| Live from a desk in
the Nevada desert, the talk-show host interviewed such "distinguished"
guests as "esteemed nuclear physicist" Stanton Friedman, the "dean" of
UFO researchers, who believes that world governments are engaging in a
"cosmic Watergate," and Dr. Steven Greer, an emergency room doctor who
claims to have exchanged light signals with flying saucers and seeks a
close encounter of the "fifth kind."
''Welcome to the loneliest place I've ever seen, somewhere in the heart
of the American West, somewhere north of Las Vegas, Nev.," Larry
opined, white shoes kicking up desert sand, jacket slung over his
shoulder as if he were on a date with Angie Dickinson (and apparently
missing his road map).
''Some say there's more than sand and scrub out here. Some say there
are secrets, maybe the biggest secrets ever, right behind those hills."
Some say maybe, possibly, the government is testing military equipment
somewhere, maybe, possibly, right behind those hills. Some say,
possibly, there may even be, potentially, a valley right behind those
hills.
Right behind those hills is Area 51, a super-secret military base where
the Stealth bomber was developed and tested and where the UFOers
believe the government is hiding the dirt from extraterrestrial
landings.
They're amazed when camouflaged soldiers carrying rifles in unmarked
white Jeeps chase them away. Did they expect a welcoming committee of
little green men?
''The proof is always just out of reach," the host said. Darn!
Human obsession with aliens and other supernatural or unexplained
phenomena goes back to the ancients, and no letup is in sight (unlike
those legions of flying saucers). On Sunday, Fox brought back
"Encounters: The Hidden Truth," an investigative magazine show
replacing Fortune Hunter, whose ratings were all too down-to-Earth.
The first fall installment of the summer tryout series took a look at
near-death experiences, explored the worldwide network of
"professionals" who research UFO information, talked to astronomers who
have identified structures on Mars that appear to be artificially
constructed, examined an asteroid that has been "scientifically proven"
to contain simple life forms, and investigated accounts of a
ghost-mother who was seen "rescuing" her son from death.
Decades after "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "The Thing," and
years after "E.T." and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," angels and
UFOs have descended upon TV and the movies again.
The "Star Trek" franchise thrives. A new film ("Star Trek:
Generations") is due in theaters Nov. 18, and a new television series
("Star Trek: Voyager") is set to kick off the fledgling
United/Paramount TV network in January.
CBS is airing a new fantasy series, "Touched by an Angel," Fox's "The
X-Files" is a cult hit and Paramount has "Sightings" in syndication.
TNT plans to repeat the King program, but no dates have been set.
On the skeptics' side, none other than the captain of the original
"Star Trek," William Shatner, offered an explanation for our interest
in UFOs: A culture gone astray wants to believe that a larger force can
put it back on the righteous path.
Said astronomist Carl Sagan: "It would be much more interesting if we
were being visited than if we're not. But extraordinary claims require
extraordinary evidence."
The famed Roswell cover-up of 1947 is the best believers can do. They
claim alien bodies were found near the site of a mysterious crash; the
government now says what crashed near a military base in New Mexico was
a balloon it was using to detect Soviet nuclear testing.
Evidently, however, Cold War paranoia is not a good enough explanation
for why the truth was hidden. If the government 'fesses up,
"researcher" Friedman said, "there goes the election for all the people
who have been lying."
And maybe, possibly, Genevieve Bujold quit "Star Trek: Voyager" because
the aliens told her to. Let's hope her replacement, Kate Mulgrew,
doesn't get spooked, too.
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