Officially, Elvis Presley died on August 16, 1977, at the age of 42, yet there are thousands of fans across the globe who remain convinced that the King is still alive and kicking.
Some say Presley faked his own death and bailed out of the music business to concentrate on flipping burgers to earn an honest buck.
Others swear he gave up the good life to rent jet-skis in Hawaii. A few remain convinced that Presley left Memphis, Tennessee, to become a nomadic door to door insurance salesman. And some have even suggested that the boy from Tupelo found refuge in a monastery in China and trained to become a Shaolin monk.
Although if you were one of the most famous people on the planet, and decided to fake your own death, surely there would be better false flag scenarios to put out there than dying on the toilet with an impacted colon?
A new theory proving very popular with “Elvis spotters” is that the burger-loving hound dog didn’t meet his end on a porcelain throne due to an overdose of prescription drugs, but disappeared, only to resurface years later as a pony-tailed, grey-haired groundsman living it large and tending to the lawns at Graceland.
As fan fiction goes, it’s a bit beyond the pale, but as the Daily Express reports, video clips of the man who could be the King have surfaced.
And the aforementioned clips have got fans claiming that Presley has not been pushing up daisies all these years, he’s been cutting the grass and living life on the down low instead.
Many Presley fans are all shook up at the possibility that although Elvis may have left the building, he’s still hanging around in the garden, but just how much credibility is there in this sensational Elvis as lawnmower man claim?
A video on YouTube called “Possible Elvis Sighting 6/1/2016,” posted by someone cryptically calling themselves “The Shadow” shows a portly nondescript dude in jeans, a baseball cap and a bright orange Elvis Presley t-shirt carrying out some routine lawn maintenance.
The guy walks towards the camera and gives what looks to all extent a two-fingered salute of the hostile variety to the cameraman who is busily intruding on his gardening endeavors.
However, this is interpreted as something completely different by The Shadow, who perceives the casual hand gesture as positive proof Elvis is alive and a keen gardener.
“Pay close attention as he walks up to the camera. He raises his two fingers to the top of his left head as a proof of life signal.
“In Chaldean Numerology the numerical value of a V sign in numerology is nine. The proof of life!
“He told us he is alive with the simple V sign. Number nine, ‘I’m Alive,’ He is giving us a clue that he knows we are all there watching him, and to his most loyal fans that he is indeed with us.”
Despite claims to the contrary and widespread ridicule, the Shadow fervently believes that the slightly portly pensioner is in fact the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
“Our personal view is it’s him. When you look at his walk and gait, and long arms, it’s him 100 per cent.
“As he approaches he looks at the camera. As he walks away he glances at the camera.”
When Elvis was 25 he broke a finger on his right hand which left him with a noticeable change. A change which YouTube viewer Clarissa Mutlag claims to have spotted on the video.
“Look at the pinky finger of his right hand … Welcome back!”
In a wave of enthusiasm, The Shadow then adds, “We confirmed with a few sources that used to work at Graceland that it’s him. As soon as they saw the images we sent, they wrote back and said ‘yes’, it is him as they remember him with the exact same pony-tail.”
“One said he had gained weight. But to be fair Elvis loves food and always had a problem with gaining weight so this should not be a surprise.
“Plus, hey he’s 81 years old … So we can cut him some slack!
“It’s OK Elvis, you’re entitled. We still love you, just the way you are.”
The theory has its fair share of critics, including a handful of YouTube users who snarled, “This guy is a little short to be Elvis,” and, “look at the way this guy moves. Elvis had more grace than this.”
Yet many Presley fans remain convinced that the gardener is the King, much in the same way that a few fans of The Doors believe Jim Morrison never died in a Paris bathtub but is currently living as a homeless hippy on the streets of New York.
We may never get to the bottom of this particular Elvis is not dead theory, but rumors abound that the Graceland grounds-man has been approached for comment and he simply replied, “One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready and go man go.”
[Photo by Keystone/Getty Images]