Title: 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 Type: Wire report Organization: Associated Press Date: March 20, 1996 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. --30--LES/np APEX-03-20-96 1359CST ###