Proof that aliens exist

04 October 2010

John Howell

Science fiction writers and film makers frequently ask the question, "Are we alone?" In this exceedingly massive cosmos are we the only sentient life form to work out how to light a fire or brew a decent cup of coffee? In a nutshell, do little green men exist? In 1995, Ray Santilli, a British music and film producer, created controversy when he claimed that he possessed evidence that revealed just that. Satilli aired footage of an "alien autopsy" shot by a US military cameraman shortly after the 1947 Roswell UFO incident - 17 minutes of black-and-white film purportedly showing military doctors performing an autopsy on an alien body in a tent. The footage made headlines, rated through the roof, and was shown on TV in over 30 countries. I remember watching the event on TV at the time, but had forgotten all about until coming across this DVD. In 2006, Santilli admitted the alien footage was not entirely authentic, but claimed that it was a "reconstruction" of lost footage of an actual alien autopsy film that he had viewed. A few of the original film's frames he said were embedded in his video.

The new British film titled Alien Autopsy sensibly takes a comic look at the incident. Produced by the original hoax instigators, Ray Santilli and his friend Gary Shoefield, it stars Declan Donnelly as Ray Santilli, Ant McPartlin as Gary Shoefield, and Bill Pullman as Morgan Banner, a journalist creating a documentary about the autopsy footage events.

When Ray and Gary visit America to find Elvis memorabilia to sell in London, they meet Harvey, a former US Army cameraman who sells them a silent black and white film of Elvis performing live. Harvey later returns with an even more intriguing offer: alien autopsy footage. However, they discover that the film is damaged beyond repair when they arrive back in the UK, so with the help of friends they try to recreate the original footage in an attempt to satisfy a tall and very violent Hungarian art dealer who financed the original film purchase. They succeed beyond their wildest expectations...

It's an entertaining ride and fascinating given its real (?) back story. There are no stand out performances but there's plenty of well timed humour - especially when Harvey, the US Army cameraman, is replaced by an actor - and the very real footage of Star Trek's Jonathan Frakes introducing a documentary about the alien autopsy broadcast at the time.

The possibility that the footage was based on real material is pretty hard to believe, but it's not hard to see why a public who desparately want to believe may have got carried away with this elaborate hoax. Little green men may very well be out there, but Santilli and Shoefield certainly didn't provide hard evidence to prove their existence.

Alien Autopsy has just been released by Warner Bros. on DVD. You can view the original alien autopsy footage Ray and Gary created below, and the film trailer for the Alien Autopsy film below that.

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