What Are the Peruvian Alien Mummies, and Why Do They Matter to the UFO Community?

The tridactyl humanoids of Nazca that sparked debates between UFO believers and skeptics

Name	Peruvian alien mummies
Discovered on	By the end of 2015
Found by	Tomb robbers
Investigated by	Thierry Jamin and his team at Instituto Inkarri-Cusco

When we hear “mummies,” we think of ancient Egyptians carefully preserved in linen bandages and peacefully lying in their tombs.

But that’s not the case with the so-called Peruvian alien mummies. They’re naturally mummified bodies, desiccated by environmental conditions, and were found at an undisclosed site in the Nazca region. 

Let’s learn more about them, shall we?

What Are the Peruvian Alien Mummies, and Where Were They Discovered?

The Peruvian alien mummies, also known as the non-human mummies of Nazca or simply the Nazca mummies, were discovered by a group of Peruvian huaqueros (pre-Columbian tomb robbers) near the end of 2015. These mummies are said to be between 1,800 and 750 years old.

For some reason, the precise location of the discovery site remains unknown to this day. However, the huaqueros allegedly found these mummies in a cave somewhere in the Nazca-Palpa area, near the southern coast of Peru.

Since their discovery, the huaqueros have met with a team of professionals from the scientific and UFO communities who aim to study and preserve these mummies.

Who Investigated the Peruvian Alien Mummies Following The Discovery?

Thierry Jamin and the team at the Instituto Ikarri-Cusco have led the research into the Peruvian alien mummies since October 2016. Jamin emphasizes it’s their responsibility to inform the world about “what’s currently happening at Nazca.”

If [the mummies] are real “relics,” the entire human history will soon have to be rewritten.

Journalist and UFO enthusiast Jaime Maussan and his team later joined them on April 23, 2017, providing them with additional support. It was also through them that the world came to know about the mummies.

What Did Scientists Find When They Studied the Mummies?

Over the years, the team has recovered numerous biological entities, mostly of the small gray types, with the most famous ones being “Albert,” “Josefina,” “Maria,” “Victoria,” “Wawita,” “The Family,” and “Montserrat.”

The Instituto Ikarri-Cusco and its partners have conducted DNA tests, X-rays, CT scans, and a series of scientific analyses to determine the origins and authenticity of these non-human mummies of Nazca.

They had presented the results of their analyses in front of the Congress of the Republic of Peru in November 2018 and the Congress of the Republic of Mexico in November 2023.

Here are some of these results as of 2025 (in verbatim):

• The arid conditions of Nazca favored natural mummification. 
• Isotopic analysis estimates that they date back to pre-Columbian times.
• The bodies are authentic, which shows that these mummies lived on Earth at a remote time in human history. They’re not hoaxes, with bodies pieced together from human and animal bones.
• Some mummies are two feet tall, while others reach over five feet.
• They exhibit unique, natural anatomical features, such as tridactylism and elongated skulls, suggesting a possible new humanoid species.
• They have unique linear fingerprints and distinct calcaneus bone structure.
• DNA analysis revealed a ~70% genetic match to known species and a ~30% unexplained genetic difference.
• “Montserrat,” the recently recovered mummy (2025), was found to be pregnant in the scans.

You can read the complete details of the Instituto Ikarri-Cusco’s work, year-by-year, at their very own The Alien Project and the independent group Tridactyls’s websites.

How Did the Peruvian Alien Mummies Become Linked to the UFO and Alien Lore?

Because of the Peruvian alien mummies’ tridactylism—a physical condition with three fingers and three toes—abnormal body proportions, and the fact that a third of their DNA was unknown and unrelated to human DNA, the discoverers and the team behind the investigation believed they were either an undiscovered humanoid species or extraterrestrials.

These mummies became permanently linked to Ufology [despite the obvious, massive efforts to debunk them] when Maussan presented two of these mummies in front of the Mexican Congress. The journalist was strong in his opinion that the mummies are evidence of non-human intelligences on Earth.

Maussan said that “if the DNA is showing us that they are non-human beings and that there is nothing that looks like this in the world, we should take it as such.”

Do the Mummies Resemble Descriptions from UFO Abduction Cases?

Most extraterrestrial beings in UFO abduction cases look human, such as the ones Elizabeth Klarer and Orfeo Angelucci had met. 

Looking at the Peruvian alien mummies, though they’re humanoid, we can say that they have much closer similarities in terms of physical attributes to the group called “little grays.” Both exhibit an unusually shaped head, oval-shaped eyes, long arms and legs, and a thin frame.

Have UFO Sightings Increased Around the Nazca Region Since the Mummies’ Discovery?

Nazca is a hotspot for UFO lore due to its various geoglyphs that fueled the ancient astronaut theory, so it’s understandable that one will connect the mummies to UFO sightings.

However, there’s no verified evidence of any increased UFO activity in the area due to these mummies, nor is there a direct relationship between the two.

If anything, it only heightened the discussion of the mummies’ potential extraterrestrial origin.

Could These Mummies Reveal Something About Lost Civilizations or Ancient Contact?

At the moment, both the scientific and UFO communities don’t believe the mummies could reveal such information. The team at Instituto Ikarri-Cusco has already revealed that they are from the pre-Columbian era.

In the End, What Makes the Peruvian Alien Mummies Significant to Ufology?

The Peruvian alien mummies matter to Ufology because they present potential physical evidence that extraterrestrial beings once lived on Earth. That humankind, even in pre-Columbian times, has interacted and coexisted with intelligent, non-human species, possibly from another world.

The entire UFO community is looking forward to the future discoveries the team at Instituto Ikarri-Cusco will find on these mummies.

Do you want to explore more UFO cases that have become a global sensation like this one? Browse our library of UFO cases. 

FAQ

Why do the mummies look so different from normal humans?

Though considered humaoids, the mummies’ unusual anatomical composition—with their three fingers and toes and elongated heads—made them physically different from humans.

Who is Jaime Maussan, and why is he promoting the mummies?

Jaime Maussan is a Mexican journalist and UFO enthusiast. He’s speaking about the Peruvian alien mummies because he believes they’re solid proof of non-human intelligence on Earth.

What did DNA tests reveal about the Peruvian alien mummies?

DNA revealed that a third of the mummies’ genetic sequence couldn’t be traced to any known species on Earth. This fact fueled discussions about their extraterrestrial origins even more.

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