You may remember that earlier this year—as well as in 2020, during some of the scariest times of the pandemic, for that matter—we essentially got confirmation that aliens are real.

Except every other part of life is so unhinged that in both instances, no one could really muster up the energy to care much! This week, however, has been entirely different.

When Mexican journalist and UFO enthusiast Jaime Maussan presented what he claimed are two alien corpses found in Peru to Mexican lawmakers, it immediately went viral on the internet—which decided to make Maussan's "alien mummy" the new meme.

Presenting the bodies, Maussan told the Mexican legislature they were found in the archaeologically rich Nazca area of Peru and that he is convinced they're real alien specimens.

“I think there is a clear demonstration that we are dealing with non-human specimens that are not related to any other species in our world and that all possibilities are open for any scientific institution...to investigate it."

“We are not alone."

Maussan also claims the bodies are between 700 and 1800 years old and have been genetically tested and proven to not be human. Oh—he also claims their bodies were full of eggs. So there's that!

But Maussan has long been well known in Mexico for his obsession with UFOs and has frequently been discredited in the past. Which doesn't mean he's necessarily full of it, but...it at least means we should take this with a grain of salt.

Especially since very similar "alien bodies" were "discovered" in 2017—it's unclear if they're the same alien bodies Maussan showed this week or not, with some saying they are and others saying they were a previous, separate attempt.

But in any case, those definitely turned out to be fakes made from the remains of mummified children, and animal bones like llama skulls.

Several users on X, aka Twitter, pointed out that proper scientific protocol would have been to wait to present the bodies until they'd been studied by scientists and their findings published in a peer-reviewed scientific paper.

And if nothing else? Come on, the little dudes look pretty much EXACTLY like Steven Spielberg's E.T.

Little on the nose, you know?

Which is surely part of why, real or not, the "alien mummy" became an instant internet sensation.

The whole thing is too weird and ridiculous not to be hilarious—and boy did the internet have a field day yukking it up about the little guy!

You have to admit, he's pretty cute—sort of the new Baby Yoda of our day.

That's it, we're stanning. Alien Mummy 2024!