Patrick Cooke
Is it alien or human?
A replica of the skull (right). Photo: Chris Sant Fournier
A teenage girl crawled into a long-abandoned mine tunnel in Mexico in the 1930s and came across two skeletons – one of which was unlike anything previously found on Earth. Or so the story goes.
Eight decades later, the extraordinary skull of the smaller skeleton – described as being unlike any specimen in recorded medical history by a team of 11 medical specialists – is at the centre of a disagreement, between scientists and paranormal researchers, about its significance.
It is the skull of a severely deformed child who suffered from a rare medical condition, say the many sceptical scientists and medical experts.
Wrong, says ‘alternative knowledge’ expert Lloyd Pye and other paranormal researchers; it is the ‘Starchild Skull’ – a skull belonging to an alien-human hybrid.
There are endless pages on the internet devoted to the significance of the skull, and Mr Pye is in Malta to reassure believers and persuade legions of sceptics that conclusive proof of the alien-human hybrid theory is not far away.
“Scientists are afraid because when we get the final confirmation it will change everything they have been taught to believe about human history. Everyone is afraid to challenge their beliefs because they’re not sure if they can handle the alternative,” he told The Sunday Times.
Scientists have certainly had the opportunity to study the skull since it was passed to Mr Pye in 1998 by its then owners, who could not accept that the misshapen skull was the result of human deformity.
Its owners believed its characteristics were similar to that of so-called ‘grey’ aliens – supposedly bulb-headed creatures which UFO enthusiasts believe are commonly involved in alien abductions.
Mr Pye, who at that time specialised in the study of Hominoids – that’s Big Foot, the Yeti and friends – began contacting specialists for a conclusive explanation for the skull’s many differences to a normal, healthy human skull.
He said many scientists and medical specialists refused to even consider examining the skull, but the more he learnt about it from experts who did agree to examine it, the more he became convinced it was not totally human.
It seemed the hybrid skull theory was shattered in 1999, however, when a DNA test found standard X and Y chromosomes when samples were taken – evidence that the child was not only human, but that both of his parents must have been human as well. However, Mr Pye believed the samples were contaminated and had it re-tested by a different lab in 2004, which managed to recover mitochondrial DNA, but not nuclear DNA.
This meant either the nuclear DNA was too degraded to recover, or the DNA from the father was too different from that of a human to be detected.
This year, the skull was tested by an ultra high-tech genetic lab, which was unable to match part of the nuclear DNA samples to any other samples in the enormous genetic database at the US National Institutes of Health.
Mr Pye is convinced it is only a matter of time before the geneticist can prove conclusively that a significant part of the Starchild’s genome cannot be found on Earth today.
Lloyd Pye will address the ‘2012 – A Positive Outcome’ conference at the Grand Hotel Excelsior, Valletta, on Saturday.
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Joe Xuereb
Oct 6th 2010, 00:12
2) So?! We continue investigating this and other matters. We HAVE no choice. Altrnatively, stand still, accept plausible and convenient explanations, do nothing, stagnate and crumble like an old biscuit.
Joe Xuereb
Oct 6th 2010, 00:07
1) The simplies thing is often true, someone said. Meaning, in this case, the unusual skull found at the back of beyond in only god knows where in Mexico, could be nothing more and nothing less than the skull of a child with a deformed head due to some condition. Much older than a baby but not yet an adult, s/he died. People thereabouts where religious/supersticious so the corpse was dumped/buried 'out of sight'. I am not a scientist and even less a biologist but what I've just said rings plausible. Accept it as such - because the simplest explanation based on what is generally known - rather than further curiosity and investigation? We are where we are today because those before us, the pioneers, were curious and acted upon this very human characteristic. As humans we are also known for being reluctant for change. So we stick to what we know, to feel safe and secure. But some push the boundaries. So?! What's the risk? The risk is turning our 'securities' - so to speak - on their heads. We've got a choice. But we haven't. The search must go on. Lloyd Pye might be proved wrong.
continued
J.Cini
Oct 5th 2010, 11:52
@ Olina Tretyak
So it looks as though Olina is having difficulty coming to grips with the reality of being classed as Alien on our little, overpopulated, island.
It is really illogical to conclude that an island in the middle of a sea, traversed for thousands of years by countless races, can be populated by a homogenous, let alone inbred, race of people.
The same, however, cannot be said of countless tiny, isolated villages in the frozen wilds of Olina's homeland where outsiders are still treated with open hostility!
Trevor Zahra
Oct 5th 2010, 11:45
I had the pleausre of having Dinner with lloyd Pye on Sunday evening and being a huge sceptic myself, the reality of it is that the differences between the two skulls are quite incredible, whilst at the same time there are also some very interesting similarities. As Lloyd Pye has explained, there is one part of the DNA which isdefinitey directly descended from humans, however another part of the DNA is nowhere close to anything related to what has so far been found on our earth. One needs to bear in mind that this is a provate project since no government will agree to finance the genome testing as they would be seen to be encouraging the existance of Alien life forms, a subject that world governments have been covering up and keeping secret for decades. The genome testing costs in excess of $2,000,000 which needs to be raised privately. I would reccomend that any people who have their doubts should attend the conference this weekend at the Excelsior with an open mind and just listen to what the speakers have to say.
Joe Brincat
Oct 5th 2010, 17:13
yes to listen to a bunch of bollocks ....
M.Cachia
Oct 5th 2010, 19:06
Funny how no genetecist or molecular biologist actually agrees wil Lloyd Pye
B camilleri
Oct 5th 2010, 08:40
There's a site dedicated to this project
http://www.starchildproject.com/
We are not alone. Amen!
victor pulis
Oct 3rd 2010, 21:52
And why would an alien species ahead of us intellectually, scientifically and hopefully morally perhaps by several thousands if not millions of years want to mate with us?! They'd probably use us as guinea pigs for their experiments or ignore us altogether. Eversince Erich von Daniken came up with the idea of ancient spacemen.(and becoming filthy rich in the process!) there's been no lack of fantastic theories.
.
joe falzon
Oct 3rd 2010, 21:36
one more thing......scientists often learn that they were wrong about previous ''absolutes'. for ex, there is no life on other planets, then they discover water. and what about those living organisms that live near the vents of submarine volcanoes where the heat and sulfur is so exceedingly high that they assumed life cannot exist near these vents....yet it does!!!! we are talking about the classic ''gap'' between science / arts ---- if you read / watch sci-fi you would realise that much of it is no longer fiction, but fact! HG Wells, Jules verne...The old TV shows 'the million dollar man' about bionics which is happening today! The idea comes before the invention! See the world through the senses, Mr Cachia, but see it through the soul as well!
M.cachia
Oct 3rd 2010, 22:10
Apart from the fact that you have subtley moved onto technological advancment, which has nothing to do with the subject, advancment and discovery in molecular biology are different than supposing that something that opposes all known facts on the subject might possibly be true at sometime somewhere. As i said imagination within science not just imagination.
In science you question, and then when something gives you an answer that is obviously true you accept it, not go down the line inventing wild theories. Step one - the simplest thing is often true.
joe falzon
Oct 3rd 2010, 21:20
@mr cachia...thank you. still, if such beings exist then their technology is way, way beyond ours and who knows what they are capable of --- if they exist. remember how quantum physics changed physics, the idea of cloning before the discovery of DNA was unimaginable! the idea of light being sucked in by blackholes ---- unimaginable, but true! so my dear mr cachia science is sometimes --- often? --- the fruits of the imagination! Harry Potter's invisibility cloak? they're working on it? The old sci-fi robots of isaac asimov ---- they're working on them.....Now, do you think alexander graham bell would have thought that one of our top-of-the-line mobiles possible when he invented the telephone....My dear Mr Cachia, you cannot invent unless you have imagined it first!
joe falzon
Oct 3rd 2010, 14:49
I am not into science, I'm into the imaginative ---- tigers and lions (different species?) have successfully mated to produce 'tiglons'. and , I believe, there have been even 'stranger' successful matings......Who is to say that we had not been targeted for some great experiment by extraterrestrials who 'sparked' off the evolution that veered us away from the other primates and led us on the road to 'homo superior' --- ? Who knows! Maybe that's why there are so many reported UFO sightings --- they're returning to check on their 'homework'. they probably see that their homo superior is evolving into homo fedilis corruptis --- Think they got an 'F' for their interplanetary project!!!
F Buhagiar
Oct 3rd 2010, 17:15
@ Joe Falzon
LOL
M.cachia
Oct 3rd 2010, 17:23
Serves me right for using layman's language. Procreation can only occur when two animals (and I include humans here) are not evolutionary distinct - i.e. when a group of animals are evolutionary distinct enough to be placed in a different 'genus' for example Humans (genus Homo) and Chimps (genus Pan) no offspring is possible. Lions and Tigers are different species, BUT belong to the same genus (Panthera leo and Panthera tigris respectivly) which means they are not evolutionary and therefore genetically distinct enough to preclude offspring. (same goes for a donkey and a horse [genus Equus]).
Back to the original argument - if we can't procreate with other animals with whom we have evolved froma common ancestor, what is the probablility of mating with a organism compleatly and utterly distinct to us? Answer: NIL
Not to be rude Mr. Falzon, but imagination without science usually leads to the fiction section in the book store, to great books like the Grimm Fairy Tales. May I suggest taking up an interest in science if this sort of thing interests you......
Ramon Casha
Oct 3rd 2010, 14:46
Alien?!?!?!?
Just look at the life that surrounds us. Consider the human, and compare us to the bat, the blue whale, the kangaroo and the lion. The differences between them are incredible, yet they're ALL MAMMALS!
Now here comes someone suggesting that an alien which evolved on an entirely different planet would have a skull almost exactly like ours - or else that they somehow interbred with humans to create a hybrid. Humans can't even interbreed with a chimpanzee (don't try this at home) which is the closest genetic match to humans, let alone a being that evolved along an entirely different path.
Lloyd Pye would have better success trying to interbreed with a daffodil than with an alien.
Raymond Cachia
Oct 3rd 2010, 17:02
@Ramon Casha
You do not need to interbreed with a species to create a hybrid. That is the whole idea behind GMO foods, where genes from different species are spliced into the genes of another species to create a hybrid. In fact, some people contend that there are secret government labs around the world working on the creation of such hybrids in order to create human sub-species that are tailor made to be docile and good workers but dull and slow witted (so that they can never rebel against their masters). The theory being that in the future, the ruling Elite will exterminate the rest of humanity, leaving only the top 'pure' patrician class and the rest would be genetically created slaves. Welcome to the Brave New World Order.
M.cachia
Oct 3rd 2010, 18:33
@ Raymond Cachia. I think you've seen Star Wars one too many times. If you knew anything about genetics, which you clearly don't, you realise how ludicrous your statement is.
Raymond Cachia
Oct 3rd 2010, 23:06
@Ramon Casha
My friend, it is you who is in the dark - GMO foods do precisely that, they insert gene sequences from other species, even animals into plants. Wakey Wakey, the dystopian future is already here.
Here is a link you might find useful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joweZ6uM5iY&feature=related
Raymond Cacha
Oct 3rd 2010, 23:39
@ M. Cachia
My friend, it is you who is in the dark - GMO foods do precisely that, they insert gene sequences from other species, even animals into plants. Wakey Wakey, the dystopian future is already here.
Here is a link you might find useful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joweZ6uM5iY&feature=related
Olina Tretyak
Oct 4th 2010, 08:58
@Raymond Cachia
I know the island where they highly succeeded by inbreeding, and result species are like you describe: dull and slow witted (so that they can never rebel against their masters). Instead, they strongly rebel against fresh blood and even give to anyone not of their inbred origin the letter A in identification card, to recognise fresh blood carriers as "aliens".
Raymond Cachia
Oct 4th 2010, 17:05
@Olina Tretyak What you are describing is not limited to Malta (as for inbreeding, Malta is more diverse then you might think. In this respect, just look at the register of marriages during the British period - Maltese and English/Irish, this not including the many that came from mainland Europe and Northern Africa during the centuries). However, the general gist of your letter is true. I live in one of the most metropolitan and multi-cultural cities in the world and all I see breeding and interbreeding are those at the lowest end of the I.Q. and education spectrum. Governments have set in motion and are actively encouraging through various methods, the 'selective' breeding of the 'demos' or an inferior race of humans, which in another 50-100 years should see the emergence of a dumbed down population incapable of deep thought and no attention spans, that can be easily manipulated, leaving the way free for the Ruling Elites of the world to establish their hegemony unencumbered, with little or no opposition from the general citizenry, who would be too busy working 24/7 and control through the Media, (in the guise of entertainment) will keep them in their place at the bottom.
M.Cachia
Oct 5th 2010, 19:04
Mr. Casha - I have a PhD in Molecular Biology and clone genes for a living. When I tell you that what you've written is a bunch of rubbish - it is. You have no idea how complex and unstable gene cloning is (it's not just a matter of genes - cell machinary is important as well). It's not stable within cells for long periods of time (Passage your cells 8 or 10 times and out pops the introduced gene) and is at this stage not fine tuned enough to be stable in large complex organisms (say more complex than a mouse or hamster) let alone in making super humans.
M.cachia
Oct 3rd 2010, 13:53
Haha-that old thing has popped up again. The line that says it all is 'at the centre of a disagreement, between scientists and paranormal researchers' i.e. a theory based on medical science is disagreed upon by the experts and people who's scientific training is limited to pseudo-science talks and internet meetings.
It's funny how the psuedo-scientists (the use of the word researcher is an insult to my profession) always say that the conclusive evidence is around the corner - but it never ever arrives.
To anyone who has worked in genetics it's obvious that the lack of DNA is due to degredation. I personally have experienced difficulty, on occasions, extracting DNA from samples gathered 8 years ago (when these have been stored at a constant -20oC), can you imagine the state the DNA in a sample thats been manhandled since the 30's is? Nd genetic degredation is why it can't be matched to databases.
One final point - obvious to anyone with a biology o-level - different species, however closely related, cannot procreate. Simple example-if you copulate with a chimpanzee (our closest living relative) you're not going to get a humanochimp hybrid :)
Marton Saliba
Oct 4th 2010, 23:50
Not when aliens have the potential of multi stranded DNA which can suit other foreign DNA to their own needs. [hell, It might not even be dna]
That's god's children for you (though I swore they made giants not shrunken humanoids)
D. Scerri
Oct 5th 2010, 13:57
"obvious to anyone with a biology o-level - different species, however closely related, cannot procreate"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liger
...and:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiglon
Failed your biology exam?
A Bonnici
Oct 5th 2010, 16:08
Maybe I don't know anything about biology....but have you ever heard even in Malta farmers used the animal called "baghal"? What do you think that animal comes from?
M.Cachia
Oct 5th 2010, 19:52
Look at my post above - i used the layman's word species for genus. Ligers etc can be compared to a human born of an African mother and a European Father.