The 6-Inch 'Alien' Skeleton That Turned Out to Be Human

In 2003, a treasure hunter named Oscar Muñoz was searching through La Noria, a ghost town in Chile's Atacama Desert, when he made a discovery that would spark over a decade of wild speculation. Wrapped in a white cloth near an abandoned church, he found a skeleton barely six inches long—with an elongated skull, slanted eye sockets, and only ten ribs instead of the usual twelve.

It looked like something straight out of a science fiction movie. And that's exactly where it ended up.

From Desert Discovery to Documentary Fame

The specimen, nicknamed "Ata," passed through several hands before ending up with a Spanish businessman who paid a reported $64,000 for it. In 2013, Ata became the star of a UFO documentary called Sirius, which claimed the skeleton might be proof of extraterrestrial life.

The internet went wild. Alien enthusiasts celebrated. Skeptics scoffed. And scientists got curious.

DNA Doesn't Lie

In 2018, researchers from Stanford University and the University of California published a comprehensive DNA analysis in the journal Genome Research. Their findings were definitive—and heartbreaking.

Ata was human. Specifically, she was a female fetus of Chilean ancestry, likely stillborn or deceased shortly after birth. The researchers identified mutations in at least seven genes associated with bone development, including genes linked to dwarfism, scoliosis, and skeletal abnormalities.

These mutations explained everything:

• The unusually small size
• The elongated skull shape
• The missing ribs
• The premature bone aging that made the skeleton appear older than a fetus

The Ethics of Spectacle

The resolution of the mystery brought its own controversy. Several geneticists criticized the Stanford study, arguing that analyzing such obviously human remains—likely from a tragic stillbirth—for alien research was ethically questionable from the start.

Chilean officials have also raised concerns about how Ata was removed from the country, calling it a potential violation of cultural heritage laws. The skeleton's current location and legal status remain complicated.

What the Mutations Reveal

While Ata wasn't extraterrestrial, she remains scientifically valuable. The concentration of bone-related mutations in a single individual is extremely rare, and researchers believe studying these genetic variants could provide insights into bone diseases and developmental disorders.

The mutations caused a condition where the bones appeared far more developed than they should have been for a fetus, giving the false impression that Ata was a miniature adult rather than an unborn child. This premature bone maturation is what fooled observers into thinking no human could be that small.

In the end, Ata's story isn't about aliens at all. It's about the human tendency to reach for extraordinary explanations when ordinary ones—however tragic—are right in front of us.