"Roswell film" owner Ray Santilli tells his story

The cameraman was located, following which a very straight forward negotiation took place for his small piece of film, i.e.: cash for three minutes of film. Upon completion of this, the cameraman asked whether I would be interested in purchasing outright very valuable footage taken during his time in the [U.S. military] forces. He explained that the footage in question came from the Roswell crash, that it included debris and recovery footage, and, of most importance, autopsy footage. At this time I had no knowledge whatsoever of the Roswell event, but when someone tells you that they have real footage of an Alien autopsy, of course it is of interest.

The cameraman was in his eighties and seemed a genuine enough person; he explained that from 1942 to 1952 he worked as a cameraman for the Army Air Force and special forces, that during this time he was sent to many places and filmed many events including the tests that were part of the Manhattan Project (the testing of the first atomic bombs at White Sands, N.M.).

He explained that on June 2nd 1947 he received an order directly from General McMullen [then acting commander of SAC in Washington D.C. -- GW] stating that there had been a crash and he was to go immediately to White Sands and to film everything he could. He was instructed to stay with the material recovered until it was dispatched; further, he had authority over and above the on-site commander. The cameraman only reported to McMullen.

The cameraman flew to Roswell, then was taken by road to the site that he describes as being a dried up small lake bed.

After hearing the story I was taken to the cameraman's house and viewed the footage. The cameraman had only one reel of film that he was able to show on an old projector. He moved the projector over to a wall and projected the image on the wall itself.

The footage was and is quite incredible. From his house I telephoned Kodak to ask their advice in checking the film. I was given the codes which corresponded with the codes on the film. I quickly confirmed a cash offer subject to further checks and the cameraman accepted. I said I would require a few days and a sample of the film to take back. The cameraman gave mearound two feet of leader from the film itself which I brought back to the UK.

Unfortunately raising the money needed became a problem and a few days turned into a few weeks, then a few months. This was made all the more difficult because the cameraman needed money for a family wedding. By now the cameraman was becoming very nervous and refused to take my calls. Each time I called, his wife would simply take a message. The story stops there until November of 1994 when with the money in hand I flew over without warning and tried; this time I succeeded.

My impression of the cameraman is that he is totally genuine, he is an ordinary person who never really made a great deal of money in his life, has been married to the same woman for over 50 years and seems as stable as youcould wish. I had the opportunity of going through his many old photo albums, his film collection, and personal papers. I am certain that the cameraman was everything he claims.

I came away with 22 reels of film, 21 safety prints and one negative.

RAY SANTILLI