Alien autopsy
Encyclopedia
An alien autopsy refers to a medical examination and dissection of the dead body of an extraterrestrial being
. Such a procedure would more accurately be called an "alien necropsy", since an "autopsy" is, by definition, performed on a subject who is the same species as the examiner. Perhaps the most famous is supposed to have been performed on the body of an alien recovered from the crash of a "flying disk" near Roswell, New Mexico on June 2, 1947.
A 17-minute, black-and-white film of poor quality, purporting to be footage of the autopsy, surfaced in the 1990's, promoted by Ray Santilli
, a London
-based entrepreneur, who claimed he had received it from an unidentified, former military cameraman. The film was exposed as a hoax in 2006, when Santilli admitted the film was not in fact authentic, but a staged "reconstruction" of footage he claimed he had viewed in 1992, which had deteriorated and become unusable by the time he made his film. Santilli claimed that a few frames from the original were embedded in his film, but he never specified which ones. In 1995, before being exposed as a hoax, the film was sold to television networks and broadcast in more than 32 countries.
broadcast the striking footage in the United States on August 28, 1995 under the title Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction. The program caused a sensation, with Time Magazine declaring that the film had sparked a debate "with an intensity not lavished on any home movie since the Zapruder film
". Fox re-broadcast the program twice, each time to higher ratings, with the November 1995 broadcast winning its time slot again with 11.7 million viewers and a 14% share. Although in the broadcast version some parts of the autopsy were pixelized
or edited out because of their supposed "graphic nature", the aforementioned editions contain, Santilli claimed, the complete and unedited film, plus previously unreleased footage of wreckage presented as the remains of the alien craft reported to have crashed in Roswell.
The Fox program features numerous well-known figures both in front of and behind the camera. Interviews with experts on the authenticity of the film include Oscar-winning special effects make-up artist Stan Winston
, cinematographer
Allen Daviau
, and noted forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht
, who considered the autopsy procedures in the film to be authentic but stopped short of declaring the being an alien.
Film director
John Jopson
was engaged by producer Robert Kiviat
to direct several portions of the Fox special, including Santilli’s interview. Jopson has stated that he became immediately suspicious upon meeting Santilli in London and, after conducting further investigation, told both Fox and Kiviat that he believed ‘’the whole thing was a fraud’’. He described their response: “It was then made clear to me that if the footage was exposed as a hoax before the show aired, the ratings would suffer.” Jopson then enlisted the services of his friend, well-known private investigator William Dear
, but according to Jopson, Dear was held back by the producers for fear the hoax would be exposed before the airdate, and he was limited to investigating the identity of the "mystery cameraman". Two of the program’s participants claimed their observations were distorted: Stan Winston and Kevin Randle (a noted UFO author and investigator) both claimed they clearly stated in their interviews that they believed the footage was a hoax, but their statements were edited out. Their claim is supported by Jopson’s 1999 statement describing arguments that took place in the editing room. At the time it aired, the special was the highest rated in Fox television’s history.
and written by William Davies
. The film gave a humorous reconstruction of the making of the Santilli film based on Santilli's statements, without commenting on the veracity of his claims.
On April 4, 2006, two days before the release of the film, Sky
broadcast a documentary, Eamonn Investigates: Alien Autopsy, presented by Eamonn Holmes
. In this program, Ray Santilli and fellow producer Gary Shoefield
admitted that their film was actually a "reconstruction" containing only, in their words, "a few frames" from the original twenty-two rolls of film (each averaging four minutes in length), that Santilli had viewed in 1992. They explained that, by the time they had raised enough money to purchase the original, only a few frames were still intact, the rest having been degraded beyond the point of usability by heat and humidity.
In the documentary, Eamonn Holmes
repeatedly refers to the film as a "fake," while Santilli patiently insists it is a "restoration," maintaining it is a "reconstruction" of an actual alien autopsy film he viewed in the early 1990s, that subsequently deteriorated.
Santilli and Shoefield stated that they had "restored" the damaged footage by filming a simulated autopsy on a fabricated alien, based upon what Santilli saw in 1992, and then adding in a few frames of the original film that had not degraded. They have not identified which frames are from the original. According to Santilli, a set was constructed in the living room of an empty flat
in Rochester Square, Camden Town
, London. John Humphreys, an artist and sculptor, was employed to construct two dummy alien bodies over a period of three weeks, using casts containing sheep brains set in raspberry jam, chicken entrails and knuckle joints obtained from S.C. Crosby Wholesale Butchers Smithfield
meat market, London. Humphreys also played the role of the chief examiner, in order to allow him to control the effects being filmed. There were two separate attempts at making the footage. After filming, the team disposed of the "bodies" by cutting them into small pieces and placing them in rubbish bins across London.
Alien artifacts, supposedly items recovered from the crash site, were depicted in the footage. These included alien symbols and six-finger control panels, which Santilli describes in the Sky documentary as being the result of artistic license
on his part. These artifacts were also created by Humphreys. The footage also showed a man reading a statement "verifying" his identity as the original cameraman and the source of the footage. Santilli and Shoefield admitted in the documentary that they had found an unidentified homeless
man on the streets of Los Angeles
, persuaded him to play the role of the cameraman, and filmed him in a motel.
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
. Such a procedure would more accurately be called an "alien necropsy", since an "autopsy" is, by definition, performed on a subject who is the same species as the examiner. Perhaps the most famous is supposed to have been performed on the body of an alien recovered from the crash of a "flying disk" near Roswell, New Mexico on June 2, 1947.
A 17-minute, black-and-white film of poor quality, purporting to be footage of the autopsy, surfaced in the 1990's, promoted by Ray Santilli
Ray Santilli
Ray Santilli is a British musician, record, and film producer, best known for his exploitation in 1995 of the controversial "alien autopsy" footage, subject of the Ant & Dec film Alien Autopsy.-Life and career:...
, a London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based entrepreneur, who claimed he had received it from an unidentified, former military cameraman. The film was exposed as a hoax in 2006, when Santilli admitted the film was not in fact authentic, but a staged "reconstruction" of footage he claimed he had viewed in 1992, which had deteriorated and become unusable by the time he made his film. Santilli claimed that a few frames from the original were embedded in his film, but he never specified which ones. In 1995, before being exposed as a hoax, the film was sold to television networks and broadcast in more than 32 countries.
Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction
Fox televisionFox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
broadcast the striking footage in the United States on August 28, 1995 under the title Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction. The program caused a sensation, with Time Magazine declaring that the film had sparked a debate "with an intensity not lavished on any home movie since the Zapruder film
Zapruder film
The Zapruder film is a silent, color motion picture sequence shot by private citizen Abraham Zapruder with a home-movie camera, asU.S. President John F...
". Fox re-broadcast the program twice, each time to higher ratings, with the November 1995 broadcast winning its time slot again with 11.7 million viewers and a 14% share. Although in the broadcast version some parts of the autopsy were pixelized
Pixelization
Pixelization is a video- and image-editing technique in which an image is blurred by displaying part or all of it at a markedly lower resolution. It is primarily used for censorship...
or edited out because of their supposed "graphic nature", the aforementioned editions contain, Santilli claimed, the complete and unedited film, plus previously unreleased footage of wreckage presented as the remains of the alien craft reported to have crashed in Roswell.
The Fox program features numerous well-known figures both in front of and behind the camera. Interviews with experts on the authenticity of the film include Oscar-winning special effects make-up artist Stan Winston
Stan Winston
Stanley Winston was an American visual effects supervisor, makeup artist, and film director. He was best known for his work in the Terminator series, the Jurassic Park series, Aliens, the Predator series, Iron Man, Edward Scissorhands, and Avatar...
, cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
Allen Daviau
Allen Daviau
Allen Daviau, A.S.C. is an American cinematographer.-Selected filmography:*Amblin *Close Encounters of the Third Kind *E.T...
, and noted forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht
Cyril Wecht
Dr. Cyril Harrison Wecht is an American forensic pathologist. He has been a consultant in numerous high-profile cases, but is perhaps best known for his criticism of the Warren Commission's findings concerning the assassination of John F...
, who considered the autopsy procedures in the film to be authentic but stopped short of declaring the being an alien.
Film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
John Jopson
John Jopson
John Charles Jopson is a film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer best known for the jazz film “One Night with Blue Note” and his music videos from the 1980s.- Biography :...
was engaged by producer Robert Kiviat
Robert Kiviat
Robert Kiviat is a television writer and producer specializing in paranormal phenomenon. He has produced 11 specials for 20th Century Fox Television, most notably Alien Autopsy, one of the highest rated specials in the history of U.S. television...
to direct several portions of the Fox special, including Santilli’s interview. Jopson has stated that he became immediately suspicious upon meeting Santilli in London and, after conducting further investigation, told both Fox and Kiviat that he believed ‘’the whole thing was a fraud’’. He described their response: “It was then made clear to me that if the footage was exposed as a hoax before the show aired, the ratings would suffer.” Jopson then enlisted the services of his friend, well-known private investigator William Dear
William Dear (detective)
William C. Dear is a well-known Dallas-based private investigator. He owns the firm William C. Dear & Associates. His notable cases include the original steam tunnel incident involving James Dallas Egbert III...
, but according to Jopson, Dear was held back by the producers for fear the hoax would be exposed before the airdate, and he was limited to investigating the identity of the "mystery cameraman". Two of the program’s participants claimed their observations were distorted: Stan Winston and Kevin Randle (a noted UFO author and investigator) both claimed they clearly stated in their interviews that they believed the footage was a hoax, but their statements were edited out. Their claim is supported by Jopson’s 1999 statement describing arguments that took place in the editing room. At the time it aired, the special was the highest rated in Fox television’s history.
Santilli's admission
In 2006, the events surrounding the release of the footage were adapted as a feature film, Alien Autopsy, a British comedy directed by Jonny CampbellJonny Campbell
Jonny Campbell is a British television director.-TV:* Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights 2 Episodes * Spooks * Ashes to Ashes * Doctor Who...
and written by William Davies
William Davies (screenwriter)
William Davies is an English screenwriter and film producer. He has written and co-written a number of Hollywood blockbusters including the 1988 Twins, Johnny English, Alien Autopsy, Flushed Away, and most recently, How to Train Your Dragon and Johnny English Reborn.The British-born Davies is a...
. The film gave a humorous reconstruction of the making of the Santilli film based on Santilli's statements, without commenting on the veracity of his claims.
On April 4, 2006, two days before the release of the film, Sky
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....
broadcast a documentary, Eamonn Investigates: Alien Autopsy, presented by Eamonn Holmes
Eamonn Holmes
Eamonn Holmes is an Northern Irish journalist and broadcaster. He is known for his work on UK and Irish television, notably presenting GMTV and This Morning. He is married to TV presenter Ruth Langsford.-Education:...
. In this program, Ray Santilli and fellow producer Gary Shoefield
Gary Shoefield
Gary Shoefield is a television and film producer and entertainment entrepreneur.Shoefield was portrayed in the 2006 film 'Alien Autopsy' by Ant McPartlin having been involved with the now famous footage from the very beginning with business partner and friend Ray Santilli.-Career:Shoefield has had...
admitted that their film was actually a "reconstruction" containing only, in their words, "a few frames" from the original twenty-two rolls of film (each averaging four minutes in length), that Santilli had viewed in 1992. They explained that, by the time they had raised enough money to purchase the original, only a few frames were still intact, the rest having been degraded beyond the point of usability by heat and humidity.
In the documentary, Eamonn Holmes
Eamonn Holmes
Eamonn Holmes is an Northern Irish journalist and broadcaster. He is known for his work on UK and Irish television, notably presenting GMTV and This Morning. He is married to TV presenter Ruth Langsford.-Education:...
repeatedly refers to the film as a "fake," while Santilli patiently insists it is a "restoration," maintaining it is a "reconstruction" of an actual alien autopsy film he viewed in the early 1990s, that subsequently deteriorated.
Santilli and Shoefield stated that they had "restored" the damaged footage by filming a simulated autopsy on a fabricated alien, based upon what Santilli saw in 1992, and then adding in a few frames of the original film that had not degraded. They have not identified which frames are from the original. According to Santilli, a set was constructed in the living room of an empty flat
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
in Rochester Square, Camden Town
Camden Town
-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...
, London. John Humphreys, an artist and sculptor, was employed to construct two dummy alien bodies over a period of three weeks, using casts containing sheep brains set in raspberry jam, chicken entrails and knuckle joints obtained from S.C. Crosby Wholesale Butchers Smithfield
Smithfield, London
Smithfield is an area of the City of London, in the ward of Farringdon Without. It is located in the north-west part of the City, and is mostly known for its centuries-old meat market, today the last surviving historical wholesale market in Central London...
meat market, London. Humphreys also played the role of the chief examiner, in order to allow him to control the effects being filmed. There were two separate attempts at making the footage. After filming, the team disposed of the "bodies" by cutting them into small pieces and placing them in rubbish bins across London.
Alien artifacts, supposedly items recovered from the crash site, were depicted in the footage. These included alien symbols and six-finger control panels, which Santilli describes in the Sky documentary as being the result of artistic license
Artistic license
Artistic licence is a colloquial term, sometimes euphemism, used to denote the distortion of fact, alteration of the conventions of grammar or language, or rewording of pre-existing text made by an artist to improve a piece of...
on his part. These artifacts were also created by Humphreys. The footage also showed a man reading a statement "verifying" his identity as the original cameraman and the source of the footage. Santilli and Shoefield admitted in the documentary that they had found an unidentified homeless
Homelessness
Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
man on the streets of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, persuaded him to play the role of the cameraman, and filmed him in a motel.
Further reading
- Beyond Roswell: The Alien Autopsy Film, Area 51, & the U.S. Government Coverup of Ufos by Michael Hesemann (Author), Philip Mantle (Author), Bob Shell (Author) Paperback: 303 pages publisher: Marlowe & Company (August 1998) ISBN 1-56924-709-9 ISBN 978-1-56924-709-9
- Joseph A. Bauer, A Surgeon's View: Alien Autopsy's Overwhelming Lack of Credibility, Skeptical Inquirer, vol 20, #1, Jan. 1996, 23–24. Reprinted in The UFO Invasion: The Roswell Incident, Alien Abductions, and Government Coverups, edited by Kendrick FrazierKendrick FrazierKendrick Frazier is a science writer and editor. He was the editor of Science News for several years. Since 1977 he has been the editor of Skeptical Inquirer, the journal published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry [CSI. He is a member of the executive council of CSI, an international...
, Barry Karr, and Joe NickellJoe NickellJoe Nickell is a prominent skeptical investigator of the paranormal. He also works as an historical document consultant and has helped expose such famous forgeries as the purported diary of Jack the Ripper. In 2002 he was one of a number of experts asked by scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr...
, Prometheus BooksPrometheus BooksPrometheus Books is a publishing company founded in August 1969 by Paul Kurtz, who also founded the Council for Secular Humanism and co-founded the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is currently the chairman of all three organizations. Prometheus Books publishes a range of books, including many...
, 1997, ISBN 1-57392-131-9. Also reprinted in Bizarre Cases: From the Files of Skeptical Inquirer, CSICOPCommittee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the ParanormalThe Committee for Skeptical Inquiry , formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal , is a program within the U.S...
, 2000. - C. Eugene Emery, Jr, 'Alien Autopsy' Show and Tell: Long on Tell, Short on Show, Skeptical Inquirer, vol 19, #6, Nov. 1995, 15–16 & 55. Reprinted in The UFO Invasion: The Roswell Incident, Alien Abductions, and Government Coverups, edited by Kendrick Frazier, Barry Karr, and Joe Nickell, Prometheus Books, 1997, ISBN 1-57392-131-9.
- Joe NickellJoe NickellJoe Nickell is a prominent skeptical investigator of the paranormal. He also works as an historical document consultant and has helped expose such famous forgeries as the purported diary of Jack the Ripper. In 2002 he was one of a number of experts asked by scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr...
, 'Alien Autopsy' Hoax, Skeptical Inquirer, vol 19, #6, Nov. 1995, 17–19. Reprinted in The UFO Invasion: The Roswell Incident, Alien Abductions, and Government Coverups, edited by Kendrick Frazier, Barry Karr, and Joe Nickell, Prometheus Books, 1997, ISBN 1-57392-131-9. - Carl SaganCarl SaganCarl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books...
, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark - Trey Stokes, How to Make an 'Alien' for 'Autopsy', Skeptical Inquirer, vol 20, #1, Jan. 1996, 19–23. Reprinted in The UFO Invasion: The Roswell Incident, Alien Abductions, and Government Coverups, edited by Kendrick Frazier, Barry Karr, and Joe Nickell, Prometheus Books, 1997, ISBN 1-57392-131-9. Also reprinted in Bizarre Cases: From the Files of Skeptical Inquirer, CSICOP, 2000. SMILIE
External links
- Alien autopsy video
- http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3245046980782832257 Original footage viewable online
- ufo-movies.com The Alien UFO footage resource
- The Alien Autopsy
- MY STORY by Ray Santilli (Insight on Roswell)
- Ray Santilli – Filmography on IMDb (Internet Movie Database)
- Alien Autopsy: Faked or Fiction?
- Alien Autopsy Archive
- http://www.ufo.it/testi/timeline.htm Alien Autopsy Film timeline of events.
- Postmortem on 'Alien Autopsy'
- Additional Insight on the Alien Autopsy by John Jopson (January 15, 1999)
- Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction by John Peden (November 29, 2011)