DVD cover to the original Alien Autopsy documentary in the US.

Ray Santilli’s controversial Alien Autopsy film hit TV screens around the world in August 1995. In the USA it was broadcast on the Fox Network in the hugely successful show ‘Alien Autopsy – Fact or Fiction’, hosted by Jonathan Frakes and produced by Robert Kiviat. For those who don’t know the story behind the film, it was released by London businessman Ray Santilli. Santilli claimed he had stumbled across a former US military cameraman in l992 while in Cleveland, Ohio, looking for archive film of old rock and roll stars. It is claimed by Santilli that it shows the autopsy of a dead alien recovered from the crash of a UFO at Roswell, New Mexico in l947. It’s a long story so I’ll not go into it all here, but save to say it was hugely controversial. Controversy was not a bad thing as far as Santilli was concerned as it made him a lot of money. The film was debated around the world in many different forums and the search was on to try and find the answers to it.

The Alien Autopsy film soon became engrained in popular culture and it was mentioned in the US comedy show Seinfeld, The Simpson’s and of course The X-Files. It has become iconic in its own right. In 2009, for example, an item that was widely circulated on the internet was a recipe to bake your own Alien Autopsy cake for Halloween. Of course the ultimate in popular culture has to be the movies. In 2006 Ray Santilli’s controversial film did just that and Warner Bros released the big screen movie ‘Alien Autopsy’. Made in the UK by Qwerty Films it starred British TV performers known as Ant & Dec. They played the parts of Ray Santilli and his business partner Gary Shoefield. US actors were Bill Pullman and Harry Dean Stanton.

The movie version now depicted a different version of the story originally told by Ray Santilli. He still claimed to have bought the footage from a former US military cameraman, but now when he got it back to the UK it had deteriorated almost beyond repair. Having borrowed the money to buy it from someone in the criminal underworld Santilli & Shoefield set about ‘recreating’ it. Dummies were made and it was filmed in an apartment in London. The gangster fell for it but was then accidentally killed so Santilli & Shoefield released the ‘restoration’ as they called it and it raked in the money. Santilli & Shoefield even made a documentary in the UK backing up their claims to coincide with the movies release.

From left: Gary Shoefield, Philip Mantle (Author), Ray Santilli. July 22nd, 2007

Part of the plot in the movie is that the alleged ‘real’ film footage that was damaged was taken to a film lab to see if they could do anything with it. As the movie progressed this part of the storyline is forgotten until right at the end of the movie. Here, a shaken film lab technician turns up on his motorcycle at Ray Santilli’s house and hands back a large canister of film. Santilli & Shoefield close the curtains; fire up the film projector and on the screen comes a short black & white sequence of film in poor condition showing the recovery of the dead alien at Roswell in l947.

Still image from the alleged Roswell alien footage from the end of the movie (watch movie clip below).

After the movies release Santilli had hinted that this short black & white sequence is indeed the real deal although he has not come out and said that outright. When I asked him about this he simply said that he was under contract not to speak about the movie. I don’t believe this but that is what he said.

Alien Autopsy Movie Poster

Some researchers wondered if this short segment of film could well be the real deal. I started to try and find out. My first stop after Santilli was the movie’s director Jonny Campbell. I quote his reply to me here in full:

“Apologies for taking so long to respond to your email but I had to confer with my legal advisors about my response. Like Ray and Gary, I too am bound by a similar non-disclosure agreement, but I can say that the end sequence to which you refer has always been of tremendous significance to me. Indeed, the first cut that we screened in London I used that sequence as the very end of the movie – where the story began – such was its importance. However, the debates that ensued post screening were considered too controversial and given the general comedic slant of much of the story that unfolds beforehand, it was felt that this was just too much of a twist and so the sequence now appears earlier and a more ‘lighthearted’ ending took its place.

Other facts about the now notorious b/w sequence are confidential but I am very pleased that you too were struck by its significance.

Best wishes,

JONNY”

Again, like Santilli before him he seems to be towing the party line. Further questions have simply gone unanswered.  My next stop was a chap by the name of John Humphreys. Humphreys is a UK sculptor whose work at times has overlapped into the movie business. He had made the dummies for Santilli’s ‘restoration’ and was hired by the movie company to make the dummies for them. I had tried several times to solicit a response from Humphreys and just recently he finally replied. Again I have reproduced his reply in full. I simply asked him if he know who had made this black & white section of film:

“Hi Philip,

I made the alien for the Ant and Dec film I also preformed the effects. I hope this helps you can also check my name on the credits. Yes I made the alien and performed the effects for the black and white sequence in the Ant and Dec film.

regards

John”

I have checked and John Humphreys is indeed in the credits as ‘Alien designer and autopsy effects’.

For me this ends the debate. Humphreys has no reason to take credit for something he did not do. The evasiveness of Santilli and Campbell also speaks volumes. As far as I’m concerned the short black & white sequence at the end of ‘Alien Autopsy’ feature movie is not the real deal and is simply a cinematic special effect made by the movie company and John Humphreys.

John Humphreys creating the alien prop for the movie.

No doubt in some quarters the debate will still continue. I was the first UFO researcher contacted about the alien autopst film by Ray Santilli way back in l992. In August of 2010, the 15^th anniversary of the films release, I will publish my new book on this entitled ‘ALIEN AUTOPSY CASEBOOK – The Full Facts Finally Revealed’. It will be published by Healings of Atlantis in the UK. For me the publishing of this book will finally close the lid on the alien autopsy film and my involvement with it.

Still from Santilli's film footage

I must admit that this subject has been a real ordeal for me. Many of our readers and fellow researchers may feel the same, because when the Alien Autopsy Film was released in the summer of 1995, it stirred an unprecedented interest in the UFO issue all over the world.

Owned by the British documentary producer Ray Santilli, the film has provoked divisions and fierce confrontations within the international UFO community. The controversy still exists today, even though some light was shed on the case three years ago that pointed towards the direction of a very sophisticated and carefully orchestrated hoax.

My involvement began on March 27, 1995, when I received a dispatch released by the Italian press agency ANSA, which said: “A footage showing a dead extraterrestrial has been announced.” I was at the top level of CUN (Centro Ufologico Nazionale) at the time, and I informed my colleagues on the board about what was happening so that we might get involved immediately. As marketing manager of a very large publishing company in Rome, I had the means to try my best.

Philip Mantle with film can (image credit: Ray Santilli)

I got in touch immediately with British fellow researcher Philip Mantle, who kindly gave me Ray Santilli’s phone numbers. Ray was very interested in meeting me, and we arranged an appointment for early April in Cannes during the MIP TV – the biggest home video and TV convention in the world.

While having coffee with Santilli at the Martinez Hotel on the Croisette, I realized he lacked basic knowledge about the Roswell Incident and other well-known UFO events, because he was referring to an impact site as Sorocco instead of Socorro. He knew it happened in New Mexico during the summer of 1947, but he stated he was not interested in the UFO community, its U.S. members, and Roswell experts such as Friedman, Schmitt and Randle, among others.

The Human Factor

As for the footage in his hands, Santilli said it was of good quality and consisted of 17 three-minute, black-and-white reels of 16mm original film – for a total of more than 50 minutes. I was shocked when he confirmed that the images depicted the autopsies performed on the bodies of two recovered non-human beings, the site of the crash, the military involved, as well as President Harry Truman being present at the impact site.

However, Santilli stated that the technical processing of the footage from film print to video would create certain challenges. Therefore, he didn’t know when the first public showing of the footage would take place in London. I asked him about the reliability of his source – an 85-year-old man that he called “Jack Barnett” who reportedly took the original film footage and had it preserved in his house for all those years. Santilli said he checked “Barnett’s” identity and believed he was the real deal. Nevertheless, Santilli wouldn’t give me the man’s real name. He would only say the footage was real and came from the U.S. military.

Ray Santilli in his office in London (image credit: Philip Mantle)

Again I said to him that I was not buying his story without any physical evidence. And he responded adamantly, “Maurizio, this footage will be the Shroud of Ufology. You will never solve the enigma of its authenticity, never.” It was sort of a curse, and today we can say that Santilli was right.

I have to admit I was excited, and I arrived back in Rome with the impression that we finally had real evidence that the Roswell crash really happened, that the U.S. military took everything away, and that they lied for almost 50 years. I hoped the veil could be lifted by what I then defined as “the human factor.”

In fact, however, everything was happening because of one old man’s will to secure some money for his family because he was approaching the end of his days.

OK, yes. I was gullible. I can now admit that.

London, Day One

I arranged a second appointment in London on Tuesday, April 25, 1995. I arrived at Santilli’s office on Balcombe Street at 2 p.m. The label on the street door bell said, “Merlin Group,” Santilli’s company. His secretary Maria introduced me to Ray, and he immediately told me that, because of technical problems in the transfer of the original films to video, he was unable to show me the footage. He suggested I go back to Rome. “No way,” I reacted. And I told him to show me what he had at that moment, in his office.

Film can (image credit: Philip Mantle)

Behind his desk, piled on the floor, there were approximately 15 old canisters, green-grayish in color, each about 25cm in diameter, with labels stamped over, depicting dates and photo-developing instructions. Santilli opened one canister and pulled out a film – maybe 16mm – that appeared to be “pasted.” He said, “You see, the film is damaged and many others are in the same condition. It’s impossible to process it quickly. We need more time.”

Then he showed me the codes, a square and a triangle, labeled on the initial edge of the film that, according to him, belonged to Kodak. I asked him about the Truman clip. “Yes, it’s in there, but it has been damaged, and I doubt we can make up for it.” Upon my persistent request to remain in London and wait to see the film, Santilli told me to return the next day, and to meet him for lunch at noon. Back at the hotel, I crashed on my bed, unfulfilled, but somewhat relieved of the tension of my first frantic day in London.

Film can label (image credit: Philip Mantle)

To be continued…