Mexico’s president Andres Manuel López Obrador has posted a photo of what he claims to be an elf on his official Twitter account.
The photo of an Alux – a mischievous woodland spirit from Mayan folklore – was reportedly taken by an engineer working on a new train line.
Mr Obrador wrote on Twitter: "I share two photos of our supervision of the Mayan Train works: one, taken by an engineer three days ago, apparently of an Alux; another, by Diego Prieto of a splendid pre-Hispanic sculpture in Ek Balam. Everything is mystical.”
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The Alux is a small, playful, humanoid creature similar to European elves or pixies.
Aluxes feature in numerous folk tales from the Mayan culture – an advanced civilisation which dominated Central America from around 250AD until the arrival of Spanish invaders in the 17th Century.
The little creatures – often described as standing around a foot to 18 inches in height – would traditionally guard farmers’ fields, but would play tricks on the farmer if they felt they hadn’t been rewarded for their work.
The descriptions of Aluxes and their behaviour are similar to ancient myths and legends from around the world.
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Mr López Obrador has expressed his interest in traditional indigenous cultures and beliefs on several occasion in the past.
He’s also a keen sponsor of a new railway being built in the Yucatan region, which is where the mysterious photo was taken.
It shows the fuzzy image of a tree with one of its branches forming what looks like a mass of wavy hair, and two bright, mischievous eyes which may in reality be stars.
The overall impression though, is of a dark tree spirit looking down at the observer.
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While the Mayan civilisation is technically extinct, its people and traditions still thrive across Central America.
Commenters on Mr Obrador’s tweet have offered their own interpretations of the spooky image – suggesting everything from an alien to a raccoon with a bag in its head.
One pointed out that we have shown too much concern about evil spirits being summoned by people playing with Ouija Boards, and far too little concern about them being awakened be the destruction of the natural environment.
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