CASE HISTORY

The Alien Autopsy

A sensation… a cultural phenomenon… a hoax

In the summer of 1995, the world was captivated by a grainy black-and-white film that purported to show the autopsy of an alien being recovered from the infamous Roswell UFO crash of 1947. The video exploded into popular consciousness, fueling debates, conspiracy theories, and a wave of media attention. The story of this video — from its mysterious emergence to its eventual debunking and the cultural ripples that followed — is as bizarre and fascinating as the footage itself.

Origins of the Video

The footage was first publicly revealed in 1995 by Ray Santilli, a British entrepenuer, who claimed to have acquired it from a retired U.S. military cameraman. According to Santilli, the cameraman had filmed the autopsy of an extraterrestrial being that had crash-landed near Roswell, New Mexico, in July 1947. Santilli said he purchased the footage while seeking vintage rock ’n’ roll clips for a music documentary in the U.S. What he brought back to the UK, however, was far more sensational than Elvis or Buddy Holly.

The film depicted a humanoid figure with a large head, black almond-shaped eyes, and a bloated abdomen being dissected by surgeons in hazmat suits. The set resembled a sterile operating room, and the…