| Revision as of 05:54, 17 March 2011 editDoug Weller (talk | contribs)Edit filter managers, Autopatrolled, Oversighters, Administrators264,147 edits Reverted to revision 419125676 by 92.21.207.91; Starchild project is not a reliable source for this, we need a separately published source for such testing. using TW← Previous edit | Revision as of 15:07, 17 March 2011 edit undoLuckyLouie (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers27,118 edits clean up, copyedit, provide a WP:RSNext edit → | ||
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| {{Refimprove|date=December 2010}} | {{Refimprove|date=December 2010}} | ||
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| The '''Starchild skull''' is an abnormal human ] allegedly found in ] |
The '''Starchild skull''' is an abnormal human ] allegedly found in ] that is claimed by ] researchers to be the product of extraterrestrial-human breeding. ] recovered from the skull establishes it as human. | ||
| ==Discovery== | ==Discovery== | ||
| The |
According to purveyors of the tale, an unnamed American stumbled upon a grave in Mexico containing the remains of an adult female and young child. The remains were supposedly brought to the United States and passed from owner to owner until retained by an American couple living in Texas.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=xmDnhPNLwYwC&pg=PA246&dq=starchild+a+deformed+skull,+a+secret+cave&hl=en&ei=1xqCTZHzEdKltweUyqnMBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=starchild%20a%20deformed%20skull%2C%20a%20secret%20cave&f=false | title=Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum | accessdate=March 17, 2011 | author=Feder, Kenneth L. | date=2010 | publisher=ABC-CLIO}}</ref> Paranormal researcher ] says he obtained the skull from Ray and Melanie Young<ref></ref> of ], 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://www.starchildproject.com/BackgroundTT.html |accessdate=2009-08-26 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080118090039/http://www.starchildproject.com/BackgroundTT.html |archivedate = 2008-01-18}}</ref> According to Pye, the skull was found around 1930 in a mine tunnel about 100 miles (160 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> | ||
| ==Claims== | |||
| ⚫ | Pye's "Starchild Project" supporters claim that the skull is that of an extraterrestrial infant, or the hybrid offspring of an extraterrestrial and a human female. <ref>{{cite web | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=xmDnhPNLwYwC&pg=PA246&dq=starchild+a+deformed+skull,+a+secret+cave&hl=en&ei=1xqCTZHzEdKltweUyqnMBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=starchild%20a%20deformed%20skull%2C%20a%20secret%20cave&f=false | title=Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum | accessdate=March 17, 2011 | author=Feder, Kenneth L. | date=2010 | publisher=ABC-CLIO}}</ref> According to Pye, 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://www.starchildproject.com/Reports_Brown.html |accessdate=2009-08-26 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080129083454/http://www.starchildproject.com/Reports_Brown.html |archivedate = 2008-01-29}}</ref> however, the volume 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 ]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. The skull consists of ], the normal material of ]ian bone.<!--why is this noteworthy?--><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://www.starchildproject.com/Reports_Robinson.html |accessdate=2009-08-26 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080127214216/http://www.starchildproject.com/Reports_Robinson.html |archivedate = 2008-01-27}}</ref> Pye says that ] 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 ], and both tests provided results of 900 years ± 40 years since death.<ref>(Pye, L. 2007, pp. 206-7 and p. 218)</ref>{{full}} | ||
| ==Analysis== | ==Analysis== | ||
| Steven Novella of Yale University Medical School concludes that the cranium exhibits all of the characteristics of a child who has died as a result of ], and that the cranial deformations were the result of accumulations of cerebrospinal fluid within the skull. ] in 1999 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>{{cite web | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=xmDnhPNLwYwC&pg=PA246&dq=starchild+a+deformed+skull,+a+secret+cave&hl=en&ei=1xqCTZHzEdKltweUyqnMBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=starchild%20a%20deformed%20skull%2C%20a%20secret%20cave&f=false | title=Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum | accessdate=March 17, 2011 | author=Feder, Kenneth L. | date=2010 | publisher=ABC-CLIO}}</ref> | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ===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 ]. Both tests provided results of 900 years ± 40 years since death.<ref>(Pye, L. 2007, pp. 206-7 and p. 218)</ref>{{full}} | |||
| ===DNA testing=== | |||
| ] in 1999 at BOLD<!--what does the acronym stand for?-->, 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/index.php/the-starchild-project/</ref> Further DNA testing at Trace Genetics, which specializes in extracting DNA from ancient samples, in 2003 recovered ] from both skulls. 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. Trace Genetics obtained nuclear DNA, which contains chromosomes from both the father and the mother, from the adult female, but was not able to recover useful lengths of ] or Y-chromosomal DNA of the father from the Starchild skull, despite conducting six consecutive tests. The founders of Trace Genetics stated that "he inability to analyze nuclear DNA indicates that such DNA is either not present or present in sufficiently low copy number to prevent PCR analysis using methods available at the present time." <ref>Eshleman & Malhi </ref> | |||
| ===Explanations=== | |||
| Potential 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> ] and ].<ref name=world-mysteries>{{cite web |last=Chow |first=Adelina |title=The Mystery of the Starchild Skull |publisher=World-Mysteries.com |year=2006 |url=http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_6achow.htm |accessdate=2006-10-01}}</ref> | |||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 15:07, 17 March 2011
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The Starchild skull is an abnormal human skull allegedly found in Mexico that is claimed by paranormal researchers to be the product of extraterrestrial-human breeding. DNA recovered from the skull establishes it as human.
Discovery
According to purveyors of the tale, an unnamed American stumbled upon a grave in Mexico containing the remains of an adult female and young child. The remains were supposedly brought to the United States and passed from owner to owner until retained by an American couple living in Texas. Paranormal researcher Lloyd Pye says he obtained the skull from Ray and Melanie Young of El Paso, Texas, in February 1999. According to Pye, 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 supine on the surface of the tunnel.
Claims
Pye's "Starchild Project" supporters claim that the skull is that of an extraterrestrial infant, or the hybrid offspring of an extraterrestrial and a human female. According to Pye, a dentist determined, based on examination of the upper right maxilla found with the skull, that it was a child's skull, 4.5 to 5 years in age, however, the volume 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. Pye says that Carbon 14 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 Miami, and both tests provided results of 900 years ± 40 years since death.
Analysis
Steven Novella of Yale University Medical School concludes that the cranium exhibits all of the characteristics of a child who has died as a result of congenital hydrocephalus, and that the cranial deformations were the result of accumulations of cerebrospinal fluid within the skull. DNA testing in 1999 found standard X and Y chromosomes 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.
References
- Feder, Kenneth L. (2010). "Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum". ABC-CLIO. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
- Pye, Lloyd 'Starchild Project'
- Pye, Lloyd. "TERRIBLE TWO'S : Summary of the first Two Years". Starchild Project. Archived from the original on 2008-01-18. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
- ^ McCoy, Max (November 1999). "Star Child". Fortean Times (127): 42–45.
- Feder, Kenneth L. (2010). "Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum". ABC-CLIO. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
- Brown, Matthew. "A Report on Maxilla and Dental X-Rays". Starchild Project. Archived from the original on 2008-01-29. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
- Robinson, Ted J. "A Preliminary Analysis of a Highly Unusual Human-Like Skull". Starchild Project. Archived from the original on 2008-01-27. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
- (Pye, L. 2007, pp. 206-7 and p. 218)
- Feder, Kenneth L. (2010). "Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum". ABC-CLIO. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
