Newly published photographs, said to capture the aftermath of the 1947 Roswell incident in the United States, have been presented as “irrefutable” proof of extraterrestrial life—at least according to conspiracy theorists. One of the images is claimed to show the body of an alien discovered dead near a farm in Roswell, New Mexico, in mid-1947.
The photographs are attributed to oil geologist Bernard Ray, who is said to have taken them between roughly 1947 and 1949 for a Kodachrome documentary film. Despite widespread accusations that the images are forgeries, their release has revived long-standing claims that extraterrestrials once visited Roswell and were taken to a secret military facility popularly known as Area 51.
The findings were announced this week before an audience of 10,000 people, following a five-year investigation by UFO researchers aimed at verifying the authenticity of the positive film plates. The researchers also revealed plans to release a documentary film about the case. In the film’s trailer, investigators are shown examining one of the plates, zooming in, adjusting the angle, and producing a blurred image of an object that appears human-like.
The original photographs were reportedly found in a box hidden in an Arizona attic. The same collection included images of Bing Crosby, Clark Gable, and Dwight Eisenhower from before he became president. Mexican UFO researcher Jaime Maussan has asserted that the pictures must be genuine, arguing that depictions of aliens matching these images did not exist at the time they were taken. Edgar Mitchell, the sixth astronaut to walk on the Moon, has also expressed belief in their credibility.
Skeptics, however, have been quick to challenge the claims. Critics note that the Mexico announcement charged attendees $350 each, suggesting the event served promotional purposes. Others have compared the images to earlier photographs of mummies held by the Smithsonian Institution. Nigel Watson, author of the UFO Investigation Handbook, has pointed out that many remain highly doubtful of the photographs’ authenticity. The release follows a February video purporting to show an alien body seized by U.S. soldiers in the 1940s. New Zealand’s Uncensored magazine analyzed the video frame by frame and concluded it proved aliens were present at Area 51—yet the footage was later recognized as having been taken from the 2006 science-fiction film Alien Autopsy.
Watson has predicted a similar outcome for the newly released plates: “Just as with the ‘Alien Autopsy’ hoax, the newly announced positive film plates will ultimately be shown to be fakes—long after the distribution rights, licenses, or revenue streams have been sold or exhausted.”