Aliens have not been discovered in South America after all. The doll-like figures, photos of which went viral online last year, are just that – dolls, according to scientists.
The controversial artifacts were seized by Peruvian customs agents in October and intended for "a Mexican citizen," the Associated Press reported.
Mexican journalist and self-described "UFOlogist" Jaime Maussan brought similar unidentified fraudulent objects in front of the Mexican congress last September, claiming that they had been recovered near Peru's ancient Nazca Lines and dated over 700 years old.
Maussan went in front of the Mexican congress again in November, with a team of doctors confirming the bodies were of once-living organisms.
"None of the scientists say [the study results] prove that they are extraterrestrials, but I go further," Maussan said, per Reuters.
Experts with Peru's prosecutor's office analyzed the seized dolls, and forensic archaeologist Flavio Estrada presented the results of their findings at a press conference for the Peruvian Ministry of Culture on Friday.
"They are not extraterrestrials, they are not intraterrestrials, they are not a new species, they are not hybrids, they are none of those things that this group of pseudo-scientists who for six years have been presenting with these elements," Estrada said.
The humanoid three-fingered dolls consisted of earth-bound animal and human bones assembled with modern synthetic glue, Estrada elaborated. It isn't the first time Maussan has had an otherworldly corpse debunked — he made similar claims in 2017.
"Our cultures of the past made Machu Picchu, our cultures of the past made the Nazca Lines, they didn't need any alien help to do it. Those who have promoted that have an economic interest, some other kind of interest," Estrada said. "What we have presented here is science, not pseudo-science."
Rishi Rajagopalan is a social media associate producer and content writer for CBS News.
