Real-Life X-Files: Investigating the Paranormal

41. Extraterrestrial Autopsy

~ Chapter 41 E:xtrat2rr2strial A11tOpSYIt keeps going and going and.... The Roswell crashed-saucer myth was given renewed impetus by a controversial television program, ''Alien Autopsy : Fact or Fiction?" that purported to depict the autopsy of a flying saucer occupant. The "documentary;' promoted by a British marketing agency that formerly handled Walt Disney products, was aired August 28 and September 4,1995, on the Fox television network. Skeptics, as well as many ufologists, quickly branded the film used in the program a hoax. "The Roswell Incident;' as it is known, is described in several controversial books, including one of that title by Charles Berlitz and William L. Moore. Reportedly, in early July 1947, a flying saucer crashed on the ranch property of William Brazel near Roswell, New Mexico, and was subsequently retrieved by the United States government (Berlitz and Moore 1980). Over the years, numerous rumors, urban legends, and outright hoaxes have claimed that saucer wreckage and the remains of its humanoid occupants were stored at a secret facility-e.g., a (nonexistent ) "Hangar 18" at Wright Patterson Air Force Base-and that the small corpses were autopsied at that or another site (Berlitz and Moore 1980; Stringfield 1977). UFO hoaxes, both directly and indirectly related to Roswell, have since proliferated. For example, a 1949 science fiction movie, The Flying Saucer, produced by Mikel Conrad, purported to contain scenes ofa captured spacecraft; an actor hired by Conrad actually posed as an FBI agent and swore the claim was true. In 1950, writer Frank Scully reported in his book Behind the Flying Saucers that the United States government had in its possession no fewer than three Venusian spaceships, together Extraterrestrial Autopsy with the bodies of their humanoid occupants. Scully, who was also a Variety magazine columnist, was fed the story by two confidence men who had hoped to sell a petroleum-locating device allegedly based on alien technology. Other crash-retrieval stories followed, as did various photographs of space aliens living and dead: one gruesome photo portrayed the pilot of a small plane, his aviator's glasses still visible in the picture (Clark 1993). (For other Roswell hoaxes, see "The Roswell Legend " chapter in this book.) Sooner or later, a Roswell "alien autopsy" film was bound to turn up. That predictability, together with a lack of established historical record for the bizarre film, is indicative of a hoax. So is the anonymity of the cameraman. But the strongest argument against authenticity stems from what really crashed at Roswell in 1947. According to recently released Air Force files, the wreckage actually came from a balloon-borne array of radar reflectors and monitoring equipment launched as part of the secret Project Mogul and intended to monitor acoustic emissions from anticipated Soviet nuclear tests. In fact, materials from the device match contemporary descriptions of the debris (foiled paper, sticks, and tape) given by rancher Brazel's children and others (Berlitz and Moore 1980; Thomas 1995). Interestingly, the film failed to agree with earlier purported eyewitness testimony about the alleged autopsy. For example, multiple medical informants described the Roswell creatures as lacking ears and having only four fingers with no thumb (Berlitz and Moore 1980), whereas the autopsy film depicts a creature with small ears and five fingers in addition to a thumb. Ergo, either the previous informants are hoaxers, or the film is a hoax, or both. Although the film was supposedly authenticated by Kodak, only the leader tape and a single frame were submitted for examination, not the entire footage. In fact, a Kodak spokesman told the Sunday Times ofLondon : "There is no way I could authenticate this. I saw an image on the print. Sure it could be old film, but it doesn't mean it is what the aliens were filmed on." Various objections to the film's authenticity came from journalists, UFO researchers, add scientists who viewed the film. They noted that it bore a bogus, nonmilitary code mark ("Restricted access,A01 classification ") that disappeared after it was criticized; that the anonymous 253 "'P 254 'l' • Figure 41.1. Scene from "Alien Autopsy~ television program purports to show the postmortem of an extraterrestrial being from the Roswell "UFO crash," photographer's alleged military status had not been verified; and that the injuries sustained by the extraterrestrial were inconsistent with an air crash. On the basis of such objections, an article in the Sunday Times of London advised: "RELAX...