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.

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. In 1982, Santilli founded AMP Entertainment, where he produced and promoted acts of the day.

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.

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. In 1994 Santilli formed Orbital Media Ltd where he produced a succession of TV documentaries and films for television. 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. 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.

In 2006 the story of the autopsy film was the subject of a Warner Bros. feature film Alien Autopsy, starring the British double act Ant & Dec. Dec plays Santilli, with Ant as Santilli's real life business partner and friend Gary Shoefield. In the same year, Santilli claimed that sections of the autopsy footage had been "restored".

In 2026 a television series named The Alien Autopsy Scandal was released by Sky Documentaries which features interviews with other collaborators, including sculptor John Humphreys who was employed by Santilli to create the alien creature.

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, Director 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