We have been hearing myths of demons, monsters, vampires, and mummies, but rarely have we come across a myth that speaks of a child mummy. One of those myths about a mummified creature was born in October 1932 when two miners in their search for gold came across a small cave in the San Pedro Mountains, Wyoming, USA.
Cecil Main and Frank Carr, two prospectors were digging along the traces of a vein of gold that disappeared into a rock wall at one point. After blowing up the rock, they found themselves standing in a cave approximately 4 feet tall, 4 feet wide, and about 15 feet deep. It was there in that room that they found one of the strangest mummies ever discovered.
The mummy was sitting in a cross-legged lotus position with its arms resting on its torso. It was only 18 centimetres tall, although extending the legs it measured about 35 centimetres. The body weighed only 360 grams, and it had a very strange head.
Scientists conducted various tests on the tiny being, which revealed various traits about its physical appearance. The mummy, which was called “Pedro” due to its mountain provenance, had sporting tanned bronze-coloured skin, barrel-shaped body, well preserved wrinkled penis, large hands, long fingers, low forehead, very wide mouth with large lips and flat wide nose, this strange figure resembled an old man smiling, which seemed to almost wink at its two astonished discoverers because one of its large eyes was half-closed. However, it was evident that this entity had long since died, and its death did not seem to have been pleasant. Several bones of his body were broken, his spine was damaged, Its head was abnormally flat, and it was covered with a dark gelatinous substance – subsequent examinations by the scientists suggested that the skull may have been crushed by a very heavy blow, and the gelatinous substance was frozen blood and exposed brain tissue.
Although due to its size it was speculated that the remains belonged to those of a child, but X-ray tests revealed that the mummy appeared to have the texture of an adult between 16 and 65 years of age, in addition to having sharp teeth and of finding the presence of raw meat inside his stomach.
Some researchers believe that Pedro may have been a human child or grossly malformed fetus – possibly with anencephaly, a teratological condition in which the brain has not fully developed (if any) during fetal maturation. However, despite the tests, several sceptics assured that the size of the body did not belong to that of a man, so they assured that it was a large-scale deception, since “pygmies” or “goblins” do not exist.
The mummy was exhibited in numerous places, even appearing in different publications, and it was passed from owner to owner until its track was lost in 1950 after a man known as Ivan Goodman, had bought Pedro and after his death had passed into the hands of a man named Leonard Wadler, who never disclosed to scientists the whereabouts of the mummy. It was last seen in Florida with Dr Wadler in 1975 and has never been relocated.
The story of Pedro the Wyoming mini-mummy is undoubtedly one of the most confusing, contradictory stories that scientists have ever investigated. Modern science could have given clearer proof about the origin of the mysterious being and would have revealed the truth that it concealed. however, this seems to be impossible since its disappearance.
