3-fingered ‘alien mummies’ found in Peru have fingerprints that do not appear to be human: report
They’re still trying to put their finger on this mystery.
Humanoid, three-fingered “alien mummies” discovered in Peru last year have “straight” fingerprints that do not match those of humans, according to an attorney who reviewed one of the controversial specimens.
Joshua McDowell, a former Colorado prosecutor and current defense attorney, examined one of the tiny strange bodies — named “Maria” — with three independent forensic medical examiners from the United States.
He and the experts were shocked to discover that the fingerprints on the ET-like corpses were in perfectly straight lines.
“These were not traditional human fingerprint patterns,” attorney, Joshua McDowell, told The Daily Mail.
“We did not see any loops or whorls on the prints of the fingers or on the toes,” he said.
“I’m a former prosecutor. I’m a criminal defense attorney. I’ve seen lots of fingerprints. And these were not classic fingerprints,” he added.
More than half a dozen of the so-called “alien mummies” were revealed by Controversial Mexican journalist and UFO enthusiast José Jaime Maussan, who presented his findings to Mexico’s congress.
McDowell and the US medical examiners traveled with Maussan to Peru last April to study the bodies. While the lack of human fingerprints is puzzling, he said it would be “extremely premature” to make any statements about the mummies’ origins.
One possible explanation for the unusually straight fingerprints “could possibly have something to do with the way her skin was preserved,” he said, noting that it’s “very odd.”
Maria’s body is covered in diatomaceous earth — a type of white powder made from the sediment of fossilized algae found in bodies of water.
“However, on the fingers that were exposed, the epidermal ridges I saw appeared to be in mostly straight lines,” he said.
While no official determination has been made regarding the nature of the humanoid bodies, McDowell said he still spends hours on the case.
McDowell, a former deputy district attorney in Colorado’s Fourth Judicial District, took a city coroner from Denver and a forensic anthropologist from Maryland’s state Medical Examiner’s Office to the South American country to investigate.
He also brought his father, Dr. John McDowell, a forensic odontologist and retired professor at the University of Colorado, who assisted in identifying human remains after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, according to the Daily Mail.
The 4-foot tall “aliens,” dubbed “the Nazca mummies” after the region in Peru where they were discovered, made international headlines for their elongated heads and three-fingered hands — which resembled something out of “Star Trek.”
Maussan has been adamantly declaring that the specimens are extra-terrestrial, despite pushback from scientists and government officials who say they are nothing more than a man-man hoax.
In January, Peruvian authorities said they were “dolls” patched together with paper, glue, metal and human and animal bones.
“They are not extraterrestrials; they are not aliens,” forensic archaeologist Flavio Estrada told reporters.
One critic, Latin American historian Christopher Heaney, argued that pre-Columbian societies in Peru practiced head shaping, similar to the shape of the mummies’ heads, he told the newspaper. The “aliens” could be human remains that are hundreds of years old.
Maria, though, does not resemble some of the other smaller specimens, according to the Daily Mail. The fingerprint analysis suggests some of the mummies are either not dolls or were constructed by some other strange material.
A team of 10 Mexican researchers found that 30% of the mummies’ DNA is not human — but is rather from an “unknown species.”
In March, a pair of filmmakers working on a documentary about different mummified remains claimed X-rays revealed that the mummies are not fake, although they may not be from another planet. They said they believe they could be evidence of a new species affected by “genetic manipulation.”
McDowell, however, said earlier this year he wants “actual, very definitive DNA studies done at high complexity laboratories” before jumping to any conclusions.
“The carbon dating needs to be repeated with more sophisticated methods. Those are things that we’re looking for,” his research team said in a statement. “Our preliminary investigation really just led to the fact that more investigation is needed.”
The caves where the mummies were found were filled with pre-Hispanic artifacts and has become a target for grave robbers
