Ray Santilli

Ray Santilli (born 30 September 1958) is a British musician, record and film producer. He is best known for his exploitation in 1995 of the controversial "alien autopsy" footage and subject of the Warner Bros. film Alien Autopsy.[1][2][3]

Ray Santilli
Raymond Santilli
Born (1958-09-30) 30 September 1958
Marylebone, London
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Television producer, Musician, Film producer, and Record producer
Years active1982 – Present
Known forFounder of Orbital Media
Websitewww.orbitalmedia.net

Early life

Born in London, Santilli was the son of Italian immigrants. He spent his childhood in Islington London.

Career

Ray Santilli started his professional career in 1974 as a session musician, record producer and music distributor.[4] In 1982, Santilli founded AMP Entertainment, where he produced and promoted acts of the day.[4][5]

In 1981, Santilli produced The Tweets album which featured "The Birdy Song". In 1985 he founded Music Broadcasting Services Ltd, an independent record label which handled the exclusive rights to the Walt Disney Audio Soundtrack Catalogue in the United Kingdom.[6][7]

In 1987 Santilli produced the charity record "The Wishing Well" featuring Boy George, Dollar and Grace Kennedy for Great Ormond Street Hospital. In 1991, Santilli founded the Merlin Group. The company specialised in the re-recording of hits with original artists. Merlin also produced and marketed a number of television specials.[8] In 1994 Santilli formed Orbital Media Ltd where he produced a succession of TV documentaries and films for television.[4]

Santilli is best known for his claim to have discovered footage which depicted the autopsy of an alien creature.[9][10] The Alien autopsy footage, supposedly of extraterrestrial corpses from the so-called Roswell UFO incident, was broadcast to a worldwide audience on 28 August 1995.[11][12][13] The film and those who took part in the making of it have all admitted it is a hoax, although Santilli still maintains it is real despite him changing his story numerous times. He also claims Kodak have analysed the film and confirmed its date, but when asked to resubmit the film with the images, Santilli has always refused.[14]

In 2006 the story of Ray Santilli and the autopsy was the subject of a Warner Bros. film Alien Autopsy featuring the British double act Ant & Dec.[15][16] Dec plays Ray Santilli with Ant as Santilli's real life business partner and friend Gary Shoefield.[17][18][19] That same year, Ray Santilli claimed that sections of the autopsy footage had been 'restored'.[20][21]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1994 The Beatles, The Long and Winding Road: The Life and Times Co-producer TV movie documentary
1994 The Life of Bruce Lee Executive producer TV movie documentary
1994 Batmad Producer, writer TV movie
1995 Alan Shearer: Sheer Magic Producer Video documentary
1995 Alien Autopsy: (Fact or Fiction?) Producer-uncredited, Actor TV movie documentary
1995 The Doctors, 30 Years of Time Travel and Beyond Executive producer Video documentary
1999 Bruce Lee: The Legend Lives On Producer, writer, Direcor TV movie
2001 Elvis: The Missing Years Producer, director Video documentary
2001 The Beatles... Off the Record: Newsreel Footage 1964-1966 Producer, writer, Director TV movie documentary)
2002 John Lennon: The Messenger Producer, writer, Director TV movie documentary)
2002 Beckham Mania: The Kick Off Producer TV movie documentary)
2002 George Harrison: The Quiet One Producer, writer, Director Video documentary)
2002 Irish Tenor Trio: A Classic Irish Christmas Producer, writer TV movie
2003 Alien Signs: Undeniable Evidence - The Message Executive producer TV movie documentary
2003 Elvis: The Journey Co-producer, Writer, Director TV movie
2004 Bob Marley: Spiritual Journey Co-executive producer, Writer, Director, Editor TV movie
2004 Benny Goodman: Legends in Concert - The Last Performance Producer, director TV movie
2004 Jimi Hendrix: The Last 24 Hours Executive producer, Writer TV movie documentary
2005 Elvis: The Last 24 Hours Producer TV movie
2005 Nat King Cole: For Sentimental Reasons Co-producer, Writer, Director TV movie
2005 Viva Joe Strummer: The Clash and Beyond Producer, writer Video documentary
2005 Marc Bolan: Ride On Producer Video documentary
2005 Tom Jones: Up Close and Personal Co-producer, Writer, Director TV movie
2005 Johnny Cash: The Man in Black - His Early Years Executive producer Video documentary
2005 Frank Sinatra: A Reflection Producer, writer TV movie documentary
2006 Clash: The Joe Strummer Story Producer TV movie
2006 Dean Martin: A Reflection Producer, writer TV movie documentary
2006 Alien Autopsy Executive producer, Cameo as himself Film
2006 Thin Lizzy: Outlawed - The Real Phil Lynott Executive producer TV movie documentary
2006 Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash: The Road Show Executive producer Video documentary
2007 Bob Marley Freedom Road Executive producer Documentary
2008 Blue Rendezvous Producer, writer, Director TV movie
2012 One Direction: All for One Executive producer Documentary
2013 Hendrix on Hendrix Executive producer Documentary

References
  1. Nathalie, Lagerfeld (24 June 2016). "How an Alien Autopsy Hoax Captured the World's Imagination for a Decade". Time. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  2. Dan, Gunderman (25 August 2016). "As we remember the 'Great Moon Hoax,' the Daily News examines the most notorious hoaxes in history". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  3. Philip, Mantle (23 December 2009). "Alien Autopsy End Game". openminds.tv. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  4. "Ray Santilli Biography". imdb.com. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  5. "Telefishion and the ATV broadcasts that made history for all the wrong reasons". scmp.com. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  6. "MBS Records". discogs.com. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  7. "Roswell and the world's other great conspiracy theories". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  8. "Alien Autopsy Part I: The Shroud of Ufology". openminds.tv. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  9. "Zapped review – a comedy, although you'd be hard-pressed to find evidence of it". theguardian.com. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  10. "History's Greatest Hoaxes". whatsontv.co.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  11. Jason, McClellan (2 February 2015). "'Legitimate' film allegedly shows Roswell alien at Area 51". openminds.tv. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  12. "Santill's Controversial Autopsy Movie". v-j-enterprises.com. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  13. "Garden fairies to Adolf Hitler's diaries: 5 biggest hoaxes of all time after 'Gollum' fake". mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  14. Garland, Piers (director) (2020). Alien Autopsy: The Search for Answers (Television production). United Kingdom: EM Productions UK.
  15. Ken Drinkwater, Neil Dagnall. "Here's How Scientists Explain Peoples' Obsession With UFOs and 'alien Abductions'". sciencealert.com. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  16. "The Definitive Ranking of Netflix's Alien Documentaries". inverse.com. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  17. "Looking back at Ant & Dec's Alien Autopsy". denofgeek.com. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  18. Georgia, Aspinall (13 December 2016). "Ant & Dec: Everything you need to know about the comedy duo". lifestyle.one. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  19. "FILM, TV AND ANIMATION". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  20. Mark, Olsen (10 November 2006). "A fresh stab at 'Alien Autopsy'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  21. Nick, Redfern (13 March 2013). "The "Other" Alien Autopsy Films". mysteriousuniverse.org. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
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