CD-ROM review: The answer is out there - but not here

By Roy Bassave

Knight Ridder Newspapers

Fifty years ago Friday night, something came down from the sky outside the small town of Roswell, N.M., leading the U.S. government to issue a press release stating that a ``flying disc'' had crashed.

That release was almost immediately retracted, the unidentified object labeled a weather balloon, and a veil hastily drawn over the whole affair. For years, the incident at Roswell has captivated people's imaginations - and fueled conspiracy theories. Interest in UFOs and extraterrestrials continues; witness the popularity of such entertaining fare as ``Independence Day'' and ``The X-Files.''

Many Earthlings like myself want to believe something exists out there, but I must admit that, like many people, I am skeptical.

So with a huge grain of salt I looked over a CD-ROM called ``Incident at Roswell,'' released by OmniMedia, a British multimedia publisher.

Once this nonflying disc is loaded into your computer, you can access segments of a TV special that aired first in Great Britain and then, in 1995 and 1996, on the Fox network as ``Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction.'' The CD-ROM also contains a 20-minute black-and-white video - portions of which were on the TV special - that purports to show the autopsy of an alien crash victim. (Warning: The autopsy footage is extremely graphic and is not for children.)

The program features a VHS-style control bar, which allows for freeze-frame viewing of the film - if you're so inclined - and direct access of specific clips.

In addition, the CD-ROM offers links to Roswell-related Web sites; film that's said to show part of the wreckage, strange metal that could be crushed by hand but was not marked or broken; partially blacked-out documents released under the Freedom of Information Act, and discussion of more documents that are said to be missing; and alternative scenarios about what might have happened at Roswell on Independence Day 1947 - still one of the most sensational mysteries of our time.

INCIDENT AT ROSWELL

PC minimum system requirements: 486DX or better, 8MB of RAM, VGA card with 256 colors, color monitor, 2X CD-ROM drive, sound card and speakers, modem optional, Windows 3.1 or Windows 95.

Macintosh system requirements: Performa or better/33Mhz, 8MB of RAM, color monitor with 256 colors, 2X CD-ROM drive, QuickTime 1.6.1 or higher, System 7.0.1 or higher.

Estimated selling price, manufacturer: $19.95; OmniMedia.

Roy Bassave can be e-mailed on America Online at RBASSAVE(at)AOL.com or on the Internet at Tekzar(at)Shadow.net

(c) 1997, The Miami Herald.

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AP-NY-07-08-97 0627EDT