bearing the unusual skull, buried beside a normal human skeleton which remained above ground.

With hopes for finding someone who could help garner attention from the scientific community, Young and her husband decided to attend a local meeting of the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), where members in attendance were able to introduce her to a pair of specialists in the fields of neurology and orthopedics. Upon examination, the pair of doctors expressed little interest in the small, misshapen skull, focusing instead on its companion, the “normal” human skull (also still in Young’s possession), which seemed to bear evidence of damage sustained from possible injury.

Shortly thereafter, Young’s associates with MUFON advised that researcher Lloyd Pye would be passing through the area to give a presentation before the group’s local chapter. Arrangements were made for a meeting between the parties, which resulted in Pye obtaining the skulls, expressing hopes at procuring scientific testing to help determine the nature of the unusual specimen.

As for why it had been dubbed the “Star Child”, Young notes that at roughly the same time Lloyd Pye was given the skull, many in the UFO community had been urging for disclosure of its existence to the public. However, if it were to be presented publicly, a name for the new specimen would also be required.

“At the time, we didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl,” Young says. “Since we were at a MUFON event, we adopted the word ‘star’, and ended up calling it the Star Child.”


A number of studies were carried out throughout the period in which Pye had kept the skull. However, as Young notes, Pye had at times been dismissive of certain test results, having seemingly grown attached to the notion that the skull might represent some evidence of extraterrestrials or, more specifically, a “hybrid” resulting from human and extraterrestrial interbreeding. This presumption seemed to lead Pye’s inquiries over the years, which nonetheless resulted in a number of scientific studies that revealed various traits attributed to the skull.

Presiding amidst the theories of the skull’s origin, it is believed that the “Star Child” had indeed belonged to a young male, whose unusual appearance resulted from a congenital defect (some have suggested a form of hydrocephalus, which Young disputes). The determination of the child’s gender is based on DNA testing that was conducted at the Bureau of Legal Dentistry in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1999. Standard X- and Y-chromosomes were present, indicating not only the male gender, but also the likelihood that each of the parents were human. A subsequent 2003 study conducted by Trace Genetics suggested that DNA contained within samples taken from the skull were of Native American origin.

While much has been made of dismissing the skull’s supposed “alien” origins in skeptical literature over the years, moving forward with the presumption of an extraterrestrial hypothesis is not the aim of Young’s current work. Presently, Young hopes that new scientific studies of the skull can help determine what it is not, rather than try to bolster claims of its exotic nature.

“All I thought about was the fact that it lived long enough for the bones to connect, and stay connected; for the teeth to have grown, and the teeth be used so much that wear on them could be seen,” Young says.

“There’s DNA present that we could use to help better (the lives of) our children if any of those deformities can be better understood. What was going on with this child 900 years ago that allowed it to survive? It has to be a genetic thing; what can we learn from the genetics that can help us?”

Young suggests that much of the controversy over the skull and its presumed “alien” origins stems from the name that was selected for it nearly two decades ago.

“That’s probably the thing that, basically, has been the issue. Because if you say ‘Star Child’, people Google it, and the first thing that comes up is Wikipedia, which says that it is hydrocephalic, and a result of head-boarding.”

Young disputes assertions that the skull is hydrocephalic. “If it were hydrocephalic, there would be a membrane between the bones,” Young says, adding that a dip running down the middle of the skull seems inconsistent with a hydrocephalic infant that managed to survive well into childhood. The child’s age beyond infancy is further supported by the teeth remaining within the skull, which show evidence of wear from chewing. Young also states that the skull’s shape is inconsistent with the results of cradle boarding observed in similar cranial samples from the period in question.


On December 9, 2013, Lloyd Pye died after several months battling lymphoma cancer. Having retired from active involvement in studying the Star Child skull prior to his death, the skulls were returned to Young’s possession, with a brief hiatus from further research.

“(Lloyd) never wrote another book, because he gave it all up to run with the Star Child, for me,” Young says. “I feel like I owe it to him, and his legacy, to finish this.”

With the intent of proceeding with new studies of the skull, Young enlisted the help of researcher and author Chase Kloetzke, who has participated in studies of human skulls from Paracas, Peru, which did display cranial deformation. Touted by some as being anomalous, Kloetzke has been among those who have demonstrated the human origins of these skulls, as well as the processes used to produce their elongated appearance.

Kloetzke’s studies have led her across three continents, where she has presented her research in public lectures, the likes of which brought her to Young’s attention at the 2016 International UFO Congress held in Scottsdale, Arizona.

“Chase was doing her lecture, and I normally don’t stay for the question and answer portions,” Young recalls. “Somebody in the audience asked her the question, ‘what would be the evidence that would be the be-all, end-all for you?’ Chase told them ‘DNA’. My husband thought I was going to trip over people to get down to the microphone. I knew then that she was my person.”

Of the elongated Paracas skulls Kloezke has studied in the past, Young shares Kloetzke’s views that their unusual appearance can be explained.

Perascas, elongated skulls are on display at Museo Regional de Ica in the city of Ica in Peru

“There are some I would really like to get hold of and examine more closely, but the majority look like they were banded,” Melanie says, again referencing the process of cranial deformation practiced by many early indigenous cultures. The unusual appearance of these elongated skulls has prompted some fringe theorists to present them as evidence of ancient contact between humans and extraterrestrials, despite the banding that led to their formation being widely recognized today.

With all its history of controversy, Young hopes that future studies of the skull will help shed light on its origins, and the nature of its possible deformities.

“We’re taking the project in a different direction. We’re not married to the outcome, we just want to get there.”

“I don’t want to challenge the findings,” Young adds. “I want to discuss them.”
Read more »