ENTERTAINMENT WIRE NEWS

Internet UFO Group Media Archive

From:bethland@ix.netcom.com(Dave B)
Title:ENTERTAINMENT WIRE NEWS
Source:Associated Press
Date:March 20, 1996


NEVADA'S NEW "EXTRATERRESTRIAL HIGHWAY" GETS HOLLYWOOD-STYLE LAUNCH WITH 20TH CENTURY FOX'S "INDEPENDENCE DAY";

GOV. MILLER, FILM'S STARS TO ATTEND UNVEILING AND DEDICATION CEREMONY

Twentieth Century Fox's upcoming epic adventure film INDEPENDENCE

DAY

(ID4) explores the great "What If?"

What if visitors from another world showed up? What if tomorrow

morning, you walked out of your door and saw an enormous spaceship

hovering over your entire city? And what if you learned that the

same thing was happening across our planet?

While you will have to wait until the opening of INDEPENDENCE

DAY on July 3 for the answer to "What if...?" the response to the

equally intriguing question of "Where?" will be disclosed much

sooner. For on April 17 and 18, the worlds of state politics, UFOs

and Hollywood will come together for the unveiling and dedication of

one of the nation's current focal points of UFO discussion --

Nevada's "Extraterrestrial Highway."

The announcement was made Wednesday by Nevada Governor Bob

Miller, and Robert Harper, president of marketing at 20th Century

Fox.

Formerly known as Nevada State Route 375, the Extraterrestrial

Highway is located 140 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Most

significantly, it is situated just outside the top-secret Air Force

base known as Area 51. The facility has long been purported to be

the home of an alien research project, and UFO watchers and

believers regularly travel across the highway to congregate around

the terrain surrounding the off-limits base. Sightings of strange

phenomena are an everyday occurrence in the region.

The gala unveiling and dedication will get a starry kick-off in

Las Vegas on April 17, when Governor Miller and Fox host a special

screening of selected scenes from INDEPENDENCE DAY, followed by a

press and V.I.P. reception at Planet Hollywood. Several of the ID4

film makers and stars are also expected to participate.

The following morning, a large convoy of UFO watchers and movie

fans, many of whom were winners of special promotional contests held

across the country, will gather in Las Vegas, at a location to be

determined, in buses, limos, helicopters and R/Vs. The giant

ET HWY/ID4 convoy will then journey to the town of Rachel, which is

next to the highway, for the unveiling and dedication ceremonies.

Activities on site will include welcoming speeches by Governor

Miller and Nevada state officials, presentation of the key to the

Pioneer Territory to the ID4 stars and film makers, a panel

discussion with some of the nation's leading UFO experts, and

distribution of special ET HWY/ID4 commemorative items. The event

will culminate with the unveiling of the ET HWY signs and ID4

monument. The monument will serve as a beacon for possible `close

encounters' with visitors arriving from the far reaches of outer

space.

INDEPENDENCE DAY is the creation of the film makers behind 1994's

smash hit, "Stargate" - director/executive producer/co-creator

Roland Emmerich and producer/writer Dean Devlin. With ID4, they

have revolutionized and re-defined the way big-event movies are

produced through a new level of ground breaking effects techniques

and spectacular, never-before-seen images. In this epic adventure

film, strange phenomena surface around the globe. The skies

ignite. Terror races through the world's major cities. As these

extraordinary events unfold, it becomes increasingly clear that a

force of incredible magnitude has arrived; its mission: total

annihilation over the Fourth of July weekend. The last hope to stop

the destruction is an unlikely group of people united by fate and

unimaginable circumstances.

Twentieth Century Fox is a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, a

News Corp. company.