Humans have been fascinated with the idea of aliens ever since the suggestion of otherworldly creatures came about. People are constantly looking for evidence to support their beliefs and prove that these aliens have, in fact, landed on Earth. A surprising amount of this “evidence” is found through archaeology, but the validity of these finds is often questionable. In her article, “Aliens and Archeology”, Katy Meyers Emery discusses some examples of fake alien proof and why people so badly want to believe that they are real.
Researchers and archeologists alike have found many different artifacts supporting the theory of extraterrestrial life. However, most of these phenomena are easily explained through anthropology, science, or a mixture of the two (like the examples mentioned above). The article focussed on two specific examples; the Paracas skulls and the Starchild. The Paracas skulls actually refer to the 429 mummies found in a necropolis in Peru by Julio Tello in the year 1927. The mummies were all male and found in a sitting position, facing north, dating from 800 to 100 BC. The distinctive feature of these mummies was that most of them had deformed or elongated skulls. These bodies were mistaken as aliens until research showed that the elongation of the skull was a cultural practice of the time, as a representation of status. The Starchild refers to the enlarged skull of a child found in El Paso, Texas, claimed to be the result of a human-alien crossbreeding. Upon further research and DNA testing, the skull was found to be completely human and the enlargement due to congenital hydrocephalous.
Emery explains our fascination with aliens on the expansion of our knowledge of space and the growing possibility of its colonization. There is still so much to learn and explore in space, and it is right within our grasps. This is what inspires people to start considering things like aliens and living on other planets, the fact that it is not so far ahead in our future.