Title: Alien Autopsy Inquest.
Author: Philip Mantle.
Publisher: Filament Books.

Below are two reviews of this new book by Philip Mantle.

To purchase the book (in downloadable electronic format), visit the following page:
http://www.ufodata.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=34

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Review by Andy Roberts

The Alien Autopsy changed the world of ufology forever in 1995, shattering it into ever more polarised factions. Was it real or was it fake? The autopsy film transcended both categories to take on a reality of its own. British ufologist Philip Mantle was closely involved with the film from the start and in this e-book chronicles the passage of the autopsy from its birth, when Ray Santilli revealed it to the world, to its current status as icon of the impossible.

All the four major theories (real ET, hoax, disinformation film and deformed human) are all looked into objectively and in some depth. And it's true to say there are pros and cons for all of them depending on where your beliefs lie and what constitutes your level of 'proof'. There's enough information about the film to satisfy the most diehard skeptic or believer. Yet that's not the most interesting part of the book, by far.

This comes in the penultimate chapter where Philip gets an exclusive interview with Ray Santilli. This is fascinating reading but I can't help thinking that Santilli is too slick, too full of glib answers. His excuses for why a piece of the film has never been released for analysis don't add up ("I don't think the circumstances have been right"), and his belief that the cameraman or his family may come out of the closet to put the stamp of authenticity on the film jibe with his refusal to let science authenticate the film, the canister or the written labels.

Ultimately Santilli is a business man and if a business man of his acumen really believed he had film footage of the greatest moment in planet Earth's history I for one don't believe he would have handled it as he did, but instead would have had the film scientifically validated and made serious money and a place in history from it. As it is Santilli says the money he made was "all part of normal business". Can the final proof that the US military did an autopsy on a being from another planet really be reduced to 'normal business'? I don't think so. There are many ways Santilli could, if he wished, have settled the matter of the film's authenticity once and for all. Yet instead he chose to manipulate ufology and to create a media circus and a cash cow from which I don't think the last dollar has been yet milked.

But this reviewers' cynicism, reeling with a head full of suspicion from too many years spent in ufology, won't alter the reality - whatever that is - of the AA film. Ten years on and this hybrid between Cluedo and the X Files still provokes extreme reactions wherever it is discussed. If it's a hoax Santilli has pulled off the greatest in history. Santilli claims that those who believe it to be a hoax must prove it so. That's not the case - the onus is on the people making claims of alien origin for the cadaver to prove that's what it is. As neither they nor Santilli have done that, and the mystery and mythology continue to accrete around the film. Mantle has done an excellent job in rounding up all you need to know about the AA film and this e-book should be read by everyone with an interest in the subject of aliens.

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Review by Ed Gehrman

For the last ten years I’ve been at odds with the majority of the UFO community by arguing for the legitimacy of Ray Santilli’s “Alien Autopsy”. One of my

key books of reference during this discord has been “Beyond Roswell” by Michael Hesemann & Philip Mantle. I consider it an enormous resource and a must-read by anyone eager to traverse the AA labyrinths.

Now Philip Mantle has assembled another hugely diverse collection of Alien Autopsy facts, interviews, eyewitness testimony and expert opinion, and has arranged this material in an easily understood and readable fashion. It’s all there, from beginning to end. All the particulars that are pertinent to the AA discussion are included: the history, timelines, controversies, interviews, photos, physician’s reports, etc, a glorious hodge-podge of minutiae.

But the basic story is very simple and easy to understand. On June 1st, 1947, the person

known as the “cameraman” was called to General McMullen’s office and told to prepare for a special assignment to be part of a team and film the recovery of a Russian “spy plane”. The team members flew that same day to Roswell and were then transported by truck to the crash site south west of Socorro, NM. When they arrived, the area was already under the Army’s control:

“There were injured creatures lying on the ground, obviously in pain, but the men at the site were too scared to get close. Ooh, there was a great deal of confusion until we arrived. My authority allowed me to operate as an independent as long as I didn’t interfere with the clean up. When I arrived, I set up my tent and equipment and once I had light, I started shooting. How did I feel about it? I was concerned about potential contamination, but I had no choice…the freaks kept crying out and the men were scared, but they were trained and they were ordered to go in and treat it like a war situation. Their first job was to recover the objects the freaks were holding just in case they were weapons of some kind. I filmed the assault on the freaks to get these objects. It turned out they were not weapons, but control units of some kind. The freaks didn’t want to let them go, but they didn’t stand a chance, we got ‘em. Once the units were secured, the freaks were removed. (Cameraman’s Japanese TV interview)

The cameraman stayed at the crash site until all the debris was recovered. The creatures were transported to a make-shift clinic on the base at Ft. Worth and the craft and debris were sent to Wright-Patterson. About three weeks later the cameraman was asked to film three “autopsies” over a two months’ period. He also processed all the film himself. Somewhere along the way, how isn’t exactly clear, the cameraman acquired and kept an unknown number of reels and stored them for forty-five years. He sold twenty-three of these reels to Ray for $100,000. Here’s what Ray thought about the deal:

“… I have the advantage of dealing with the cameraman first hand. I’m not dealing with second hand information, it’s a person (the cameraman) I’ve known on and off for two years, I’ve had various meetings with him, we’ve managed to go through his diaries, his records, his photo album. We’ve seen his collection of old cameras, and you know, we’ve heard all the stories. The guy is genuine, I know he’s genuine, I believe that the footage is genuine, but in time only people that can do more research will be able to judge it more critically.”

(Ray Santilli interview with Philip Mantle; June 25th 1995.)

Reg Presley was also involved with the AA from the start. Here’s his take on Ray and the purchase: “Ray Santilli is in no way a researcher, he would be the first person to tell you that. However, Ray would have had to do some research into the autopsy footage to find out if it had any likelihood of being authentic before putting up monies to secure it. Also he must have been happy with the results of the research or he would not have got a financial backer involved. Volker Spielberg, a wealthy businessman parted with 100,000 dollars. That’s not saying the footage is genuine, just that he and Volker must have been happy with their results.”

The secret to understanding the Alien Autopsy is believing Ray Santilli. There is no reason to believe he isn’t telling the truth. There’s no known dishonesty in his past. I hired a Voice Stress Analyst to study Ray’s interview during the Fox TV presentation. His report indicated that Ray was not being deceptive and was very calm.

Ray seems limited in what he can tell us and how cooperative he can be, but even so he’s allowed the AA CD set to be sold at no profit to him and he’s given several interviews. Here’s an excerpt from his last interview with Philip Mantle:

(PM) What would you say to the critics who are confident that the film is a hoax?

RS: Prove it. You know, as simple as that, prove it. I mean after six (now eight) years the film has had millions of pounds all over the world spent on it, in imagery and so forth and analysis, and still no one is any the wiser, and it’ takes someone better than me to create a hoax like that, so if someone thinks it’s a hoax well then simply prove it

PM: Have you got anything further you would like to say that you have not previously said in public, any new facts any new information, anything at all that you would like to say.

RS: I think there is nothing I can say that has any real weight, I think that the release of more materials later on, not necessarily by me but by the family I think will help qualify the story, and if the cameraman does come out and decides to talk to the world that’s even better, but there is nothing I can really add at the moment, you know, it is what it is.

Few researchers have spent time actually viewing the footage. Those who have usually come away with the feeling that the film is genuine or at least a very expensive and elaborate undertaking. Dennis Murphy spent hundreds of hours scrutinizing the debris footage; here are his conclusions:

The "Santilli Footage” consists of four different films that include the debris footage, the tent footage and the dissections of two different entities. Every detail that is put in a hoax film cost money and increases the risk of exposure as a fraud. It would seem that if this film was a hoax that there would be as little detail as possible. There is enough detail in the debris footage to convince me that it would be expensive to produce. If this film is a hoax it was well researched, elaborately scripted and was therefore an expensive undertaking… If you could produce this type of detail with some process, you would be making money on producing things that would reap far greater profits than an Alien Dissection hoax film.

Some researchers even seemed to enjoy themselves:

…if the film does show real aliens then we would all suffer ‘pastshock’...and no one wants to suffer from ‘pastshock’. (This occurs when you find out that the history which you have been told is the ‘gospel’ truth is actually untrue or, at the very least, must be interpreted differently). Why would history need re-interpretation you ask? Because if they are here now, they could have been here yesterday or last year or hundreds or thousands of years ago. And I presume you can guess what that means.”

Bruce Maccabee

An inquest is an inquiry. At the end of the enquiry there should be some sore of resolution. That’s my only argument with Philip. I’ve read his book and assessed the evidence; it’s overwhelmingly pro Ray Santilli and the authenticity of the Alien Autopsy footage. Yet Philip sits on the fence. But his book is a must-have for all AA enthusiasts. It really all boils down to whether Ray is believable.

“My conclusion is that the alien autopsy and debris footage are authentic and refer to a UFO crash which may have taken place in the 1940’s. As one of the few to view the unreleased autopsy, I am ready and willing to support my opinion in from of any commission of experts. I can not rule out that the footage may be a result of disinformation by the US intelligence services, but I believe Ray Santilli and that he bought the film in good faith.”

Maurizio Baiata

Download “Alien Autopsy Inquest”; then buy the AA DC set and look for yourself. You’ll be amazed and “past shocked”; but you can handle it!

Ed Gehrman, 2005.