Like most speakers at the 2024 UFO Festival, Jerry Kroth believes in the existence of alien life forms, but that conclusion was one he reached after an incident that took him decades to absorb. Kroth, an author and a retired professor of psychology, spoke on Friday about an experience that altered his life, one of a plethora of speakers about UFOs and the extraterrestrials. "The result of this experience changed my life," Kroth said to the audience at the start of his hour-long presentation in the Video Room of the International UFO Museum and Research Center. Kroth's life-changing incident happened in 1965 when as a fifth-grade teacher in Michigan, a young girl in his class one day approached the-then 24-year-old Kroth with a metallic substance that resembled aluminum foil but with the thickness of a piece of 20-pound stationary. "I had no interest in UFOs and one of my students came up to me and said to me, 'My daddy said I should show you this,'" Kroth recalled. The material, Kroth said, was about four feet wide and five feet long, was silver, felt a little rubbery and was devoid of wrinkles or creases. He said it resembled aluminum foil. "She said squeeze it. So I squeezed it and it opened up, no creases," he recalled. He then pressed it down to the size of a marble, let go and it snapped back, opening up with no creases. At the instruction of the girl, he then proceeded to try to puncture it with the point of a pencil compass, but the material could not be pierced. The girl then told him to cut it, and it bent but did not tear. "Couldn't cut it, couldn't puncture it. It had what is called shape memory," he said. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines shape memory as "the ability of a material to resume an original configuration after applied changes (as of temperature or pressure)." Kroth initially thought nothing of the experience. The school Kroth taught at was near the University of Michigan and an Air Force base. He dismissed the material as being a substance that her father may have obtained from a research facility. "I thought her father worked for NASA or some kind of space thing," Kroth explained, The whole episode soon receded from his memory, until 43 years later. In 2008, Kroth was in San Diego when he checked out a book from a library titled, "The Day After Roswell" by Philip Corso and William J. Birnes. Corso, a retired U.S. Army Colonel, claimed in the book that he handled some of the debris from the alleged alien spacecraft that crashed in 1947 on a rancher's property north of Roswell. At the time, Kroth did not have an interest in UFOs but decided to read the book following the death of a friend who did have such an interest. Kroth said the book stated there was not only debris but alien life forms recovered from the crash site, and that the Air Force shot one of them, took the bodies to Washington, D.C., to undergo autopsies, among other things. Initially, Kroth was dismissive of the book's claims, which to him seemed outlandish. "I thought, 'What are you reading?' It's just so absurd, return this book to the library," he said. But then he read a paragraph that he now says changed the course of his life. The passage described materials recovered from the alleged crash scene, including one that was described in the book as "a dull, gray metallic-like cloth material that seemed to shine up in the sand." In the book, Corso said he stuffed the material into his fist and rolled it into a ball, and when the officer released it, "the metallic fabric snapped back into shape without any creases or folds." When the officer attempted to cut it with scissors, the book says "the arms just slid off without making even a nick in the fiber." When Corso tried to stretch the substance out, it reverted to its initial shape. "I said, 'Wait a minute, wait a minute, I had that material in my hands,'" Kroth recalled. At first, he could not remember when and where, but he soon narrowed the time to 1965, the place and the school he taught at that year. He did not remember the girl's name, but the other details began to fall into place. Kroth contacted the school to get records, but learned they did not maintain school records that went back that far. However, he did see on Facebook a photo of that 1965 class he taught posted on Facebook, confirming for him that the school was where he encountered the material. "I'm starting to say, I better do some research on this," Kroth said. Kroth began speaking to and hearing testimonies from people who claimed to have been witnesses to the Roswell incident, or to have had some contact with the debris. In all, over the years Kroth has heard from 52 people who described having handled a material with properties consistent with the substance he held in 1965. He developed a list of those who claimed to have handled such material, listing their names and documenting how they described it. But that did not quell the doubts in Kroth's mind. Some of his doubts persisted as his curiosity — and what he witnessed and heard — did battle in his mind with the perceptions of what other people would think of his queries. "I am thinking, 'you are crazy and all of your friends think you are crazy. So you better prove what you are doing here,'" he said. Kroth then wrote 100 scientists, including physicists, chemists and other material scientists. Without mentioning UFOs, he wrote them describing the characteristics of the material, telling them he handled it in 1965 and asked them what they believed it could be. About 50 of those scientists responded, about 41 of them said they had no idea what Kroth could have been holding and that no material existed then that matched the description Kroth provided. Kroth would obtain each of those materials and tested them, but none of them had all of the characteristics of the substance he held decades earlier. The closest answer from a scientist, Kroth said, was an alloy called nitonal that has a memory shape. However, Kroth said nitinol has shape memory but not when handled at room temperature because it must be heated to revert to its original. When Korth handled the substances in 1965, he did not apply any heat to it. "So, my conclusion: there was nothing like it in 1965, and guess what? There is nothing like it even now." Kroth made a video posted on YouTube, offering $500 to any person who could identify and bring him the material he described, but none of them matched up with what he handled in 1965. Kroth also tried to find the girl who brought him the material. Several private detectives attempted and failed to track her down. Kroth encountered some former students, but none remembered the material. Finally, Kroth's daughter found one girl, a retired teacher, who remembers bringing the material to him. Kroth did not say in his presentation if the former student disclosed what the material was or how her father might have obtained it. But for Kroth, making contact with the woman confirmed his memory of when and how he handled the substance. "I said, 'Oh my God, I am not crazy,'" he recounted. He is now convinced that the material he handled decades ago did come from a UFO. Kroth has since followed developments in the world of UFO encounters, videos released, officials and others who have come forward, and is now a believer in UFO and the idea that there are alien life forms.
Way forward He believes that if Congress held public hearings about UFOs, alien life forms, with testimony from experts, officials, eyewitnesses and even skeptics, most people would reach the same conclusion. Such a revelation, he said, would have far-reaching implications and would challenge the consensus view on just about everything across multiple different fields of study. Kroth said it would be on par with the revelation made centuries ago that the Earth is not the center of the solar system. "Everything in archeology, history, mythology, anthropology, changes with that," Kroth said.
Steven Brown, an associate professor of Philosophy at The Ohio State University, explained during the Roswell Daily Record Film Festival why he has refined his views about the origins of pre-Hispanic Peruvian remains and artifacts with some origins as old as nearly two millennia.
Brown now believes more research is needed on the mummies, which were presented to the public in 2017 and have stirred much controversy.
"While I'm not a credentialed scientist myself, I am working closely with a team of professionals, all on a volunteer basis exploring this for fun out of a curious pursuit of the truth," Brown said.
The team includes those with backgrounds in medical imaging, reconstructive surgery, bioinformatics, Proteomics and Paleontology.
Among those involved with this endeavor is someone else Brown referred to as simply "Anonymous Dave." This person has worked with the Inkarri-Cusco Institute in Peru and was able to obtain samples for analysis.
The group initially believed the remains were dessicated alien corpses. However, the new data indicates that some of the Nazca mummies are "ancient, constructed archeological objects."
Brown explained that the bodies were brought to the archeologist Thierry Jamin by huaqueros in 2016.
"There are at least 60 different sizes, shapes, detail and apparent biological coherence," Brown said. "Presumed to be hoaxes by most of the world, there's a determined bond of defenders who believe they are worthy of much more investigation."
The mummies were presented to the world in 2017.
"These objects should be considered archeologic," Brown stressed. "Until proven otherwise."
Brown spoke about two of the four types of remains found near Nazca.
One group, epitomized by one set of remains referred to as Josefina, is classified as J-Types. These remains had such characteristics as sets of three long fingers and toes, known as "tridactyl" hands and feet, as well as elongated skulls (possibly fashioned from llama skulls) with two large eyes holes and "reptilian skin."
The theory is that these were constructed remains. Methods to fashion them might have inlcuded using a fresh monkey corpse to provide a torso with more flexible bones that was shaped by cutting and fusing bones with a natural glue. Other possible things done to create these mummies might have been included reshaping the pelvis, and attaching different arms and legs (which had single bones in their forearms and lower legs).
Brown talked about how it might have been possible to affix reptile skin onto these remains with careful work and the right natural glue to camouflage the seams that would have been left when bringing piece of the reptile skin together to fully cover the remains. Further treatment was required, including covering the remains with diatomaceous earth.
Reshaping hands from five fingers to three very long ones would have required removal of some fingers and attaching extra digits from other corpses to add substantial length. While this could have occurred while the person was still alive, the result would likely have been hands that no longer worked for the person, he said.
The possibility of genetic changes were also considered along with artistic intent of mummies' creators.
More information is needed before being more sure of the origins of these remains, he emphasized.
While these tests point to variety of properties that could indicate the remains are archeological, Brown also said, "It's weird that they look like our modern concept of an alien."
To obtain more information about the Nazca mummies, engaging with indigenous people, DNA analysis, and working in tandem whenever possible with Peruvians, are among next steps suggested in this research process.
The style has turned up in artifacts in other parts of the world, such as in Japan and Chile.
Nazca is also the site of numerous massive geoglyphs that are only fully visible from the air. Known as the Nazca Lines, they are thought to be much older than the mummies and considered by many to be meant for Gods above.
Others believe they might be meant for those from other worlds.
One of the people who watched Brown's presentation enjoyed the experience.
"It was very well researched," said Tim Roberts of Arlington, Texas, about the mummies' potential origin and inspiration. "I always like things that lead to more questions. I'll probably watch more."
