Russian researchers have analyzed tissue samples from one of the mysterious alien creatures uncovered in Peru last year. The mummy, with an elongated skull and only three fingers, has excited ufologists since its discovery.

EDITORIAL NOTE: This story has been updated with information on Konstantin Korotkov's questionable past research to give readers a better perspective on his claims about the Peruvian mummies.

Preliminary analysis of the tissue samples revealed that the mummy, found in a tomb near the Nazca lines of Peru and named Maria, is a “humanoid being” with 23 pairs of chromosomes – so far, so human. It dates back to about the 5th century AD, a full millennium before Europeans discovered America.

A professor of the National Research University in St. Petersburg, Konstantin Korotkov, and Natalya Zaloznaya, radiologist and specialist in computer tomography at the International Biological Systems Institute, collected the tissue samples in Peru and brought them back to St. Petersburg for analysis.

READ MORE: 5 ‘aliens’ discovered near Nazca lines in Peru - Ufologist (VIDEO, POLL)

Professor Korotkov is known for his research into dubious scientific phenomena. He is, among other things, a proponent of the use of 1930s photography techniques to create images of peoples' auras, which he claims can be used to diagnose illness in place of X-ray scans and tomography. He also claims to have found proof of life after death and filmed the activity of a dead person's soul.

Korotkov believes Maria could be a representative of a certain race that evolved much earlier than we did, “maybe thousands of years earlier,” he said. The professor hypothesized that this race may have perished as a result of a flood or a comet strike.

The team is now keen to find out how Maria’s composition resembles that of people in South America, Africa or elsewhere. “Right now we are making a detailed analysis to see if the position of all the chromosomes, of all the amino acids, coincides with ours,”said Korotkov to Mir 24.

X-ray and computer tomography showed Maria has a very different rib structure to that of humans. Keel-shaped in the upper part with a handful of semicircular ribs, the cage protects the creature’s internal organs, which do resemble those of humans.

"We clearly see the contours of the trachea and the bronchi, of the heart and its chambers; we can even see the shape of the valves. We can also see quite clearly the contours of the diaphragm, the liver and the spleen," explains Zaloznaya.

Scientists also found Maria was embalmed in a cadmium chloride white powder, the antibacterial effect of which has preserved Maria to this day.

READ MORE: Ufologist ‘confirms with scientific evidence’ that aliens lived with humans on Earth

The researchers are now working closely with their Peruvian colleagues to continue deciphering the genome and break its DNA code, reports Mir 24. They’re even hopeful of one day convincing authorities to bring the mummy to Russia.

Aside from Maria, Professor Korotkov witnessed four more mummies in Peru, all male with a DNA of 23 pairs of chromosomes, like us. However, “they appear human but they are not. Their anatomic structure is different” says Korotkov.

“They could be extraterrestrials or bio robots”.

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