The discovery of a six-inch skeleton with a cone-shaped head in Chile’s Atacama Desert in 2003 sparked a lot of speculation and controversy.
Some people believed that the mummified remains, nicknamed ‘Ata’, were those of an alien being that somehow ended up on Earth. However, after years of research and analysis, scientists have finally solved the mystery of Ata’s origin and appearance, reports ladbible.com.
According to a study published in 2023, Ata’s DNA was human, not extraterrestrial. The researchers also identified mutations in seven genes that are involved in human growth and development.
Garry Nolan, an immunologist based at the Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, deduced that Ata’s DNA was from a human being and not an alien.
With that said, though, there is still a major mystery that was left unanswered as Nolan simply could not conclude how such a small human being could have the peculiar physical appearance that she did.
He said, as reported by National Geographic: “Once we understood that it was human, the next step was to understand how something could come to look like this.”
These mutations could explain why Ata had such a small size and abnormal bone structure. The scientists concluded that Ata was most likely a human fetus that died before or shortly after birth and suffered from severe skeletal dysplasia.
Despite this scientific evidence, some people still refused to accept that Ata was not an alien.
Steven Greer, a ufologist, claimed that Ata was not a deformed human, but something else entirely. He argued that Ata’s features were too unusual to be explained by genetic mutations alone. He also suggested that Ata could be a hybrid between a human and an alien.
“We don’t know what it is, but it most certainly is not a deformed human,” Greer stated, via National Geographic.
The debate over Ata’s identity may never end, but the scientific investigation has shed some light on the mystery of the six-inch skeleton.
Ata’s story also raises ethical questions about how human remains should be treated and respected, especially when they are used for research or entertainment purposes.