Lloyd Pye

{{ufology}}{{pseudohistorynav}}
'''Lloyd Pye''' {{lived|1946|2013}} was a [[crank]] advocating his own spin on the [[ancient astronauts]] idea. 

==Ancient astronauts==

Pye claimed that a superior [[Extraterrestrial|alien]] race called the [[Anunnaki]] from the planet [[Nibiru]] incrementally terraformed and populated Earth for their own reasons, later returning to Earth and, through a process of [[genetic manipulation]], produced [[humans]]. These ideas supposedly come from translating and interpreting ancient [[Sumeria]]n texts (Anunnaki and Nibiru are names from Sumerian religious [[myth]]s). Pye argued that these alien beings are responsible for the megalithic structures around the world, the growth and advancement of Sumer, the domestication of plants and animals, and supposedly strange flaws in human [[DNA]]. (Those who are well read in [[pseudoscience]] will realize that most of his ideas have been... ''inspired'' by the claims of [[Erich von Däniken]] and [[Zecharia Sitchin]].<ref group=note>Indeed, he wrote an article called [http://www.lloydpye.com/essay_defensesitchin.htm In Defense of Zecharia Sitchin.]</ref>)

==Alien creationism==
Due to his belief that humans were the genetically engineered creation of aliens, Pye [[denialism|denied]] [[Charles Darwin|Darwinian]] [[evolution]] in favor of what he called "Intervention Theory."<ref group=note> His site has a section devoted to evolution denial that rips off most of the old [[creationist]] [[PRATT|chestnuts]] like [[Hoyle's fallacy]].</ref> Aside from his recycling of creationist material, many of his arguments hinged on the claim that humans are not related to neanderthals or other early hominids. This was patently false before, but even more so now that recent evidence has shown humans and neanderthals actually interbred.<ref>Green et al. [http://www.sciencemag.org/content/328/5979/710.short A Draft Sequence of the Neandertal Genome.] ''Science'', 7 May 2010: Vol. 328 no. 5979 pp. 710-722. [http://news.discovery.com/human/neanderthal-human-interbreed-dna.html News release from Discovery News.]</ref> Another one of his odd arguments against evolution was the claim that [[conspiracy theory|scientists are covering up]] the origins of chromosome 2 in humans (i.e., the reason why humans have 23 chromosome pairs and apes have 24). This demonstrates that Mr. Pye was [[willful ignorance|too lazy to read widely known literature]] in genetics and biology, as there have been a number of papers published on the topic.<ref>[http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CC/CC050.html All hominid fossils are fully human or fully ape], [[Talk Origins]]</ref> Of course, to Pye, this proved [[aliensdidit]].

One of his articles, "Darwinism: A Crumbling Theory", is endorsed on [[Whale.to]].<ref>http://www.whale.to/b/pye.html</ref>

==Starchild project==

Pye was also the owner of the "Starchild skull" — a 900-year old deformed human child's skull found in Mexico.  He claimed that the child was a human/alien hybrid. [[Steven Novella]] provides a [[Occam's Razor|much better explanation]] — that the skull belonged to a child suffering from hydrocephalus.  Furthermore, he notes that DNA testing revealed the child to have both an X and Y chromosome, making it fully human.  Pye then [[moving the goalposts|moved the goalposts]] and claimed that this was really a "fusion" of human and alien DNA.<ref>Steven Novella.  [http://www.theness.com/index.php/the-starchild-project/ The Starchild Project]. 2006 February.</ref>  Intent on getting even deeper into [[woo]] territory, Pye then claimed fibers found on the skull were possibly the result of [[Morgellons]]. After Pye's death, the Starchild Project continues to claim it has "presented the scientific community with a genetic and physical profile so diffferent [sic] from human that it could be a new species" and solicit PayPal donations for further "research".<ref>[http://www.starchildproject.com www.starchildproject.com]</ref>
==Cryptozoology==
He was into [[cryptozoology]], or more precisely, into what he termed "Hominoids" - [[Bigfoot]]/[[Sasquatch]], [[Yeti]], etc. According to Pye: "The key point to make about these animals, and about the many other variations of names given to them around the world, is that such names simply would not exist if the creatures they are meant to describe did not exist."<ref>[http://www.lloydpye.com/hominoids.htm Hominoids page]</ref> 

==Neuro-woo==
Pye repeated the [[ten percent myth|myth that we only use 10% (or 5-15%) of our brains]], a claim easily debunked by modern brain scanning technology.

==Bibliography==
*''Everything You Know Is Wrong'', 1997, ISBN 0966013433
*''The Starchild Skull'', 2007
*''[http://www.checktheevidence.com/pdf/Starchild%20Booklet.pdf "Check the Evidence"'' Starchild Skull ]. 
Hokey test results supposedly proving alien/human interbreeding.


==See also==
*[[Crank magnetism]]
*[[Directed panspermia]]
*[[Galileo gambit]]

==External links==
*[http://www.lloydpye.com/ Lloyd Pye's website]
*[http://www.starchildproject.com/ Starchild Project page]
*[http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4144 The Case of Strange Skulls], [[Skeptoid]]
*[http://skepticblog.org/2009/03/19/some-starchild-feedback/ Some Starchild Feedback], SkepticBlog
*[http://worldofweirdthings.com/2009/06/15/looking-for-the-aliens-among-us/ Looking for the Aliens Among Us], World of Weird Things
*[http://www.rationalskepticism.org/pseudoscience/my-exchange-with-lloyd-pye-ufo-big-foot-conspiracy-nut-t20282.html My exchange with Lloyd Pye], Rational Skepticism
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150218145039/http://www.michaelsheiser.com/PaleoBabble/AkhenatenForm.pdf Historic Strange Skulls]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}
==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pye, Lloyd}}
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Pseudoarchaeology]]
[[Category:Pseudohistory promoters]]

Categories: Authors, Pseudoarchaeology, Pseudohistory promoters