Glenn Joyner and Bill Ralls, both from the Dallas Metroplex area, are independent UFO researchers who met over the Internet. Though they are not affiliated with any UFO organization, they have maintained a longtime interest in the subject. Rebecca Schatte, MUFON member and Houston Sky contributor/supporter, currently serves as ISCNI's (see page 10) "Media Watch" editor. An Internet regular herself, she met Glenn and Bill in cyberspace, where the three have been monitoring and participating in the Santilli film debate. This account of their views and involvement in the ongoing drama illustrates the complexity and confusion surrounding "The Alien Autopsy Circus." -- Editor

Hurry, hurry, step right up! Come one, come all, right here under the Big Top! A sight to thrill and amaze, never before seen by modern human eyes! Bring the children, grandma, grandpa. Calling all the civilized world! Yes, folks, the circus has come to ufology.

Earlier this year, we--and the rest of the world--heard mysterious whispers about "the film." Like lightning, word spread through the UFO community that an important film had surfaced. Not of anomalous lights in the sky, not of daylight disks. No indeed, not even of Big Foot! The rumors spoke of something much more tangible.

But of what? Here our readers will need to be swept back, almost half a century, to the dry, dusty southwestern plains of the United States...

In all of UFOdom, the biggest and most widely accepted story is that of a crashed disk in the New Mexico desert, the fabled 1947 Roswell Incident. There is really no need to rehash this tale, as most if not all of our readers are quite familiar with it.The basic scenario is that ranch worker Mac Brazel happened upon a field of debris from a downed aircraft of decidedly nonmundane design. Through the years, this story became even more interesting as researchers attempted to piece together the strange and often conflicting clues. The result of their research indicates, to many at least, that the United States Army Air Force at Roswell did, probably, come to posses a "crashed disk," along with several of its occupants.

If this in fact did happen, then most assuredly military investigators on the scene would have gone through standard procedures to cover and document every facet of the event.Surely no one doubts that if the crash did occur, roll upon roll of still photography film and reel upon reel of motion picture film would have been expended. And of course, human beings would have been operating those cameras...

As the hoopla grew, claims and rumors flew with wild abandon. The circus crew went to work raising the tents, setting up the carnival, and readying the exhibitions.Santilli arranged a Big Top preview for UFO royalty. Invitations were distributed to a select group of honorees, those who would have the prestigious "first look." And all the while, men in straw hats were selling "advance tickets" at $65 for a video of the fabled footage, a look at Roswell flying saucer debris and a real alien body.

The Great Santilli hucksterism campaign would have been the envy of even P. T. Barnum. An aura of intense secrecy was created that surrounded the film in mystery. It was rumored that even President Harry Truman could be seen.

So the circus had arrived! The barkers began their banter, and the ring master announced that the film would be made available for all the world to see... But at a price.

We, your humble reporters, had been sitting in the cheap seats at the circus, where the view wasn't too good. As we learned more and more about this possible "event of the millennium," through our presence on various computer networks, we decided that this would be a performance worth getting a better look. We moved down a few isles, sensing that the acrobatics were about to commence.

The clowns then took center ring. Instead of the usual locomotion---unicycles, tiny overloaded cars, and pogo sticks -- they arrived on surf boards, surfing the computer network waves into homes and offices across the world, dumping their sometimes comical opinions into our laps. The antics of the performers have made at least some in the audience roll their eyes and grin at the back flips and somersaults.

One of the first persons to publicly support the footage was Reg Presley, former member of the 1960s-era British rock group The Troggs (remember "Wild Thing"?). Presley is, undoubtedly, the organ grinder of this circus. On the January 13, 1995, BBC morning chat show "Good Morning with Anne And Nick," Presley stated, "I've seen the film, and the film has been analyzed and it's original 1947 footage... There's 15 reels of this, so there's 150 minutes of the crash site, debris, and the autopsy... It shows an alien being worked on in an autopsy by humans. I've seen one alien, but I believe there are three more."

The announcement sent shock waves throughout England that reverberated across the world. The organ grinder had cranked up the music, setting the monkeys--and their audience--to dancing and scrambling for peanuts. Strangely, little has been heard from Reg Presley of late. Has the music died for Reg? Or did his overly zealous initial statements embarrass and silence him?

But the clown with the biggest feet may have been Philip Mantle,Director of Investigations for BUFORA, the British UFO Research Association. Mantle has given more conflicting statements than even The Great Santilli. He claims that on March 17,1995 he and his wife, Sue, met with Santilli in the ring master's office. They were given a segment of the film to take away and view at their leisure. However, earlier than that, in a March 5, 1995, issue of the British newspaper, "The People," he says, "The footage shows the whole event--the crash scene and between three and five aliens, some of them mutilated."

Mantle is quoted once again, this time in the March 27, 1995, issue of the Daily Mirror, as saying, "We have had the film checked out by Kodak, who confirm it is 50 years old."

Apparently, the issue of properly dating the film was addressed before the Museum of London showing, which was to be held on May 5. Mantle had already proclaimed by then that a technical advisor would be needed to help analyze the footage but that no one had yet been selected. So how could he have truthfully stated the confirmation in the paragraph above?

Several sources, including crop circle and UFO researcher George Wingfield, have quoted Mantle as saying that the name of Detlev Bronk, a well-known physiologist of the late 1940s era and a rumored member of the fabled MJ-12, appeared on a notebook held by someone in the film. Having now seen much of the autopsy video, we have not detected anything remotely like this. So this potentially profound statement of Mantle's concerning Dr. Bronk has proven unverifiable to date.

Mr. Mantle will need some big shoes for those clown feet, and, it could be wagered, an even bigger mouth to put them in!>

As the clowns continued to make wild and humorous statements,discussions in the ufological community grew to a frenzied pitch. Before the opening act had even been introduced, opinions were formed, battle lines drawn, and sides taken. When the midway opened, the sideshow barkers began to stir up the excitement.

The circus' opening act was May 5, 1995-the advance showing of the film, held in the lecture room at the Museum of London.One hundred or so media representatives, ufologists, and others involved in the film industry lined up under the Big Top for the show. After all the hoopla and glitz, it was quite amazing to discover that the result was mixed reviews. Instead of general applause and whistles, a wave of confusion swept over the circus goers.

One reason for the confusion was the many questions raised about objects seen in the film, such as the phone cord, pen, and clock. In fact, according to A T & T,coiled phone cords made of rubber were available in 1947, but plastic ones were not. Unfortunately, it is impossible to determine the cord's composition. Ball point pens seen in the video were questioned as well, but sources have indicated that they were available by 1947. Another point of interest is the General Electric wall clock visible during the medical procedure; this too has been verified as correct for the era.

Later, in an August 19 showing of the video to the BUFORA conference, held in Sheffield, England, the footage again received mixed reviews. Representatives of Creature Effects, an English special effects company, which apparently had had a private viewing earlier in August, were present for the August 19 presentation as well. Fueling the skeptical fire, they commented that they had detected what appeared to be a seam on the body, hinting that the film was likely a fabrication.

Decriers of the film seized upon symbols seen on pieces of so-called wreckage, pointing out that the words "video TV" were clearly visible. Having seen the symbols now for ourselves, we have to admit that though the words are a stretch, imagination can make the words actually appear through this alleged alien "writing."

Film supporters, on the other hand, have proclaimed that without a doubt the video showed human beings performing the grisly job of an actual autopsy on the body of a bonafide alien.

Despite the ambiguities and realistic aspects of the footage, the showing did nothing to quell the debates that rage on still about the film's validity. Never before in the study of ufology has there been such an intense focus on an individual point. As a result, phone calls totaling thousands of dollars have criss-crossed the phone wires between researchers and investigators. Reams of paper have been used to print the hundreds of articles and files on this fascinating subject. And millions upon millions of electronic mail bytes have been generated for debates, accusations, and conjecture.

UFO skeptic James Oberg, well-known to most of our readers, called the intensity of the world-wide computer conversations "the makings of a significant cultural event," during an interview in Dallas with KDFW television on September 4, 1995. "No film stands alone," he said. "You have to have... HOW it was obtained, HOW it was stored, WHO'S promoting it. Those are all part of the same unit of evidence. My conclusions are that what we're seeing does not force us to accept the existence of alien life, of extraterrestrial life, that there are prosaic and earthbound explanations."

The circus had certainly gotten underway. So we, your humble reporters, decided to move down to the front row. We needed a good view now, as the performers were WELL into their routines. But as we soon found out, the show was only just beginning.

In typical fashion,however, the statement also presented irregularities. For example, several expressions alleged to have been made by this American serviceman have a decidedly British twist. The cameraman referred to his tenure in "the forces" (an English colloquialism), whereas an American would have said "the service" or "the army." To explain this and other disparities, all of which have been discussed at great length by researchers and Internet debaters, the reason was offered by Santilli that perhaps his British secretary had taken liberties in transcribing the American cameraman's original statement.This rationalization borders on ludicrous, from our point of view, since the single most important element in the entire affair IS the cameraman.Liberties, embellishments, and distortions of anything that he supposedly has said is beyond the realm of credibility.

The search for the alleged cameraman naturally has been one of the most interesting sideshows at the circus. His identification and testimony are the only things that can give this bizarre story credibility. In hot pursuit of this information, independent investigators have combed through hundreds of employment and military records looking for names of men who might fit the scenario. The cameraman himself had allegedly stated that he had operated a camera during atomic test detonation sessions in New Mexico. This clue, as well as information gleaned from military records for other service camera operators who may have been present at atomic tests, has yielded a plethora of names. Naturally, there have been several false alarms concerning possible candidates for this role.

Of the many possibilities investigated,a few have seemed more promising. One of the first names to surface was that of Jack Barnett. In a statement later described as "a slip," Santilli revealed the name Barrett, as well. Rumors that the camera man had died during this feverish search began to surface, and we, along with other researchers, began to investigate this. Oddly enough, we discovered that Jack D. Barrett, a military motion picture technician who had served in the U.S. Army Air Force from February 11, 1943 to December 28, 1945, had passed away in Los Angeles, California on August 3, 1995. We have a copy of his death certificate in hand. This man seemed to fit Santilli's original guarded identification, to have had the proper credentials, but would not have been in military service during the time of the alleged filming event. Could he have been a civilian employee by that time?

Cameraman Berlyn Brixner was also considered, as he was definitely known as the camera operator at the Trinity atomic test blast during that period, as documented in the 1987 book "At Work in the Fields of the Bomb,"by Robert Del Tredici. Mr. Brixner has been located in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and indicates no knowledge of any alien autopsy event.

So far, none of the names examined seems to be correct. And Ring Master Santilli continues to maintain that the cameraman is very much alive. He has stated that the cameraman told him that he was in the Army Air Force and "special forces" from 1942 to 1952.

We have heard rumors that other well-known UFO researchers claim to be on the trail of another gentleman who might be the elusive cameraman. Perhaps the man in the circus sideshow booth should change his game from guessing weights to guessing the cameraman's name!>

Bob Shell joined the side show earlier this year, fulfilling every young boy's dream to run away with the circus. His job, reportedly, was to have authenticated the film through technical analysis, dating the film, validating its processing, and verifying its type.

But we have come to doubt the sincerity of Mr. Shell. He seems to have a great propensity for innuendo and sensationalism. He has proclaimed all along that he knew the identity of the alleged cameraman for the event. In correspondence to us, he has said that he signed a nondisclosure contract covering the cameraman. We were astounded that he would so often talk about something that he has legally agreed not to reveal. Since he appears to be working for Santilli, and since the Ring Master has sold the American rights to "all authentic film" to Fox Network,we also found it odd that Mr. Shell told us of his communications with French TV. Is Side Show Bob attempting to become a "player" in the field of ufology? For such a busy man, with a range of professional duties, we find it amazing that he has had time to get so fully immersed in this circus. He told us in electronic correspondence that in one single day, he had received more than 200 e-mail messages about his involvement. He has been quite active and public about this issue -- we have tracked him throughout cyberspace making statements, having discussions, and even making the talk radio circuit. He has also commented on the possibility of a book project. Could Side Show Bob be vying for the Ringmaster's job, or is he just an exceptional acrobat?

An air of intrigue surrounds how Bob Shell came into possession of the section of footage he has been working with. At one time he stated on Don Ecker's radio program "UFOs Tonite!" that a film section had been sent to him via courier service on an undisclosed date, but that unnamed Fox personnel had intercepted the package, claiming to be his represenative. The people at Fox tell a very different story, saying that they had no knowledge of Bob Shell at that time. There appear to be many "truths," but which one is real? The producers of the program have told us that the film clip given to them was basically worthless for dating and analysis in any case because the edges had been torn off.

Consider this statement of Mr. Shell's: "From my own research on the physical characteristics of the film, I am willing to go on record as giving a 95 percent probability that the film is what the cameraman claims it to be." His early contention was that it dated from the right time period. Then he waffled somewhat, saying that the clip he had examined and dated showed a doorway and could not be conclusively connected to the autopsy itself. And now Shell, too, tells us that Kodak has refused to join in the circus since the two film pieces that Santilli had supplied were not of any use for testing. Why? In Shell's own words, they are "not suitable for measuring since one entire side is torn off."

It baffles us that Mr. Shell could have made his early statements about the reality of the film, when he later admits that what he was given is unsuitable for verification.

A very interesting point that surfaced in our discussions with Dave Roehrig is that a number of still photographs have been generated from the autopsy segment. In one, a human can be seen holding the hand of one of the creatures, clearly showing that there are six digits on the hand. We were surprised to find out that, even though Fox supposedly owns the rights to the film in the United States, this one shot appears nowhere in their footage.

This fact leads us to think that more than one autopsy may have been performed on the footage originally hawked by at the beginning of the circus by The Great Santilli. There does, in fact, exist a segment of film, referred to as the "tent footage," which may have been produced at the alleged crash site. The quality of this latter footage, which Fox has a small portion of, is so poor that it has not been shown.What Kiviat and Roehrig are concerned about is that they have never received any of the segment from the "first autopsy," mentioned above, and only have two minutes of a reported seven-minute tent footage clip. The "second autopsy" footage that Kiviat-Greene Productions used in the Fox program actually appears to be more of a dissection than an autopsy.

We are aware, through confidential European research associates, that this segment is definitely in the hands of a few researchers and has been seen by a number of people. Pictures extracted from these earlier reels also show alleged wreckage from the crash site lying on a table, as well as what looks like a control panel of some sort, molded with two six-fingered hand impressions at the center.

It appears now that Ray Santilli was not the sole owner of the film. The scenario emerging suggests that investors and backers were involved in the initial purchase of the movie footage and that one of these, not The Great Santilli, may actually control the business decisions. In an October 2, 1995 telephone interview with Rebecca, your other reporter, the Ringmaster stated that there were no other backers in the deal other than himself and Volker Spielberg. Not much is known about Spielberg, except than he is a German rock and roll promoter, but we must wonder if it is actually he that is in control.

It would appear that The Ringmaster is attempting to have his audience jump through hoops. When he was asked whether Volker Spielberg did in fact possess any reels of film, he replied only that the issue was "much more complicated than that," and that he could not comment further.

Mr. Santilli told us on the phone that testing of the film was complete and that he was confident of its being genuine. He also said that various clips of the footage had been sent to different media outlets,including Fox, and to Bob Shell, and that if further verification was needed, those in possession of the clips could have them analyzed.Santilli's confidence seems dubious, if we are to believe Shell and Roehrig, who have stated that their clips are useless for research.

According to Bob Shell, Kodak has agreed to test the film at no charge. What they need for the verification is one entire roll of the film, from which they would take a pinhole sample. Even though Santilli claims that no further testing is necessary, Kodak has never been given what they require for a true test. This is very curious. If Santilli truly wants to prove that his film is genuine, and is so very sure of it's authentcity, why hasn't he taken advantage of this generous offer?

American readers may remember that during the Fox presentation, worldfamous private investigator Bill Dear was given the assignment of finding the phantomlike cameraman. Dear had only five days before the airing of the show to locate his subject, an almost impossible task. During talks with Mr. Dear at his Dallas, Texas, office, we have learned that he is still very interested in tracking down the photographer. On September 4, 1995, Dear told Dallas TV station KDFW, "I've always had an open mind, but much more so now that maybe something does exist out there."Dear told us that he is sure the film depicts a real autopsy. He said he had shown it to two highly respected medical examiners who agreed that it appears real although though not necessarily alien.

Cyril Wecht, a past president of the American Academy of Forensic Science and current chairman of the Department of Pathology at Saint Francis Central Hospital, during the Fox presentation, stated, "I cannot say that it is a member of the human race, as you and I know the human race... I have great difficulty correlating this with any human body that I have seen." Mr. Wecht has performed 13,000 autopsies himself and has witnessed or signed off on approximately 30,000 others.

Recognized as the grand-daddy of all special effects wizards, Stan Winston, along with his crew, have been involved in some of the most outstanding and widely acclaimed movie projects ever, including "Jurassic Park" and "Alien." Winston seemed intrigued by the film when interviewed on the Fox program, commenting, "This really felt like a real body that was being cut open. If we had done this, I would be pretty proud... My hat's off to the people that created it, or that poor dead alien that's dead on the table." We have attempted to contact Mr. Winston to get further comments, especially since there have been several other individuals in the special effects industry that have stated that they could reproduce the autopsy segment. So far, Mr. Winston's publicist and offices have rebuffed our attempts to talk with him.

We have to also note that Kent Jeffrey, Roswell researcher and coordinaor of the International Roswell Initiative (IRI), after viewing the film in England on May 5, 1995, has been one of the foremost detractors of the film. We quote Jeffrey, in a statement from the IRI Bulletin #2, May 26, 1995: "Before going into specific details of the viewing, I would like to state up front and unequivocally that there is no--zero--doubt in my mind that this film is a fraud. I might add, however, that if, against all odds, what I consider the impossible did occur, and this film actually turned out to be genuine, I would be one of the first to celebrate, as researchers would finally have in their possession the Holy Grail of evidence necessary to break the Roswell case wide open."

Interestingly enough, though, the video is beginning to surface through other channels. Fox, in association with Vidmark, has released a video for sale that contains their footage. By press time, many of our readers will have already seen this through distribution by Blockbuster and other video outlets in the United States.

And what of the "other footage" being circulated in Europe? Why hasn't it been provided to all parties paying for it? Once again, the question surfaces of who the true Ringmaster is. If not Santilli, then who?

Though our initial excitement has endured somewhat, in the hopes that what we were doing would eventually lead to the truth whatever that might be -- the frustration has worn us down from time to time. There have been many occasions when one or another of us has thrown up our hands in disgust, almost buckling under the sheer weight of the mystery. A concerted group effort has been the only thing keeping us on track.

Others who have been following this case will understand the turmoil very well. Vast amounts of time and energy have been expended on this chase of the elusive truth. Our families and friends have often wondered why we have become glazen-eyed at times, locked into our notes and research for hours upon hours. If phones could speak, they would be screaming in agony at their overwork. And when the mail carriers deliver the bills from our respective long distance companies, we have to steel ourselves before opening them. So it goes.

We've come to feel that the only thing that seems to be exactly what it looks like is the footage itself, though of course,the possibility exists that even the footage is a ruse,a fake constructed by persons unknown for reasons also unknown. Has it been created to undermine the existing evidence of the real Roswell event? We have to remember that the footage we have seen to date bears little similarity to what we know about the "classic" Roswell case.

But if the film is real, is it the autopsy of an alien or that of an unfortunate member of our own human race who suffered from multiple genetic disorders? We may be drifting into the proverbial looking-glass with this case, where things are not as they appear.

Someone, somewhere, knows the truth about this profoundly disturbing footage. Does the mysterious cameraman really exist?If so, he is the one and only key that will unlock the doorway to the secrets and subterfuge.

At this point in our research, we have been left with more questions than answers. Pieces of the puzzle are still missing -- key pieces and the information jugglers are doing their job well, keeping the audience captivated and riveted to the show. And the circus just keeps going and going...

This article is courtesy of the Houston Sky, a bimonthly UFO newsletter for Houston-Area MUFON members and others. The editor is Gayle Nesom, MUFON's Assistant State Director, Harris County and southeast Texas. Subscription rate for the Houston Sky is $15.00 a year ($20.00 foreign)for six issues. Send check payable to: Houston Sky, P.O. Box 1718,Bellaire, Texas 77402. Send email to Houston Sky