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.
Ray Santilli
- Name
- Ray Santilli
- Born
- 30 September 1958
- Birthplace
- Marylebone, London, England
- Occupation
- Television producer, Musician, Film producer, and Record producer
- Known for
- Founder of Orbital Media
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Languages
- English
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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.
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Ray Santilli (born 1958) is a composer, film producer and guitarist, among other activities, of British nationality. The composer was born in London. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Ray Santilli • Native Name — Raymond Santilli • Born — 30 September 1958 • Birthplace — Marylebone, London, England • Occupation — Television producer, Musician, Film producer, and Record producer • Years Active — 1982 – Present • Known for — Founder of Orbital Media • Website — www.orbitalmedia.net
Early life
Early life
Born in London, Santilli was the son of Italian immigrants. He spent his childhood in Islington London.
Career
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. Santilli is best known for his claim to have discovered footage which depicted the autopsy of an alien creature. 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
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
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Ray Santilli”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1171006: Ray Santilli
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Nathalie, Lagerfeld. How an Alien Autopsy Hoax Captured the World's Imagination for a Decade. Time. 24 June 2016.
- 2.Dan, Gunderman. As we remember the 'Great Moon Hoax,' the Daily News examines the most notorious hoaxes in history. nydailynews.com. 25 August 2016.
- 3.Philip, Mantle. Alien Autopsy End Game. openminds.tv. 23 December 2009.
- 4.Ray Santilli Biography. imdb.com.
- 5.scmp.com. Telefishion and the ATV broadcasts that made history for all the wrong reasons.
- 6.discogs.com. MBS Records.
- 7.Roswell and the world's other great conspiracy theories. telegraph.co.uk.
- 8.openminds.tv. Alien Autopsy Part I: The Shroud of Ufology.
- 9.Zapped review – a comedy, although you'd be hard-pressed to find evidence of it. theguardian.com.
- 10.whatsontv.co.uk. History's Greatest Hoaxes.
- 11.Jason, McClellan. 'Legitimate' film allegedly shows Roswell alien at Area 51. openminds.tv. 2 February 2015.
- 12.v-j-enterprises.com. Santill's Controversial Autopsy Movie.
- 13.mirror.co.uk. Garden fairies to Adolf Hitler's diaries: 5 biggest hoaxes of all time after 'Gollum' fake.
- 14.EM Productions UK. Alien Autopsy: The Search for Answers. 2020.
- 15.Ken Drinkwater, Neil Dagnall. Here's How Scientists Explain Peoples' Obsession With UFOs and 'alien Abductions'. sciencealert.com.
- 16.inverse.com. The Definitive Ranking of Netflix's Alien Documentaries.
- 17.denofgeek.com. Looking back at Ant & Dec's Alien Autopsy.
- 18.Georgia, Aspinall. Ant & Dec: Everything you need to know about the comedy duo. lifestyle.one. August 2025.
- 19.Film, TV and animation. bbc.co.uk.
- 20.Mark, Olsen. A fresh stab at 'Alien Autopsy'. Los Angeles Times. 10 November 2006.
- 21.Nick, Redfern. The "Other" Alien Autopsy Films. mysteriousuniverse.org. 13 March 2013.
- 22.Samadder, Rhik. The Alien Autopsy Scandal: this fascinating tale of a bizarre DIY hoax hits Spinal Tap levels of hilarity. mysteriousuniverse.org. 6 June 2026.
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General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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