Short Stuff: Atacama Skeleton

Summary

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Stuff You Should Know: Short Stuff – Atacama Skeleton (December 10, 2025)

Episode Overview

In this Short Stuff episode, hosts Josh and Chuck dive into the mysterious and poignant story of the Atacama Skeleton, a tiny six-inch mummified body discovered in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The episode unpacks the skeleton's origin, the rush to label it an “alien,” the revelation of its true nature, and the surrounding ethical controversies. Through their trademark mix of humor and empathy, Josh and Chuck illuminate the science, speculation, and very real human sadness behind this hotly debated artifact.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Discovery and Description of the Atacama Skeleton

• Initial Discovery

  • Discovered in 2003 in La Noria, an abandoned nitrate mining town in the Atacama Desert by treasure hunter Oscar Munoz. [01:18-01:59]
  • “It was found... in an abandoned town called La Noria back in 2003.” – Josh [01:18]

• Physical Attributes

  • Extremely small stature: About 6 inches (15 cm) long.
  • Distinctive features: conical-shaped skull, only 10 pairs of ribs instead of the usual 12. [01:41-02:06]
  • Some desiccated flesh and tissue still attached, especially on the face, due to the desert’s mummifying environment. [02:26-03:05]

• Atmosphere of Discovery

  • Atacama Desert: Among the driest non-polar locations worldwide—“just a perfect place to make a mummy.” – Josh [03:59]
  • Culture of mummification: Area linked to the Chinchorro people, known for embalming bodies, making well-preserved finds common. [03:11-03:46]

Early Theories and Alien Hype

• Jump to Speculation

  • The skeleton’s odd look triggered waves of speculation: “There were UFO people saying, it’s an alien. It’s gotta be a tiny little alien.” – Chuck [01:55]
  • Alternative guesses: non-human primate, shapeshifter. [02:07-02:22]

• Who Got Involved

  • Skeleton passed into hands of Ramon Navia Osorio, Spanish collector and head of a UFO research organization. [04:37]
  • Notably connected with ufologist Steven M. Greer, well-known for seeking government UFO disclosure. [04:57-05:48]
  • Greer’s interest: “We have to figure out what this thing is. Can I take a tissue sample?” – Josh [05:47]

Scientific Investigation and Human Origin

• DNA Analysis

  • For documentary Sirius, Greer and Osorio involve Dr. Gary Nolan, a microbiologist, to conduct a genomic test. [07:52-08:43]
  • Shock result: DNA was “modern, abundant and high quality, and is human. There’s no doubt about it.” – Chuck [08:43]

• Scientific Findings

  • Published in Genome Research (March 2018).
  • Skeleton almost certainly a stillborn baby girl with multiple rare genetic mutations affecting bone development and appearance. [09:13-09:55]
  • Age estimates: Under 500 years but possibly as recent as the last 30–40 years—making the story even sadder. [10:00]

• Humanizing the “Alien”

  • Hosts emphasize the tragedy:
    • “We have snatched this skeleton from a tomb of this little girl who died prematurely... and it’s like the saddest thing in the world.” – Chuck [10:00-10:36]
    • “It’s like, no, these are actually congenital genetic issues, not alien.” – Josh [10:41]

Ethical and Legal Backlash

• Immediate Critics

  • 2018 revelations spark outrage in Chile and international scientific communities.
  • The Chilean Society of Biological Anthropology and Association of Archaeologists condemned the study as unethical and illegal. [11:13]
    • “Under Chilean law, it’s illegal to carry out archeological, anthropological, or paleontological excavation without getting authorization... which wasn’t done.” – Chuck [11:46]

• Calls for Repatriation

  • Demands that the remains be returned to Chile.
  • Nolan’s group concedes ethical missteps, notes they only handled a bone sample, but agrees: “Yes, we believe that this baby’s remains should be repatriated back to Chile.” – Josh [11:46-12:37]
  • Chuck calls their admission “a fairly standup thing to do.” [12:37]

• Current Status and Ongoing Controversy

  • The skeleton is still with Ramon Navia Osorio in Spain—has not been repatriated. [12:39]
  • Steven Greer continues to dispute DNA findings, maintains it’s not human. [12:58]
  • “That was a scoff if I’ve ever heard one.” – Josh [13:02]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Sadness of the Story:

  • “This is the story of the saddest skeleton.” – Chuck [01:15]
  • “If she died within, say, 40 years, that would put her in the... 80s, the 70s. And the town... was abandoned in the 30s. So I’m not sure what she would be doing there.” – Josh [10:41]

• On Alien vs. Science:

  • “There were UFO people saying, it’s an alien. It’s gotta be a tiny little alien.” – Chuck [01:55]
  • “No, these are actually congenital genetic issues, not alien.” – Josh [10:41]

• On Scientific Ethics:

  • “Shouldn’t have done it. It’s against the law... without getting authorization.” – Chuck [11:46]
  • “Yes, we believe that this baby’s remains should be repatriated back to Chile.” – Josh [12:37]

• Comic Relief:

  • “Why are you going to say anything else when you can say saltpeter?” – Josh [03:07]
  • “That was a scoff if I’ve ever heard one.” – Josh [13:02]

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Segment Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | | :--------: | ----------------------------------------------- | | 01:05 | Introduction to the Atacama Skeleton | | 01:41 | Physical Description of the Skeleton | | 02:26 | Mummification in the Atacama Desert | | 04:24 | Discovery Story and First Sadness (Disturbing a grave) | | 04:37 | Sale to Collector, Introduction of Navia Osorio | | 04:57 | Steven Greer and UFO Community Involvement | | 07:52 | The Sirius Documentary DNA Investigation | | 08:43 | DNA Results: Human Stillborn Girl | | 09:13 | Multiple Genetic Mutations | | 10:00 | Age Estimates and Recent Provenance | | 11:13 | Ethical and Legal Reactions in Chile | | 11:46 | Gary Nolan’s Group Responds on Ethics | | 12:39 | Remains Still Not Repatriated; Greer's Denial | | 13:02 | Closing Thoughts [Episode Ends] |

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Summary

Josh and Chuck bring their usual blend of humor, empathy, and scientific skepticism to unravel the tale of the Atacama Skeleton. What begins as an apparent alien mystery transforms into a gut-wrenching human story—one that exposes how easy it is for speculation to overshadow reality, and how scientific curiosity must grapple with profound ethical questions. The episode doesn't just tell you about a skeleton: it invites you to consider the humanity and sensitivity owed to the past.

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Transcript

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[Chuck]

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[Josh]

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[Josh]

Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm Josh, and there's Chuck. And Jerry's here sitting in for Dave. This is Short Stuff, which is off to a bad start already.

[Chuck]

That's right. And this is the story of the saddest skeleton.

[Josh]

It is really sad. There's like five different reasons. It's sad, but you can kind of understand a little bit why the skeleton would get so much attention. It's known as the Atacama skeleton, and it was found in the desert of northern Chile, Atacama Desert, in an abandoned town called La Noria back in 2003.

[Chuck]

That's right. It's little, very small, about 6 inches in length, or 15 centimeters. And it has a very interesting shape to the skull, very conical shaped, and also has only 10 pairs of ribs, wherein we usually have 12 pairs. And so, of course, right away there were UFO people saying, it's an alien. It's gotta be a tiny little alien.

[Josh]

There's no other explanation.

[Chuck]

Yeah, look at that thing. Other people said, hey, not so fast. Looks more like a non human primate, maybe a shapeshifter. We don't know from what weird place this thing came from, but.

That'S just the beginning of the story. I don't want to ruin anything just yet.

[Josh]

Yeah. And the skeleton also is not fully skeletonized. Like, there's desiccated flesh attached to tissue attached to it in some places too, including the face. And the reason why is because, like I said, it came from the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. That's one of the driest non polar places on Earth and it can mummify human remains pretty easily. And it's between the Chilean coastal mountain range and the Andes. And the town of Lenoria, which is situated in the desert, was once a mining town, a nitrate mining town, I think. Saltpeter actually.

[Chuck]

Yeah, that's right. You love saying saltpeter.

[Josh]

Yeah. Why are you going to say anything else when you can say saltpeter?

[Chuck]

Agreed. It uses a fertilizer a lot. So they abandoned the town in 1960, 30s I guess, after they had mined up all that stuff. So it's, you know, long way of saying it's a very good place to preserve skeletons there and just naturally. But not only that, but the ancient Chinchorro culture there had a tradition of mummifying bodies on purpose through their embalming process. So an even longer way of saying that finding something out there, it is not unlikely that it would be pretty well preserved.

[Josh]

Yeah. And not the least of which because of the solar radiation there, apparently it's higher than anywhere on Earth. Not a lot of water, it's very hot in the day, very cold at night.

It's like just a perfect place to make a mummy. And so in 2003, the world first heard of the Atacama skeleton, thanks to a guy named Oscar Munoz, who's a treasure hunter who said that he went to Lenoria and found just sitting on a shelf in one of the buildings, the Atacama skeleton. And most other people say, oh, we don't think that you just found this thing on a shelf.

[Chuck]

Yeah, most other people say he really dug this thing up from a burial site. So that's sad thing number one. And no, no number one as you're not just supposed to do that as a treasure hunter, that's not a treasure.

Later on that skeleton was sold to a guy named Ramon Navia Osorio. He was a Spanish owner and just collector of oddities. And also it just so happens a president of the Institute for Research and Exobiological Studies, which is a UFO enthusiast organization.

[Josh]

Right. And so ufologists have like a fairly smallish community of people who will actually travel to conferences. So it's not a big surprise that Navia Osorio met up with a guy named Steven M. Greer, who is a very prominent ufologist. I think he must have come up in our Area 51 episode because I recognize his name. But he is very outspoken about trying to get the US government to disclose all of the information they surely have on aliens. Their awareness of Aliens, what really crashed in Roswell, all of that stuff. And when Greer found out that Navia Osorio had the Atacama skeleton, he was like, we have to figure out what this thing is. Can I take a tissue sample?

[Chuck]

That's right. And that feels like a great place for a break. What a cliffhanger.

[Josh]

Yeah.

[Chuck]

We'll be right back.

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[Chuck]

All right, so Stephen Greer has gotten in touch with Naveria Osorio and said, hey, I got a plan here. Let's get this. Let's extract some DNA, have it examined for this documentary called Sirius S I R I U S. It's inspired out of one of my books. We can figure out what this thing is like, you know, hopefully full bore and we can know for sure.

[Josh]

Yeah, and I guess the Sirius got publicized enough that a guy named Gary Nolan, who's a microbiologist, he reached out to Stephen Greer and said, hey, I can help you run a genomic test on this thing for your Movie serious, let's do this. And Stephen Greer said, great. I'm sure that was quite unexpected.

[Chuck]

Yeah. And another thing that was unexpected was they found that the DNA was, quote, modern, abundant and high quality, and is human. There's no doubt about it. So obviously this was not an alien being. They published this research in March of 2018 in the Journal Genome Research. And what they found is, you know, the second and probably most sad thing is that it was probably a little baby girl who died in the womb.

[Josh]

Yeah. That she was almost certainly stillborn. If she was alive when she was born, she would not have lived very long. And they, like, if you haven't seen the Atacama skeleton, now, it's probably a good time to go look up a picture of her. But the reason she has such an unusual appearance is because they attribute it to the really, like, disproportionate number of genetic mutations she has. You know, just one single genetic mutation can very easily alter a person's appearance. She had multiple genetic mutations, and they have no idea why, but they're like, well, this explains basically everything.

[Chuck]

Yeah. And also seemed like it was.

You know, pretty sure that it's a preterm birth. She's very well preserved. So they're pretty sure that she's under 500 years old. And that's what I meant by fairly recent. But they said they don't know, like, she could have died in the past, like, 30 or 40 years. And if that's true, then her parents might potentially still be around. And we have this situation where there could be parents. And even if there aren't, we have snatched this skeleton from a tomb of this little girl who died prematurely because of, you know, issues like birth issues. And it's like the saddest thing in the world.

[Josh]

And not only that, people around the world are saying, like, alien, look at this. Obviously an alien.

[Chuck]

Yeah.

[Josh]

It's like, no, these are actually congenital genetic issues, not alien. So, yeah, you put all this stuff together, you just hope that the family is not aware of this. The thing that stood out to me, though, Chuck, if she died within, say, 40 years, that would put her in the, what, the 80s, the 70s. And the town where she was found, allegedly Lenoria, was abandoned in the 30s. So I'm not sure what she would be doing there. But I did see in a lot of different places, they're like, she could have died quite recently.

[Chuck]

Right. Yeah. Well, it was such a sort of outrage after they found this out when that paper was published in 2018. The Chilean society of Biological Anthropology and the Chilean association of Archaeologists both came out and were like, this was a really unethical study. Shouldn't have done it. It's against the law. First of all, under Chilean law, it's illegal to carry out archeological, anthropological, or paleontological excav without getting authorization from the Council of National Monuments, which wasn't done.

[Josh]

That's a big one. They're also like, by the way, give us our remains back. Let's repatriate her. And then a lot of focus came on to Gary Nolan and his group for even running this test in the first place. And they essentially understood. They're like, you know, you're right. This whole jam is quite unethical. At least in our defense, we did not handle the body. We've never seen the body in person. We got a 1 millimeter, a cubic millimeter piece of bone to use as the sample. So at least there's that. And yes, we believe that this baby's remains should be repatriated back to Chile. So I don't know if they got all the heat off of them, but at the very least, they were willing to acknowledge the ethical lapse on their part. For sure.

[Chuck]

Yeah, I think that was a fairly standup thing to do.

[Josh]

But the body is not back in Chile. It's still in the possession of Ramon Navia Osorio in Spain. Oh, really? Yeah, he's got it still. I don't know that he's making any moves to give it back. And also, I saw Steven Greer disputes the findings that it was human.

Anything else?

[Chuck]

Just a.

[Josh]

That was a scoff if I've ever heard one. Yeah. All right. Love you, Chuck. Short Stuff's out.

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