Just noting that the mummy is very recent, perhaps 50 years old. (Not a 50 years old person, but born and mummified about 50 years ago.)<p>"Ata was stillborn or died immediately after her birth, perhaps 40 years before her remains were discovered."<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/mar/22/genetic-tests-reveal-tragic-reality-of-atacama-alien-skeleton" rel="nofollow">https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/mar/22/genetic-test...</a>
> Ata’s bones contain DNA that not only shows she was human<p>The fact that there's a DNA already means it's not an alien, doesn't it? Having a life form with the same uber-complex chain of nucleotides as the life on earth developed is as improbable as a server on an alien mothership being compatible with a Macbook. (Quick primer on the subject: <a href="https://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/cracking-aliens-genetic-code-180964124/" rel="nofollow">https://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/cracking-aliens-gen...</a>)<p>Having said that, the NYT article reads like the researchers are still unable to explain the discrepancies between the age and the well-formed skeleton as well as the number of mutations. Were there any secret nuclear tests conducted half a century ago in Chile? But that would also probably be insufficient to cause all that. I would bet on experiments trying to cause deliberate mutations.
not directly related, just by association - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_cranial_deformation" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_cranial_deformation</a> - i imagine that would be a one source of alien legends (not that i don't believe in aliens myself :) One of the references in the article is about such practice dating back to Neanderthals (<a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/202808" rel="nofollow">https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/202808</a>)
Pictures I have seen before always made me think that skeleton was a hoax. At least the Alien lunacy has been put to rest.<p>Although, I bet there will be some people who would not believe the results.
mmh... I'm unsure about what to think. Reduced ribs, crest and pelvis shape suggest more a small monkey without tail than a human to me. Is too tiny for having calcified bones yet. Some things suggest human foetus, not stillborn. Other are not easy to explain.