Our Conspiracy of the Week series has been ongoing for some months now, so we thought it was about time we took a look at one of the leading conspiracy theories the world has ever seen; was the death of Elvis Presley staged? Could the The King of Rock 'n' Roll actually still be alive? Let's take a look at what the conspiracists are saying...
Elvis Presley's death
Official records state that Elvis passed away on August 16, 1977, after suffering from a heart attack. The performer was in his Graceland mansion at the time, and was using the toilet when the heart attack struck. He was found on the floor of his bathroom by his girlfriend at the time, Ginger Alden, who called for an ambulance to take him to the Baptist Memorial Hospital. Efforts were made to revive him, but he never came around, and was pronounced dead at 3.30pm.
Elvis was just 42 when he passed away, with his drug addiction being partially blamed for the failure of his heart. Following a toxicology report, his blood was found to contain very high levels of the opiates Dilaudid, Percodan, Demerol, codeine and Quaaludes. Two pathologists also revealed that they'd found evidence of severe and chronic constipation, diabetes and glaucoma.
It all seems pretty cut and dry, right?
What if it was all fake?
There are some who believe Elvis had had enough of being in the spotlight, and wanted to live a life in peace following his prosperity. What better way to do that than faking your own death, so that people stop looking out for you? Still, that didn't stop one fan from spotting who they thought was Elvis shortly after his passing.
In Memphis airport, a man was spotted purchasing a one-way ticket to Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was said to share a look of the rock star, and gave the name of 'Jon Burrows' to airport staff. This was one of the many aliases Elvis would use when booking hotels, so could it have actually been the King himself?
Then there's the pool house photo which was taken, in which a man who looks suspiciously like Elvis was spotted. You can see it in the tweet below, but will need to open up the picture on a mobile to zoom in and get a close look!
Mike Joseph, who was visiting the Graceland property, took the photograph, but Joe Esposito said in an interview with Larry King that the person in the picture was actually Al Strada. Convinced?
The absolute strangest 'proof' we've seen however, comes from a clip in 1990 movie Home Alone. Despite the foundations of the conspiracy stating Elvis faked his death because he wanted to stay away from the glare of the public eye, some say that he yearned to be seen just one more time, and so signed up to play an extra in the movie.
You can check out the video below to see Elvis in his final years, compared to the lookalike in Home Alone...
NOTE: Conspiracies are theories often created with a lack of evidence. Each of our conspiracy reports are based on online research, but should never be taken as 100% fact.
NEXT WEEK: Is Britney Spears forced to use a baby voice in her music?
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