A recent film presented evidence that the military retrieved and dissected space aliens. Is it possible that we have made contact?
In July of 1947, a mysterious object crashed on a secluded ranch outside Roswell, New Mexico. The U.S. Government quickly and quietly collected the smoldering debris, beginning the public’s interest in the "Roswell Incident." UFO enthusiasts believe that the remains of the alleged spacecraft and the aliens it contained were swept off to a place called Hangar 18 at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. While many still consider the matter unresolved, a recent inquiry into the incident concluded that the debris was not that of an alien space craft, but rather a part of a of a balloon-borne array of radar reflectors. The equipment served as part of Project Mogul, a military effort to monitor acoustic emissions from Soviet nuclear tests.
Whatever the case, the FOX television network decided to take advantage of the public’s UFO fascination by airing "Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction?" on August 28 and September 4, 1995. The one-hour special, hosted by Jonathan Frakes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," purported to show the autopsy of an alien recovered from the crash site. FOX tried to portray both sides of the issue, with Frakes occasionally pointing out potential flaws in the video. Both skeptics and believers analyzed and criticized the footage.
To credit its makers, whoever they may be, the video is somewhat convincing. Scalpels cut flesh, innards are pulled from the alien body, and the tools used in the autopsy appear authentic to 1947.
Unfortunately, the film is also full of inconsistencies, and even outright stupidities. Take, for example, early testimony from medical informants who claimed that the aliens lacked ears, had four fingers, and no thumb. The alien pictured in the video has small yet distinct ears, and five fingers in addition to a thumb. Someone is lying.
Furthermore, there is no established historical record for the film. Although Kodak authenticated the film as having been manufactured in 1947 (source: the Sunday Times of London), FOX neglected to mention that the producers sent only the leader tape and one frame of the film to Kodak. Someone could have concocted the rest of the film at any time.
The sloppy science involved really exposes the film as a fraud. The autopsy is inexcusably clumsy. The examiners never document anything--they do not label or weigh specimens but simply discard them in an unorganized fashion. The most extensive record keeping we see is someone scribbling some data on a single sheet of paper.
Authentic autopsy procedures would call examiners to place the alien on its back and delicately strip its skin away. The musculature would be exposed and scientists would document the patterns. Next, they would weigh, record, and photograph the process. Finally, the examiners would plunge deeper into the gut, all the while following the documentation process. The scientists do not do any of this.
The video shows internal organs, such as the brain, being pulled from the alien. They pop out easily, with no evidence of any connective tissue holding them in place. How realistic is this? Surely the alien’s brain didn’t just rattle around in its head. Also, the internal organs of the alien appear to have no more shape or consistency than chopped meat. They are just "amorphous lumps of tissue," according to University of Texas School of Medicine anatomic and clinical pathologist Ed Uthman, who points out that with external organs so similar to those of a human, it seems unrealistic that the alien’s internal organs would have no definitive structure.
And what kind of suits are those doctors wearing, anyway? They appear to be white, hooded anti-contamination suits, but they couldn’t have been for radiation protection because viewers also see personnel examining the alien body while wearing street clothes. The suits have no breathing apparatus, either, so they couldn’t have provided protection from decay odor, bacteria, or viruses. Indeed, they don’t appear to serve any legitimate purpose.
One more thing--where is everyone? One would think a monumental event such as an alien autopsy would be attended by more than two doctors and a cameraman. And why couldn’t the cameraman, assumed to be experienced, get those close-up shots in any kind of decent focus?
The special effects in the video are good--but not good enough. The alien body does not lie naturally on the table, and moves way too rigidly when handled (unless space aliens suffer from permanent rigor mortis).
The body looks like a dummy, cast in an upright position, then laid out on a table. Such effects, while somewhat sloppy, must have been expensive to produce. Remember, however, that FOX paid a lot of money to get the video. Any good hoaxer knows that if the video is good enough, there is a profit to be made. That appears to be the case of "Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction?"
Sam LaRoque is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences.