Elvis sightings

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The Weekly World News frequently claimed "Elvis Is Alive!"
The Weekly World News frequently claimed "Elvis Is Alive!"

Elvis sightings are a recurring phenomenon in which people claim to see American singer and rock star Elvis Presley, who died on August 16, 1977.

Contents

[edit] Background

Presley was born January 8th, 1935, so his projected age would not preclude the possibility that Elvis is still alive (as of 2008, he would be 73 years old). Critics of those who believe that Elvis is alive may state that a number of Elvis impersonators can easily be mistaken for Elvis and that Elvis' fans merely do not want to believe he is actually dead.

Most people who believe Elvis is still alive believe that Elvis is spending the remainder of his life in solitude somewhere in the United States. To back this up they have suggested that Elvis' middle name is spelled incorrectly on his tomb.[1] On his official birth certificate his middle name is listed as "Aaron." Elvis used "Aron" in his life because it was closer to the middle name of his stillborn twin, Jesse "Garon", apparently not knowing that his middle name was not legally "Aron". He attempted to legally change his name to "Aron" later in life but discovered that the state already recognized his official middle name as "Aaron." The estate now uses the technically correct form of "Aaron." There is a souvenir gift certificate that has his name as "Aron", and his official death certificate also says "Aron", giving fuel to the "Elvis is Alive" controversy.[1] [2]

Others believe in extraterrestrial involvement, although these conspiracy theories may simply be an exercise in self-parody and conversely, conspiracy theories that seem ludicrous are often parodied by connecting Elvis to them blaming him for whatever has happened, reasoning that since he is officially dead, nobody would suspect him.

Former bass backup singer J. D. Sumner, one of the pallbearers at Elvis' burial service in 1977, claimed that Elvis' body was not in the casket.[citation needed]

[edit] Media examples

There have been many purported sightings of Elvis over the years and this has been a great source of inspiration for the mass media to draw upon. It has mainly to do with the unique iconic status that Elvis holds in society and that people still show enthusiasm for media articles about his life and work.

[edit] Print

  • In 1987, Gail Brewer-Giorgio wrote a book, Is Elvis Alive?, discussing the matter. She invited people to phone a premium-rate number to listen to her proof that he is. After one heard the proof, the caller would be instructed to make another premium-rate call to vote on if they believed Elvis was alive.
  • In the comic Bloom County, an old and obese Elvis is discovered by Binkley as a road worker after faking his death. Leaning against a steamroller, he tells his co-worker Dewey to pass him a doughnut, who responds with, "Ain't my job" (which, whether by coincidence or not, is a variation on deceased actor Freddie Prinze's catchphrase "That's not my job!" from the TV series Chico and the Man). In another appearance in the comic, Elvis (apparently manifesting the power of a fountain of youth) kisses an elderly woman at a bus stop, magically making her young again.
  • In Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, Ford Prefect buys a spacecraft with the monogram 'EP' from a mysterious character identified only as "The King". This character can be presumed to be Elvis Presley as Prefect mentions that the club he stays at has the best rock music in the galaxy, which agrees with Presley's status as "the king of rock and roll."
  • In DC Comics' Preacher, Jesse Custer picks up an old, balding hitchhiker late at night while driving to meet his friends. The man's face is never seen, as it is obscured by the shadows, but he talks of his former life of fame and how he gave it up to get back in touch with real society.
  • In his short story "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band," by Stephen King, the main characters wander into a ghostly Oregon town called Rock n' Roll Heaven, which is populated by dead music personalities. The mayor of the 1950s-style town is Elvis himself. [Both the title of the story and the name of the town are references to an early 1970s hit by The Righteous Brothers about singers and musicians who had died earlier. However, the song was out several years prior to Elvis' death.]
  • In Good Omens, one character is playing on a quiz machine, and spectators try to help. When the question of the year of Elvis' death comes up, and the spectators agree on 1976, the player, who turns out to be Death, says, "I DON'T CARE WHAT IT SAYS, I NEVER LAID A FINGER ON HIM." There are several other references to Elvis, such as a tabloid claiming that Elvis is working in a Burger Lord (and later, a man working in Burger Lord, singing Elvis tunes).
  • The Onion's fake-headline book Our Dumb Century includes a headline "dated" August 17, 1977, reading, "Elvis Dead - Is Elvis Alive?" Quotes from the article include, "Said coroner Bertrand McAlister, 'The fact that he wasn't breathing, that he was cold and colorless in appearance and that his heart was not beating, led me to wonder, "Could he be alive?"'"
  • In 1994, Steve Brewer published a mystery novel called Lonely Street, regarding a mysterious celebrity by the name of Mr. Aaron who, as the plot thickens, is revealed to be the real Elvis Presley. He is not just alive and well, but in the process of returning to normal life after faking his own death in 1977. A film adapted from the novel is slated to release in late 2007, and will star Robert Patrick as the mysterious celebrity.
  • In the Eoin Colfer novel The Wish List, St. Peter and Beelzebub discuss the ramifications of a human returning to Earth after their death. They reference one other case similar to the main characters, calling him "that rock-n-roll singer with the hair". This reference reoccurs throughout the novel.
  • In the Charles de Lint novel, Spirits in the Wires, so many people believe that Elvis is still alive that he actually is, in the form of three spirit-beings, each a different age (Young Elvis, Movie Elvis and Vegas Elvis).
  • In the Doctor Who story, 'The Resurrection Casket', one robot who crewed on Hamlek Glint's lost ship was named Elvis (later referred to as King when trying to crew for the Doctor), he had similar features to the real Elvis. The robot is sold for scrap metal by his captain and presumed lost by everyone, until his unexpected return as both Elvis to Silver Sally, and King to the the TARDIS' crew, McCavity and Jim.

[edit] Music

  • Argentinian musician Andres Calamaro wrote a song called "Elvis Está Vivo" (Elvis Is Alive) for his 1997 album, Alta Suciedad. Though the song is most probably nothing more than a joke, in it he claims Elvis is alive and watching his own funeral, on a crystal toilet, in a room with gold leopard wallpaper, and that Bob Dylan and everyone in Memphis knows, but they are "very discreet".
  • Another Argentinian tribute is the Song "Jaque al Rey" from Number Eight, who claims that "Elvis is playing chess, and he's a truck driver trough Argentina".
  • Punk band "Inner City Unit" released a song "Bones of Elvis" on their 1981 album "The Maximum Effect," suggesting that "ELVIS" stands for "Everlasting Life Via Induced Suspended-Animation" and that his death was a boon to the Elvis industry (lyric "noone has to pay a corpse").
  • Scottish-based band Belle and Sebastian recorded a song entitled "A Century of Elvis". The song speaks in prose of how Elvis has come to visit the speaker after shuffling around his door one night. He speaks of watching "The E-Files" with him, and surmises that Elvis has come to reside there because "[the speaker] read somewhere that he likes squirrels".
  • Mojo Nixon's "Elvis is Everywhere" claims he is in fact everywhere except in Michael J. Fox. He is also trying to get out of Joan Rivers.
  • British band 'Scouting for Girls' released a 2008 single named 'Elvis Aint Dead'.
  • Argentinian band Kapanga wrote a song simply called "Elvis", in which they state that Elvis Presley is not dead: he's still alive and living in Villa Carlos Paz, a city located on Córdoba, Argentina. The song is, of course, a joke.

[edit] Television

Various television shows have also had a field day poking fun at the urban legend, some examples of this are listed below:

  • In Boy Meets World, Cory is looking for Shawn at Chubbie's, Chubbie calls out an order and Shawn comes up to the counter. Cory remarks his amazement to which Chubbie replies "No, this is amazing." He calls out another order and Elvis comes up to the counter. The King takes his food and says "Don't tell anyone I was here."
  • In a 1988 episode of the sitcom ALF, Alf believed that his neighbor was actually Elvis after he took a peanut butter and banana sandwich, and then looked for other clues, including the man's name (Aaron King), to prove, ultimately unsuccessfully, that he was Elvis.
  • The TV show Eerie Indiana featured Elvis in the show's introduction, suggesting that he was alive and well living in 'Eerie'.
  • The BBC television show called Give My Head Peace had a Christmas special entitled "The King and I".[3] This featured a plot line of Elvis saving one of the characters (Uncle Andy) from a very dangerous situation. After telling his friends the story, everyone is convinced that he is suffering from mental illness and in a bid to save him from the psychiatric ward, Mervyn (Andy's friend) takes him to Graceland to show him Elvis' grave and shock him back to reality. The plan backfires and Andy insists on digging up Elvis' coffin to check inside. After being chased back to Belfast, Mervyn is shocked into believing Andy in a comedy ending when Elvis himself (played by impersonator Martin Fox[4]) pops around to check if Andy is OK.
  • In an early episode of In Living Color, they poked fun at Elvis sightings making a short spoof documentary similar to ones showing expeditions to find Bigfoot.
  • In 1991 and 1992, actor/director Bill Bixby (who starred in two movies with Presley and was also one of Elvis' close friends) hosted a program live from Las Vegas titled The Elvis Files. People called in to ask questions to an "expert panel" on why they thought Elvis was alive. Radio host Howard Stern even called in to make fun of the program. At the end of the show, the final results of the call-in poll stated people believed Elvis was alive.
  • On an episode of The New WKRP in Cincinnati, someone called Les Nesman claiming to be Elvis. It later turned out to be a joke by a rival station.
  • On an episode of The Fairly OddParents, Chester and his dad stumble upon a "underground sandhouse" where Elvis is living. In that same episode, Cosmo is looking for his and Wanda's magic wands and says "All I found was this cup (holding up the Holy Grail) and this guy (showing Timmy Elvis)!" Later in that episode, Elvis reappears talking about his "underground beach kingdom".
  • An episode of science fiction television series Sliders features the character Rembrandt Brown, a soul music singer, meeting a successful alternate version of himself who fakes his own death to escape the pressure of celebrity life, in reference to the alleged rumours concerning Elvis' death.
  • In an episode of Married... with Children, Peg runs into a man who she believes is Elvis. Then, more "proof" pops up when one of Al's shirts has a sweat stain that shows the profile of the King.
  • In an episode of Cheers, Sam dreams that he talks to Elvis on the TV set in the bar. Sam later tells Frasier and Frasier replies, "I'll tell you the same thing I tell my patients, the man is dead."
  • In the opening credits of The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror IV," a tombstone can be seen reading "Elvis: accept it". Also in the opening credits of the episode "The Telltale Head" it can be read on Bart's blackboard : "I did not see Elvis".
  • In an Animaniacs episode, when the Warners say goodnight to each other, Yakko says, "Good night, Elvis!" then an Elvis voice says, "Thank you very much, but I don't want anybody to know I'm in here."
  • In The X-Files episode "Shadows", Fox Mulder says "Only one person has ever successfully faked his own death: Elvis".
  • In an episode of Full House, Jesse visits a local bar after having a fight with his family where he is given words of wisdom by someone he believes to be Elvis due to the strong resemblance, voice, and the fact he was reading a magazine with an Elvis sighting (the person did little to settle the issue when he insisted more people confused him for Wayne Newton). In another episode, when Becky and Jesse have and argument, Becky claims "Elvis is a dead person' and Jesse claims "That hasn't been proved yet."
  • In an episode of "Hey Arnold!" a character similar to Elvis Presley fakes his own death, only to be replaced by an impersonator who marries his wife etc. The character fakes death so his music will sell, and eventually comes back at a performance of his imposters, who look like Elvis imposters.
  • In an episode of Eek! The Cat, Eek says to a bunch of ghosts to say hi to Elvis, they respond, "Who's Elvis?" implying that he is still alive. Another episode dealt with a singer called "Melvis the Cat" faking his own death to escape show business, and a Tom Parker-like manager abducts Eek and forces him to impersonate "Melvis".
  • In the 1986 series remake of The Twilight Zone Jeff Yagher is an Elvis impersonator transported back in time to 1954 where he meets the real Elvis preparing for his first audition. They argue and fight over Elvis' music and the real Elvis is killed, leaving the impersonator to assume the King's mantle. The episode was called The Once and Future King.
  • In the Father Ted episode "Competiton Time", Fathers Dougal and Jack copy Father Ted's idea of impersonating Elvis at a priest talent show. In fear of losing to another group of parish priests, the trio decide to appear as one act; "Elvis through the ages". Dougal represents Elvis at the beginning of his career, Ted represents Elvis during his recording and acting peak and Jack represents the fat inebriated Elvis just before death. Ted's parish wins against his nemesis Father Dick Byrne.
  • Two episodes of Captain N: The Game Master had the kingdom of Faxanadu being ruled by a "King Melvis", who has the same stage costume and ducktail hairstyle as Elvis, a possible implication that Elvis had gone to the video game world and was coronated ruler of Faxanadu.
  • In the American Dad episode "Vacation Goo", Steve wants to visit Graceland, only to have his father reply, "Steve, if you want to pay your respects to a fat man who died on the toilet, we can visit your Aunt Mary's grave."
  • On an addition of TNA impact!, Eric Young is seen going to Memphis looking for Elvis claiming he's alive. This was only to promote TNA's upcoming PPV in Nashville.

[edit] Film

  • Harvey Keitel plays Elvis in Finding Graceland.
  • The idea of Elvis' non-death was taken to its zaniest conclusion in the 2002 movie Bubba Ho-tep in which Bruce Campbell plays a man in a nursing home who claims to be the real Elvis, and to have switched places with an Elvis impersonator named Sebastian Haff in the early 1970s. The movie plot indicates it was Haff, not the real Elvis, who died at Graceland in August of 1977.
  • In 1992 movie, Death Becomes Her in final scenes there's a party for immortal clients of Lisle on which Elvis appears. Lisle tells him not to show himself in newspapers and Elvis says he just wanted to have some fun.
  • In the 1991 film Hot Shots! Topper Harley blames a near accident on a sighting of Elvis. Lieutenant Commander Block simply replies "Face it, the King is dead."
  • In the 2000 film Red Planet, Val Kilmer's character jokingly states "I saw Elvis" after jettisoning himself into space from the surface of Mars.
  • In the movie Men in Black, when Agent J (Will Smith) asks Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) if he understands that Elvis is dead, K replies, "No, Elvis is not dead. He just went home".
  • In 2007, a feature documentary entitled The Truth About Elvis is scheduled for release, in which Dr. Nick, Joe Esposito, Linda Thompson, George Klein, Bill Beeny, Phil Aitcheson, Monte Nicholson and others talk about this urban legend.
  • In the movie True Romance, Elvis, played by Val Kilmer, appears in the background of several scenes and consults the main character on important decisions.
  • In the movie Die Hard 2, John McClane told the cop that he saw Elvis Presley (because one of the police officers turns out to be the one who towed his in law's car.)
  • In Independence Day when the alien ship where above L.A. one of the people on the building says,"Oh God, I hope they bring back Elvis!"
  • In the 1990 film RoboCop 2, in the evil villan's lair, Robocop walks past the bony remains of Elvis in a glass coffin.
  • In The 2007 Oasis Rockumentary, Lord Don't Slow Me Down, Liam Gallagher Claims he was saved from drowning by Elvis. Its shows him telling his story to some friends and concluding with "..I told my mum I nearly drowned and that I'd been saved. Me Mum asked me - 'who saved you then?' and I went - Fucking Elvis!"

[edit] Video Games

  • Main theme of 1988 Lucas Film adventure game Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders was Alien Invasion by Elvis Impersonators from Outer Space led by an Alien named "The King". The 'words of power' (Gnik Sisi Vle) that mend the crystal in Stonehenge read 'Elvis is king' backwards.
  • Grand Theft Auto 2 has a line of Elvises similar to the Hare Krishna's in GTA1 - killing all the men gives a bonus.
  • Grand Theft Auto 3 features scattered newspaper front-covers which read "Zombie Elvis Found"; such newspapers can also be seen in its sequel, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Also in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Elvis lookalikes are pedestrians in Las Venturas.
  • In Earthworm Jim 3D, in the level "Are You Hungry Tonight?", Jim must rescue "The King" who heavily resembles and parodies Elvis, and gets turned into a burger.
  • In Perfect Dark, the main character, Joanna Dark, works with a short alien who identifies himself as "Elvis".
  • In Civilization 3, there is a picture of an Elvis impersonator at the end of the credits. Also, in Civilization 2, an Elvis-like person serves as the player's Cultural Advisor.
  • After giving a lottery ticket to Greg Sanders to analyse in CSI: Dark Motives, he initially leads Catherine to believe that it's a winner, but after getting her excited, he says "Naw, I just thought I saw Elvis Presley buying a corndog at a convenience store the other day".
  • Elvis makes a cameo appearance at StarCon Academy in Space Quest V: The Next Mutation.

[edit] Radio

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The first post-mortem Elvis sighting likely occurred on August 16, 1977, when a man calling himself "John Burrows" (who bore a startling resemblance to Elvis) was seen buying tickets, with cash, to Buenos Aires. Adding credibility to the sighting was the fact that "John Burrows" is a known alias that Elvis often used when on tour.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Elvis Death Certificate. ElvisPresleyNews.com (2006). Retrieved on 2006-06-08.
  2. ^ Elvis' middle name, is it Aron or Aaron?. Elvis.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-26.
  3. ^ The King and I (Give My Head Peace, Episode 5). BBC Television, broadcast 26th December 2003 (2003). Retrieved on 2006-06-08.
  4. ^ Elvis Impersonator. Martin Fox (2003). Retrieved on 2006-06-08.
  5. ^ http://www.discoverychannel.co.uk/conspiracies/famous_people/elvis/index.shtml

[edit] See also

[edit] External links