Opinion Express View on alien fossils: Life as you don’t know it

There is a narcissism, of the kind that insisted that the Earth was the centre of the universe, or even now continues to deny evolution, among those who dismiss the possibility of extra-terrestrial life as a fantasy. But the “myth” of alien life, like all archetypes — from gods to demons — keeps coming back in new avatars. Part of the reason is that films and novels, from Hollywood and beyond, teach every generation about aliens, like Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy. Then there’s the “evidence”.

Earlier this week, journalist-turned-UFO expert Jaime Maussan presented what he claims are fossilised alien corpses that are nearly 2,000 years old. The mummified remains are almost a blockbuster cliché — large heads, a tiny body and three elongated fingers. While Maussan’s claims are, justifiably, taken with a pinch of salt (he has made similar claims, with other mummified remains in the past, which turned out to be false), there is a renewed interest in alien visitors. Earlier this year, David Grusch, a former American intelligence officer, testified before the US Congress. He asserted that the country possesses technology from aliens. And on Thursday, NASA outlined how it will investigate Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs) — the new term for UFOs.

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The veracity of these claims notwithstanding, there is a problem with how aliens are imagined. Given that the universe is infinite (or at least so vast that it may as well be), why is our conception of life so limited? There is something self-centred about “little green men”. Aliens seem too often to resemble bipedal humans, or at best Earth’s reptiles or ocean life. There may well be aliens here already. Maybe they are not being recognised because both those who believe in their existence and those that deny it are too busy navel-gazing.