Alien Autopsy: Difference between revisions

[[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|The post-mortem examination of an extra-terrestrial being]], oftentimes winding up on video tape.

This trope is one of [[The Newest Ones in Thethe Book]], with its origins dating back to [[The Nineties|the mid-1990's]] when UFO [[Conspiracy Theorist|Conspiracy Theorists]] began speculating that one such autopsy was performed in the wake of [[Roswell That Ends Well|The Roswell Incident]]. The fact that the fifty-year anniversary of that event was approaching at the time, which led to increased coverage of the story in the media, surely helped spread the rumor, as did a video recording purporting to be the alleged autopsy in question, which is now largely regarded as a hoax. Regardless, the concept (including, on occasion, the aforementioned part about it usually being a hoax) has gone on to become as much a staple in [[Speculative Fiction]] and [[Alien Tropes|alien lore]] as [[Aliens Steal Cattle]] and [[Anal Probing]] are.

* In one episode of ''[[Durarara (Literature)|Durarara]]'', we see [[Headless Horseman|Celty]] watching a documentary on one of these in the background while Shinra speaks on the phone. Celty, as it turns out, [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?|is terrified of aliens]].

* In an early episode of ''[[Daa! Daa! Daa!]]'', Miyu tries to call her mother (working overseas for [[NASA]]) for advice on what to do with the suddenly-arrived alien baby, but is discouraged when her mother starts enthusiastically (and [[Squick|graphically)]] describing the alien autopsy video she's watching.

* Referenced in the ''Bec & Kawl'' story arc "Attack Of The Cones" from ''[[Two Thousand2000 AD (Comic Book)|Two Thousand AD]]''. [[The Greys]] who have [[Alien Abduction|abducted]] Pierre and suspect him of being a soldier of some sort contemplate killing him with the dialogue at the top of this page serving as their rationale.

* In ''[[Men in Black (Filmfilm)|Men in Black]]'', the coroner, Laurel, ends up performing these inadvertently on two non-human corpses. It's suggested that she is one of the MIB's most frequently [[Laser-Guided Amnesia|neuralized]] individuals for this very reason.

* MNU's laboratories from ''[[District 9 (Film)|District 9]]'' sure have the remains of ''a lot'' of dead Prawns lying around, although unlike other examples of this trope, they were likely all killed by MNU. If they're not lying dead and mutilated on an operating table, they're probably ''suspended on a meathook''. {{spoiler|In Wikus's case, MNU scientists opt to try and perform [[They Would Cut You Up|a live vivisection]].}}

* The [[Trope Maker]], of course, is the footage of the alleged [[Alien Autopsy]] that occurred after the fateful event in [[Roswell That Ends Well|Roswell, New Mexico]] which eventually became the [[FOXFox]] Network's 1995 TV special ''Alien Autopsy: Fact Or Fiction''. The special gained a lot of media attention as well as a lot of criticism for not showing many of the autopsy's significant findings with a lot of the footage appearing extremely pixelated and/or with the examiner blocking the camera's view (or simply cutting away just as something interesting is happening). Over a decade later, the person who originally presented the footage admitted that video wasn't entirely authentic but a re-creation of ''another'' alien autopsy video that he claimed to have once seen with "a few frames" from that "original" video appearing in the one that was showcased in the TV special. As a result, most people tend take this admission as a sign that it was ''all'' a hoax.

* ''[[The X -Files]]'':

** [[Playing Withwith a Trope|Played With]] this one as well as made a [[Shout -Out]] to, and a [[Take That]] against, the [[Trope Maker]] in the episode "Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'." According to [[Agent Scully]]'s [[Rashomon Style|interpretation of events]], an autopsy which she performed on an alien and allowed to be video taped became commercially released as "Dead Alien: Truth Or Humbug." Embarrassed by it, Scully complains that the video ignores several of her findings, chief among them being that the dead alien was revealed to be a [[Man in A Rubber Suit]].

* One sketch from [[The Whitest Kids U' Know]] sees a team of doctors at [[Area 51]] beginning to perform one such autopsy on an alien corpse recovered from [[Roswell That Ends Well|Roswell]]. {{spoiler|Only it turns out to be a pinata shaped like a [[The Greys|Grey Alien]] and filled with Reeses Pieces candies.}}

* The ''[[UFO After BlankAfterblank]]'' series has this too. Notable in that unlike X-COM's aliens, transgenants are pure [[Nausea Fuel]] even ''without'' being cut up. On the other hand, the autopsy reports are ''always'' correct about what the transgenant is vulnerable to.

* ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]'' episode "Worst Episode Ever" sees Bart and Milhouse uncover a secret room in Comic Book Guy's shop which houses a secret stash of bootleg videos and other illegal video clips. Among the video titles mentioned are "Alien Autopsy" and "Illegal Alien Autopsy".