Elvis sightings
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Elvis sightings are a recurring phenomenon in which people claim to see American singer and rock star Elvis Presley, who died in 1977. Presley was born in 1935 so his projected age would not preclude the possibility that Elvis is still alive (as of 2005, he would be 70 years old). Critics of the theory that Elvis is still alive state that a number of Elvis impersonators can easily be mistaken for Elvis and that Elvis's fans merely don't want to believe he is actually dead.
Most people who believe Elvis is still alive posit that Elvis is spending the remainder of his life in solitude somewhere in the United States. Others posit extraterrestrial involvement, although these conspiracy theories may simply be an exercise in self-parody.
One meta-theory holds that stories of Elvis sightings are circulated by the CIA to discredit in advance stories of secret government weapons and activities. "Yeah, you saw a black plane that left regular puffballs of smoke behind it and by the way, Elvis just bought a doughnut in Kenosha."
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.
Television shows also had a field day poking fun at the urban legend. In an episode of the sitcom ALF, ALF believed that his neighbor was actually Elvis after he took a peanut butter and banana sandwich. On an episode of The New WKRP in Cincinnati, someone called Les Nesman claiming to be Elvis, which turned out to be a joke by a rival station.
In 1992, Bill Bixby (who starred in two movies with Presley) 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 shock jock 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.
Perhaps the idea of Elvis' non-death was taken to its logical 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.
In a bizarre footnote to the phenomenon, a large portrait of Elvis was seen in Iraq in June 2004, along with portraits of prominent Islamic figures.
Former bass back-up singer J.D. Sumner was one of the pallbearers at Elvis' burial service in 1978. He claims that Elvis' body was in the casket.
There is an official Elvis Sighting Society which make its World Heaquarters at the Newport Restaurant in the Westboro section of Ottawa, Ontario. Restaurant Owner Moe Atallah is one of the founders of the group.