EDITOR: The CompuServe MUFON Encounters Forum is a hotbed of activity concerning the alleged autopsy footage, with Ray Santilli, Bob Shell, Michael Hesemann and others making regular comments. What follows is a part of one such line of commentary regarding a recent revelation by Bob Shell. CNI News thanks James Easton for allowing us to reprint the results of an investigation into those revelations.
[Nov 30, 1995] -- One of the most significant developments of late was Bob Shell's confirmation that, "Film to video transfer was done in London by Rank."
There has to date been no evidence of where the specialised and delicate work required on the 16mm film had been carried out and by whom. Surprising that this would not be broadcast, as it would go some way towards substantiating that 16mm film of some kind actually existed.
Bob further confirmed that "I asked Ray last week who did the work, and he told me Rank did it. That seems reasonable."
It was important to confirm there was no misunderstanding and Bob again added some detail, courtesy presumably of Ray Santilli:
"My understanding is that Rank first made a very high quality 16mm film duplicate of the footage because it was damaged and in poor shape. The video was then made from the dupe."
In his Winter 1995 newsletter, Colin Andrews had stated:
"Reg [Presley] and I asked for a meeting with Santilli, which was arranged for Friday the 3rd of February. I flew from New York to meet with Reg and Santilli in his London office, taking Synthia, my wife, as witness to the proceedings. Santilli explained how he came to purchase the film and how easy it had been to fly it out of the States. He was, however, having some difficulty developing the aged film. Some of the reels were worse than others, the greys were merging with the blacks and images were nondescript. The prestigious Royal Society in London agreed to assist with their high-tech computer enhancement facility. Apparently, results from computer enhancement were good, and Santilli said they only had a few more films to complete."
Unfortunately, the Royal Society has no such facilities and had never heard of either Ray Santilli or the film.
Although Bob was confident in the authenticity and accuracy of his information, it was therefore of course necessary to verify it.
Having established from the Rank Organisation plc that Rank Video Services of Brentford would undertake any such work, I asked Graham Birdsall, editor of "UFO Magazine" (UK) if he would like to confirm this important information on our behalf.
Graham first spoke with Paul Gooderham of Rank Video Services, and Paul confirmed that Rank Video Services had not been involved with it in any capacity. He suggested speaking with Ray Liddiard, at the main laboratory as he was the person with overall responsibility for such matters within the company and may be able to assist further.
Roy was also very helpful and further confirmed that his company had no involvement in any capacity.
He also indicated that had any similar organisation in London been responsible for handling such original 16mm film, he would certainly have expected to hear of it.
There may be some misunderstanding with the information relayed to Bob, and hopefully he can clarify this directly with Ray and let us know the outcome.
EDITORS NOTE: After this story was submitted, some new information was received. On the CompuServe Encounters forum, someone speculated that Rank Video Services may have denied knowing anything about the film because they were honoring client confidentiality.
James Easton responded to this speculation thusly:
"Roy Liddiard was concerned that his company's name was being misused and asked if he could be advised if any similar claims arose. He also asked if he could be faxed copies of any further claims made following his formal clarification that Rank Video Services had _not_ been involved with processing any 16mm film in relation to this affair."
"The clear implication was that he would take a serious view of any recurrence."
[ED: Mr. Easton concluded by saying Mr. Santilli is free to comment at any time and asked for Bob Shell to try to clarify the issue since it was he that had made the announcement from Mr. Santilli. ISCNI News will continue to monitor the story.]
Original file name: CNI - Autopsy Film Not at Rank
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