Elvis Presley is Still Alve

One of the biggest theories on why Presley may have faked his death is because he had to in order to escape the mafia. Gail Brewer-Giorgio, the author of the 1988 bestselling book Is Elvis Alive, recalled in a recent interview with TIME how she pored through thousands of FBI documents to come to the conclusion that Presley was an American hero who had to go into witness protection.

“Do I know if Elvis is alive today? No, I don’t know,” she said. “But I know he didn’t die on Aug. 16.”

Brewer-Giorgio, now 78, said the FBI enlisted Presley as an undercover agent in 1976 to help the agency infiltrate a criminal organization called “The Fraternity,” which was apparently made up of dozens of racketeers. Presley volunteered, spurred by his love of America and respect for the FBI, according to Brewer-Giorgio. The author said the agency had approached Presley because a member of “The Fraternity” had apparent dealings with Presley over the sale of an airplane the singer had. But when Presley was found to be a mole, he was put into the witness protection program, Brewer-Giorgio said, citing what she said was evidence from FBI documents and interviews.

“Elvis faked his death because he was going to be killed and there was no doubt about it,” she said.

The FBI did not immediately comment on the decades-old claim that Brewer-Giorgio describes at length in her book. There’s no mention of Presley aiding the FBI in the more than 760 files the federal agency has released that pertain to the singer between 1956 and 1980. The FBI never investigated Presley, but a folder in his name was created because he had been the target of several extortion attempts the FBI probed.