Hi, Everyone:
Down the rabbit hole we go! This is the first report from the geneticists
regarding the DNA testing on the Starchild skull. If you're interested, read
on. If not, take the blue pill. If annoyed, let me know and I'll remove you
from my mailing list.
Some of you may have noticed that in the last update I didn’t mention money
for the Starchild Fund because, frankly, I didn’t know if we would need any
more beyond this first test for Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Remember, mtDNA
exists outside a cell's nucleus and is passed down from female to female;
male cells have it but they don't pass it on. It’s not DNA from inside
the cell's nucleus (Nuclear or Diagnostic DNA), which is what we most need
to sequence because that reveals information about both parents.
If the Starchild is an "alien-human" hybrid, as we suspect, and
its mother was human, then its mtDNA will be human also. Only if it is pure
alien will its mtDNA skew away from human. (Recall that if it is “other,”
wholly or partially, we have nothing to compare it to. “It” could well be
a form of “us,” an “us” we don’t fully understand or recognize.) Also, we
assume it had a human mother because eggs are so much larger and easier to
genetically manipulate than sperm, which makes a human “Mom” the most technically
efficient way to hybridize. This is reinforced by the so-called “Star Being”
legends handed down by indigenous tribes from North and South America (Meso-Americans).
With all that said, I can report that the Mitochondrial DNA of the skull found
with the Starchild skull was extracted without difficulty, and she is indeed
a human female. She also proved to be classically Meso-American, as determined
by our two geneticists who happen to specialize in this arcane area of expertise.
In other words, she’s clearly a native of where she was found, which is what
we anticipated from Day One. What we needed to know was whether she and the
Starchild were genetically linked to conform to the Star Being legends about
native women impregnated with alien hybrids. It turns out these two were not
related, which means she wasn’t his mother but rather a dedicated companion
or guardian, willing to take her own life to die alongside him after she buried
him.
Unfortunately, the Starchild's Mitochondrial DNA did not extract cleanly.
The "bars" that are “read” (you've seen the strips of darkened gel
bars that constitute a DNA fingerprint) were "fuzzy" and "indistinct"
in the places they did appear, but fewer were present than is normal. This
provides some interesting possibilities. One would be physical degradation
of the specimen, which is possible because the Starchild was buried for 900
years in soil that could have been acidic. We have no soil sample to test,
but we can take note of the staining pattern on the skull, particularly the
charred-looking areas of the right-side eye socket, sphenoid bone, and temporal
bone. That could easily be a result of soil acidity.
Acidity or not, the degradation was such that the few readable "bars"
produced a pattern that did not match the expected Meso-American template.
Instead, and quite surprisingly, it was closest to Europeans! Naturally,
this can quickly get the blood pumping: ("What? A European
in northwest Mexico in 1100 AD?? That’s 400 years before Columbus!!").
However, there is another option, which the geneticists addressed with heartfelt
chagrin. Although they did everything possible to avoid contaminating the
sample, there is always a remote chance it happened. The fact it was “fuzzy”
and “indistinct” mitigates against a recent contamination, because recently
recovered mtDNA would most likely have been clean and easy to read. Yet degradation
of a recent sample is also remotely possible.
So where does this leave us? Where do we go from here? Farther down the rabbit
hole, of course. We have no choice but to run a 2nd test to try
to clarify the first ambiguous result. However, this 2nd test will
be carried out using a different protocol in order to speed the process considerably.
Recall that this first test used "softening gel" discussed in the
last update. Instead of the normal week of submersion in that gel, a full
month was needed to soften the Starchild's bone enough to initiate processing
it. Rather than go through that ordeal again, this time they will use the
“detergent” method.
The gel method was used to test the largest possible piece of the sample.
The detergent method will include sanding away the entire top layer of the
2nd sample, down to the matrix where the marrow is stored. That
thin top layer is the part I estimate was held by approximately 3,000 pairs
of hands during the 18 months I showed it to audiences in the U.S. and Canada.
If there has been seepage into the bone by the oils from human hands, that
thin top layer will contain it. Naturally, they removed the topmost portion
of that layer prior to starting the 1st test, but looking back,
it might not have been enough.
With the entire layer abraded away, it will leave only the core matrix and
the inner layer of parietal bone that no human could ever have touched (which
is why a parietal section is being analyzed). This will provide a much smaller
sample to test, but it should also be absolutely "clean." Furthermore,
the detergent method requires only two to three weeks to complete, so the
geneticists have assured me they will know by the first week in June.
If the 2nd test contradicts the first, then obviously we will have to run a 3rd test to act as a tiebreaker (it’s hard to imagine three contaminated tests in a row). If the 2nd test confirms the first, which is that the Starchild had a European mother, then we have opened up an entirely different can of worms from what we expected. Most of you will be aware of the so-called “Kennewick Man,” a skeleton found in Washington State in 1996. Because it was 9000 years old and had European features, Native Americans went ballistic because that would indicate they did not have “squatter’s rights” to all of the Americas. So if the Starchild bloodline is indeed European, it’ll be the Kennewick squabble all over again.
If that eventuates, we’ll worry about it then. Now our concern is making sure we do whatever can to try to sequence the Starchild’s Nuclear DNA, which is what we must have to determine the heritage of its potentially alien father. And let’s all keep in mind that if the 2nd test results are as indistinct as the 1st, then even if a nuclear extraction is possible, it might be equally difficult to interpret. But let’s not dwell on negatives.
We are still solidly in
the hunt to do what we set out to do on Day One, which remains the heart of
this entire effort. For the first time ever, we in the Alternative
Knowledge community have within our possession a bone relic that could scientifically
prove our contentions about alien life forms, and with a degree of evidence
no one can effectively dispute. If Nuclear DNA is recoverable and clearly
says "other than human," it will be only a matter of time before
our controversial position is acknowledged as a fact.
With that said, I end where I began, pointing out that I didn’t mention the
Starchild Fund in the last update because I didn't know if this first test
would recover anything at all. We now know there is recoverable DNA
within the Starchild, and now the trick is to tease it out in a usable fashion.
Thus, it is clear that we will need more money to extend beyond the funds
allocated by our British benefactors. We still have to consider the two tests
the geneticists suggested, the bone chemistry and the bone histology. We could
easily need another Carbon 14 test to double-check our date for it. We need
to formally calibrate the hardness of the bone, which has proved so surprising
to the geneticists. And we've always needed a forensic sculpture of how the
Starchild might have looked in life. This would be a clay model wrapped around
a replica of the skull, which costs several thousand dollars.
If you go to the Starchild Project website, www.starchildproject.com, you will
see we have added a "Donation" button from PayPal. As you
know, I have tried hard to keep from "commercializing" this endeavor,
but I think we're past the point where we can be criticized for making our
financial requirements clearly understood. We need money. We always have.
This is not easy work, nor inexpensive work. These updates make that clear.
If you have considered helping us in the past but never got around to sending
your check, maybe the ease of PayPal is right for you. If you have
already contributed but feel you could again, please do so. And now I have
something to sweeten the pot a bit.
The recent slide presentation I gave in London was filmed by Cognoscence,
Ltd., which sponsored the lecture. They have sent me 50 copies of "An
Evening With Lloyd Pye" to make available for shipping to purchasers
here in the U.S. and Canada. It is 2 hours and 10 minutes long, covering 90
minutes of "origins" material, both of life and of humans, which
lays a solid groundwork for the Starchild's potential place in the grand scheme
of life on Earth; then it closes with 40 minutes of astonishing Starchild
material. This is an impressive, high-quality videotape that provides an excellent
distillation of my best work in all the areas of my research. I'm very proud
of it. Also, it's not just available in the U.S. and Canada. This goes for
any country in the world, period. Cognoscence, Ltd., charges the approximate
equivalent of $25 U.S., which includes shipping and handling.
These hot-off-the-press videos can be ordered through Cognoscence in London
(contact: b.mckenzie@btinternet.com),
or in the U.S./Canada through me (lloyd@lloydpye.com).
However, anyone donating at least $100 to the Starchild Fund, by PayPal
or check or direct deposit, will receive a videotape as a bonus reward for
your generosity. Also, as another incentive, anyone who prefers a signed copy
of my book, Everything You Know Is Wrong—Book One: Human Origins, can
choose that instead of the videotape. Again, I apologize for finally edging
into commercialization, but at this point we have no choice. The testing ball
is now rolling, hard, and it will clearly continue to roll for quite a while.
[One last point: for those who have already sent in $100 or more, the videotape and book offer is not retroactive at this time. We all realize that is not fair, and we intend to correct it as soon as we can in the future. However, the simple truth is that tapes and books cost the same money we don’t have, so all copies are currently limited and must be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. If this incentive program causes our financial pressures to ease, then we will purchase extra tapes and books and pass them along as warranted.]
Lloyd Pye
www.lloydpye.com
Lloyd@lloydpye.com
New Orleans,
LA