From: Don Ecker <decker@ufomag.com>
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1998 23:16:32 -0800
Fwd Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 13:59:58 -0500
Subject: Insight On The Fox Special and Kiviat


OK, another viewpoint on Kiviat and the Alien Autopsy

By
Don Ecker
*********************************************

UFO UpDates - Toronto wrote:

>"Alien Autopsy" a Hoax, Fox Says

>by Bridget Byrne

>December 11, 1998, 5:20 p.m. PT

>***

<snip>

>In fact, World's Greatest Hoaxes: Secrets Finally Revealed,
>hosted by *Lance Henriksen and airing December 28 at 8 p.m., is
>executive produced by Robert Kiviat, the same guy who made the
>ratings-friendly Alien Autopsy.

>Kiviat says that the idea to do a special on hoaxes came about
>when he was looking at footage for inclusion in his 1997 Fox
>special, UFO's, The Best Evidence Ever Caught on Tape. He
>wondered how some of the stuff was created.

>According to a flamboyant Fox press release, the latest hourlong
>special uses "NASA-type video enhancements" to shed new light on
>how the peep into alien innards--"one of the biggest hoaxes of
>all time"--was accomplished.

Hello all. I find this topic highly amusing. You see, it was I
who originally brought this topic to Bob Kiviat at FOX.

I had worked with Kiviat as a commentator on both the "old"
"Sightings" program and then "Encounters". I had been involved
with a number of different stories.

In November, 1993 my wife and I were both invited to speak a the
"UFO World Congress" in Vienna. Other participants included
Jenny Randles, John Spencer and Phil Mantle, all then with
BUFORA. Phil Mantle first mentioned what would become the "Alien
Autopsy" to me at that time. Because there was no other
supporting evidence I gave it less than my full attention. That
was to change a year later.

The following year, just about Christmas is when I received a
phone call from an associate in the UK. I was told that possibly
none other than Rupert Murdock (Grand Poo-Bah) of FOX had
purchased this excerpt from secret Roswell film footage. Could I
check it out? Part of this corrupted story had the footage also
being held by Steven Speilberg, and rumors were rife. Knowing a
number of producers at FOX I chose to call Kiviat because of my
previous dealings with him. I gave him the story I had them,
telling him what I had heard concerning the possibility that
Ruppert Murdock had acquired the footage. Would he please check
on it. He ran it past a few people, and found out that Murdock
had NOT acquired this film. "But I will check it out Don! If
anything happens I want you on board with this." I settled in to
wait.

Several months went by and Kiviat ended up traveling to the UK
for the grand unveiling of the footage. A number of UFO notables
were there, both from the U.S. and the UK and in Europe. Kiviat
was blown away after seeing this. How do I know? He told me at
the time. FOX began to negotiate with Ray Santilli for the right
to air it in the U.S.

A lot more happened of course, we covered this in the pages of
UFO Magazine.

I interviewed Santilli myself, and was lied to as I later found
out. I spoke to several exec's at Kodak about the film. Bob
Shell ended up becoming involved. I must admit, at the time I
did think this could have been real. I wanted to investigate the
alleged cameraman that supposedly sold the film to Santilli. The
combat photographers that ended up becoming involved thru Kent
Jeffrey, came from me.

At that time I was doing my weekly radio show, UFOs Tonite! and
one of my faithful listeners put me in touch with his father who
had been a combat photographer with the U.S. Military. Several
other WW II combat photographer vets were interested in this
footage and looked at it. Jeffrey was then pushing the Roswell
Declaration and appeared on my show. He asked me to put some of
these vets in touch with him which I did. A couple of them were
later interviewed on TV where they spoke about this footage and
why they thought it was not real.

Bob Shell also came on my show to speak about this. By this time
I had been faxed a copy of the "Cameraman's statement" that
Shell later spoke about that came from the UK. I was very
suspicious because being a veteran myself, several passages in
it did not sound like they would come from an American GI, but
did sound like how a Brit would say it. Shell claimed twice on
my show that he had spoken to the cameraman. Later this was
proven not to be true. But back to Kiviat.

Kiviat had promised me that I was the guy who would run a full
investigation on this cameraman. He literally kept me hanging
for a couple of months. He also promised me that as soon as he
had gotten the tape from the UK he would bring me in to see it.
Excitement was running high everywhere about this potential
"smoking gun". Not having heard from Kiviat in weeks, I called
him a number of times.

Finally after my show one Saturday eve, in very early August he
called me at home late. He had the footage and asked me and my
wife to meet him Sunday morning at his office. We got there
about 10:30 or 11:00 AM. Now this was just about two weeks
before the airing of the show. Last minute stuff if you are
going to conduct a real in-depth investigation on somebody.

We viewed the film and Kiviat was ecstatic about it. Jonathan
Frakes was hired to host it after (according to Kiviat) several
"heavy hitters" in the news biz turned him down. (If memory
serves, Connie Chung was one.) Now he wanted me to start. Right
then and there and work at his office for the next two weeks.
Here was my desk, with telephone and everything! (He pointed it
out to me.) Oh yes, there was one problem. They didn't have a
budget to compensate me. (I suppose it was blown on Bob's trip
to England, buying the rights from Santilli and what they had to
pay to Frakes.) Of course my day job at UFO Magazine ( our staff
then was just 3 ) would be augmented by the status of working on
this show.

So to sum up, I could investigate the camera guy to my hearts
content for about a week or so. Not the way I would run this
railroad. I passed on this deal. The rest, as they say is
history. I had real bad feelings about this whole deal from that
point on. Of course Kiviat was and is in the business of selling
programing to TV. As we all should know, TV eats it young,
always has and always will. It is just how that business works.
And lets be honest, sometimes the truth gets in the way of a
good story. Ho-Hum.


>Kiviat, who says he always doubted the truth of the alien
>autopsy, describes his specials as having "a documentary spin."


Ok, and now for my final word on the above;

Bull Shit.

Regards;

Don Ecker
UFO Magazine