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In 1995, an allegedly authentic film showing an alien autopsy performed
in 1947 after the (alleged) Roswell accident was shown on TV,
internationally, and to great acclaim. Those who wanted to be convinced
were convinced of its authencity almost immediately (the most prominent
probably being special effects guru Stan Winston who for whatever reason
claimed it could not have been special effects), but as would be expected,
there were doubters from square one - and in the end, the doubters were
proven right: The autopsy was staged, the alleged alien a dummy (or rather
two dummies), and the whole film was concocted by British filmmakers and
businessmen Ray Santilli and Gary Shoefield ... which they later admitted
to. This though is only the starting point of this documentary,
which gives Santilli and Shoefield a platform to tell their side of the
story, a platform the sensationalist mainstream media has never given them
so far because it would only distract from what has today come to be known
as "the narrative". Santilli and Shoefield insist their alien
autopsy film was not a hoax as such, They really did purchase an alien
autopsy film they thought to be authentic in 1992, and they did watch it,
too, but it was in such poor condition that it literally disintegrated
during its first and only screening. Only a few sequences remained
useable. Rather than lose their golden opportunity though, they then
reshot the footage they recreated from memory, and spliced in the original
shots wherever they could - and thus, the alien autopsy footage was, in
their words, restored. A method that's of course questionable at best, but
Santilli and Shoefield insist they are businessmen first, documentarists
only second, so they had to make the best out of the situation. And the
whole affair might have made them a lot of money on one hand (they freely
admit to that), but it has also destroyed their reputation as documentary
filmmakers ... and has brought them together with a whole bunch of
conspiracy theorists from the whole range of the spectrum. There
are a few questions the film has no answer for, though, and in fact can't
have an answer for: Did the alien autopsy footage Santilli and Shoefield
claim to have seen ever exist in the first place? And if so, who can
guarantee that footage was real - I mean if these guys can fake (or
recreate) an alien autopsy, so can others, right? And why was Stan Winston
of all people so convinced these were no special effects? I mean, the
whole autopsy footage is shown in Alien from Area-51, and it
doesn't look too difficult to cobble together for someone with enough
experience. All that said, Alien from Area-51 is a very
fine documentary, especially since it sheds another light on an old story
and because it refuses to pass judgement - but also despite it being only
two people sitting and talking, director Philip Gardiner has managed to
make the film a visual experience. And seeing the alien autopsy footage in
its entirety, hoax or no hoax, is certainly an added bonus, right?
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