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  • 2016-03-21 (xsd:date)
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  • Alien Mummy Found, Scientists Baffled (de)
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  • On 21 March 2016 the web site Worldwide Science Stories published a post reporting that the discovery of an alien mummy in an Egyptian pyramid had been confirmed by archaeologists speaking under condition of anonymity: The anonymity clause presented an immediate red flag, as it conveniently inhibited any nosy fact-checking of the claim. Another less obvious clue was the non-existence of any organization called the Egyptian Department of Antiquities: the former Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), a branch of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, became the Ministry of State for Antiquities (MSA) in 2011. That agency historically oversees the conservation, protection and regulation of all antiquities and archaeological excavations in Egypt. Worldwide Science Stories cited primarily unnamed sources in their article, identifying only an individual named Dr. Victor Lubeck, who (like the Egyptian Department of Antiquities) doesn't appear to exist. But the largest clue to the claim's lack of credibility came in the form of reverse image searches. The alien mummy photograph first appeared online as early as 2008 and in its original incarnation (as a specimen purportedly discovered in Peru, not Egypt) depicted a far less extraterrestrial specimen: The original photograph circulated primarily on web sites outside the United States between 2008 and 2011, when the image was altered significantly to give the mummy a more extraterrestrial appearance. Unfortunately, the doctored photograph proved far more popular than its legitimate counterpart. Due to the age of the original photographs, much of what was published about that particular mummy had long disappeared from news web sites, and few unaltered iterations of the original now populate search results. Some social media clues remain, however: A bit more digging reveals that the mummy was covered in the news in 2007, after the Saint Louis Science Center (SLSC) got hold of a specimen that was originally acquired by a dentist back in the 1900s: At the time, initial testing revealed only a few facts about the circumstances under which the child was born and died: Photographs of SLSC's Child Mummy are rife on travel web sites as well, snapped from different angles: As is often the case with fabrications of this nature, the real story of the child mummy is more compelling than the made-up tale of the alien mummy. We contacted the SLSC and confirmed that the child mummy exhibit remains a permanent fixture at that center, ruling out the possibility that it has escaped and assumed extraterrestrial form. (en)
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