The Mexican Congress, Aliens, and a Credibility Crisis – When the Extraordinary Takes Center Stage
When ufologist Jaime Maussan entered the chambers of the Mexican Congress carrying two coffins, no one knew what to expect. As the coffins were opened to reveal what Maussan claims are the bodies of aliens, the room must have been filled with a mixture of awe, disbelief, and perhaps a touch of apprehension.
Found in Peru, these two allegedly 1,000-year-old bodies represent Maussan’s assertion that “we are not alone. But in an environment where terms like “UFOs” and “extraterrestrials” are often met with skeptical smirks, how much of this sensational testimony can we really take at face value? Especially when it comes from a man who’s been linked to debunked claims before.
José de Jesús Zalce Benítez, a forensic expert, didn’t shy away from giving a detailed analysis of the alien bodies. They have large brains and eyes, he told Congress, ideal for “wide stereoscopic vision. But they lack teeth, suggesting a diet limited to liquid nourishment. All very interesting, but what’s the scientific basis for these statements?
The fact is that scientists have dismissed similar claims by Maussan in the past as either ancient Peruvian mummies or manipulated remains. Moreover, these particular bodies were found covered in a layer of sand, hardly conducive to rigorous scientific examination.
The hearing also featured Ryan Graves, executive director of Americans for Safe Aerospace and a former Navy fighter pilot. Graves had previously testified before a U.S. congressional subcommittee investigating UFOs. But even he distanced himself from Maussan’s exhibit, calling it a “giant step backwards” for the discussion of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).
Clearly, Graves was unhappy that what he considered a serious investigation into aerospace safety and national security was overshadowed by a spectacle that he felt lacked substantiation.
This is not the first time politicians have ventured into the realm of the extraordinary. The U.S. Congress also held a similar, albeit less sensational, hearing weeks earlier. The participation of Avi Loeb, a Harvard professor of astrophysics, and other credentialed individuals suggests that the issue is gaining traction in mainstream discourse.
However, the juxtaposition of legitimate, unanswered questions about UAPs and Maussan’s theatrical presentation creates a conflict. While it’s widely accepted that there are phenomena we can’t explain, lumping them together with unverified claims does a disservice to the scientific method and dilutes the credibility of government proceedings.
Maussan argues that the public has a right to know about non-human beings and technologies. But what’s the cost of that knowledge if it’s not backed by rigorous scientific scrutiny?
While it’s true that we’re entering an era more open to discussing the “unexplained,” the recent spectacle at the Mexican Congress shows that the road to credible, actionable knowledge is fraught with detours that could lead us away from hard science and into the realm of science fiction.
