John Humphreys - Sculptor, Doctor

The name John Humphreys might not be a household one but if you are the slightest bit geeky, you will have seen him and his work on film or video. Here is a frame: This is, of course, from the famous Roswell Alien Autopsy footage. Like many films, the Roswell Autopsy film has been remade, coming out in Britain this month (no word as to when it will hit the colonies) and one of the people involved in creating the Alien is Mr. John Humphreys. From the Manchester Evening News:

Salford man admits alien autopsy fake
A Salford-born special effects expert, who has designed the aliens for Ant and Dec's big screen debut Alien Autopsy, claims he made models that 10 years ago fooled the world into thinking they were really watching the dissection of a real-life extra-terrestrial.

Sculptor John Humphreys has done modelling work for films such as Alexander and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and for TV series including Doctor Who.

But until now, he says, he has kept secret his most well-known work - footage of an alleged post mortem of an alien which, some say, crashed to Earth in Roswell in the United States in 1947. For years sceptics have claimed it was a hoax, but John has stayed quiet - saying he was sworn to secrecy.

But with the release of sci-fi comedy Alien Autopsy, which features Ant and Dec and which is based loosely on the Roswell film, John says he has decided to reveal his role in the making of the 1996 film.

'Identical'
John, who grew up on The Avenue in Lower Broughton and now lives near Eastbourne, says the latest film features creatures which are identical to the aliens he created for the Roswell film.

"All we did for the Ant and Dec film was recreate the models we made 10 years ago from photographs we took at the time," said father-of-two John, who says he also played the role of the surgeon in the original film as well as designing the iconic aliens.

"The first time around we put together a fantastic film in a very short space of time and the models we used were destroyed after we made the film," he said.

"Ant and Dec were great to work with - they have really kept their feet on the ground and they were a pleasure to be around. I visited the set for a few days and they were fantastic."

Emphasis mine -- not only did the props but got to be in front of the camera. Looking forward to the new version. Here is John Humphreys' home page Here is the website of The Truly Dangerous Company which features How To Make An Alien