The mystery of Ata the mini-mummy began when seemingly humanoid remains were found in 2003. The figure, a mere six inches tall with an oddly conical skull and enlarged eye sockets, was found in the small town of La Noria, 450 miles north of Chile’s Atacama Desert. Like many such artifacts, it was sold—its provenance and therefore legality is murky—eventually coming to the attention of UFO enthusiast Steven Greer (founder of the UFO Disclosure Project) in 2012. Greer claimed the figure was extraterrestrial. An initial analysis answered one question but raised others; it was not ancient—as had been assumed— but instead less than fifty years old. But was it human?
Benjamin Radford examines the “Starchild Skull” at the Roswell UFO festival.
Gary Nolan, professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University, recently examined the curiosity. As National Geographic reported: