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 It's the conspiracy theory that just won't go away: that the U.S. government is, deep in some secret location, keeping the bodies of alien astronauts recovered from the crash of a flying saucer in New Mexico in 1947. 
 
 The "Roswell Incident," named for the small town near where some wreckage was found - a weather balloon, the U.S. military says; a UFO, say those who, well, believe it was a UFO - was back in the news this week when two photographs, claimed to be of preserved alien remains, were presented at a UFO conference in Mexico City. 
 
 The photos, taken on Kodachrome color slide film, have been confirmed as being on film stock from the late 1940s - but that doesn't mean the alien claim is true, experts say. 
 
 What is much more likely, they say, is that the photo is in fact a 1940s image - but of a human child's mummified body. 
 
 As evidence that the alien claim is either a publicity stunt - a documentary film Roswell Slides is in production - or a hoax, scientists noted that attendees at the Mexico City conference who wanted to view the color slides had to cough up $350 for the privilege. 
 
 The skeleton in the photos does have a large head in relation to the rest of the body, but that's a characteristic of any child's body, experts say. 
 
 Mummified children's bodies have been mistaken for aliens before, but even those with strange, deformed skulls have a simple explanation; cranial deformation was widely practiced by many ancient human civilizations. 
 
 Still, many UFO adherents are standing by the claims made in Mexico City. 
 
 "(These photos) show the human race, beyond any doubt, that extra-terrestrial visits are a reality," said Jaime Maussan, a Mexican UFO researcher who hosted the conference. 
 
 "That is why the presentation of two slides, two transparencies, where a being with nonhuman features can be seen, is very important." 
 
 Despite years of research by the U.S. Air Force and other agencies that have found to evidence of aliens - or UFOs - many still hold to their conviction that the government is covering up the existence of a flying saucer or its occupants - or both - in a secret hangar at Area 51 in Nevada. 
 
 The newly released photos are unlikely to change anyone's mind one way or the other, of course. That's just the nature of conspiracies. They're hard to prove; the problem is they're also hard to disprove. 
 
 The photos were said to have been taken by geologist Bernard Ray between 1947 and 1949, and the images were found inside a box that also contained images of Bing Crosby, Clarke Gable and Dwight Eisenhower from before his term as president. The box was located in the attic of a house in Sedona, Ariz. A team of UFO specialists says they are authentic. 
 
 Artwork by Frank Kovalchek | Flickr 
 
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 ⓒ 2018 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. ||||| Of course, these are only some of the ways we've envisioned Martians over the years. But how do we look to the Martians? Um, pretty small. This first-ever image of the Earth taken from Mars was snapped by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit in 2004. 
 
 As is its eternal wont, pop culture is constantly recycling its own ideas -- Martians included. In 1999, Christopher Lloyd starred as the titular alien in director Donald Petrie's reboot of the 1960s TV show "My Favorite Martian," which was itself inspired by earlier pulp sci-fi stories. 
 
 Director Tim Burton played around with B-movie tropes and pop art notions of Martians in his 1996 film "Mars Attacks!" Brian De Palma followed up a few years later with "Mission to Mars," a huge critical and commercial bomb. (Although the French critics liked it -- really.) 
 
 Legendary Looney Tunes animator Chuck Jones created the character of Marvin the Martian in 1948 as a foil for Bugs Bunny. As devotees of Saturday morning cartoons know, Marvin is forever plotting to destroy the Earth by way of his Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator. Apparently, we obstruct his view of Venus. 
 
 On July 25, 1976, NASA's Viking 1 orbiter captured the above image on the surface of Mars' Cydonia region. The infamous "Face on Mars" prompted decades of speculation, although scientists have long dismissed the image as an example of pareidolia; e.g. seeing shapes in the clouds, or Jesus in your toast. 
 
 The so-called Grey Alien is a kind of archetype image of an extraterrestrial -- not necessarily from Mars -- that has arisen from fictional depictions, alleged alien abduction stories and conjecture on what an advanced race of beings would look like. 
 
 Space explorer stories were a regular staple in the pulp fiction magazines of the early 1900s, and Edgar Rice Burroughs was another author to speculate at length on Mars' inhabitants. His Martians included the six-limbed, green-skinned Tharks and humanoid Red Martians. 
 
 Science fiction writers often depicted Martians as an advanced humanoid race intent on conquering Earth. In "Flash Gordon's Trip To Mars" (1938), Azura Queen of Mars subjugates her own Martian people. Ray Bradbury would later conceive of a kinder, gentler race in "The Martian Chronicles." 
 
 Telescopic observations of Mars in the late 19th and early 20th centuries appeared to show long surface lines that some believed were man-made (well, Martian-made) irrigation canals. Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli made this map of Mars from his notes on the telescope images. 
 
 We've been conjecturing about life on Mars for centuries. In popular culture, the concept of intelligent life on Mars was championed by astronomer Percival Lowell in the late 1800s and his theories on the Martian canals. Science fiction writers -- always game for some reckless conjecture -- took up the banner from there. Perhaps the most famous Martians in the history of sci-fi and popular culture, the invaders in H.G. Wells' 1898 novel "War of the Worlds," have since spawned dozens of films, TV shows, comic books and one very famous radio drama. 
 
 Earlier this week at a UFO conference in Mexico City two photographs claimed to have been found in a trunk in Sedona, Ariz., and depicting an alien body that crashed in Roswell in 1947 were revealed. It has created quite a buzz among UFO believers and others, but there are good reasons to question the claim. 
 
 According to the Daily Mirror, the photos “were found by former journalist Adam Dew, who has taken steps to verify the pair of alien snaps and said Kodak experts had dated the film to 1947….The photos were supposedly found in Arizona, hidden in a collection of snaps owned by oil geologist Bernard Ray and his wife Hilda Ray, who have both died.” 
 
 The Discovernator serves up amazing facts, piping hot. Get more here! DCI 
 
 Assuming that a representative from Kodak authenticated the film as old stock dating back to the 1940s doesn’t mean that Kodak “authenticated” the subject of the photo; all it means is that it’s a genuine old photo, and not, for example, on film produced in the 1980s. 
 
 If it’s a genuine old photo, what could it be? An important clue about the real explanation can be seen in the photos, since the small figure appears to have been photographed in a display case (it even has what appears to be a sign explaining what it is, though the image is washed out and the quality is not good enough to read it). 
 
 It doesn’t look alien so much as a skeletal human with a large head, which is characteristic of a child’s body. And that’s likely what it is: a child’s mummified body. In fact, it is not the first time that a mummified child’s body has been mistaken for an alien. Long-dead bodies with deformed skulls have previously been mistaken for extraterrestrials, but there is nothing unusual about finding deformed skulls in the Americas; archaeologists have found them for years. 
 
 Cranial deformation is a widely known practice, and in 2012 archaeologists in Mexico found a burial ground of twenty-five skeletons; of those, more than half showed intentional skull deformation. Mummified fetuses and babies have been on display in museums around the world for decades, including in South America. 
 
 Mummified Mysteries 
 
 If it is indeed a mummified baby corpse, it would be only the latest of many to have been reinterpreted as something unknown or mysterious. Earlier this year a pair of mummified cats found in Chile was mistaken for the mysterious vampire creature called the chupacabra. The felines had disproportionately large heads compared to the rest of their bodies and were likely kittens. 
 
 Part of the reason that these objects seem so bizarre and mysterious is that very few people outside of the fields of archaeology and anthropology are familiar with the process and appearance of mummification. 
 
 For most people the word “mummy” evokes bandaged, slow-moving monsters from ancient Egypt. We typically think of bodies being reduced to a skeleton not long after death, but in fact bodies may be preserved for centuries or millennia, either through intentional preservation (such as mummification) or because the environment where a person died helps preserve the bodies (for example high in the cold Andes mountains, or in deserts where the lack of moisture inhibits decay-causing bacteria). 
 
 Adult mummies are strange enough, but baby mummies are even rarer and stranger looking. Because babies have disproportionally large heads as compared to the rest of their bodies, their dessicated remains seem all the more inhuman. A Reuters news story featured video of UFO proponent Richard Dolan at the conference claiming, without providing any evidence or documentation, that unnamed experts somehow ruled out the mummy explanation. 
 
 Of course extraterrestrials have never been proven to exist, and no photographs of alien bodies have ever been authenticated, and thus the belief or assumption that aliens would have disproportionately large craniums is sci-fi pop culture speculation promoted in entertainment media ranging from “The X-Files” to Steven Spielberg’s seminal 1977 film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” 
 
 If the “standard” alien depicted decades ago -- and since embraced by UFO buffs -- had an unusually small head and three legs, for example, this and other mummified babies would not be associated with anything extraterrestrial. 
 
 Even if it is a genuine extraterrestrial, there’s reason to doubt that the carcass was recovered in Roswell in 1947: None of the original eyewitnesses to the debris found on the New Mexico ranch described any alien bodies or even spacecraft. In fact the first person to find the wreckage described it as “made up of rubber strips, tinfoil, a rather tough paper and sticks.” 
 
 This very closely matches the top-secret Project Mogul weather balloons and radar reflectors that the Air Force identified in 1994 as having crashed in Roswell. The wild stories of recovered alien bodies didn’t appear until 30 years after the supposed crash. 
 
 It seems very likely that the new Roswell alien slide is not new, not from Roswell, and not an alien. Just because the images aren’t really of an alien body doesn’t mean that they are fake. It seems plausible that Dew or someone else found them and jumped to the conclusion that they were of an alien. And of course the most famous story of aliens occurred in Roswell. 
 
 Because the original photographer had died -- and the photo presumably had no captions identifying its subject or any other information about when or where it was taken -- the gap in information was filled with whatever wild speculation or meaning anyone wanted to give it. 
 
 “New” information about the now 68-year-old crash still surfaces now and then, and this surely won’t be the last claimed photo or video about the incident. ||||| Two photographs of a "dead alien" were unveiled at a big money event last night - and immediately dismissed as fake. 
 
 A series of 'UFOlogists' appeared at the Be Witness meeting last night to reveal images of an extraterrestrial who supposedly crashed to Earth during the infamous Roswell incident in 1947. 
 
 The images were found by former journalist Adam Dew, who has taken steps to verify the pair of alien snaps and said Kodak experts had dated the film to 1947. 
 
 Alien or mummy? A screenshot of the slide, which has not been released 
 
 The rest of the world has not had the chance to test the rigour of his methods, because high resolution images of the alien are not yet available. 
 
 They are likely to be sold through his production company Dew Media alongside a documentary about the discovery of the slides. 
 
 The photos were supposedly found in Arizona, hidden in a collection of snaps owned by oil geologist Bernard Ray and his wife Hilda Ray, who have both died. 
 
 Nick Pope, a researcher who headed up a UFO investigation wing at the UK Ministry of Defence, told Mirror Online he was "underwhelmed". 
 
 "It could be a model, or it could simply be a fake image, dressed up to look like a Forties slide," he said. 
 
 "The motivations for hoaxing are complex. Some hoaxes are money-making scams, but sometimes it's just a desire to say 'we fooled the world'. 
 
 "I can understand why the UFO community is disappointed and conspiracy theorists are probably already claiming the whole thing was a government plot, designed to discredit the subject and 
 
 make it look ridiculous." 
 
 After the photographs were revealed, UFO spotters immediately took to Twitter to share screenshots of the snaps using the hashtag "#BeDisappointed". 
 
 #UFOLOGY we should all pay penance and wear tinfoil hats for the day...#Roswellslides WTF!!!....haven't we learnt anything yet? — Puxley (@Holographic_Me) May 6, 2015 
 
 #roswellslides well it's certainly succeeded in making me want to move on from all the ufo ET stuff! I'm now a nonbeliever! Nice one! — philf (@TheDubPunk) May 6, 2015 
 
 Some compared the images to previous photos of Egyptian mummies from the Smithsonian. 
 
 #roswellslides A photo a of a child mummy, an #epicfail NOT a smoking gun. Shame on ufologists that was on THIS. pic.twitter.com/ygVi49zDtP — cristian contini (@cristiancontini) May 6, 2015 
 
 Critics have pointed out a film showing an 'autopsy' of an alien found at Roswell was released exactly 20 years before the Be Witness event yesterday. 
 
 This older film (pictured below) was discovered by British music producer Ray Santilly. Although it was dismissed as fake, it reportedly earned him a sizeable amount of money. 
 
 There are several other connections between the Santilly film and the release of the Roswell photos, leading some to claim the new slides are a "carefully prepared" stunt. 
 
 For instance, the alien in the Santilly video was nicknamed Hilda - the same name as the woman who supposedly owned the new Roswell Slides. 
 
 This image of an alien autopsy didn't fool many people 
 
 The big reveal took place in a massive auditorium packed with thousands of eager UFO fans. 
 
 Although there was a live stream available, viewers had to fork out $20 if they wanted to watch it. 
 
 British skygazers were at a particular disadvantage, because the event started at 11.30pm and went on until dawn, with many speakers talking in Spanish. 
 
 Mirror Online spoke to the former astronaut Edgar Mitchell, the sixth man to land on the moon and an outspoken believer in extraterrestrial visitations. 
 
 The 84-year-old appeared at Be Witness via a Skype link and insisted the images showed the remains of an alien being. 
 
 "These images show a type of alien known as a little grey," he told us. 
 
 "However, we have no way of knowing if it was the creature which creatures from the Roswell incident." 
 
 Getty Major Jesse Marcel with debris found 75 miles north west of Roswell, NM, in June 1947 
 
 Gary Heseltine, a former policeman who is now editor of UFO Truth Magazine, also insisted the photos were real. 
 
 "I know many of the people who were involved," he told Mirror Online. 
 
 "They wouldn't risk their reputation by appearing at this event if the photos weren't genuine. 
 
 "From my background as a policeman, I know what evidence is. These were compelling images of a being which was not human." 
 
 We asked organisers if the event was a money-making venture rather than a genuine revelation proving the existence of alien life. 
 
 Jaime Maussan, the journalist who organised the unveiling, replied: "The forensics experts explained in full yesterday why this is [an alien]. 
 
 "We also presented the analysis from photography experts stating that the picture is real and from the late 1940s. 
 
 "I lost about $100 thousand in the event, even though we had six thousand people in the auditorium and a few thousand watching on the Internet. 
 
 "I never did it for money, I knew I was going to lose cash even before started the organisation of the event, but I didn't care. 
 
 "They are wrong all the way." ||||| UFO hunters may have found the evidence they're seeking. At a conference in Mexico City, UFO specialist Jamie Maussan presented never before seen photos of a purported alien body from the 1947 Roswell crash. The crash has long been a mystery, with some suspecting that authorities kept the discovery of an alien a secret from the public. The images, reportedly snapped by Geologist Bernard A. Ray on Kodachrome film, show the remains of an alleged alien found dead in New Mexico. SOUNDBITE: UFO Specialist Jaime Maussan, saying (Spanish) : "These photos show the human race that beyond any doubt, extraterrestrial visits are a reality. That is why the presentation of two slides, two transparencies, where a being with non-human features can be seen, is very important. These photos were dated by experts to a period where the model of the archetype extraterrestrial we know today didn't exist." And that they say, is proof positive that the images couldn't have been doctored. The topic is of course controversial - NASA and the U.S. government have never formally recognized extra terrestrial life on planet Earth. It has taken researchers five years to verify the photos' authenticity. After studying the images, leading UFO specialist Richard Dolan says these are the proof people have been looking for. SOUNDBITE: Richard Dolan, leading researcher and author on UFOs, saying (English): "The analysis of the body or creature that is presented in the image, suggested that this is not a mummy, not a human, not a mammal and not a model, which would require a highly sophisticated detailed understanding of comparative anatomy among various species." Real, not real ... you to decide. And if you do find yourself looking over your shoulder ... we can't say we blame you. ||||| A declassified document from 1949 tells how three men, on patrols miles apart, each reported seeing a UFO break up over mountains north of Salt Lake City. 
 
 Their extraordinary accounts were sent to Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI, in a memo titled "Flying Discs". 
 
 The file said that a policeman, a highway patrolman and an army guard all "saw a silver coloured object high up approaching the mountains at Sardine Canyon" that "appeared to explode in a rash of fire." 
 
 "Several residents [reported] seeing what appeared to be two aerial explosions, followed by falling object," it said. 
 
 The file is one of thousands of previously unreleased files that the FBI has made public in a new online resource called The Vault . 
 
 Among them is a 1950 statement from special agent Guy Hottel, which seems to provide evidence for the theory that aliens landed at Roswell, New Mexico. 
 
 In the memo, Agent Hottel said that "three so-called flying saucers had been recovered in New Mexico". 
 
 He wrote that the flying saucers were "described as being circular in shape with raised centers, approximately 50 feet in diameter." 
 
 In a statement that is reminiscent of the hit 1990s TV programme The X-Files, he went on to describe the alien life forms inside the UFOs. 
 
 "Each one was occupied by three bodies of human shape but only 3 feet tall," he wrote. 
 
 The bodies were "dressed in a metallic cloth of a very fine texture. Each body was bandaged in a manner similar to the blackout suits used by speed flyers and test pilots." 
 
 Agent Hottel suggested that the UFOs had crashed in New Mexico because high-powered government radar had interfered with their operating systems. 
 
 The release of the files are likely to intensify the claims of conspiracy theorists who believe the US government covered up alien landings. 
 
 Roswell became infamous after reports that a flying saucer had crashed in the desert nearby in 1947. 
 
 The bodies of aliens were said to have been recovered by the military.
– UFO enthusiasts last week got a gander of an alien allegedly recovered from Roswell—oversized head and all—but experts say the evidence likely originated on planet Earth, Tech Times reports. Attendees at a UFO conference in Mexico City paid $350 for the chance to see an old Kodachrome color slide said to capture an alien that crashed in New Mexico in 1947 (UFO lovers call it the "Roswell Incident"). A journalist apparently dated the film stock to the 1940s, Discovery reports, saying it was recovered in Arizona from an oil geologist's photo collection. The slide shows a small figure with a big head in a display case; Discovery argues that the skeleton belonged to a child (with typically oversized head) or the body of a mummified child with a deformed head. Such bodies have been turning up for years in the Americas and identified as extraterrestrials, Discovery reported last year. What's more, no eyewitness at Roswell in 1947 described aliens or even a flying saucer; the first one there talked about something "made up of rubber strips, tinfoil, a rather tough paper and sticks" (the US Air Force put it down to air balloons and radar detectors that crashed there). Yet UFO proponents at the Mexico City event stood firm: "Analysis of the body ... suggested this is not a mummy and not a human, not a mammal and not a model," says enthusiast Richard Dolan, Reuters reports. A British defense official was less enthused, telling the Mirror that "it could be a model, or it could simply be a fake image, dressed up to look like a Forties slide." (Read about Air Force UFO files now available online.)