Elvis Sightings

Since Elvis Presley's death on August 16th, 1977, various false and discredited conspiracy theories have circulated stating that he may still be alive. "Elvis sightings" from people incorrectly claiming to have seen him after this date are a phenomenon both as an ironic meme and also as part of a genuine belief for some.

In the early 1980s, the possibility of Presley still being alive was a niche topic discussed by a fringe demographic of fans in underground zines. It crossed over into widespread media attention in 1987 after a woman named Louise Welling falsely claimed to have seen Elvis at a Burger King in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The absurdity, "Middle America-ness" and the sound of the name "Kalamazoo" made for an ironic, light story in newspaper and television outlets. Theories and misinformation on the topic were then widely popularised by authors Gail Brewer-Giorgio and Major Bill Smith, who were given a platform by American and international media. Two TV specials on the subject of Elvis sightings, ''The Elvis Files'' and ''The Elvis Conspiracy'', aired internationally in 1991 and 1992.

Since then, popular interest in the topic has waned but Elvis sightings have stayed resonant as a part of pop culture. The conspiracy theory itself has become iconic as an example of the "genre" and a forerunner of the post-truth era, going on to influence many other theories including QAnon.

History and evolution of the conspiracy theories

1977-early 1980s: Pre-Kalamazoo

Presley died on August 16, 1977. His death is easily verifiable. Presley's body was found in his ensuite bathroom at Graceland by his girlfriend Ginger Alden, who raised the alarm and quickly summoned his father Vernon Presley and close friend Joe Esposito, as well as his daughter Lisa Marie Presley, who were all first-hand witnesses. The body was then transported to the Memphis Baptist Hospital, where medical personnel produced both a death certificate and an autopsy report on file with the State of Tennessee.

The earliest known Elvis sighting was the very next day at the Memphis International Airport where a man resembling him supposedly gave the name "Jon Burrows" when boarding an international flight. This was the name Presley travelled under during his lifetime, and searching for uses of this name post-1977 became a recurring theme of the conspiracy theory.

In 1978, author Gail Brewer-Giorgio published a novel entitled ''Orion'' based on Presley's life but with an ending in which the main character fakes his own death. At the same time, an album was released on Presley's former label Sun Records featuring a masked singer named "Orion" with a voice similar to Presley's. Some interpreted the release of the book and album together as meaning that Presley was still alive and had begun recording as "Orion". The singer was in fact Jimmy Ellis, with the Sun Records brand identity having been sold to Shelby Singleton since its iconic 1950s heyday. Brewer-Giorgio claimed at the time to have no connection to Ellis or this other use of "Orion". In later years, she would even claim that Ellis and Singleton had violated her copyright. However, in the 2015 documentary ''Orion: The Man Who Would Be King'', both Ellis and Brewer-Giorgio say they worked together on the "Orion" phenomenon in advance of both the book and album coming out. Ellis claims that Brewer-Giorgio approached him after a performance and told him "You are Orion."

In 1979, a two-part TV special investigating Presley's death entitled ''The Elvis Cover-Up'' aired on '' 20/20'', hosted by Geraldo Rivera. The "cover-up" referred to was an attempt to hide Presley's dependence on prescription medication and the role this played in his death, which the special documents thoroughly. The second part directly implicated Presley's former doctor, George C. Nichopoulos. Rivera does not imply at any time in this special that Presley may still be alive. However, a common misinterpretation of the special's title unintentionally lay the groundwork for a belief that this may be the case. Brewer-Giorgio would later capitalise on this by citing the special as evidence Presley was alive, at a time when it was not easily available to be viewed.

Meanwhile, Ellis went onto some success performing as "Orion" while masked, including to some fans who genuinely believed that he was in fact Presley. However, the novel ''Orion'' fell out of print and did not succeed. Brewer-Giorgio blamed this on deliberate publisher neglect and claimed that the reason behind this was that she had "gotten too close to the truth". This theory became the basis for her next "non-fiction" book, ''The Most Incredible Elvis Presley Story Ever Told!''

In the early 1980s, a recording began to circulate among fans that purported to be a recent interview with a living Presley discussing his life in hiding. The man on the tape tells the interviewer that he has been travelling internationally and has grown a beard "to keep from being recognised". An album of the same man singing was also released, entitled ''Do You Know Who I Am?'', credited to "Sivle Sings Again" or "Sivle Nora" ("Elvis" and "Elvis Aron" spelt backwards). The album contained new versions of various Presley songs plus a cover of Eddie Rabbitt's 1980 hit " I Love A Rainy Night". During " Loving You", the singer stops the band to say that "somebody" just told him about the 1981 attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan. The voice on these tapes was actually David Darlock, who later claimed that he was commissioned by the Eternally Elvis fan club who told him it was all intended for a fictional production.

1987-1991: Post-Kalamazoo

In 1987, a woman named Louise Welling claimed to have seen Elvis at a Burger King in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This was picked up widely in newspapers, radio and television as it made for an attention-grabbing story, partly due to the "Middle America"-ness of the location and the sound of the name "Kalamazoo". The incident led to increased publicity for Elvis sightings and the conspiracy theory in general. Brewer-Giorgio appeared widely on television throughout 1988 discussing her theory. She was given a platform by Oprah Winfrey, Larry King and Rivera, all of whom helped elevate the conspiracy theory to international prominence.

Amidst the hype, ''The Most Incredible Elvis Presley Story Ever Told!'' was picked up by Tudor Books and reprinted in an expanded edition as ''Is Elvis Alive?'' This edition came bundled with a cassette of the Darlock recording, interspersed with commentary by Brewer-Giorgio speculating as to whether it may be Presley's voice, which it was not. The book was a significant commercial success, and ''Orion'' was also reprinted by Tudor.

Record producer Major Bill Smith was also a prominent figure in perpetuating the conspiracy theory. Smith authored a book entitled ''Memphis Mystery'' on the subject and claimed to be in current communication with Presley, releasing recordings that were purportedly of his voice recorded after 1977. On one occasion, Smith even went as far as to bring a man he falsely claimed to be Presley on air to do a live radio interview and take questions from callers. The interview can be heard on a cassette released by Smith, ''Elvis Lives''.

In late 1988, record label LS Records released the song " Spelling on the Stone", sung by an unknown vocalist purporting to be Presley. The song's narrative suggested that Presley had not actually died, and that he was trying to communicate this to the world by deliberately misspelling his middle name "Aron" as "Aaron" on the tombstone at Graceland. In reality, the "spelling on the stone" is of no consequence as Presley used both spellings of his middle name interchangeably throughout his lifetime, including on his divorce certificate which clearly features "Aaron" in his own handwriting.

Even if the tombstone ''was'' "misspelled", which it was not, the conspiracy theory adds an unlikely supposition that the reason for this is that Presley chose not just to fake his own death - also deliberately making it appear as if he had died ''on the toilet'' no less - but also to leave clues for others to interpret. Nevertheless, airplay received by "Spelling on the Stone" on country music formats caused a number of listeners to call in to radio stations and report sightings of the singer after hearing the song, while program directors of said stations debated whether or not the song's vocal track was actually Presley. The middle name spelling also became a common feature of the conspiracy theory.

The semi-humorous ''Weekly World News'' tabloid ran hyper-exaggerated and sensationalised stories about Presley being alive for several years beginning in the late 1980s. These stories supposedly tracked Presley on his travels throughout the US and Canada, becoming an iconic part of the ''Weekly World News'' brand.

In 1989, Rivera hosted a TV special entitled ''Wanted: Elvis Dead or Alive'' in which he challenged Brewer-Giorgio and Smith about their claims and expressed anger that his work on ''The Elvis Cover-Up'' a decade earlier had been taken out of context. Darlock also appeared and told the live audience that he was the voice on the cassette that came with ''Is Elvis Alive?'', even producing the contract he originally signed to record the tape for what he claims he was told was a fictional production. To demonstrate his ability to impersonate Presley, Darlock then held a mock seance - only as entertainment, without making any supernatural claims - by focusing his gaze on Rivera's watch until the hands stopped, then rubbing his temples and concentrating. He then told the audience, in character as Presley:

1991-1992: Bill Bixby TV specials

In 1991, a live TV special entitled ''The Elvis Files'', hosted by former Presley co-star Bill Bixby, aired internationally. It featured Brewer-Giorgio and others discussing the false claims of Presley's possible faked death, and investigated numerous Elvis sightings. Amongst other misinformation, this special featured the "spelling on the stone" argument plus several 1980s-era photos that purportedly depicted Presley - including one of a man resembling him in the poolhouse at Graceland, and another man spotted alongside Reverend Jesse Jackson and Muhammad Ali. The men in these photos turned out to be Presley associate Al Strada and Larry J. Kolb respectively. Author Monte Nicholson also appeared to discuss his novel ''The Presley Arrangement'' about Presley faking his own death, which he claimed had also "disappeared" from bookstores.

A sequel special, ''The Elvis Conspiracy'', aired in 1992. Brewer-Giorgio did not appear as she had fallen out with Bixby and the producers. Nicholson appeared again to discuss a false and misleading correlation between a number of Elvis sightings and a supposed paperwork trail of Presley's social security number being used in various places after his death.

''The Elvis Conspiracy'' contained references to an FBI operation from 1977 called Operation Fountain Pen that involved Presley and a criminal organisation called The Fraternity, details of which had recently been uncovered from declassified documents. Combining this with the fact Presley had been gifted a badge granting him the status of a honorary FBI agent after visiting Richard Nixon in 1970, the special hypothesised that Presley may have gone into hiding after 1977 to work as a secret agent. While both Operation Fountain Pen and The Fraternity are based in fact, the operation only concerned fraud against Presley's father Vernon, who had been scammed by the group into paying inflated amounts for maintenance on one of Presley's jets. This combined with the fact that Presley's status as "an FBI agent" was strictly an honorary title means that there is no compelling argument that he may have faked his death for the purposes of being undercover.

The special also walked back and debunked numerous claims from the first, and featured interviews with real-life Presley associates Joe Esposito and Larry Geller, before ultimately coming to the conclusion that Presley was in fact dead. This displeased Brewer-Giorgio, who threatened to sue the producers. Bixby had also hosted the two specials while himself dying of cancer. In his final months he directed '' The Woman Who Loved Elvis'', a sympathetic and humanistic view of a Presley fan, before his death in 1993.

In late 1992, the ''Weekly World News'' announced that Presley had finally died. A follow-up article declared that this had also been a hoax.

1992 to present

Since the early 1990s, mainstream interest in the conspiracy theory has waned but Elvis sightings have continued both as a source of humor and from an increasingly fringe demographic of believers.

In 1995, R. Serge Denisoff published a book entitled ''True Disbelievers: The Elvis Contagion'' about the origins and history of the conspiracy theory.

After many years performing as "Orion", Ellis opened a pawn shop where he was shot and killed during an armed robbery in 1998.

In 1999, Brewer-Giorgio published her final book, ''Elvis Undercover: Is He Alive and Coming Back?'' Amongst other misinformation, this book claimed Presley may have been an extra in the 1998 film ''Finding Graceland''. That same year, some claimed to have seen Presley at Legoland California.

In January 2015, a fake news website claimed that an 80-year-old homeless man in San Diego named Jessie had been posthumously identified by DNA evidence as Presley. A groundskeeper working at Graceland was claimed to be Presley in 2016. One persistent rumour held that Presley was visible as an extra in the 1990 film ''Home Alone'', wearing a turtleneck and a sports jacket during a scene shot at an airport. The man turned out to be Gary Richard Grott, who died of a heart attack in February 2016. Another false "sighting" that has survived to the 2020s as an earnestly-believed conspiracy theory holds that Presley may be living as preacher Bob Joyce, despite the fact that Joyce is clearly significantly younger than a living Presley would be.

Brewer-Giorgio died on January 25, 2025 in Georgia.

Conspiracy theories about Presley's supposed faked death are considered a forerunner of many others both in pop culture and the political arena, including the idea that Avril Lavigne has been replaced as well as the 9/11 truth movement, QAnon and COVID denial.

In popular media

* The 1990 song " Elvis Is Dead" by the musical group Living Colour addressed rumors of Presley's survival.
* The 2002 film '' Bubba Ho-Tep'' stars Bruce Campbell as Presley, who switched identities with an Elvis impersonator but was unable to return to his old life after his counterpart died in 1977.
* Two other films, '' Elvis Has Left the Building'' (2004) and '' 3000 Miles to Graceland'' (2001), include references to Elvis being alive or sighted.
* ''The Simpsons'' routinely references Elvis being alive.
* In the episode "Suspicious Minds" of '' ALF'', ALF believes a neighbor is Elvis Presley.
* In ''Men in Black'', Agent K says that Elvis did not die, but simply "went home", presumably to his alien planet of origin.
* Shock jocks in the 1980s regularly referenced Elvis sightings, as has ''Saturday Night Live''. ''In Living Color'' also did segments purporting to hunt Elvis like a cryptid.Elvis Sighting: A Fox Special
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* In ''Death Becomes Her'', Elvis is shown at a secret party with other undead celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Andy Warhol.
*In '' Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind'', at the start of the level "Night of the Bobcat", the titular character says; "Hey, I thought I saw Elvis back there!".
*In '' Grand Theft Auto III'' and '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'' a newspaper article headline saying "Zombie Elvis Found" can be seen blowing around on the ground.
*In the second episode of the first season of '' The Red Green Show'', Red tells a story of how a friend allegedly saw Elvis at a grocery store.

References

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Urban legends
Elvis Presley
Presley, Elvis