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{{short description|Archaeological find}}
] ]
The '''Starchild skull''' is an abnormal ] ] which was found in ]. It is primarily known through ] researchers' claims that it represents evidence of extraterrestrial contact. Mitochondrial DNA recovered from the skull establishes that it is human.<ref name="Novella"/>
The '''Starchild skull''' is part of a malformed ] of a child who likely died as a result of ]. It received widespread publicity after paranormalist ] claimed it was of extraterrestrial origin.


== Claims of Lloyd Pye ==
==Discovery==
The starchild skull came into the possession of Ray and Melanie Young<ref></ref> of El Paso, Texas, who entrusted it to ], a writer and lecturer in what he calls the field of alternative knowledge, in February 1999.<ref name=starchild_background>{{cite web |last=Pye |first=Lloyd |title=TERRIBLE TWO'S : Summary of the first Two Years |work=Starchild Project |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20080118090039/http://www.starchildproject.com/BackgroundTT.html |accessdate=2009-08-26}}</ref> According to Pye, the skull was found around 1930 in a mine tunnel about 100 miles (160&nbsp;km) southwest of ], ], buried alongside a normal human skeleton that was exposed and lying ] on the surface of the tunnel.<ref name=Fortean_127>{{cite journal |last=McCoy |first=Max |title=Star Child |journal=] |issue=127 |pages=42–45 |date=November 1999}}</ref> Pye claimed to have obtained the skull from Ray and Melanie Young of ], in February 1999, stating that the skull was found around 1930 in a mine tunnel about 100 miles (160&nbsp;km) southwest of ], ], buried alongside a normal human skeleton that was exposed and lying ] on the surface of the tunnel.<ref name=Fortean_127>{{cite journal |last=McCoy |first=Max |title=Star Child |journal=] |issue=127 |pages=42–45 |date=November 1999}}</ref><ref name="Yorkshire Evening Post">{{cite news|title=Alien skull' star attraction at Leeds extra-terrestrial conference|url=http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/central-leeds/video_alien_skull_star_attraction_at_leeds_extra_terrestrial_conference_1_2216272|access-date=13 August 2011|newspaper=Yorkshire Evening Post|date=27 June 2009}}</ref>


Pye claimed the skull to be a hybrid offspring of an extraterrestrial and a human female.<ref name="Regal2009">{{cite book|author=Brian Regal|title=Pseudoscience: A Critical Encyclopedia: A Critical Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c6PACQAAQBAJ&pg=PA88|date=15 October 2009|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-35508-0|pages=88–}}</ref><ref name=Feder>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xmDnhPNLwYwC&pg=PA246 | title=Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum | access-date=March 17, 2011 | author=Feder, Kenneth L. | author-link=Kenneth Feder | year=2010 | publisher=ABC-CLIO| isbn=978-0313379185 }}</ref>
[[Image:Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome.png|200px|thumb|
Hutchison-Gilford ], a disease which has no known treatment, produces similar skull deformations to ]. In ] patients, the ] has dramatically aberrant morphology (bottom, right) rather than the uniform shape typically found in healthy individuals (top, right)]]


== Assessment of the evidence ==
==Analysis==
⚫ The skull is abnormal in several respects. A dentist determined, based on examination of the upper right ] found with the skull, that it was a child's skull, 4.5 to 5 years in age.<ref name=starchild_dental>{{cite web |last=Brown |first=Matthew |title=A Report on Maxilla and Dental X-Rays |work=Starchild Project |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20080129083454/http://www.starchildproject.com/Reports_Brown.html|accessdate=2009-08-26}}</ref> However, the volume of the interior of the starchild skull is 1,600 cubic centimeters, which is 200&nbsp;cm³ larger than the average adult's brain, and 400&nbsp;cm³ larger than an adult of the same approximate size. The ]s are oval and shallow, with the ] canal situated at the bottom of the orbit instead of at the back. There are no ]es.<ref name=Fortean_127 /> The back of the skull is flattened, but not by artificial means. The skull consists of ], the normal material of ]ian bone.<ref name=starchild_robinson>{{cite web |last=Robinson |first=Ted J. |title=A Preliminary Analysis of a Highly Unusual Human-Like Skull |work=Starchild Project |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20080127214216/http://www.starchildproject.com/Reports_Robinson.html |accessdate=2009-08-26}}</ref>


⚫ A dentist who examined the upper right ] found with the skull determined that the skull was that of a child aged 4.5 to 5 years. The volume, however, of the interior of the Starchild skull is 1,600 cubic centimeters, which is 200&nbsp;cm³ larger than the average adult's brain, and 400&nbsp;cm³ larger than an adult of the same approximate size. The ]s are oval and shallow, with the ] canal situated closer to the bottom of the orbit than to the back. There are no ]es.<ref name=Fortean_127 /> The back of the skull is flattened.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}} The skull consists of ], the normal material of ]ian bone.
===Dating===
] was performed twice, the first on the normal human skull at the University of California at Riverside in 1999, and on the Starchild skull in 2004 at Beta Analytic in ], the largest ] laboratory in the world. Both independent tests gave a result of 900 years ± 40 years since death.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}


Neurologist ] of ] says that the cranium exhibits all of the characteristics of a child who has died as a result of ], and the cranial deformations were the result of accumulations of cerebrospinal fluid within the skull.<ref name=Feder /><ref name=NESS>{{cite web|last=Novella|first=Steven|author-link=Steven Novella|title=The Starchild Project|date=20 July 2009|url=http://www.theness.com/index.php/the-starchild-project/|publisher=The New England Skeptical Society|access-date=March 17, 2011}}</ref><ref name=roberts>{{cite book|title=The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being: Evolution and the Making of Us|last=Roberts|first=Alice|author-link=Alice Roberts|pages=87–88|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NYg0CwAAQBAJ|publisher=Quercus|date=2015|isbn=978-1623658083}}</ref><ref name=feder>{{cite book|last=Feder|first=Kenneth L.|author-link=Kenneth Feder|title=Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum|date=2010|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RlRz2symkAsC|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0313379192}}</ref><ref name="ProtheroCALLAHAN2017">{{cite book |author1=Prothero, Donald R. |author2=Callahan, Timothy D. |title=UFOs, Chemtrails, and Aliens: What Science Says | publisher= Indiana University Press|pages=113– |isbn= 978-0253027061|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DI8uDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA113|date=2017}}</ref>
===DNA testing===
] in 1999 at BOLD, a ] DNA lab in ] found standard ] and ]s in two samples taken from the skull, "conclusive evidence that the child was not only human (and male), but both of his parents must have been human as well, for each must have contributed one of the human sex chromosomes".<ref name="Novella">http://www.theness.com/the-starchild-project/</ref> Further DNA testing at Trace Genetics, which unlike BOLD specializes in extracting DNA from ancient samples, in 2003 recovered ] from both skulls. The child belongs to ], while the adult female belongs to ]. Both haplotypes are characteristic ] haplogroups, but the different haplogroup for each skull indicates that the adult female was not the child's mother. Trace Genetics was not able to recover useful lengths of ] or Y-chromosomal DNA for further testing.<ref></ref>


] in 1999 at BOLD (]), a ] DNA lab in ], found standard ] and ]s in two samples taken from the skull. Novella considers this "conclusive evidence" that the child was both male and human, and that both of his parents must have been human in order for each to have contributed one of the human sex chromosomes.<ref name=NESS />
===Explanations===
Explanations for the skull's unusual features include the use of ]ing on a ] child,<ref name=Fortean_191>{{cite journal |last=Phoenix |first=Jack |title=Unconvention 2004 |journal=] |issue=191 |pages=28–30 |date=Early 2005 (special)}}</ref> ], ],<ref name=world-mysteries>{{cite web |last=Chow |first=Adelina |title=The Mystery of the Starchild Skull |publisher=World-Mysteries.com |date=2006 |url=http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_6achow.htm |accessdate=2006-10-01}}</ref> congenital ], and ].{{Citation needed|date=July 2008}}


Further DNA testing in 2003 at Trace Genetics, which specializes in extracting DNA from ancient samples, isolated ] from the skull. The child belongs to ]. Since mitochondrial DNA is inherited exclusively from the mother, it makes it possible to trace the offspring's maternal lineage. The DNA test therefore confirmed that the child's mother was a Haplogroup C human female. However, the adult female found with the child belonged to ]. Both haplotypes are characteristic ] haplogroups, but the different haplogroup for each skull indicates that the adult female was not the child's mother.<ref name="Regal2009" /><ref name=Feder />
==Paranormal interest==

The skull has garnered great interest with those interested in ]s and alien visitation. Some contend that it is the skull of an alien, or a human/alien hybrid, based on the shape of the skull bearing similarities to the common representation of aliens as "]".{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} Proponents of a paranormal explanation for the skull's origin reject hypothesis involving non-paranormal causes such as cradle boarding or hydrocephaly, and contend that it has many other abnormalities such as the thickness, density, and strength of the bone that argue against the skull being human.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}
Paranormal researcher ] states that often "anything not immediately explainable or obvious is interpreted as a baffling mystery, often with paranormal connotations. ... Science fiction speculation is fun but should not eclipse the real science and significance of these stories".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Radford |first1=Ben |author-link=Benjamin Radford |title='Alien' Mummy Identified by DNA |journal=Skeptical Inquirer |date=2018 |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=10–11 |publisher=Committee for Skeptical Inquiry}}</ref>

<gallery>
Hydrocephalus-baby.jpg|Young children with ] typically have an abnormally large head, as fluid pressure causes individual skull bones to bulge outward.
BR & Starchild skull.jpg|] examines a replica of the "Starchild Skull," claimed to be an alien/human hybrid, at the Roswell UFO festival
</gallery>


==See also== ==See also==
* ]
* ]
* ]


==References== ==References==
{{reflist|2}} {{reflist}}


==External links== ==External links==
* {{Skeptoid | id= 4144| number=144 | title=The Case of the Strange Skulls | date= March 10, 2009| last= | first= | access-date= |quote=The Starchild Skull}}
*
* - Critical overview by ]
* (critical)


{{DEFAULTSORT:Starchild Skull}}
{{UFOs}}

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Latest revision as of 02:40, 14 November 2023

Archaeological find
The Starchild skull

The Starchild skull is part of a malformed human skull of a child who likely died as a result of congenital hydrocephalus. It received widespread publicity after paranormalist Lloyd Pye claimed it was of extraterrestrial origin.

Claims of Lloyd Pye

Pye claimed to have obtained the skull from Ray and Melanie Young of El Paso, Texas, in February 1999, stating that the skull was found around 1930 in a mine tunnel about 100 miles (160 km) southwest of Chihuahua, Mexico, buried alongside a normal human skeleton that was exposed and lying face up on the surface of the tunnel.

Pye claimed the skull to be a hybrid offspring of an extraterrestrial and a human female.

Assessment of the evidence

A dentist who examined the upper right maxilla found with the skull determined that the skull was that of a child aged 4.5 to 5 years. The volume, however, of the interior of the Starchild skull is 1,600 cubic centimeters, which is 200 cm³ larger than the average adult's brain, and 400 cm³ larger than an adult of the same approximate size. The orbits are oval and shallow, with the optic nerve canal situated closer to the bottom of the orbit than to the back. There are no frontal sinuses. The back of the skull is flattened. The skull consists of calcium hydroxyapatite, the normal material of mammalian bone.

Neurologist Steven Novella of Yale University Medical School says that the cranium exhibits all of the characteristics of a child who has died as a result of congenital hydrocephalus, and the cranial deformations were the result of accumulations of cerebrospinal fluid within the skull.

DNA testing in 1999 at BOLD (Bureau of Legal Dentistry), a forensic DNA lab in Vancouver, British Columbia, found standard X and Y chromosomes in two samples taken from the skull. Novella considers this "conclusive evidence" that the child was both male and human, and that both of his parents must have been human in order for each to have contributed one of the human sex chromosomes.

Further DNA testing in 2003 at Trace Genetics, which specializes in extracting DNA from ancient samples, isolated mitochondrial DNA from the skull. The child belongs to haplogroup C. Since mitochondrial DNA is inherited exclusively from the mother, it makes it possible to trace the offspring's maternal lineage. The DNA test therefore confirmed that the child's mother was a Haplogroup C human female. However, the adult female found with the child belonged to haplogroup A. Both haplotypes are characteristic Native American haplogroups, but the different haplogroup for each skull indicates that the adult female was not the child's mother.

Paranormal researcher Benjamin Radford states that often "anything not immediately explainable or obvious is interpreted as a baffling mystery, often with paranormal connotations. ... Science fiction speculation is fun but should not eclipse the real science and significance of these stories".

  • Young children with hydrocephalus typically have an abnormally large head, as fluid pressure causes individual skull bones to bulge outward. Young children with hydrocephalus typically have an abnormally large head, as fluid pressure causes individual skull bones to bulge outward.
  • Benjamin Radford examines a replica of the "Starchild Skull," claimed to be an alien/human hybrid, at the Roswell UFO festival Benjamin Radford examines a replica of the "Starchild Skull," claimed to be an alien/human hybrid, at the Roswell UFO festival

See also

References

  1. ^ McCoy, Max (November 1999). "Star Child". Fortean Times (127): 42–45.
  2. "Alien skull' star attraction at Leeds extra-terrestrial conference". Yorkshire Evening Post. 27 June 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  3. ^ Brian Regal (15 October 2009). Pseudoscience: A Critical Encyclopedia: A Critical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 88–. ISBN 978-0-313-35508-0.
  4. ^ Feder, Kenneth L. (2010). Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0313379185. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
  5. ^ Novella, Steven (20 July 2009). "The Starchild Project". The New England Skeptical Society. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
  6. Roberts, Alice (2015). The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being: Evolution and the Making of Us. Quercus. pp. 87–88. ISBN 978-1623658083.
  7. Feder, Kenneth L. (2010). Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0313379192.
  8. Prothero, Donald R.; Callahan, Timothy D. (2017). UFOs, Chemtrails, and Aliens: What Science Says. Indiana University Press. pp. 113–. ISBN 978-0253027061.
  9. Radford, Ben (2018). "'Alien' Mummy Identified by DNA". Skeptical Inquirer. 42 (4). Committee for Skeptical Inquiry: 10–11.

External links

Categories: