Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction is a 1995 pseudo-documentary containing grainy black and white footage of a hoaxed alien autopsy.[1][2] In 1995, film purporting to show an alien autopsy conducted shortly after the Roswell incident was released by British entrepreneur Ray Santilli.[3] The footage aired on television networks around the world.[4][3] Fox television broadcast the purported autopsy, hosted by Jonathan Frakes, on August 28, 1995, under the title Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction, and re-broadcast it twice, each time to higher ratings.[5] The footage was also broadcast on UK's Channel 4,[6] and repackaged for the home video market. The program was an overnight sensation,[7] with Time magazine declaring that the film had sparked a debate "with an intensity not lavished on any home movie since the Zapruder film".[8]
The program was thoroughly debunked; the footage was shot on an inexpensive set constructed in a London living room. Its alien bodies were hollow plaster casts filled with offal, sheep brains, and raspberry jam.[9] Multiple participants in Alien Autopsy stated that misleading editing had removed their opinions that the footage was a hoax.[8][7] Santilli admitted in 2006 that the film was a fake, though he continued to claim it was inspired by genuine, but lost footage.[7]