Interview with David Roehrig
Segment Producer for Fox: Alien Autopsy,
Encounters Forum, CompuServe, 9/4/95
While traveling through the Encounters Forum on CompuServe, I went into the MUFON section, which is where a great deal of information related to the Roswell Film has been shared including direct online conversation with Ray Santilli. I found the transcript of this conference which I thought might be interesting to see how Fox, the US TV Production Company viewed the Roswell Film. This conference was conducted about one week after the first airing by Fox of their special on the Roswell Film. If you are a compuserve user, you can obtain more information by typing in GO ENCOUNTERS and going to the MUFON Forum. Or you can visit the ENCOUNTERS home page at:http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/erikf
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Encounters Tonight Interview
********** 9/4/95 7:03 PM Forum CO
Theresa/Hostess | Good Evening everyone. :Ann Fischer/SL23 | Welcome to Encounters! Tonight, we are pleased | to welcome David Roehrig, Segment Producer for | Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction for an online | conference. This conference is formal. To ask | a question, please type a "?", to make a comment | type a "!". You will be called on in order. | Those who speak out of order will not be allowed | to participate. | Thank you and enjoy the conference! Mark Ellis | ? Theresa/Hostess | We are pleased to welcome David Roehrig, | segment producer of the Fox special most of | you just viewed. Mark Ellis | ? David Roehrig | Hello. Theresa/Hostess | This conference will be formal. Andrew Paquette | ? The Great Wazoo | ? :Erik Funderburk: | Welcome David! David Roehrig | Glad to be here. Theresa/Hostess | David, would you like to say a few words | before we start questions? David Roehrig | Well, our investigations are still | continuing. We are | receiving new tips almost everyday. ga Theresa/Hostess | David, could you tell people what the segment | producer does. David Roehrig | A segment producer does research on the topic, | finds the guests, convinces them to appear on tv | and continues to make sure everything runs | smoothly. ga Theresa/Hostess | Okay, Mark Ellis, GA Mark Ellis | David, do YOU believe it is genuine and are | any efforts being made to determine the films' | authenticity? ga David Roehrig | My own opinion has jumped to both sides several | times during our investigation. You have to | remain objective. We are continuing to | validate the film's origin. ga Theresa/Hostess | Andrew GA Mark Ellis | thanks David, when will an update be given | done ga David Roehrig | As soon as we have more info -- interviewed the | cameraman and proven the film a hoax or a fraud -- | we will air our findings. ga Andrew Paquette | yes Theresa/Hostess | Did you have a question? Andrew Paquette | yes- I wanted to know how deep the dissection | went? Was it superficial or very detailed David Roehrig | The disection involved the removal of the brain | and some of the strange internal organs. ga. Theresa/Hostess | Wazoo GA. The Great Wazoo | Have you had contact with the photographer? | Do you have additional film which has | not been aired? Have you seen film of the | crash wreckage? David Roehrig | Yes, there has been some contact with the | cameraman, but not enough to get excited about. | There is more footage which we have not shown | and that will be avilable at a later date. I | have seen some of the crash wreckage. ga Theresa/Hostess | Debbie H. GA Debbie Hagar | David, who is doing the investigation? I've | heard that Kodak is doing chemical validation, | and possibly that JPL is looking at it also. | Can you validate those claims, and are there | any other agencies or organizations | looking at the film now? Thanks for spending | time with us tonight, and we look forward to | seeing more of the autopsy tapes. GA David Roehrig | The investigation is and always has been | conducted by us (FOX). We are in the process | of having the film analyzed, but I can not | officially announce the details at this time. ga Theresa/Hostess | Erik GA :Erik Funderburk: | David, your program strongly implied that | this footage was from the Roswell | incident (1947) but Bob Shell was on "UFOs | Tonite!" with Don Ecker on Sat. (**-see end) | and insitsted that it was not from the same | incident. Can you say one way or | another if this footage is linked to the | famous Roswell Incident? GA. David Roehrig | That obviously can only be confirmed by the | cameraman. Until then, everyone and their | uncle is making their own conclusions. | Personally, I would leave room for any | possibility. | Back to Eriks 2nd Q. | There is a possibility that the crash happened | a few weeks before it is generally believed, but | again, we need the camerman to come on camera | and answer that himself. ga Theresa/Hostess | Kelvington, GA Kelvington | What does the debris footage look like and | your show talked about the phone, the tools, | but what about that danger sign? what does | it say and have you tried to verify that it's | from that era? ga David Roehrig | The danger sign is one of the things that we | need to analyze via sophisticated video | equipment -- which we are in the process of | having that done. | The debris footage looks like the I-beams -- | larger than what has been reported and with | different symbols than what Marcel remembers. ga Theresa/Hostess | Tess, GA. Tess | David, did you find the cameraman yet? If | so is he/she going to be on a future show? David Roehrig | There is also a six finger control panel | looking piece of debris. | Hopefully, we can persuade him to come on the | show w/ the assistance of the government, | a presidential pardon. ga Theresa/Hostess | Robert GA Robert | How about the footage showing the craft being | lowered onto a truck? Also | have you been contacted by any news | organizations (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN)? | Thanx David David Roehrig | I have not seen any footage of a craft being | lifted onto a truck. The news organizations are | slowly beginning to cover this type of material. | They, like most don't want to cover this story | and then have the story be proven a hoax. ga Theresa/Hostess | Dirty, GA David Roehrig | Local Los Angeles News stations have covered | this story. ga Dirty | Have you seen any wreckage or just film of it? David Roehrig | I have not personally seen actual debris. | There is only rumor that some of it actually | exists. One person who claims to have it, will | not bring it out into the public. ga Theresa/Hostess | Kyle, GA Kyle J. Wear | It seems that there is a predicament with | determining the authenticity of the film. At | best, investigators will not be able to prove that | it is a hoax. Although that could mean that | the film is genuine, it could also mean that | whoever faked the film was so sophisticated that | no one is able to figure it out. If the film was | hoaxed, how much would it cost to create the | alien prop, and how difficult would it be to | duplicate the Kodak film from 1947? It seems to | me that these would be clues into who would have | the capability of pulling off such a fantastic | hoax (I am sure not too many people | would be capable). Thanks David. David Roehrig | If it was a Hoax, Stan Winston said that he would | know right off the bat who did it as he knew | about some previous hoaxes made by other S/FX | artists. If it is a hoax, it was done by someone | unknown. | As for the film -- '47 film has a "shelf life". | If '47 film stock was frozen and then used in | the 60's -- possibly it could be hoxed. | It would probably nearly impossible to us '47 | film stock and developed it in the late 80's to | earlier '90s. if it did, it would have a hazy | look to it. ga Theresa/Hostess | Kevin, GA Kyle J. Wear | That may be true, but what about manufacturing the | film with the geometric symbols and the | appropriate chemical treatments. Although costly, | I am sure that it could be duplicated. Kevin l. mckay | Good evening I wanted to ask you if FOX got | some orginal 16mm film with their purchase of | the rights or just the the right to air the footage. | I suspect you didnt get film but WHAT further tests | (what kind do you know of) can or will be done on | the original film itself. Also wanted to say | I appreciated the unbiased documentary with | airing of those who thought it a hoax. Good | job! Ga! David Roehrig | We as a few others in the world received small | snipets of film. As there is only a small | amount to test - we have to decide what we want | to do with it. If we do a chemical test, it will | damage the film. So, we have to do the other tests | first and then the chemical. ga Theresa/Hostess | Art GA Art StalkingHorse | Has Ray Santilli mentioned anything about the | living aliens? GA David Roehrig | What do you mean -- living today? ga Art StalkingHorse | Possibly if not where were they taken in '47 GA David Roehrig | There is rumor that one of the aliens lived | for two years. ga Theresa/Hostess | Aida GA. David Roehrig | As far as where it was taken -- take your | best guess. ga Aida | Did fox pay for the film? Were any of the | guest paid to be on? Was it difficult to get | the hollywood fx guys to come on? David Roehrig | No one was paid to be on our show -- I'm happy to | say. Everyone I talked to in Hollywood wanted | to see this film. It wasn't difficult at all to | get them to come on. ga Theresa/Hostess | Michael Chocola, GA Michael P. Chochola | We do you think the common press will pick up | on this, ny times David Roehrig | I haven't done a national search yet, but I | imagine some of them carried the story. I know | the London Sunday Times did a lot of coverage on | it. And, a few regional papers carried the story | as well. ga Theresa/Hostess | Dale, GA. Dale Cox | Does the alleged crash scene and Truman film | exist? Michael | Well I did see most of the film and also do some | special effects ! So i believe That this team of | "experts " were genuin in their amazement and | claims as to authenticity! Why didn't they | wait till they found the Filmaker? GA David Roehrig | I have not scene a "crash scene" or Truman. | There could be more footage that wasn't released to | us or it could be that the crash scene and Truman | were in some of the reels which could not be saved. | ga Theresa/Hostess | Kent, GA. Kent Lawrence | Very interesting extra 4 or 5 minutes of | autopsy filming we were shown tonight; almost | enough to convince most people that it is an | autopsy of an alien being. When will the | balance of the autopsy film be shown, and is | film of the autopsy the only Roswell/Sorocco | related film that Fox has? That is, do they | also have any of the film of the wreckage | site, or of the debris that was brought into | Carswell AFB? Comment: If it is a hoax, | it has the ring of Orson Welles, master | film maker, to it. p.s. - Thank you for your | participation tonight. GA David Roehrig | There is some debris footage which we will | release to the public at a later date -- either | another show or perhaps a home video. ga Theresa/Hostess | Alphonse, GA Alphonse J. Bazzica | David, why didn't FOX make this more a news | story than an entertainment. It takes away | some from the importance of the | subject. But GOOD JOB anyway David. MORE | IMPORTANTLY, If the film is real, the only | way to truly confirm it is get all the | data that the government must have. IS FOX | pressuring anyone in government to get at the | data. GA David Roehrig | It's very hard to pressure the government. | However, we are seeing a slow release of previously | classified info, not to mention the fact that | we are now hearing about all the radiation tests | that the governrnent conducted on its own people. | I think that we did a better job on this | story than the other shows, but I'm biased. ga Theresa/Hostess | William GA William Corbin | Have you or any one else from Fox visited the | site near Socorro, NM, where the cameraman | claims the original crash took place? If | so, did you find anything of interest | (different colored soil, etc.)? David Roehrig | I have been told by a UFO source that there | is a spot which has a different look to it | and it is in a spot which is not on the map. But, | we have not gone to that spot for this story as we | ran out of time and had a strict deadline. Perhaps | we will do an update and include more of that | type of info. ga Theresa/Hostess | Carla, GA carla | I have several questions. Has the Gov't issued a | statement in regards to this footage? How long | before the footage is authenticated, any guess? | Also, I have heard different stories in regards | to the actual length of the footage ranging | from 23 minutes to 2 hours. How long is it? | Will we ever see all of it? Why does fox show the | footage the way it has? It was a tease and very | difficult to keep focused on. Thank you for your | time. GA David Roehrig | The government REFUSED to come on the show | and give their side. They said that their | opinions are in the Air Force report of '94 | and in the GAO report of this year. They | won't touch this story. | The film that we have is roughly 30 minutes long. | It's hard to tell how long it will take -- | the best analysis is to speak with the camerman. | That's where we should start. | We have to edit the footage into the content | of the show. IF it were up to ME, I would show | you the uncut footage straight through. | You will get the opportunity to see all that | we have in late September. ga Theresa/Hostess | Debbie H. GA Debbie Hagar | How many reels of film did Santilli buy, and | how many of them has he made available to | Fox? Are some of them not usable? There's | talk that a documentary is being produced...can | you tell us if and/or when that will be available? | Finally, your answers tonight seem to be vague and | teasing, instead of informative, on many of the | questions....Is there a reason for this? | Have you been instructed by Fox (or any other | organization) in how to answer our questions? | Thanks, and pardon me for being rude - I'm not, | usually. David Roehrig | I am trying to answer the questions without | picking one direct side to the story because | it is not over yet. I must remain objective. The | other reason is that I do not want to engage | in leading the public down a path of unanswered | rumors. | Also, I don't want to give the competition | any juicy bones.| Santilli said that he received 22 reels of | film - some of them were unusable. | We are putting together a home video with the | FOX broadcast and the addition of the debris, | plus the uncut autopsy sequence. ga Theresa/Hostess | Herbert, GA David Roehrig | Speaking of the boxes, I seem to remember | that story a few years ago in connection | with another UFO crash. Does anyone remember that? | ga Herbert | How many people were estimated to watch the two | showings of your program? Any response from | high level government officials. Did you try | to get comment from the White House? What about | Newt's office? Could Fox Network organize a | letter writing campaign to Congress to hold | Congerssional hearings on this program? Get | former Senator Barry Goldwater on Ex-President | Jimmy Carter to chair the efforts. Here's | another suggestion. Why not get the former | president of the pathology society to call | for an investigation, via the medical journals? | Maybe if enough Washington correspondents during | presidential press conferences especially during | the 1996 elections ask about this film, it will get | press coverage. Any thoughts about generating a | campaign to get things moving. By the way, the | Providence Journal in Rhode Island did a nice | spread with large pictures on the story. The | reporter told the readers what to watch for in the | program. Finally, the camera man was quoted by | Santilli as saying he wanted to keep out of | sight be cause he was given money for the film. | Does that mean that the individual is going to | avoid paying taxes. That is why he is keeping out | of public. Does Santilli have to give the IRS the | amount of money paid to this individual? David Roehrig | Herbert? You're killing me. | Let me read -- hold on. David Roehrig | We had a 8.4 rating and a 9.4 for the second | half hour - we blew away the competition. | YES!!! Theresa/Hostess | Good Job! David Roehrig | All of your suggestions are great. We are | attempting to get the cameraman to come forward | after he receives some type of a presidential | pardon. Hopefully, if we can get enough power | behind us, we can convince him to come | forward. ga Theresa/Hostess | Lynn, GA. Lynn Jennings/SL14 | How have the local Los Angeles news stations | you mentioned treated the story? Thank you for | speaking to us tonight. FOX has done an excellent | job! GA David Roehrig | As I was driving to the premiere at a local | restaurant, the radio stations were covering | the story all night long. The following day Talk | Radio couldn't stop talking about it. It's on | the agenda of just about every person to | personally talk about this film. ga Theresa/Hostess | Bob Felix, GA Bob Felix | In reference to media coverage, I saw an extended | piece regarding the Roswell story on CNN's | Headline News this afternoon. Their | normal format is to repeat segments several | times during the course of the day and overnight. | Anyone interested in their coverage should | be able to catch it tonight. You might want | to set your VCR overnight then fast forward through | it in the morning. Thanks David, I'm | looking forward to seeing more! GA David Roehrig | What did CNN say? ga Bob Felix | They covered the basic story on from a | historical basis. It was mostly | fluff, but an encouraging start. GA Theresa/Hostess | David, do you want to comment? Bob Felix | PS, they didn't mention the autopsy footage. GA Theresa/Hostess | On Bob's statements I mean. David Roehrig | Yes. | Did I miss a question? ga Theresa/Hostess | No. Kyle, GA Kyle J. Wear | Even if the film does have the geometric codes for | dating purposes and is chemically analyzed to be | identical with that from the 1947 Kodak variety, | could it not be duplicated today by someone who is | aware of the composition of the film? Please | explain why this would not be possible. It seems | to me the only way to know for sure would be to | isotopically date the film (carbon dating, however, | would not be accurate enough to be valid in so | young a sample). Also, another question, are you | intimidated by CSICOP's declaration that the film | is a hoax? So far the reaction from the scientific | community has been less than enthusiastic. | Thanx David. David Roehrig | As far as CSICOP, I just downloaded something | from them, but haven't had time to read it. | But, if they have proof that it's a hoax, I would | certainly like to hear it. | I think it would be very expensive to emmulate the | emulsion compounds of a 1947 film stock. Even if | you could there would evidence that it was done | recently. We need to do more analysis, such as a | chemical test. ga Theresa/Hostess | Lee GA Lee Wilkerson | In tonight's version Stan Winston commented that | the absence of connective tissue bothered him. Did | the pathologist comment on this? Is FOX working | with anyone to enhance the out of focus sequences | of the internal organs? Also, I'm not trying to be | rude or cynical, but is there a tie-in between this | film and the X-Files? Thanks David. ga David Roehrig | One of the problems with the film is that it was | shot on 3 minute reels. As such there are stops | and starts both because the film ran out and | because of the camera starting and stopping. We are | still having the images processed and digitally | enhanced, but as you might know this takes a long | time. ga Theresa/Hostess | Kelvington GA Kelvington | Have you been contacted by any military or | government officals trying to stop you or | hinder your investigation and if not, don't | you find that a little weird in itself since | you are blowing the lid off the something | this big? ga David Roehrig | I have not been contacted by the government. | No one has told us not to do this story. If the | film is authentic, the government will igonore it. | If the film is valid, the governemnt will ignore it. | ga Theresa/Hostess | Tess, GA Tess | Dave, does fox plan to do more shows on ufos? David Roehrig | The government denies the July 8, 1947 incident | when Brazel found the debris. So... ga Dirty | The Doomsday Conspiracy,a novel by Sidney | Sheldon,has many similarities. David Roehrig | Tess -- I certainly hope so. Theresa/Hostess | Du-Won, GA Du-Won & David | Our questions were already answered. Thank | you. GA Theresa/Hostess | Ok, GA Little Brother! Little Brother | Where is the Debris the "eyewitnesses" were | playing with, certainly they must have hidden | some of it. Did FOX try to beat it out of them to | where it might be? David Roehrig | According to the eyewitnesses, the material was | confiscated. But, I imagine someone would keep | a piece -- wouldn't you? ga Theresa/Hostess | Lex, GA Lex Cardentey | Do you think that the public will believe | this story? GA David Roehrig | I think that it has been reported that something | around half our population believes in Aliens and | about 10 million believe that they have been | abducted. Remember, throughout history amazing | things have been proven where they once were | considered ridiculous. Remember, that we once | thought that we were the center of our universe. | Then we knew that our sun was the center...etc, | etc. ga Theresa/Hostess | Phil, GA Phil McDaniel | Is FOX actively trying to get some kind of | official release, or a Presidential pardon so that | the cameraman can come on TV? GA. David Roehrig | Yes. | We have had confirmation from some influential | people in the government who say they will | lend us a hand. GA Theresa/Hostess | Fyridle, GA Fyridle | Considering the efficiency with which the | government carried out its (supposed) cover-up, | doesn't it seem unlikely that it's very own | cameraman would be allowed to get away with the | tapes? It casts considerable doubt on his | credibility. GA David Roehrig | I think there will be a change happening in the | following year. | Remember, that the Air Force and Army split soon | after the incident. If the cameraman developed his | own film, then he could have kept a few and sent | the rest forward. That's a question that only he | can answer. ga Theresa/Hostess | oa5, GA oa5 | Why has Santili choosen this medium as opposed to | documentary or video? And is this a way for the | gov't to begin to prepare people for what some | would say will be eventually real contact by aliens | who already according to some documentation. Such | as the now famous alleged meeting of aliens and | Pres. Eisenhower at a California Marine Base in the | 1950's, where the Federation of Planets story | was supposedly laid outby aliens and our planets | role. Far fechted I guess or not . Yet the gov't | seems to be active in this area. what do you | think. thank you for speaking to us. GA David Roehrig | It's hard to say. This could be a slow process of | releasing info to see if we're ready. Santilli says | that he has no interest in UFOs, only on making a | profit with his investment. Anyway, having the film | broadcast in just about every country is a great way | to expose the possibility that ETs exist. ga Theresa/Hostess | Debbie H. GA. Debbie Hagar | Is there footage of the 'boxes' that the beings | were holding? Can you shed any light on what | these things were, and what purpose they served? | Were any recovered and analyzed? Do the wreckage | tapes show any of the strange properties of the | material mentioned, such as the foil-like substance, | or the masslessness of the I-beams? Again, | thanks for your time. David Roehrig | I have not seen any footage of the aliens with | boxes. The debris footage does not show the | extraordinary powers that the debris is believed to | have. As far as the boxes - perhaps journey logs. | Maybe similiar to the black box that our aircraft | carry. It's anyone's guess. ga Theresa/Hostess | Rick GA Rick Monteverde | I'm fascinated by the impact the success of your | broadcast has with the executives at FOX. Can you | elaborate on this a little bit? Does it have them | talking seriously of further such efforts, perhaps | something like a series related to this story and | UFOs in general? David Roehrig | We have no evidence of what was in the boxes. ga | Rick -- I hope so. Rick Monteverde | ...I know you do. :) David Roehrig | They gave us the go ahead to add previously | censored footage. Rick Monteverde | ...but what have you heard? David Roehrig | They are excited about the response as we are. | So... ga Theresa/Hostess | Charley Sweet, GA David Roehrig | I think they may be interseted in further shows | of this type. We haven't had an official talk as | of yet. ga Charley Sweet | Are the "influential people" you mentioned part | of a broader high-level effort -- Project | Starlight-inspired or whatever -- to end the | coverup? ga David Roehrig | No, they are people who are unattached to the | UFO history. Charley Sweet | but who soon may be David Roehrig | I don't want to say anything until I speak | with them at length -- just to confirm that they | will indeed help out. ga Theresa/Hostess | oa5 GA David Roehrig | But, they are interested. ga Theresa/Hostess | Steve, GA Steve Parra | You mentioned that FOX was going to make | available all of the footage on tape. When | will this be available? GA David Roehrig | At the end of September. ga Theresa/Hostess | Val, GA Val Mehling | The knuckleheads at KTTV Los Angeles did not | air the show tonight. Also - my theory on why the | films weren't picked up - maybe a jr. officer or | NCO knew he could safely ignore the call (if no | one else knew about it) hoping the film would | eventually be seen in public. ga David Roehrig | The show is on at 9pm in LA. I just saw a promo | in fact. Check out channel 11. Theresa/Hostess | Are there anymore questions? David Roehrig | Val -- could be. ga Theresa/Hostess | David, you did a great job! Val Mehling | In that case I will retract the knuckleheads | remark. I was very upset about this. ga David Roehrig | Thanks! Glad to be here. ga Theresa/Hostess | Is there anything you would like to add David? David Roehrig | Yes. Theresa/Hostess | GA David. David Roehrig | We are still working on this case and you will | hopefully see a dramatic update as soon as | possible. Personally, I will not rest until it is | proven to be a hoax or genuine once and for all. | The best is yet to come. ga Theresa/Hostess | We do appreciate that. Thank you very much | David. This will end the official CO. David Roehrig | Thank you. Theresa/Hostess | We will leave the room open for anyone that | wants to hang around and chat. David Roehrig | Good Bye all. Terry/MUFON/SL | Fantastic Job David! :Jeannie/SL1,2,&17 | Goodnight David! Thanks so | much for your time ! Frank Stanley, Ph.D | Thank you David for a job well done. Theresa/Hostess | Thanks to all the people in the background | that helped also! Kelvington | Thanks for all the info David keep up the | good work. ********** 9/5/95 6:08 AM Forum CO
Note: There was reference to an interview given by Bob Shell, who is a photographer that was analyzing the Roswell Film for authenticity appearing on the radio show, "UFOs Tonight" hosted by Don Ecker.
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