A small human fetus, given the name "Alyoshenka", was found in the woods near the house of an elderly woman, Tamara Vasilyevna Prosvirina, on her way to the well to collect water[when?].
The skull lacked a lower jaw,[1] and had an unusual appearance, giving rise to rumours of its extraterrestrial origin.
The local population readily supported this rumour, collecting fees from reporters for interviews – at least two Japanese companies (Asahi TV and MTV Japan) made documentaries about the remains.
A doctor from the local hospital who had allegedly seen the corpse reported that it corresponded to a normal 20- to 25-week human fetus, born prematurely.
Her conclusions were that it was a miscarried or aborted fetus, and the deformities could be attributed to the far-reaching nuclear fallout of the 1957 Kyshtym Disaster.
[1] On 15 April 2004, scientists made an official statement that the "Kyshtym creature" was a premature female human infant, with severe deformities.
[citation needed] Bendlin's clinical assistant, Lyubov Romanowa, who herself had seen many deformities in children, stated that "they had never seen anything like this" and that she believed that it was "not of human origin".