On 16 July 2016, the death of UFO investigator Max Spiers (or Maxwell Bates-Spiers,) (1976–2016) caused controversy among some conspiracists, which led to reports from

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

and other news outlets. Spiers died on 16 July 2016 in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, while visiting a friend. In a multi-part short documentary series on his death, made by the BBC, his mother stated that she had been concerned about Spiers's

mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

prior to his death and that she believed he had "gotten involved with the wrong crowd." A final video taken of Spiers before his death revealed what his mother interpreted as signs of

substance intoxication Substance intoxication is a transient condition of altered consciousness and behavior associated with recent use of a substance. It is often maladaptive and impairing, but reversible. If the symptoms are severe, the term "substance intoxicatio ...

; she had seen him in a similar state in the past after using

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

. Another conspiracist, who was close to Spiers, suggested that his drug use was controlled by

extraterrestrial life Extraterrestrial life, or alien life (colloquially, aliens), is life that originates from another world rather than on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been scientifically conclusively detected. Such life might range from simple forms ...

Background

Spiers had been interested in conspiracy theories from a young age. He later recalled various events including

out-of-body experience An out-of-body experience (OBE or sometimes OOBE) is a phenomenon in which a person perceives the world as if from a location outside their physical body. An OBE is a form of autoscopy (literally "seeing self"), although this term is more common ...

s, which he used to justify conspiracy theories, including the belief that he had been given supernatural powers at birth. Spiers also suffered severe

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...

, which sometimes left him completely debilitated. Spiers believed in a variety of

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

events, such as that he had been altered as a child to become a

supersoldier A super soldier (or supersoldier) is a concept soldier capable of operating beyond normal human abilities through technological augmentation or (in fictional depictions) genetic modification or cybernetic augmentation. Soldiers that obtain greate ...

. Spiers's credibility as a conspiracy theorist has been doubted by other conspiracists, including Adam Borowski from Radio Paranormalium, a Polish independent journalist who stated Spiers "seemed to collect the research of other people and present it as his own," and that he had never proven any abilities related to his claim of being made a supersoldier at birth. While in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, he sustained a crack to his pelvis and was prescribed potent

opiate An opiate is an alkaloid substance derived from opium (or poppy straw). It differs from the similar term ''opioid'' in that the latter is used to designate all substances, both natural and synthetic, that bind to opioid receptors in the brain ( ...

s for pain relief. Spiers later developed an

opioid use disorder Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a substance use disorder characterized by cravings for opioids, continued use despite physical and/or psychological deterioration, increased tolerance with use, and withdrawal symptoms after discontinuing opioids. ...

. Unable to acquire more prescription opiates, Spiers began using

. There are claims that Spiers

relapse In internal medicine, relapse or recidivism is a recurrence of a past (typically medical) condition. For example, multiple sclerosis and malaria often exhibit peaks of activity and sometimes very long periods of dormancy, followed by relapse or r ...

d while in Poland, and a video taken shortly before his death seems to provide grounds for this; according to his mother, he behaved the same way he did after using heroin.

Death

Spiers died in Poland from an overdose of

Xanax Alprazolam, sold under the brand name Xanax among others, is a fast-acting, potent tranquilizer of moderate duration within the triazolobenzodiazepine group of chemicals called benzodiazepines. Alprazolam is most commonly prescribed in the ...

on 16 July 2016.

Investigation and aftermath

Spiers was returned to the United Kingdom six days after his death. However, the Spiers family was advised to not view his body due to the extreme deterioration his face had undergone. At this point, he was unrecognizable. On 30 August 2016, an investigation was launched by Polish authorities into the circumstances surrounding Spiers' death, including a possible involuntary

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

. In December 2016, British authorities announced they would launch an

inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a cor ...

into his death, which is distinct from an investigation aiming to convict. A coroner told the inquest he was waiting to receive a report from Polish authorities. As a result, the proceedings were adjourned until February 2017. On 7 January 2019, the cause of Spiers's death was released as drugs and pneumonia. Spiers’s mother claims that the Polish authorities will not release the paperwork containing the details about her son’s death without her written consent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiers, Max 1976 births 2016 deaths British conspiracy theorists Deaths attributed to Xanax overdose Deaths by person in Poland Ufologists