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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A well-made documentary about a highly suspect film, July 16, 2004
In the mid-1990s, the release of the purported 1947 alien autopsy film footage divided the UFO community (which was probably the whole point) and generated a lot of attention nationwide, attention which Fox quickly made us of in the production of this documentary concerning the film. A majority of interested parties viewed the film with great suspicion early on and rather quickly came to the conclusion that it was a hoax, but the great believability of the film's nature allowed many to look upon it as authentic. Combine this with the similar debate over the alleged MJ-12 documents, for both seem to be interconnected in my mind, and you have the makings of one of two things: definite smoking guns or else dangerous sources of disinformation. Whatever you believe, the alien autopsy footage itself is still fascinating to watch, and this video does an excellent job of presenting the evidence in a fair and balanced manner.The video, hosted by Jonathan Frakes, begins by touching upon the history of the Roswell incident in 1947, featuring interviews with such well-known witnesses as Walter Haut, the public relations officer at Roswell Army Air Base, Dr. Jesse Marcel, the son of the man who first examined the wreckage and brought some of the evidence home to show his wife and son before returning with it to the base, and other Roswell eyewitnesses. It then features Ray Santilli giving his story on the finding of this alien autopsy footage - this includes much of the information that makes the story such a dubious one. Then it shows a number of scenes from the alien autopsy itself - you will not find the complete autopsy film itself here in its entirety, however. Then you get the opinions of assorted experts. Film specialists are asked if the film could have been made in 1947 (although the fact that Kodak was given film samples outside of what you find in the autopsy film is not mentioned), a World War II cameraman is asked to comment on the troublesome habit of the film going in and out of focus a great deal, medical experts including Dr. Cyril Wecht are asked to give their opinion on the medical aspects of what they are seeing in the film, and special effects experts such as Stan Winston are asked for their impressions of authenticity. This FOX TV special did not go hip deep into the evidence, unfortunately, but it did indeed leave the final answer to the film's authenticity up to the viewer. It gave equal time to those who think the footage is authentic and those who brand it a hoax for a number of different reasons. Finally, the video features new film reportedly taken of some of the UFO wreckage from Roswell; this, to me, is even more dubious than the autopsy film. Personally, I think this film and the MJ-12 documents that a few ufologists continue to defend in such a personal manner are deliberate sources of disinformation intended to divert and weaken the UFO community. In any event, though, this particular documentary represents an excellent presentation of the autopsy film evidence and the debate over its authenticity back in 1995.
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DVD ~ Jonathan Frakes
by Anne Soukhanov
by Michelle Knudsen
