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EDITOR IN CHIEF & DESIGN DIRECTOR: BOB GUCCIONE

PRESIDENT & C.O.O.: KATHY KEETON VP/EDITOR: KEITH FERRELL EXECUTIVE VP/GRAPHICS DIRECTOR: FRANK DEV1N0 MANAGING EDITOR: CAROLINE DARK ART DIRECTOR: CATHRYN MEZZO 4 34 First Word The New Outer By Daniel Pinkwater Limits 6 By David Bischoff Communications Control over 8 your TV's transmission Mind is about to be By Steve Nadis hijacked. Get set for a new Beyond wave of SF thrillers. central control 45 Omni's Project Sounds Open Book By Ed Juge Implants, forensics, 12 and Part Two Artificial Intelligence of Omni's guide to By J. Blake Lambert investigating UFOs.

Managing (k \ the information Max Faget: overflow Master Builder 14 By James Oberg Wheels A rare look at the former By Jeffrey Hsu NASA wiz whose Highway surveillance genius propelled humans 16 into space. Electronic Universe By Gregg Keizer Fiction: 18 Resolve and Resistance Wings ByS. N. Dyer By Peggy Noonan 75 20 Interview: Learning Hazel O'Leary By Mary Ann Tawasha By Linda Turbyviile 21 Powerful talk Style from the Secretary By Fred Hapgood of Energy Underground architecture 96 24 When the inner mind is pushed to its Games Museums outer limits, the resulting harvest can cause both awe and By Scot Morris By Paul Kvinta horror. A peek into the minds behind 103 27 television's strangest new series. Cover art by Tsuneo Sanda. Last Word Continuum (Additional art and photo credits, page 90.) By Daniel Pinkwater

OMNI (ISSN 0149-8711) is published monthly in the United States and Canada by Omni Public=:iors mte -national Ltd., 277 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10172. Second-class postage paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: 7. Copyright Send address changes to Omni Magazine, Post Otfice Box 3041 , Harlan, IA 51537-3041 . Volume 17, Number © /& 1995 by Omni Publications International Ltd. All nclrs reserved. Tel. 1-800-289-6664; (212) 496-6100. OMNI is a registered trade-^7 mark of Omni Publications International Ltd. Printed in the USA by R. R. Donnelley & Sons Inc. and distributed in the USA, Canada, and United States territorial possessions by Curtis Circulation Company, 433 Hackensack Avenue, Hackensack, NJ 07601. Distributed in Australia and New Zealand by The Horowitz Group, P.O. Box 306, Cammeray NSW 2062 Australia. Distributed in the UK by COMAG, Tavistock Rd„ West Drayton, Middlesex, London UB77QE and the rest of the world by Worldwide Media Service, Inc.. 30 Montgomery Si., jersey City, NJ 07302. Entire contents copyrighted. Nothing may be repro- mentioned in duced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. Any similarity between places or persons the fiction or sernifiction and real places or persons living or dead is coincidental. Subscriptions: U.S., AFO—$24 one year; Canada and elsewhere—$36.38 one year. Single copies $3.95 in U.S., AFO, and Canada. Telephone: 1-800-289-6664. The pub- property lisher disclaims all responsibility to return unsolicited matter, and all rights in portions thereof remain the sole of Omni Publications International Ltd. Letters sent to Omni or its editors become the property of the magazine.

Printed in U.S.A. Canadian GST Registration #R1 26607589 , — FIRST WORD

WORDS TO WONDER: When reading really matters

By Daniel Pinkwater

can remember the exact mo- to be played with plenty of Errol ticipate in the ^'Celebrity Auc- tion," and its variants. Children ment when I broke the code Flynn swash and buckle. or I and became able to read. It Someone told me that people are given credits play money was during the second semester who probably can't read sing for every book read during a the streets of South given period. At the end of this of first grade. I had purchased a songs in children their Batman comic—the first brand- American cities about the char- period, can use in Garcia Mar- earnings to bid on autographed new comic I had ever owned. acters Gabriel Having invested a whole shiny quez's One Hundred Years of books, posters, T-shirts, chewed backyard dramati- pencils, cigar stubs, and other dime, I was determined to read Solitude. Our of artifacts donated by the likes of every word in the thing. And I did. zations were something this

kind. I, for one, did me, Sometimes, local merchants I can even remem- ~~ participated, and the kids ber some of the dia- W I not know that these have were books, and only can cash in their chits for pizza. many books for logus: Batman was JjflS: lH^ | practice, talking about scaling later did I encounter This is a bankrupt

them, first as Classic and I decry it. The message from all ages and a a building, some- pip commentator thing he and Robin Comics, and then in adult authority seems to me to for National Pub- could do because of full-scale, be, "Look, kids— reading is a

' .'-- : I don't like it myself, (which ~.:.'SY their athletic prowess. %[0^^M It needs to be said drag.

Dick and Jane that we were not en- is why I can't communicate any some other literary couraged or super- enthusiasm to you,) but if you'll Daniel Pinkwater characters with whom * \ vised by benevolent do it, we'll pay you." What's sug- in these exer- gested is that, in too many looks at I was familiar at the adults learning to read. time, never scaled /•ffi' cises. All the grown- cases, the wrong people are anything —and their ups knew was that representing books to the athletic prowess appeared lim- we were making a racket, waving young—and maybe that they're ited to chasing that insipid dog wooden sticks around, and get- representing the wrong books, of theirs, who was always mak- ting dirty. These were days when (but the state of the children's ing off with the red ball. there was no such thing as a book-publishing industry is too Dick and Jane. Batman and media specialist. Librarians were big a topic to tackle here. All I'll

Robin. It didn't matter. "I can read not kindly guides to the world of say is that a two-year moratorium figures on juvenile publications would do this!" 1 said. "I can read any- letters; they were severe told to noise, no harm except to me what thing!" And I did, from then on. who you not make — —

I thinking?). Even before i picked the lock get fingerprints on the books, or am time'. These matters would depress of the printed word, I had been fail to bring them back on

participating in semi-organized The preceptors and authori- me, except that I get other mail— libraries games in my middle-class Chi- ties I remember from my early from better schools and

cago neighborhood. These games days struck me as people who that serve their clients well. And I consisted of reenactments of his- showed up to do a day's work hear from actual kid readers, torical events of a certain kind: as we pupils did. The goal was who, having read something of Pickett's charge, the battle of to get through the reader and the mine, are ready to share their

San Juan Hill, Belleau Wood, iwo arithmetic book, and learn some own .efforts: "I read your book geography. Whether about the Blue Moose," wrote in Jima. I suppose these games had spelling and gone on in the backyards and we wound up well-rounded or one reader. "It was pretty funny empty lots, the details handed well-adjusted was our own busi- the way he moved into that guy's down by generations of older ness anyway, not theirs. It was up house. Have you ever seen a really brothers and sisters, since the to each of us, and our imagina- moose? I have not. Do they

wars we portrayed were current. tions, to see to it that culture was like clam chowder?" We also played Ivanhoe, The allowed to take care of itself. What these kids have discov- of, is in putting words to- Three Musketeers, The Hunch- I wound up as a writer ered that back of Notre Dame, Mysterious among other things, books for gether they have their own Island, and Twenty Thousand children and young adults. As questions to ask and their own to make. a re- Leagues Under the Sea. Captain such, I get a fair amount of mail. observations What

it lief. Culture be taking care Nemo was a choice role, I re- Some of comes from libraries may member, and D'Artangnan was and schools, inviting me to par- of itself yet.DO Explore the Internet!

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A-LKrv'ior. C'us-ii-ijiu "iiternet Users: Spc v.'h.is Deiplt in offer you! Stock quotes. Grower's Questions? Call 1-800-695-4005. Encyclopedia, news wires, and hundreds of oilier a few keystrokes away. Telnet to delphi.c Send e-mail to INFO® delphi.com and enter the username ant; password above I'or cDnnanunjicATiDfus wmm 1 mmmmmI BOBGUCCIONE ® READERS' WRITES:

Editor in- Chief & Publisher . KATHY KEETON Welcoming the aliens, growing our own rolling paper, President & COO QMN! PUBLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL LTD. and going with the flow THE CORPORATION Bob Guccione Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from .' Sounds of Silence body listens. Suggestions coming K .:!.>. . /: ?a, "i- : The ;: qOffu extraterrestrial race would make ;.'.'. oer Steve Nadis' interesting Sounds column an . . . effort to record sounds made by front-page news. Maybe that's what it Circulation on the to Richard M. Cohen Exec. V.F./ treasurer animals (December 1994) pointed out will take to bring our world back a

. ?./(. and Patrick J. Gavfr: Exe< V 'derations the speed with which we are losing safer, saner, and more loving condition. CnieU :' :::': : Sarah Brunswick Frank De Director species. The main reason we're losing James B M-it 7 culation wildlife— and all the distinctive Gresham, OR Hal Halpner V.P/Direcior of Manufacturing destruction of habitat. William Tynan VP./Technoiogy & Information sounds— is the Services That will continue unless we find a way Weed All About It Catherine Simmons-Grli V.P./Generat Counsel to persuade landowners to keep por- The kudzu article (Continuum, Decem- EDITORIAL tions of their property in natural or ber 1994) raises an issue many are VP/Ediior; Keith Perreil; Managing Editc | :.• -. seminatural condition. The Wilderness concerned with: deforestation caused itraub; |iifij &» ' is Em Iviu'chy; .'":rv<, . Society is proposing tax incentives and by paper manufacturing. There an " -fcvvLeJariDavia; other inducements to create a national alternative. There's a plant which can ileen Stein; Assoc. Editors: Denny Aikin, Anna Cope- in all 50 states and doesn't j; Copy Chief: John J< network of "Lifelands," made up of grow wild :'...,...... 1: ecologically significant private and need pesticides as other cash crops do. isfenfc Mary Ann Tawasha; Lfera/y Rights iions Din Hilda Cosmo; Games Editor: Soot public lands. We need to act before the One acre of this plant will produce as 'ribuiing Editors: Jsne Boavelc, Tom Dworjt- hear from back- much putp for paper as 4.1 acres of 20- , ..!.. only sounds you come zky, Gregg 'Keizer. Bill Lawrsn, Linn • m " " 10' is of higher ;es: 277 Park Avenue, New York, NY 2 "U- hoes and chain saws. year-old trees, and the paper le 496-6!0D, "ieiey; 237128. Fax (212) 580-3533 (212) G. Jon Roush, President quality. Best of all, this plant contains so

.ART , The Wilderness Society little lignin that poisonous dioxin-pro- IfecfOfv Cathryn Mezzo; Se.'M.' Assoc. Art Director. Washington, DC ducing chemicals aren't needed in the lolas E. 1 : It's cannabis. /.. ,... jid. .. . paper-making process. ;

HA: > San! i0 ?° fc Greeting the Little Green Men That's the real reason marijuana is illegal. Guccione; Jane Homlisfr The replies from influential persons were DeLani Bartlette-Hunt ADVERTISING AND MARKETING extremely interesting (What Would You Springdale, AR

Say to an Alien?, January 1995). It seems .:,,-- ii : ffe:cy ntiai : Ssn/o i/P that the most useful and engaging came Seeking Flow hern Adv M <

::,-... Csikszentmi- Saies: frank A. Bal CnfiKfri, Fkjn from a fictional television character The article on Professor - z\&; Midwest A (y W; yoi-,: rami (Tom Servo), a comedian (Steve Allen), halyi and "Flow" (Interview, January Adv Manage Hooert L Perkinu Ass jc, Adv. Man- Elli- an interesting one, but what acfer, e Han it Rogs r, Nati Direct- and a science-fiction writer (Harlan 1995) was Adv.. Production Response Mgr,: Yvonne Marie; son). Conspicuous by the absence of he spoke so eloquently about, and Director: Chariene Smith; Am Prod. Traffic Manager: researching, has Fay'the Goldman; Adv. Prod. Assoc Manage;: Jon their comments were the top political spent so much effort irulio'hs. York; -ark Avenue, New Offioes; Wei* 277 leaders. Speaking of politicians: After been taught and studied for thousands

I (election of years. It's Zen, and Buddhist monks ax (212) 580-3693; Midwest: 1.11 E Wackar Dr., reading some of their remarks Chicago, IL f urm r (312) 19- pursuing " speeches?), God help us if they get and martial artists have been . , ... from it for cen- ..' 24 hold of these visitors first. What would I the "flow" that derives . 1 'iuth; P.O. I say? "Live long and prosper, let's touch turies. "Flow' can be reached by mar- I (703) 33! .os Angeles: well as the Tel. butts, and beware." tial arts exercises, as 5728 Eton Ave. , Canoga Park, CA 91303, (BIS) 9S

', Fax : yd?-* :-..d. .!*; Mike Chandler activities that the professor mentions. 7040 W. Paln-ift"Q Park Re, Suite 308, £ Fort Walton Beach, FL In searching for "flow" one should be Raton. .F.L 33433, Tel, (407) 391-0104, Fax (407) ; 5074; U.K & Europe; Fat #2, 10 Stafford Terr; AOL: Entwine reminded of the ancient Zen koan, London W07BH, England, "lei. 011-^-71-937 ." "Seek it, and you cannot find it . . Japi ;, Ltd., Pre ..' .. en. 3-Chome, The general collective consensus of A. G. Burnett

, Miriaioki Ti. . . Reno. NV - r) the respondents indicates we won't be IGLP D Fa; 4 1 harsh reality AOL:RattJe811Da ADMINISTRATION gracious hosts. Sadly, the of species is not one of open arms. V.P., Finance and Administration: Thomas P. ivlaley: our V.P/0-,;.:i*r V.P.. Financial Operations: James Ivl. Folio; the aliens come, who will repre- something to say but no time to ...... When Got . . , .. sent our species? write? Call (900) 285-5483. Your com- Ne wo;; ., Jim Swift ments will be recorded and may appear ,.. : : ,..:.'..: . ' Corpus Christi, TX in issue of Omni. The cost upcoming i '. an • .. :: ': :. . to

1

.. . ivl (.! torr;;; m; ; for the call is 95 cents per minute. You Vicrti Crafion and Robin Gold: Production Director; I'd love the opportunity to ask aliens for 18 or older. Touch-tone Torn Sanson; Production Manager; Nancy IV:ess=na: must be age G: ',:.' advice on how to fix our planet's prob- phones only. Sponsored by Pure Enter- - Svs'.crns lems. people have made reason- tainment, 505 South Beverly Drive, Manager William Bteitt Many able, intelligent suggestions for fixing Suite 977, Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

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THE CENTRALIZED MINDSET: Do we really need any bosses at all?

By Steve Nadis

a namics, the spread of fire through f^ gm* itchel Resnick is not derly patterns arise without it all. a forest, and the chain reaction III terribly ambitious. He "conductor" orchestrating uranium atoms undergoing | %M I just wants to change Scientists are finding increasing of fission. The "decentral- the way we think about most examples of this phenomenon nuclear is encouraging everything. A computer scientist called emergent behavior— but ized" learning he parallels the interactions played at MIT's Media Lab, Resnick be- the concepts can seem counter- out on the screen. lieves there is a tremendous intuitive. Resnick's focus is not so One program developed with prejudice in society—a tendency much on self-organizing systems student mimics nest construc- to look at the phenomena around per 56, but "on helping people a termite colony. The simu- us, both natural and artificial, think about these things." tion in a termites and assume a dominant control Before vanquishing this cen- lation begins with 50 among thou- where none exists. When watch- tralized mindset, it's instructive to running around of wood chips, following ing a flock of birds fly in forma- note why this worldview is so sands rules: Run until you find a tion, many people assume the pervasive. Why do people cling simple notion of a wood chip, pick it up; when you Migrating colony bird is front is in charge. But the so tenaciously to the controlling factor, a cen- find another, place the chip you of army ants front bird is not a leader in any single, boss? "To some extent, are carrying next to it. After a few in a Costa Rican meaningful sense, Resnick ar- tralized habit," Tufts Uni- minutes, half a dozen wood piles rain forest: gues; the bird just happens to be it's a bad says versity philosopher Daniel Den- begin to take shape. After another Who's In charge? in front at that particular time. nett. Resnick elaborates: "The ten minutes or so, all the wood idea of one thing in charge chips lie in a single pile. "Real telling others what to do is easier termites don't do this exactly," to think about than a system with Resnick admits. "We still don't lots of coordination between lots know the exact rules they follow, of autonomous parts. If& also but at the core it's probably not comforting for people to think that different. Besides, I'm less that someone is in charge. That interested in simulating what's suggests there might be a rea- out there than stimulating what's son for things being the way they in here," he points to his head. program are." It can be a self-reinforcing Another StarLogo spiral, he adds. "There are many simulates the periodic clustering examples of centrally controlled of slime-mold cells, now consid- systems—factories, schools, and ered a classic self-organizing families. When we design new behavior. For years, scientists technologies or organizations, thought this process was regu- most familiar lated by special "founder" cells Is "leadership" People make similar assump- we draw on the triggering aggregation. In 1970 an over- tions upon observing, and at- models, so the world becomes centrally Evelyn Fox Keller and Lee Segel rated concept, tempting to explain, the inner even more full of con- trolled things." showed how cells might cluster and is it workings of ant farms, termiie without such founder cells. But it even necessary? colonies, or traffic jams. Accord- StarLogo provides an oppor- getting most biol- ing to this view, patterns exist be- tunity to create and explore dif- was a struggle cause someone or something ferent models. The program was ogists to forego prevailing theory creates them. Everything can be originally designed to run on a for the decentralized slime-mold view, Keller, who's traced to a single cause. massively parallel computer with point of says encountered This way of thinking can be thousands of processors control- based at MIT "We dead wrong, Resnick maintains, ling thousands of objects/crea- real resistance among biologists to having a cause calling this mentality the "central- tures. After programming the accustomed the located in a specific agent." ized mindset." He has made it a objects to obey simple rules, "This new idea is more threat- life's mission to try to counteract it, person can observe whether any than most," Resnick notes, writing a book, Turtles, Termites, large-scale patterns result from ening "because its not just about and Traffic Jams, and a program- the individuals' combined behav- cells. It's about how ming language, StarLogo, to ior. Boston area high school stu- slime-mold sense of the world help people experiment with "self- dents used StarLogo to model people make them. "DO organizing systems" in which or- traffic jams, predator-prey dy- around NEED A HELPING HAM? An old hobby tackles today's communications demands By Ed Juge

f% hen fighting in Bosnia packet data years before radio have revolutionized personaland I created gaps in com- frequency (RF) data transmission public service ham communica- \m %J munications, the only was "pioneered" by Apple Com- tions. An estimated 15,000 "re- workable bridge was found in a puter for its Newton PDA. These peaters" scattered across the hobby that may seem antiquated days computers are an integral country extend the range of HTs by today's standards—ham radio. part of modern ham stations. to 50 miles or more. In some Yugoslavian amateur radio oper- Digital PC-based communica- cases, linked repeaters can span ators, or "hams," moved their ra- tions, using a variety of modes several states. dios into devastated areas, pass- with curious names like RTTY, Understandably then, the U.S. ing hundreds of thousands of AMTOR, PACKET, and CLOVER, community of 630,000 licensed

messages safely between local is the fastest-growing segment of amateurs is growing faster than communities and refugee camps ham radio. at anytime in history. In 1991, the on behalf of separated families, David Sumner, amateur call Federal Communications Com- without regard to religious or eth- sign K1ZZ, is executive vice mission opened the doors even nic prejudice. president of the largest amateur wider by removing Morse code

It may seem ironic that a organization, the American Radio proficiency as a requirement for decades-old hobby should con- Relay League, founded in 1914. the Technician class license. Fre- tinue to play an important role in (The hobby existed long before quencies authorized for techni- this age of satellites, television, the laws were written.) According cians include the immensely E-mail, and instant worldwide to Sumner, the worlds of hi-tech popular FM repeaters, on-the-air communication. Yet bulletin boards, ama- ham radio remains teur television, satellite, Nights spent

!, unique in its ability to and moonbounce" hunched get through in emer- communications. over home-built gencies where other The codeless li- collections modes are disabled. cense, plus universal of vacuum tubes, For example, when availability of HTs and coils, capaci- Hurricane Andrew repeaters, has signifi- tors, and resistors devastated Dade cantly extended ham are no longer County Florida, knock- radio's appeal for those necessary for ing out even cellular interested in personal, modern ham phone circuits, ama- noncommercial com- radio operators. teur radio was there munications. A written to serve a population grown de- and amateur radio share similar examination is still required to pendent upon communications. orbits. "For the last 10 years, am- get licensed, but study materials A fascination with amateur ateur radio has been an integral and free, club-sponsored classes radio has led thousands of young part of many space shuttle mis- are widely available. experimenters into engineering sions, and the astronauts are es- Undeniably, many more kids and science careers since its of- pecially enthusiastic about today would rather operate per- ficial sanctioning by the Commu- talking from space to students in sonal computers than radios. nications Act of 1934. Many went classrooms around the country," Computer bulletin boards, the In- on to play key roles in developing he says. "In fact, the United ternet, and online services indeed the communications advances States astronaut corps probably offer compelling communications we enjoy today. In 1961, a group has the highest concentration of options. ''However," says Sumner, of American amateurs built and licensed hams of any profession "if you want to learn what makes launched the world's first nonmili- you can find." communications work, there is no tary satellite. Since then, 16 cur- Adding to the appeal are com- better experimentation lab going rently active communications pact and immensely capable than amateur radio. "DO satellites have been launched by ham radios to replace the heavy, amateur groups in the United clumsy rigs of years past. Oper- Free information on amateur radio States, Japan, and Russia. ating in the very high frequency is availabie from the American Hams also established a world- (VHF) and ultrahigh frequency Radio Relay League, 225 Main wide computer-controlled net- (UHF) ranges, tiny, shirt-pocket- Street, Newington, Connecticut work for automatically forwarding size FM handie-talkies (HTs) 06111-1494. ARTIFICIAL

ARTIFICIAL ASSISTANTS: Can software agents find what interests you?

By J. Blake Lambert

s we enter the age of core.com with the subject "new explicit user input, more ad- i information, user"). After you eliminate certain vanced systems will employ , too much learning agents—software pro- . researchers are look- categories (horror, comedy, and ing for ways to use computers to so on) and rate a central core of grams that watch white you work, assist with managing the over- movies, you'll receive a list of peers noting new trends and forgetting load. Software assistants can act and video recommendations. old ones. In effect, you effort- as electronic screeners, search- Another free service, the lessly program the agent by ex- ing for information that you'll find Stanford Information Filtering ample. When such an agent informative and entertaining, and Tool (SIFT) uses content-based sees something entirely new, poorly. saving you the trouble of reading filtering to provide a clipping ser- however, it may perform through hundreds of messages vice that searches through the Information filtering and soft- implica- in an effort to find the one or two thousands of messages posted ware agents have broad you might find interesting. to Usenet newsgroups each day. tions for interactive media. As Software assistants use a SIFT reads all the text in its daily Yan explains, "We are not far technique called social filtering newsfeed (about 40,000 post- from the age of personalized, in- to make recommendations to ings) and analyzes the contents. teractive newspapers." Ken grad- their users. As Paul Resnick, as- It then regularly sends E-mail Lang, a computer science sistant professor at the MIT Cen- showing the first few lines of every uate student at Carnegie-Mellon ter for Coordination Science message meeting interest criteria University and creator of News- explains, social filtering works on Weeder (a Mosaic-based con- Software the assumption that "people who tent/collaborative newsreader), agents are grow- agreed in the past are likely to sees "the first real tests of the vi-

ing quickly in agree again." Thus, if a group of ability of a widespread, auto- popularity; music- people who have expressed in- matic, information filtering mar- selection terests similar to yours have ket" in the coming year. agent Ringo's found particular information use- Will Hill, a senior research sci- " ;:".::. ::",J ful, chances are you will as well. entist and creator of videos@- grew in two A variety of software assis- beiicore.com, explains that his months to tants are available on the Inter- company is evaluating agent- 2,1 00 users, who net. One free service, Ringo, uses mediated virtual communities filled its social filtering to recommend "for videos, books, restaurants, database with music. When a new user E-mails a home-shopping, and digital mu- ratings for message containing only the word sic. Imagine a home-shopping 9,000 albums. "help" to [email protected], channel where you surf with your or connects to http://ringo.media.- remote control just as you do mit.edu via the World Wide Web, you specify when subscribing to now, but the amount of time that Ringo returns a list of musical the service. you spend on any given item for artists to rate numerically. SIFT is reasonably fast de- sale is taken as an implicit sug- for that item." When it gets your ratings, spite heavy use, handling almost gestion of interest Ringo looks for a peer group of 14,000 profiles per day. Watching Other applications in the other listeners with similar tastes. the number of users grow and works for agents include sched- travel It then finds artists that these seeing positive responses has uling meetings and making peers like which you have not been exciting, says Tak W. Yan, a arrangements. Consumers will rated. Ringo recommends these doctoral student in the Depart- eventually come to rely heavily artists, providing a ranking and ment of Computer Science at on software agents, claims confidence score. You can up- Stanford University and creator Upendra Shardanand, a former date rankings and give low of the SIFT netnews service. MIT graduate student who de- scores to recommended artists "Many said that through the ser- veloped Ringo (with assistance you don't like, which helps im- vice they discovered 'gems' in from Lee Zamir and based on prove Ringo's predictions. newsgroups that they would a concept by Pattie Maes). 'As An experimental project much have never read." (Send the the information barrage contin- like Ringo uses content and so- message "help" to [email protected] ues to accelerate, agents will cial filtering to recommend movies stanford.edu to get started.) be as indispensable as E-mail," (send E-mail to videos@beli- While these systems rely on he says.DO IAJHEEL

HIGH-TECH HIGHWAYS: Technology helps police keep a watchful eye on drivers

By Jeffrey Hsu

violations coupled with laser or radar speed i he battle between po- challenge many speed guns, can record whether a car lice and motorists has in court. Not only that, but some is a vehicle's response speeding : been raging for decades. police unions have charged that the offender's ac- Police armed with their radar radar guns can cause cancer to a siren, and approached by an of- guns are pitted against drivers after long-term use. These prob- tions when ficer. Cameras are also used to and truckers with their radar de- lems have frustrated both the po- some keep a watchful electronic eye tectors, in many ways, the entire lice and motorists, causing look on motorists in the red-light mon- affair has taken on somewhat of law enforcement officials to system marketed by a romantic nature, with high- to other less troublesome meth- itoring of Boca speed car chases along high- ods of measuring vehicle speeds. LeMarquis International An alternate Raton, Florida. It accurately ways and city " records, on film, vehicles running Police are streets frequently method, across- radar, is a red light, therefore producing a using more than depicted as thrill- the-road to take permanent record of each inci- old-fashioned ing adventures designed from the dent. Through the license plate, radai guns to Traffic acci- readings the violator is identified and sent watch over dents, however, are side of the road. allows officers the photo together with a ticket. today's motorists: far from romantic, This target This has been well received, Violators may and each year in to better a vehicle on the road, especially in New York City, be caught in the the United States, lights it overcomes where drivers who run red act by la- there are millions and some of the short- are responsible for thousands of sers, cameras, or of traffic accidents, each year. In :.':'.... claiming thousands comings of the deaths and injuries fact, close to 60 percent of all of lives and injur- down-the-road accidents in the city happen at ing many more. method. Because traffic-light intersections. "The To combat traf- this method uses a fact that people know they are fic violations, law- narrow radar beam, being monitored helps to reduce enforcement agencies use a it targets individual vehicles offenses. People wide variety of speed-detection more exactly and is less likely to the number- of

it feel it is a fair system," technologies which vary in capa- provide inaccurate readings. like and remarks Bernd Rind, president bility, purpose, and acceptance. Kustom Signals of Lenexa, International. These include radar, laser, and Kansas, and Laser Technology of of LeMarquis ail attempts at videotape technologies. Engiewood, Colorado, have both However, not radar technologies Radar has been used for many introduced down-the-road laser using photo been successful. In 1992, years to detect speeders, and devices which allow an officer to have Jersey's at- there are two main kinds: down- point a laser beam at a vehicle the State of New the-road and across-the-road. and instantly get a speed read- tempts to implement a photo which recorded on Down-the-road radar, which pro- ing. This hand-held device fo- radar system, license plates jects a wide radar beam into on- cuses a narrow laser beam at a film the faces and of speeders and then automati- coming traffic, is designed to target vehicle and computes its to their homes, take readings from a location speed. Unlike radar, it avoids cally sent tickets opposition, overlooking several lanes of a identifying more than one vehicle was met with bitter motorists voiced protests road and is probably the most and is generally immune to most as widely used technology. The forms of interference. While laser- against the state's alleged "Big tactics. New Jersey problems with this device in- based devices have the advan- Brother" Florio later signed clude the difficulty of accurately tage of not being detectable by Governor Jim bill use of the system. targeting a single vehicle and its most radar detectors, they do a banning next you're on the susceptibility to interference from have the shortcoming of working So, time think that no one AM/FM transmitters, patrol car ig- best while stationary. (Laser open road and will notice you going a few miles nition systems, and other sources. Technology worked with NASA to the limit, think again. As a result, an officer ends up create a modified version of this above new technologies mean targeting one car, and obtaining technology for use with the Hub- These doesn't even have to be an the reading for another. These in- ble Space Telescope.) there accuracies have allowed mo- Video cameras installed be- officer around the corner to say "Gotcha!"DO torists and truckers to effectively hind police cruiser windshields, TRONIC UfUIVERSE

CLASSICS REBORN: Seminal videogames are back, updated for today's gamers

By Gregg Keizer

typical Mario game, out your dead! No, without closing down that spread- plex than a Bring tougher than the most we're not going to resur- sheet. (Turn off the sound if you but not any on the Gen- rect Elvis or dig up don't want the boss to hear pings recent Sonic games esis. It's a treat to see the classic some old president to confirm an and zaps from her office.) looking so sharp. untimely demise. Software pub- You won't be able to cruise come back Sierra's Lode Runner: The lishers are reviving some once- through Activision's Pitfall: The Returns is another great dead-and-buried hits of the Mayan Adventure at work (unless Legend blast-from-the-past that's been 1980s. Unlike film zombies, these you've got a Sega Genesis, Sega updated recently. Long ago, when creatures don't always shuffle. In CD, or Super Nintendo squir- it one of the best games for some cases the updates are just reled away under the desk), but was Apple II, Lode Runner used a as good as when they you'll have fun play- the ing this modernized Lilliputian character built from Classics such as first walked the earth. just a few pixels. He raced up Activision's The rationale be- version of the old game from ladders and across platforms Pittall ate com- hind this trend is the Atari 2600 early 1980s. The collecting objects and avoiding ing back to same as the one the plot remains the mad monks. The game's charm, life on modern which drives filmmak- (or though, came from its editor, naming plat- ers to return to the same: Pitfall Harry Harry which let you build new levels. forms. Hold on to sequel well: Good In this case, through jun- Now running under MS-DOS-and your seat, content is hard to find. Jr.) runs in Windows, Lode Runner looks a though, because Strike the motherlode gles, swings on vines, treasures, lot better (the characters remain this is def- once with a top-notch looks for over alli- small, though, especially if you're initely not your game concept, char- and jumps 14- running Windows in a high-reso- father's acters, or play me- gators. In this retains its edi- chanics, and things level platform game lution mode) and best thing about should pan out a sec- though, Harry Jr. and tor. That's the this one back from the ond time. At least that's what the rest of the scenery look gor- bringing some software publishers are geous. Harry's got some swift dead. The editor lets you create custom levels; one gamer recre- praying will happen. moves, too, like bungee-style ated all the levels in the original One of the easiest ways to re- vines to move vertically, and a Runner and posted them to visit the past on the PC is with nasty whip to keep the creatures Lode Microsoft Arcade, a five-pack at bay. As an added bonus, the the online networks. electronic games never die; collection of ancient games mu- complete Atari 2600 game— Old is they just fade away. And then^ tated to work in Windows and on dinky-pixel Harry and all— dig- the Mac. The combo includes buried within this version. they come back, like a ital Lazarus. Lucky for us.DO Asteroids, Centipede, Missiie If you can grab it away from Command, Battle Zone, and Tem- the kids, Nintendo's Donkey Kong into pest. (The first two are the best Country is another cool dip of the bunch.) Unlike other clas- history. Unlike the simplistic sics, these titles look the same as original, Donkey Kong Coun- they did 10 or more years ago: try is a modernized platform no added graphic bells and whis- game with multiple levels, tles here. Asteroids, for instance, lands, and characters still shows its Etoh-A-Sketch This time, though, Kong rocks and rocket ship built from joins forces with a whole ines. The big change is that all family of compadres as the games are customizable. You he stalks through for- can make modifications—reduce ests, mines, mountains, the bonus points necessary for even factories. This is another ship in Asteroids, add the best animation to show up so more cities to your Missile Com- far on the Super Nintendo. Kong, mand world—for easier play or his friends, and his enemies are just a change of pace. And since visually stunning, finely rendered look. It's the games run in Windows, you characters with a 3-D a can easily switch from work to play kid's game at heart—more com- Catch The Best Hour of Science and Technology on Television.

Don't Miss These Special Moments on Upcoming Episodes of Invention INVENTION and NextStep

March 23 From passport

photos to police crime scenes,

Edwin Land's invention of nextstep instant photography has become an integral part of our lives.

!! 5 Master glassblower

n >'e Chihuly takes the 5,000-

r-old craft to extraordinary

- new dimensions, turning sand

and air into art.

April 12 What can spiders

teach weapons designers?

How about sticky nets that

immobilize troops! See the

future of the defense industry

.with non-lethal weapons.

13 Computer

simulation now allows for the

development, deployment

and testing of. new armament

without ever Building them.

April 28 Virtual reality

advances take cops and robbers

out of the arcades. Now police

can train for high-speed chases

without deadly consequences.

very

EXPLORE YOUR WORLD"

Wednesdays 3-10PM et/pt —

uuiruss

SPY SAUCERS: Remote-controlled vehicles keep a watchful eye

By Peggy Noonan

for you see a flying saucer, it UAV can get instant data. thousands of acres watching

Ifmay not be an alien UFO. It UAVs can go into areas too fires or poachers via UAV sky could be one of ours. One of hazardous for humans. Aerobot- eyes. Traffic monitoring could be our UAVs, that is: Unmanned ics, a subsidiary of California's simplified, and police UAVs could Aerial Vehicles. Moller International, has two UAVs be used to film accident sites. In 1988 the Defense Depart- in advanced development. The One small UAV has already ment was directed by Congress ES20-10 Aerobot is already prov- demonstrated how effective sky to centralize the development of ing its value in tests by the Cali- spies can be. Although AeroVi-

UAVs. It created the Joint Project fornia Department of Transpor- ronrnent Incorporated's Pointer Office (JPO) to oversee the pro- tation which plans to use the 30- mini-drone experienced prob- gram. Creativity by-20-inch flying lems in Operation Desert Storm flowed freely as duct to inspect (it can't fly in winds that exceed s may soon inventors came up highway bridges, its 20 to 40 miles per hour speed),

be flying Iheir with a variety of overpasses, and it has proved its worth on civilian own saucers over shapes, from a elevated freeways. operations. The tiny Pointer American slightly modified This tethered weighs in at eight pounds and cities, but in this but ordinary-look- Aerobot can hover has a nine-foot wingspan. It can case the UFOs ing airplane con- a few feet from a be launched with a javelin-type are actually UAVs: figuration like the suspect bridge throw, according to Colemon,' .;";.._./. Pioneer—which section and trans- and carries a videocamera that Aerial Vehicles. proved useful for mit real-time video transmits real-time images. reconnaissance in or infrared images A Pointer was loaned by the the Persian Gulf to ground handlers. Defense Evaluation Support Ac- War—to flying sau- The UAV is pow- tivity to Oregon's National Guard cers, bumblebees, ered by a genera- and State Police last February doughnuts, pea- tor linked via a 200- prior to their raid on a suspected

nuts, and cigars, according to foot umbilical, and it operates with drug compound. Where agents Department of Defense UAV-JPO a patented self-stabilizing system. had expected one fence, a cou- spokesman Ray Colemon. The handler directs and posi- ple of dogs and cars and a few Sikorsky's doughnut-shaped tions the Aerobot using a joystick buildings, the Pointer's silent spy- Cypher UAV, for instance, is a mounted at the waist of a vestlike ing revealed two fences, many 1.6-foot-thick ring with shielded control unit while an inspector dogs, and more of everything spinning rotors in the middle. monitors the screen-displayed else. The raid was successful. Cypher's ducted fan design of- images. Like the Cypher, the Aero- However, as JPO spokesman

fers stability and control, and it bot's rotating blades are con- Colemon points out, nonmilitary makes the UAV safer to operate tained safely within the protective use of UAVs raises as-yet unre- no exposed propeller blades to confines of its duct-shaped body. solved questions of invasion of catch the inattentive or to tangle UAVs have many nonmilitary privacy and illegal search and in rigging. applications which will "far out- seizure. And there's the matter of

The Cypher and everything it strip military value," JPO spokes- "deconfliction" that FAA and mili- needs, from replacement fuel to man Colemon says. The Atlanta tary representatives are trying to spare payloads and parts, can native suggests that UAVs would work out. "Pilots are horrified to be carried into land battle by a be a great help during the 1996 think of vehicles flying with no- Humvee pulling a trailer. A two- Olympics when officials have to body in them," Colemon says, man crew can set up, launch, transport athletes from their resi- suggesting they'll need an elec- and recover the 6.5-foot-diame- dential quarters through rush- tronic warning akin to aircraft ter saucer in any clearing twice hour traffic to events. Boring, collision avoidance systems. Cypher's size—or aboard ship, tedious, or dangerous work such "I'm convinced there is no using 52 square feet of deck. as inspecting pipelines or re- problem the engineers cannot Using Cypher is much faster mote power lines could be man- solve given enough time and than waiting for satellite pictures, aged by a UAV. Sports events money," Colemon states. Except according to Colemon. When a could be televised from a hover- maybe what to do about all those battlefield commander needs to ing UAV instead of a blimp. A people who'll call to report UFOs

see what's over the next hill, the single forest ranger could cover when UAV saucers are flying. DQ '

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ollt . os oi Hiu k Rogers in We 25th Century are included at no additional cost. Due to Your XZ-38 Disintegrator Pistol comes with the complex nature of the investment Address _ this custom designed display frame inset casting process, please allow 4 to 6 with Buck Rogers collector's medallion. City months for delivery. Subject to availability. Offer expires Dec. 31, 1995- Missouri residents will have state sales tax added. Mail to: EKTEK, Inc., PO Box 771609, St. Louis, MO 63177-1609 ? dm family Trust. —

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BREAKING AWAY FROM THE AGRARIAN SCHOOL CALENDAR: Can 30 more days make a difference? By Mary Ann Tawasha

umber of public ele- principal, describes it this way: found that Brooks' students did mentary schools in the "We give you thirty more reasons "significantly better" in areas of m United States: 59,680. to like us, because we give you reading, general knowledge, Number of year-round ele- thirty more days a year." math, and vocabulary than "a mentary schools in the United Julia Anderson, deputy direc- stringently matched control States: 1,508. tor for the National Education group of traditional students." Number of mandatory public Commission on Time and Learn- Professor Morrison says, "Young extended-year schools in the ing, says the extra month of in- children, even kindergartners United States: 1. struction provides additional and first graders, are making That one is Brooks Global learning opportunities which twice the progress, in terms of Studies Extended-Year Magnet contribute to Brooks' success. raw score, than kids in traditional School in Greensboro, North The federal government directed programs." The 30 extra days Carolina. What's the difference the commission to conduct an make a difference. Morrison ex- between year-round and ex- examination of the relationship plains, "The summer layoff is a tended-year schools? Most year- between time and learning. The critical period of achievement round schools merely reorganize nine-member group released a loss, and school-year extension the traditional, 180-day school report in April 1994, "Prisoners of helps to reduce, and in some calendar, while extended-year Time," which concluded that, cases eliminate, that loss."

". As "prisoners schools (such as Brooks) literally . . learning must become the Anderson feels that extended- of time," extend the year by providing fixed goal. Time must become an year programs are just one of the students and more days of instruction. This ex- adjustable resource." ways that schools can make bet- teachers tension means that by the end of More schools like Brooks are ter use of time. Other recommen- look for an alter- their elementary school careers, needed if American students dations include a more flexible native to Brooks' students will have one and teachers expect to ever time schedule and longer school the traditional extra year of education under "break out" of the constraints of days. She says the commission their belts. Tony Meachum, Brooks' time, according to the commis- has received tremendous re- sion. Change is inevitable, says sponse to the report from such Anderson, and schools are going groups as the Education Com- to be forced to modify their pro- mittee and the NEA (National Ed-

grams accordingly. "I think that ucation Association). we're finally realizing that we can So why aren't there more

no longer allow students to fail at schools like Brooks? "I think the the rate that we have been." biggest barrier is financial," An- While the commission cited derson responds. A study by the Brooks as a benchmark in edu- North Carolina Public School cation, Frederick Morrison, head Forum found that lengthening of the psychology department at the school year to 200 days in Loyola University in Chicago, se- ail North Carolina schools—still lected Brooks as the basis of his 10 days fewer than Brooks research in educational reform. would mean spending an addi- Morrison launched his study on tional $180 million by the year the effects of an extended-year 2001. Jo Ann Norris, associate program on average elementary executive director for the for- school children when Brooks first um, says that kind of money opened its doors in 1991. Julie makes state legislators wary of Frazier, a Ph.D. candidate and initiating new programs state- Morrison's assistant, started the wide. She says, "More instruc- research project—aimed at com- tion means more staff and paring Brooks' students' acade- salaries. That's where your dol- mic achievements to those of lars are." Principal Meachum un- students who attended tradi- derstands, but questions: "In the tional schools—by administering long run, what's really more im- standardized tests to each group. portant? Dollars ... or the future

;... I Js. After three years, the team of our children?"Da WORKING DOWN UNDER: The Kansas City experiment in underground architecture

By Fred Hapgood

residents of Kansas Since the raw space is sec- the community of human souls. "I The extraction, in City like to boast they ondary to the mineral have had truck drivers come

have more fountains it is essentially free, development for a delivery" says Ernie Hook, than any city but Rome and costs are low, and rental rates distribution manager of Price more boulevards than any city are roughly half those of surface Candy, "and they stop their but Paris. No doubt these are rents. Heating and cooling bills trucks outside the entrance, worthy attractions, but their city are as much as 90 percent lower climb out, and walk in and look also has at least one point of dis- than in surface buildings ex- around, as if they thought maybe tinction second to none: It is the posed to the extremes of heat they might fall into a hole or first to site a substantial fraction and cold that sweep the Great something." Once a person actu- of its industry underground. Plains. Other favorable variables ally sees lots of other people pro- Many believe that moving our include physical security, me- ceeding with their business, transportation, industrial, and chanical integrity, low mainte- there is a shift of perspective. commercial infrastructures un- nance costs., tight control of Then "people can become kind derground is the only hope of noise and vibration, and protec- of cultish about it," observed a reconciling the conflict between tion from the weather. local real estate analyst. But that industrial development and the The results, as of 1994, ac- moment of revelation, of physi- preservation of the environment. cording to Bill Seymour of the cally seeing the underground lit As early as 1972 the American Underground Development As- and clean and crowded with real Fgr the Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) sociation (UDA), are that 20 to 25 people, seems to be the key. The last century, cities pointed out that such a move million square feet have been UDA runs tours constantly trying have been would permit large populations, developed and leased to about to show anyone with a couple of building upward, high levels of development, and 300 businesses. Vacancy rates free hours that people can go creating ambitious engineering projects average about 5 percent, and a underground without turning into skylines of sky- to co-exist with natural ecologies, million more square feet are cre- bats, in the long run, as industry scrapers. It gardens, parks, conservatories, ated in the mining process every keeps racking up those million may be time to and preserves. The ASCE was year making available new space square feet per year, perhaps take a look hoping for a government program for further development. At pres- Kansas City will play that role for in the opposite to push the transition, but other ent, about 4,000 employees are all of us.DQ visionaries and futurists have commuting into the Kansas City speculated that as environmental underground every day concerns drive the price of build- Twenty million square feet ing on the surface up, and tech- sounds like a lot, but the total KC nology drives the cost of under- industrial real estate market is ground construction and opera- 165 million square feet. It is pos- tions down, market pressures sible to wonder why the benefits alone will do the job. Kansas City of dirt-cheap occupancy costs is a test of this theory. and tightly controlled manufac- The city's supply of under- turing environments have not ground space is a result of two drawn in much more of the mar- large limestone ledges which run ket. After all, there is plenty of under the metropolitan area room down there. Don Woodard close enough for direct access of the UDA says that the industry from the surface. For decades could add another 20 million the building materials needed for square feet in three to six months roads and concrete mixes have if the customers were to appear. been quarried out of the ledges, The members of the UDA leaving dozens of passages run- have naturally given this ques- ning horizontally under the city. tion a lot of thought. Many sus- In the Fifties these cavities pect there is something about started to be developed into in- the psychology of the under- dustrial and commercial spaces, ground that disposes people en- primarily for distribution, storage, tering these parks to think they and light manufacturing. are separating themselves from nnusEunns

THE HENRIETTA MARE: An underwater monument to a painful past

By Paul Kvinta

the field of underwater ar- traces directly to commercial two- to three-month trip across Inchaeology, where discovering shipping records that document the Atlantic. Captain Thomas an ancient sailing ship usually her voyages. Chamberlaine unloaded 190 means locating a heap of coral- Those voyages are re-created slaves at Port Royal, Jamaica, in encrusted timbers, researchers in a traveling exhibit titled "The May 1700. Two months later, with rarely find much to get emotional Wreck of the Henrietta Marie, " a a load of cotton, sugar, and in- about. But in 1983 when David 14-city tour that began in Key digo, Chamberlaine and a crew to slaves, African Moore hoisted a bronze bell en- West in January and features of 20 were heading back to Eng-

:-".:. '- : when a storm struck. Fierce .. graved with the name "Henrietta 200 artifacts and scholarly es- land traded ivory and Marie," he realized he had stum- says. Russeli Adams, chairman swells smashed the Henrietta gold dust for bled upon one of the most mov- of the Afro-American studies de- Marie into New Found Reef, and valuable metals, ing sagas in American history. partment at Howard University the splintered vessel sank to the :;"; :".:!"t The Henrietta Marie was a sev- and one of the essayists, says gulf floor where it remained un- enteenth-century slave ship, the the artifacts provide material noticed for nearly three centuries. only identified slave vessel ever documentation to a particularly In 1972 treasure hunter Mel found in the Western Hemisphere cloudy portion of the slavery Fisher came upon the wreck in to sink in the course of trade. epic. "What we've had until now 30 feet of water while searching "As an archaeologist you're are verbal accounts of the At- for Spanish galleons. After some trained to keep an objective ap- lantic crossing," Adams says. initial recovery work the following. proach," says Moore, who works "With this exhibit we're saying year, the site lay dormant for an- with the Mel Fisher Maritime Her- 'this is the ship's bell, these are other decade until Moore and itage Society in Key West, the shackles.' You begin to real- colleagues returned and began

Florida, "if you get your emotions ize we haven't been fantasizing excavating the site. involved, your analysis could be- the whole thing." Researchers realize that the come jaded. But with something Using Moore's archaeological Henrietta Marie tale deals with as powerful as the Henrietta findings and the archival work of highly charged subject matter fa Marie, that's difficult to do." British historian Nigel Tattersfield, team of black divers in 1993 Amid the wreck's muskets, researchers have slowly pieced placed a monument weighing colorful trading beads, elephant together the Henrietta Marie 2,700 pounds at the wreck site to tusks, and English pewterware, story. She was likely built by the commemorate Africans who died Moore's team recovered over French but captured by Britain's during the crossings); but Rus- 190 pairs of hand-forged iron leg King William during the late sell Adams hopes that, while not and arm shackles—large ones 1600s and converted into a diminishing' the horror of slavery, for adult men, smaller ones for swift-moving slaver. On her' the exhibit will help audiences women and children. Although maiden voyage in 1697, the ship work past the moral issues to- archaeologists have discovered delivered 250 Africans to Barba- ward an understanding of the im- a half-dozen wrecks in American dos, where agent William Shutter portant social and economic and Caribbean waters that purchased most of the group details of the trade itself. Adams's suggest possible links to the for 19 British pounds apiece. research, for example, focuses slave business, the Henri- She set sail for her next on the nearly 300 slave-collec- etta Marie—located 34 voyage from London in tion points along the African miles west of Key September 1699 loaded coast stretching from Senegal to West—offers clear ev- ^ with the pewter dishes Mozambique, and he examines idence of her mis- and glass beads cov- a number of intriguing questions:

sion. More than . eted by chieftains up How long were slaves confined 7,500 artifacts corre- and down Africa's before ships arrived? Why were late to the three legs Guinea Coast. With particular individuals assigned to of the Triangular SI; more than 200 slaves particular ships? Trade between Eu wedged into a hold 10 The recovery of the Henrietta rope, West Africa, ep and about Marie may help to provide an- and the New 23 feet wide, the swers to some of these questions. World; and the Henrietta Marie The exhibit, as Adams notes, is a name "Henri- then embarked way to give a comprehensive view etta Marie" on a grueling, of this history to the public. DO , "WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN IF A CREATURE FROM JURASSIC PARK CAME TO NEW YORK CITY..." -Chicago Tribune

DOUGLAS PRESTON and LINCOLN CHILD

"Preston and Child's penchant for .::: - : :.}' ' .. : : • realistic details elevates their tale far above Crichton's [Jurassic Park]... containing just the right blend of gripping suspense, colorful characters, and credible science."

"First-rate thrills and (that] build to a superbly exciting Climax." -Publishers

"Wonderfully spooky...th' '111' a real page turner, part part Poseidon Ad\ conjTiruuunn DISCOVERING WOMEN: Television attempts to alter a cultural bias. Plus, a guide for blind shoppers, and helping the disabled reach the beach

Most schoolkicls have probably heard of Marie Curie and ago, with a distinct catch in her voice. her pioneering discoveries in chemistry but she's a rare Inspirational as these women are, strident feminists

exception—by and large, women are a little-recognized may find a few things to dislike about the series. When , minority in science. Science has long been^Tpredomi- the question of time for having children comes up in the

nantly male endeavor, and that gender bias becomes a very first episode, we have to wonder whether it would vicious circle: Without more visible female scientists as have been an issue in an interview with a male scientist.

role models, most girls still grow up thinking that science And the personal focus sometimes threatens to over-

is for boys. It's no accident that even after the strides whelm the science, as though we couldn't accept women women have made in so many areas of society over the scientists unless we see that they have fully developed

past few decades, they still represent only 16 percent of personal lives: kitchens, kids, relationships. Would a

all working scientists and engineers in the United States. series on male scientists make room for such discussions Discovering Women, a new public television series, of the personal lives of its subjects? aims to change some of that. Debuting Wednesday, On the other hand, maybe profiles of male scientists March 29, and continuing on April 5 and 12, the series should find the room. The personal focus adds a wel- profiles the lives and work of six women scientists mak- come dimension to Discovering Women's image of sci-

ing significant contributions in various fields today, from ence and the people who do it. Science seemsjike a part biochemistry to neuroscience to geo- of everyday life in this series—a passion- physics. All six are smart and successful, ate pursuit undertaken by real, recogniz-

and their stories are certainly inspirational: able people, who still have time for friends cling to their hobbies fun. Any aspiring scien- They dreams : overcome and and

adversity, and establish themselves as tist, male or female, should be encouraged

authorities in their male-dominated fields. to see that researchers still have a life out-

But perhaps the most interesting thing is side the lab.

how different their stories can be. There's It's hard to say how much any television archaeologist Patty Jo Watson, born in the series can change a prevailing cultural Midwest during the Dust Bowl years, who's bias, but the makers of Discovering Women

been working at the top of her field for are giving it their best shot. They've even decades; 30-year-old Misha Mahowald, an set up an outreach program tied into the adopted child from Minneapolis, already a series—S.O.S., Seek Out Science—which rising star in computational neuroscience; encourages middle-school students to biochemist Lynda Jordan, who grew up in research and interview women scientists in

one of Boston's meanest neighborhoods and went on to their communities. But it's the six women scientists them- become the first black researcher at the Institut Pasteur selves, and the diversity of their backgrounds and expe- in Paris. Certain common themes emerge—hard work, riences, that highlights the central issue of the series. for instance, and passionate dedication—but the differ- Certainly, the courage displayed by such women as ences between these discovering women prove that Lydia Villa-Komaroff, who rejected the traditional values there's no one path to success. of her New Mexico upbringing, or Lynda Jordan, who Discovering Women emphasizes the personal as well refused to give up even after her research notes were as the professional; woven between scenes from the lab stolen, is impressive and needs to be recognized. are episodes from childhood, interviews with former But it is, perhaps, the case of Marcia McNutt which teachers, glimpses of home life, and daily routine. We may be the role model that this series hopes to foster. watch molecular biologist Lydia Villa-Komaroff of Harvard Having grown up with sisters and having attended an all- Medical School preparing a Mexican dinner with her female college, she developed self-confidence as a mat- parents and sisters. We learn that physicist Melissa ter of course. "Anyone who was doing anything in my life

1 Franklin, who helped build the ultrasensitive particle was female,' she recalls, "so it never even crossed my

detector at Fermilab, once hosted a late-night avant mind that there would be something that I would not do

It garde music program on a small California radio station. just because I was a woman." is an attitude and confi- We empathize as geophysicist Margia McNutt of MIT dence which Discovering Women would like to perpetu- recalls her husband, who died suddenly several years ate.—ROBERT K. J. KILLHEFFER "

coruTiruuuRn

FRUITFUL FLIES identical to the one others see when looking at you.

The pesky fruit fly, Dro- Although the concept of sophila melanogaster, known non-reversing mirrors is for its high reproductive not a new one, Walter's claim capacity, is now bearing fruit that it will "reveal your true of a different kind. Scien- personality" is. Some psycho- tists are hoping genetic re- logical research has search with fruit flies will shown that the information shed some light on the molec- coming from the right ular events that occur in- and left hemispheres of our side human cells. brains is reflected in our

Molecular biologist F. faces. Walter feels that re- Michael Hoffmann, Ph.D., versing the two sides, and his associates at the Mc- as regular mirrors do, trans- Ardle Laboratory for Can- lates into a changed and cer Research at the Univer- inaccurate message of who sity of Wisconsin Medical we are. School in Madison have dis- Walter asserts that, with covered two receptors or the True Mirror, a person's

"docking sites" on the fruit fly's inner self-perception—as cell membrane that are well as his or her physi- activated by fruit fly and hu- cal appearance—matches man growth factor proteins. what others see. Ten per- The proteins, members of the cent of 4,000 test subjects More than just a pretty face, this fruit fly is also a valuable tool in perceived a different per- group of 24 molecules studying the molecular events which occur in human cells. known as the transforming sonality when looking at the growth factor-beta family, True Mirror. According function similarly across all to Walter, a typical response SPIDER'S WEB IS SO LIGHT THAT IF ONE OUNCE OF species, directing unde- A from a subject who no- THE MATERIAL STRETCHED INTO A fined cells in a developing WERE ticed a.difference was "no embryo to become orga- THIN STRAND, IT COULD STRETCH 2,000 MILES. wonder other people re- nized. In humans, the proteins late to me different from are" responsible for bone, what I expect." tissue, and organ formation; sue, a cause of blindness. TRUE MIRROR Walter points out that in flies, the proteins are The proteins are also known those with symmetrical responsible for eye, wing, and to play a specific role in The True Mirror will show faces may not see a notable leg formation. breast cancer; and, Hoffmann you what others See when distinction. "Some people

Originally found in bone, says, scientists are hoping they look at you. It will will be uncomfortable when the human growth factors to find out just how proteins also show you who others seeing this new image can stimulate new bone for- and docking sites are in- see when they look at due to its unfamiliarity," he mation to bridge fragments volved in facilitating the ma- you, claims the product's in- adds. "People have been in severe fractures and even lignancy process. ventor, John Walter, presi- conditioned to believe it is repair progressive tooth The fruit fly has been "the dent of the True Mirror Com- vain to look at yourself decay. Since the growth fac- genetic system of choice pany in New York. in a mirror, but seeing your tors are also crucial to tis- for the study of multicellular Unlike a conventional mir- true personality can be sue and organ development, organisms," Hoffmann ror the True Mirror doesn't very valuable." they have the potential to says, since about 1910. Study- reverse the image it displays. —Mary Ann Tawasha help regenerate damaged or ing the growth factor in Constructed from two per- diseased kidneys, hearts, the fruit fly's simpler system pendicular mirrors, the $245 "When we ask for advice, and nerves; facilitate the heal- is easier and less expen- device superimposes both we are usually looking for ing of wounds; and heal sive than mammal studies. mirror images in the center, an accomplice. macular holes in retinal tis- —Jill Booth forming an image that's —Marquis de la Gauge CONTAGIOUS to become more de- DEPRESSION pressed themselves. Though the study only

If you think, as the song involved college students, suggests, that having "contagious depression someone to lean on is a potentially applies to any- good thing, beware. body in a close relation- "When people are close ship," Joiner says. enough to begin to de- Other symptoms, such pend on each other, that can as anxiety and negative be a breeding ground affect (a state in which a for depression to be trans- person often feels upset This bite-size exerciser attacks facial sagging and creases from mitted between them," and stressed), were not the inside, and may be what you need to keep your face in shape. notes Thomas Joiner, a clin- passed from one person ical psychologist at the to the next. Joiner has an FACIAL FITNESS onstrating a 250 percent in- University of Texas Medical explanation for this, too. crease in facial muscle Branch in Galveston. In "Both anxious people and Some people spend hun- strength and 32-percent in- an article published last those suffering from dreds of dollars each crease in skin elasticity year in the Journal of negative affect tend to stay year fighting wrinkles, get- following eight weeks of fa- Personality and Social Psy- interpersonally active," ting collagen injections cial fitness therapy. chology, he argues that he says. "They don't shut to fill the crevices, or opting depression canoe a conta- down." Depression, on for the more radical, sur- gious condition. the other hand, removes gical answer—a $10,000 He bases this claim on people from the interper- CHINESE GOOSEBERRIES face lift. Now there's an- a study of 96 pairs of sonal sphere. ARE FRUITS THAT COME other option: Facial-Flex, a college' roommates who "That seems to be the bite-size "facer-ciser" pro- FROM NEW ZEALAND. were evaluated over a key factor with contagious duced by Facial Concepts three-week period. During depression," he adds, of Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. that time, roommates of "The other person may be- The device, which resem- "Creams and gels sold by depressed students tended come depressed be- bles a miniature shoehorn, cosmetic companies only cause the originally de- fits horizontally between the address the skin, not the un- pressed person is no subject's lips, resting in derlying muscle layer," longer available." Depend- the corners of the mouth. The explains Linda Hellings, vice ent, so-called "reassur- brochure accompanying president of Facial Con- ance seeking" individuals the device suggests the fol- cepts. "Facial fitness is more appear to be very vul- lowing calisthenics regi- of a systems approach. nerable, because they are men: "Press the corners of As facial muscles tone and highly sensitive to the your lips against the resist- strengthen, it gives the withdrawal of attention. ance of Facial-Flex, while entire face a lift." There is one bright spot forming the smallest "O" Though some may find this in Joiner's report: "High that you can with your lips. argument hard to swallow, reassurance seeking room- After fully compressing a recent article in the Journal mates of nondepressed the device, gradually release. of Geriatric Dermatology targets became somewhat Repeat this cycle about supports Hellings' position. less depressed (and anx- once every three to four sec- "External resistance exer- ious) over the course of the onds," The makers of Fa- cise, performed twice daily study." In other words, cial-Flex figure that two work- through use of the Facial- the lowering of depression outs a day of two minutes Flex device, can noticeably may be contagious, too. each should do the face a improve facial muscle "We have some support for world of good. They've strength and decrease skin Feeling down? The condition that," he says." backed up that claim with laxity," the authors write. could be infectious. —Steve Nadis pilot clinical studies dem- —Steve Nadis " "

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INFLATABLE ROBOT pensive photocells to de- Wall. They form a windbreak termine the object's shape that how helps the soil A low-cost robot, originally and location on the con- to retain moisture, allowing: To combat the impact of ; designed to pick up slippery veyor. "It's not the most ac- farmers to wheat, line fierce dust storms grow chicken parts from con- curate technique as com- of corn, and a variety of veg- /that howi south out the veyor belts with its squishy pared to traditional vision etables. Gobi desert, the Chi- inflatable fingers, could systems, but it's accurate team ana- nese began planting the The NOAA bring robots into many new enough for what we need," 50- lyzed weather data since first of 300 million industries where they he says. "If you really Beijing, the capi- foot elm trees parallel to 1955 for haven't been considered eco- don't need to be extremely tal, the western the Great Wall of China and nomically viable, according accurate, that opens up cities of Jlanfai and Bayin- inthe early 1950s. to the inventors of the "intel- some possibilities that people It that The results of the vast maodao. shows ligent integrated belt ma- .haven't considered before." the frequency of. storms forestry project have nipulator" at the Georgia Tech Among the possible appli- from- spring been astonishing, accord- dropped a cations for the pneumatic : Research Institute. high of 20 in. Beijing to few- ing to Farn Parungo, a That's because their rela- robot arm: a host of bagging, er than five because of scientist with the National tively unsophisticated weighing, and stamping Darkness that Oceanic and Atmospher- the trees. $20,000 device does away operations; product painting. engulfed the capi- ic Administration (NOAA) once with expensive vision on conveyor belts; subdivi- in Boulder, Colorado, tal for 90 hours a month has

: whose research team been reduced to 10 hours. ^tracked the diminish- Long-range atmospheric WHILE SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY MAN HAD A LIFESPAN ing number of storms over and environmental ef- fects of the manmade for- OF ABOUT 50 YEARS, EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY /the ensuing years, . /'Vast belts of forest planted. estry system are still be- MAN HAD A LIFESPAN OF ONLY 45 YEARS. THE DROP ing studied, says Parungo. across the arid northern IN LIFE EXPECTANCY WAS DUE TO EPIDEMICS. lands of China are among Changes in cloud cover /the most aggressive and precipitation have been

i the weather modification pro- rw systems and electric motors, sion of goods for packaging; temperature has . average grams in the twentieth which aren't what most and any number of ma- risen degree in Bei- century/' Parungo says.. one small manufacturers are look- chine tool operations. "Any- jing. Such data is important The Great Green ing for anyway. where you have a human because dust storms Wall, as the trees are called, "A $70,000 piece of robotic doing a simple task, you have - from the Gobi and other Chi- stretches along a 1,500- machinery designed to the potential for some kind nese deserts, mile length. -Parungo says once position a part with extreme of human-level performance were planted swept sediment as far as the elms accuracy is not economi- robotics/ says McMurray, Alaska,--George Nobbe either in several rows or in cally justifiable for them, so who hopes eventually to pro- clumps spaced j^^ many of these industries duce a modular version of , 'What is a cult? It just egularly along now can't use standard robot- the robot that can be wheeled Great means not enough people ^BoM* the ics," says GTRI research up to any conveyor belt to make a minority. engineer Gary McMurray. "In and put to work the same —Robert Aftman food processing and a lot day.—George Nobbe of other manufacturing areas, what they need is a robot "The search for truth is in

that will just pick up one ob- one way hard and in another

ject and place it some- easy. For it is evident that where else—a human-level no one can master it fuiiy or device." miss it wholly But each McMurray calls the no-frills adds a little to our knowledge system "the Lego of ro- of nature, and from all the

bots;' explaining that it incor- facts assembled there arises porates a computer algo- a certan grandeur. rithm which uses five inex- —Aristotle "A space strategy game to measure all others by," Scott Grant, Interactive Entertainment

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SHOPPING BLIND accessible database for blind packages" with a pen-style shoppers. Compusult wand. Compusult is test- How do blind people know downloaded a supermarket's ing a new portable omni-di- what's inside the cans inventory database into a rectional scanner. product, and boxes they purchase in desktop computer, then set After scanning a supermarkets? Often they about designing a porta- the device will query the shop with a sighted friend ble device called ScanTELL supermarket's private data- who later makes Braille that contains a scanner, base by radio for its price. labels for each product. But voice synthesizer, and the Knowing a product's name now blind people can shop necessary computer tech- alone with the help of a talk- nology needed to store the database. ing, portable version of product THERE ARE MORE THAN Product Code Paul Mitten, vice president the Universal 3,500 LIVING (UPC) scanners that of Compusult, says a COCKROACH SPECIES. cashiers use to tally store blind person could begin by purchases. scanning a bar code at Computers read UPC an aisle's end to learn what Portable laser scanners make using laser, translat- kinds of products it con- and cost is a good first bars a shopping easier for the blind. ing them into two unique tains, then browse by zapping step. Future systems could five- or six-digit codes that National Institute for the shelf codes.- However, af- read encoded ingredi- identify Blind conducted the bar code- ter picking up a specific item, ents and cooking instructions, a product's manufacturer and reader test project, which Mitten warns, "there's no giving blind purchasers the specific item. Compu- used the bar code informa- way to easily identify where the same information as their sult Ltd. and the Canadian tion to create a voice- bar codes are located on sighted counterparts.

for Hensler to refine and build the chairs. Hensler describes Mike Hensler, a 20-year his patented invention. "The veteran Daytont Beach life- Sun Chair has been

guard, wanted to. find a through a metamorphosis way to give wheelchair rid- since the Neanderthal ers easier access to the prototype of- modified lawn surf, sand, and sun. Sue chairs. Today we have Hensler smiles when she two versions: high- and low- recalls the evening three ' profile. Each can have years her options including removable ago when : lusband began tinkering armrests, fishing rod hold- with the first prototype ers, different umbrellas, re-

beach wheelchair. "I drove . movable footmsts, a carry-

' up the driveway that all, and a brake. The chair evening to find our white is designed with a very Tin hj can hit the beach with comfort, style,

, . PVC lawn chair furniture . friendly balance point, mak- and mobility, thanks to a concerned Daytona Beach/ lifeguard.

in pieces all over the drive- ing it maneuyerabte in the "' ping in the surf breeze, the direct sun. Surf way. I remember think- softest or wettest sand." available from ing, 'this had better be real Hensler wanted to get far the Surf Chair elicits smiles Chairs are now good.'" Hensler's solution away from the clinical as riders cruise by. many municipalities. On was good. His prototype look and feel of the stainless Maintenance of the $900 Daytona Beach, access to is the beach and use of the beach wheelchair heart- steel wheelchair With chair simple: Use a ; is free to those ened the local Pilot Club and huge, cartoonlsh wheels water hose to remove salt Surf Chair |he Lifesaver Association mounted on a PVC frame and sand and make sure with impaired mobility. W. Stegmsye-- to donate the seed money and a colorful umbrella flap- long-term storage is out of —A .

N O T H I WRONG WITH YOUR MA

Trilogy Productions, the cre- Zone was ironic folk music to There's that damned oscillo- battle on a paranoid mind- Article by scope on your TV again. "Do scape of imagination. The ative force tapped to usher our Sputnik-charged brains, David Bischoff forth this renaissance. "Which then The Outer Limits was not attempt to adjust the pic- title flashes on the screen: means you can come at a full-out thrash rock. ture," intones the Control The Outer Limits. The Outer story every week with a wh" lQ Archetypal images of the Voice. White sine waves What show will it be this Limits takes dance and sway on a sepia week? "Architects of Fear?" set of fresh purposes. L«~, show linger in our heads, control of in mini- background. A flying saucer "The Galaxy Being?" Or may- story, a sense, is a refreshed by constant late- feature. night repeats. re- your TV once theremin-buzz hovers like a be Harlan Ellison's "Soldier" Obviously, science cable We with or "Demon with a Glass fiction is something that gives member David McCalium's again Hand," stories so recently you permission to be extra- skull ballooning into the thirty- "Sandkings," a ordinarily imaginative, somethingth century; Donald Eerie harp runs sweep into Schwarzeneggered into the We story that feel our video media of TV Pleasence twitching with psi a herd of violins. This is musi- Term/natorfilms. first appeared and video sometimes get power; Michael Ansara, plus cal culmination of the years The screen dissolves to in Omni. helmet atomic gun, from Gort and Klatuu and titles. "'Sandkings.' Teleplay and Them through Ray Harry- by Melinda M. Snodgrass. August 1979. Someone else, blasted from a wasted future it would seem, has control of nd refresh ourselves into the white-picket-fence hansen UFOs. Ed Wood, Jr., Based on the novelette by ana uoazma, navored with a George R. R. Martin." all that you see and hear. present; Robert Culp wob- And, hopefully, we are ail bling from his spaceship for bit of Psycho. "You are about No, don't thumb manically about to participate in solidarity, to experience the awe and through your David Schow a United Nations mystery which reach from Outer Limits guide. "Sand- great adventure. We Cold War mutants sopped horribly transformed into . . . kings" isn't there. The story "The Outer Limits breaks up monsters and spaceships yuckl; Adam West dodging hadn't been written when the all the molds of television," indiscriminately, and here was sand sharks on Mars; Robert asserts executive producer a black-and-white nailbiter Culp again, leaping about the -iimmers into crystal clarity, show first aired— it first ap- one-third of of lectronic hymns to horror peared in this magazine in Pen Densham, shadows the Bradbury Building talking to a robot of The Outer Limits aired film Lifepod and the late, not necessarily look back- hand, and finally hunkering from 1963 to 1965. The show lamented Space Rangers. ward, but go forward with it." down for a long, lonely wait was produced by Leslie MGM thought they might Although the literature of to save humanity. These are Stevens and Joseph Stefano well fit the bill. science fiction has a huge just a few of the unforget- of Daystar-Villa di Stefano "Pen has wanted to do a spectrum, the audio/visual virtual) tables that still shiver deep in Productions for United Artists science fiction- or fantasy- (and now, media our brain stems. Television. Metro-Goldwyn- based anthology show for a have always emphasized special effects and visceral "I was frequently asking Mayer absorbed United very long time," says Mark people about their memories Artists, evolving into its pres- Stern, the senior vice presi- impact. Science fiction lends of the show," says Michael ent incarnation. The Outer dent of production for Trilogy itself toward tales that fright-

Cassutt, initial co-executive Limits property was kicked Entertainment Group. "Orig- en, even as they weigh issues producer of the new version. around for years. Attempts inally he had a bunch of ideas and teach. If there is a sig-

it in which he was calling Depart- nificant single heritage of "The phrase I heard from were made to resurrect

It lot like The Outer Limits, it is a pen- everybody was, 'It used to the early 1980s, but then ment Z became a X-Files. Investigators in chant for noisy, melodra- scare the hell out of me'. I MGMfell into troubles. The sublimely satisfy- was like nine when the show With the resurgence of black who turn up all this weird matic, and

it fiction and interesting phenomena." ing morality plays. was on, and I remember both media science fic- In picking George R. R. being quite frightening. It had (thanks to the success of "I grew up on science

Simon Kress (Beau

....- Bridges) and his son >nf " (portrayed by Bridges' own son,

.„4.-4.. Dylan) watch

the sandkings. As

' r : : George vti^ iV: -U., gf|k; readers of •' %?•;'*"£?: origi- :: * "' R. R. Martin's ... . . * ^Sfc T >^.: short story V 1«|fi nal know, they're not

your typical be-

nign aquarium pels.

that noir feeling. Black-and- shows like Star Trek and tion," says Densham. "I ate Martin's "Sandkings" as the white film, mood, and music. Babylon 5) and MGM, the the school library—every sci- two-hour premiere episode

1 That atmosphere. The first notion of reviving The Outer ence-fiction book I could get for Showtime's mid-March season was very scary. The Limits resurfaced. With the my hands on. I'm a Heinlein 1995 series kick-off, the pro- second season, even though proven popularity of anthology fan from way back when The ducers seem to indicate that the fallen it was more science-fictional shows like HBO's Tales from Puppet Masters was coming they've picked up and less monster-oriented, the Crypt, the Showtime out. There is an absolute torch of The Outer Limits was also successful. It's a cable channel snatched up treasure chest of unviewed and are now controlling its perfectly valid way of telling the new series. MGM had a and unknown-by-the-general- phosphor-dot vertical. a story. There aren't many hefty feature deal with public ideas and creativity "'Sandkings' is the per- start off people writing that kind of Trilogy— Pen Densham, that I want to tap. We're work- fect story to a new suspenseful science fiction Richard Lewis, and John ing very hard not to forget season of Outer Limits," right now." Cassutt has since Watson. The company was the legacy we were given. says the show's current co- moved on to his own project. responsible for such hits as "We've put together an executive producer, Manny The show's journey into Robin Hood: Prince of extraordinarily good team. The Coto. Coto comes from a background, the rerun wastelands and its Thieves and Backdraft, but challenge is to come up with horror-movie hard struggle back deserves also had significant television fresh material and take the writing and. directing Dr. well as episodes note. A total of 49 episodes experience, including the TV show into the Nineties and Giggles as 38 OMNI —

of Monsters and Tales from the Crypt. horror? I'd done a few earlier stories like before Outer Limits came along. Richard Lewis of Trilogy agrees. that, 'Nightflyers' perhaps being the "George Martin came to work with "Unlike Manny and Pen, I'm not a real best known of them. 'Sandkings' was us in developing another TV show. He this story as an example of his devotee of science fiction. I enjoy another attempt to mine that particular gave us a it both thinking," explains Lewis. l showed it watching it; I enjoyed reading as a vein and write a story that worked kid. There's something about this story as science fiction and as horror. to other members of the community that swore at me later. They'd read it at that I found riveting. It terrified me. It's "The particular kernel gave me who one of those stories that covers all the idea for the story went back years night and couldn't sleep." media. It's science fiction, but it's a before to when I'd been in college. A When Trilogy entered the Outer Lim- morality play of someone getting friend of mine lived off-campus in an its development scene, Lewis sug- ! watch the Creature gested they use the story for the series; twisted in one direction—getting contam- apartment. We d inated with power. It's a great piece Feature every Saturday night—two hor- however, there was one large problem. and a great challenge." ror movies. We'd put away several cases "A faithful adaptation of George R. "Sandkings," which won both Neb- of beer. At one particular point John got R. Martin's 'Sandkings' is a very expen- ula and Hugo awards in 1980, tells the a tank of piranha. He started to punctu- sive feature film," says Cassutt. "We story of a rich and nasty man, Simon ate these Creature Feature get-togeth- were forced to do a story in the spirit of Kress. On an exotic planet, Kress buys ers by throwing other fish to the piranha. 'Sandkings' rather than a faithful adap- intelligent alien bugs—sandkings Sort of an intermission thing. He'd tation. As a piece of science-fiction TV, from a mysterious shop. As he breeds throw in a goldfish or guppies or what- it will be perfectly wonderful. As a piece the them, they create complex societies ever. It was that real-life incident that of science-fiction TV that satisfies and elaborate architectures, they war formed the basis for Simon Kress's par- people who loved every minute of the with one another, and they worship ties, with his friends getting together to actual story, probably not. But I would Kress. He plays godlike games with watch the sandkings fight their wars. encourage them to wait for the feature them—and then they play ghastly Obviously there was a large amount of film version. George also made a deal sandking games with him. imaginative extrapolation expended to for a TV version and a film version." transmutation number "I was very interested in the ques- transform one to another," Martin says. The posed a tion of whether science fiction and hor- The story went on to eternal antholo- of fascinating problems. The solutions ror could be blended effectively," says gization. It has never been out of print, are classic examples of how teamwork author George R. R. Martin. "Could you nor out of the hands of filmmakers, it and compromise work in television. use the symbols and traditional tropes has always been under option from The shooting script is a first-rate exam- and images and furniture of one of those some company or another, and there ple of what Outer Limits (and science- genres to accomplish the goal of scar- have been a couple of screenplays fiction horror in general) does best: It ing the reader, the main thing that drives written. Trilogy was interested in it even scares you, leaving a thoughtful res©- GREAT MOMENTS N

y's an attempt to well ItwSy's compulsion '. U Z>51 (i.e. Unbeknownst to them at to> dtmKdrink trom'ltiefrom the toilet,Toilet, inventor fl. Tames the t'me, Plato end Aristotle initiate pmhy fine-tunes his Most creation which a deliberative he hapcs to patent and market to d

SATIRE BY ERIC JAY DECETIS 1

nance after the last tremble. The process is an insightful gaze in- side the process of worthwhile televi- sion shows.

"It was a collective decision," says Cassutt, who helmed the creative thrust.

"I didn't see any reason to set the story on another planet. Clearly the sandkings themselves are the science fictional ele-

ment of 'Sandkings.' If you want a sim- plified version, you want to find a way of

having those little guys on Earth." Cassutt did a preliminary two-page 3£ treatment while they were obtaining the rights and selecting a screenwriter. They chose Melinda M. Snodgrass, alumna of both science-fiction novels (Circuit) and science-fiction TV (Slar Trek: The Next Generation). She did two outlines and two drafts of the script. Time at a premium, the script was then taken in- house, and given to Manny Coto. "Melinda Snodgrass tackled the ini-

tial problems, and then Manny came in like a human tornado and really pulled together a lot of the loose elements," says Densham. "When we're working with writers we really try to create a creative think tank, where everybody's LCD opinion can contribute to the imagina- tion of the whole piece." In The Outer Limits' "Sandkings," Simon Kress (Beau Bridges) is a near- future scientist with a wife (Helen AHEAD. Shaver), a son (Dylan Bridges), and a military father (Lloyd Bridges) who fa- What about nondelegability? Our new over Simon. Whistler's advanced vored a medal-winning son Simon's efforts to show his worth find cloaking technology makes you "invisible" radar-laser detectors their voice in defense work involving to the VG-2 (a radar-detector work with eggs found in Martian sand put you on the samples. When the project is shut down, detector) until you're safely out of range. leading edge. Simon steals a thermos full and sets up shop in his barn. The result: Sandkings And don't forget our user-friendly in a terra-fied version of the Martin An unbeatable wide-angle ik'c-z* features that keep you worry-free and story, with a sandking-bitten, crazed detection system uses an exclusive three- Simon playing God while intelligent, focused on your driving. belligerent bugs snack on the family lens optical array for superior sensitivity dog and a rival of Simon's—and then and field of view. Plus REAR LASER generally menace the family and Earth. "At first we played with the idea that on select models* they were designed as part of biologi- cal weaponry," says Cassutt. "That's With our superwideband design, where Simon's character came from. My you can count on long-range detectic thought was that there's something fas- cinating about guys Who spend 25 or of all X ,. K and Kb radar. * Available on 30 years working in this black, shad- Whistler 1290, owy defense world—then are suddenly and 1275 models.

cast out. I still think that would be a good way to go with the story, but as we looked

CALL 1-800-531 -0004 at it, we had some strong disagree- for the name of your nearest retailer. ments as to whether that was plausible or necessary. So we said, 'Look, we've

just got aliens.' I think it works fine." "One of the movies we used as a model—for feeling, anyway—was The Whistler^ Shining," says Lewis. "I think that Beau J.I 83a WHISTLER CORPORATION and it's really America's #1 Choice for Highway Protection Bridges has captured— Manny's writing that has put this on the table—the sort of internal dialogue that It's called 'Prototype.' Every one of Nicholson has where he wasn't just these shows is absolutely intelligent and mumbling but almost talking himself well thought-out and based on character. into a logic of his madness. There's There's no dumbing down at all. They're something so striking in the looks be- all done with an incredible amount of tween Beau and Lloyd Bridges. They've respect for the audience. Something both got these furrowed brows and these you don't find a lot of in science fiction bushy eyebrows. Very intense eyes. in features or for television." Beau takes his character to a twisted Other stories slated for airing include darker side, it's startling to watch." a dramatic version of Dan Simmons' "The Martin admits that the original might River Styx Runs Upstream," and another have been subconsciously influenced Alan Brennert script, titled "Dark Matters." by Theodore Sturgeon's classic "They all have great science-fiction

"Macrocosrnic God." Certainly it could concepts," Coto continues. "There's

7 also be said that this TV version is in one ('Under the Bed, by Larry Meyers) the tradition of such shows as the with the bogeyman coming back to life Outer Limits episode, 'The Zanti Mis- and stealing children. There's actually fits," which is equipped with intelligent a science-fiction explanation." insectoid aliens, equally belligerent. "The Outer Limits is more about Be assured, though, budget or no human nature, the kinds of changes AND budget, we'll see more than a shift from that we're going to face when mankind black-and-white to color. The effects for confronts new issues. They're all moral- shows like "Zanti" now look decidedly ity issues. The technology is there to dated. Densham promises elaborate bring out what we in society are either DOLLARS surprises in putting the sandkings in complacent about or on the brink of your face. "We're using a number of becoming," Densham says. different techniques. Puppetry, CGI, The central challenge is that times real insects. (Scorpions, actually.) No have changed for the Control Voice. AHEAD, one individual answer creates a living "Scary horror science fiction is not a creature. You have to use every possi- relic of the Sixties, but a relic of the ble method to pull these things to- Fifties," Cassutt says. "If you look at the gether and create the sense that these original series, the threats were all ba- creatures have intelligence." sically from the outside. They were Get up to . Trilogy is not going to be able to rest aliens, coming to eat you or pretending on its pincers. "The challenge for us is to be your neighbors. The stories I to use the feature relationships we found myself responding to and devel- $ have. For 'Sandkings,' it's the Bridges oping were much more the biological 40bacK family. Michael T. Williams of Forrest horror. Your body turning into the Gump is going to play in one of the up- enemy. Things from the inside. It's one on our advanced coming episodes. Rebecca DeMornay of the situations in which science fiction and Charles Martin Smith from some reflects the times. The Outer Limits was radar-laser detectors. great movies will be directing episodes. the end product of those Fifties horror

We're working with Adam Nimoy to de- movies. It's a Cold War metaphor. The Check out our newest feature. It's $40 back velop 'I, Robot' (from the original Outer threat was godless, atheistic commu-

Limits episode, based on the Eando nism taking over, whereas 30 years on modei 1290, $30 on models 1280, 1275 Binder story, not the Asimov novel) for later, the perceived threats are to per- 'and 1270, and $20 on model 1250. So head his father (Leonard Nimoy, who ap- sonal security and health. My own peared in the original) to direct." script is about a modern-day Franken- for your nearest Whistler retailer. You'll be

Other upcoming shows? "'Second stein. It's about a nanotechnology re- milesAIMU UULLAna ahead. Soul' (by Nebula award-winning sci- searcher/inventor whose invention ence fiction writer Alan Brennert) is an blows up in his face." *Lirnited-tirne mail-in offer. absolutely incredible story of aliens Alas, not all went well during Cas- who come to Earth from a ravaged sutfs five and a half months in the cre- planet of their own making," says Coto. ative pilot seat. "I was trying to get "They need one simple thing: They stories by Fredrik Pohl, Robert Fieinlein, need to occupy human bodies. The story James Tiptree, Jr., Damon Knight, and is about the culture clashes that erupt other science fiction writers. Some of from a human bigot who must get used them may wind up getting through. But to the fact that dead people are being there are complications in terms of Can reanimated and are now walking aliens you find a way to adapt it? Does the on Earth. The twist ending involves the story work? Can you find a way to get man's path to accepting this and dis- six people to sign off on the adaptation? covering what the aliens are really up Then, Can you make the deal? For ex- to. It's one of the best scripts I've ever ample, a lot of Philip K. Dick's short sto- read. Jonathan Glassner, the other co- ries would be terrific for Outer Limits Whistler^ executive producer, wrote a story episodes. However, they are priced be- about a female robot kind of in the tra- yond the range of mortal TV shows. It's America's #1 Choice for Highway Protection dition of (Lester Del Rey's) Helen O'Loy. a shame. Phil's stories have been CORPORATION CONTINUED ON PAGE 90

—

E R O J C OPEN BOO DATE

For Richard Price, a single ALIEN about the incident. But in ored interior and a white shell. traumatic childhood incident 1 964 while in high school he Within two weeks Price has thrown a terrifying shad- IMPLANT did tell a girlfriend and with- had turned over a portion of ow over the last four dec- OR— in a week everyone in school the "implant" to David Pritch- was calling him "the space- ard, a scientist at the Massa- ades of his life. One evening HUMAN in September 1955, near a man.' Finally after getting chusetts Institute of Tech- cemetery in Troy, New York, UNDERWEAR? into a fight, he was called to nology who believes scien- Price claims, he encountered see the principal, who re- tists should look seriously at to school the abduction phenomenon. . a couple of humanoids who ferred him the took him aboard their craft psychologist. Pritchard says he agreed to and injected an implant Price underwent a bat- analyze the "implant" for under his skin. Now, a sci- tery of psychological tests one simple reason: "Proving entist from a world-class and was given various med- that life exists elsewhere in university has analyzed that ications. But since no one the universe would be the implant and reached a fas- had even heard of UFO ab- biggest scientific discovery' cinating conclusion. ARTICLE ductions back then, he even- of all time." Price, who was then 8 tually ended up in a state For Pritchard, however, BY PATRICK HUYGHE years old, has never forgot- hospital. He was released that dream must wait. In- ten the episode, especially AN MIT SCIENTIST after three months, but only deed, the MIT scientist found the moment the aliens im- after "admitting" to the doc- the object was made of "the ANALYZES planted something into his tors on his case that the kind . of material elements now that the Bobbitt trial AN ALLEGED ALIEN incident had never occurred. and chemicals—carbon, has made the word media- IMPLANT More than a dozen years oxygen, hydrogen, and com- acceptable—penis. would pass before Price pounds—one would expect SUPPOSEDLY PLACED "I was tied down to a could bear to relate this bi- if the object were biological table in the center of the IN THE zarre tale again, once more in origin and formed right 7 here on planet Earth.' room," he recalls, "and they BODY OF ONE trying to convince the out- had used a machine to scan side world It.was real. After A dermatopathologist at

over my body up to my neck. . ABDUCTEE talking to UFO investigators Massachusetts General Hos- Then they took this implant IN THE COURSE OF in 1981, Price was urged to pital in Boston, moreover, amazingly, supports Pritchard's conclu- from the table and put it at ATRAUMATIC visit a doctor who, the end of this long needle confirmed the presence of sion. Thomas Flotte found attached to some" type of CHILDHOOD EVENT. a foreign object in his penis." that the "implant" consists box and cable. When they But since Price felt no dis- of concentric layers of fibro-

inserted the needle into my comfort from it, the doctor blasts, a.type of ceil found tissue, skin I could see on a moni- suggested that nothing in connective extra-

tor in front of me an enlarge- needed to be done. cellular material like colla-

ment where it looked like Then in June 1989, while gen, and some external cot- they were hooking up wires getting dressed, Price no- ton fibers. The human body underneath my skin. Then, ticed the "implant" protrud- apparently produces such after they took the needle ing above the skin, and calcified tissue in response

out and shut everything off, about two months later it to .injury, either from foreign one of them came over to came out. The object was material like a piece of glass me and, before he helped roughly cylindricai, round- or a wood splinter, or from a me put my clothes back on, ed at both ends, and had at trauma of some kind, caused

said: 'Leave it alone, or least six small appendages. perhaps by a baseball or a

you'll die.'" Tiny, measuring about 1 milli- table corner. Price reports he was too meter wide and 4 millimeters "This calcification process

frightened to teli his parents deep, it had an amber col- is common," says Flotte, with a sleep paralysis epi- "though the penis is not a THE HARDENED natural products of the hu- man body and fibers from sode. The paralysis "typically site of trauma all that often." TISSUE IN The cotton fibers probably cotton underwear. So this results in very shallow came from Price's under- HIS PENIS SEEMED case only rules out the pos- breathing, which reduces the wear; they became incor- TO BE OF sibility of clumsy aliens. It the oxygen input to into the body tis- doesn't rule out the possi- brain. In some people, such porated BIOLOGICAL ORIGIN. aliens." oxygen reduction stimulates sue as it hardened. bility of super-clever Pritchard, who with Har- THE COTTON Other ideas, however, - the .sexual centers. "And

if found any- vard psychiatrist John Mack FIBERS MIGHT HAVE might make more sense. then later on he re- thing wrong with his geni- organized an abduction COME FROM For instance, given the conference held at MIT in cent connection some sci- tals," says Baker, "he would the summer of 1992, knows HIS UNDERWEAR. entists have made between attribute whatever the prob- hallu- of one other penile implant BUT THERE'S the mind and body, it has lem was to what the case; upon examination, been suggested that Price cinated aliens did." THE POSSIBILITY, that implant, too, turned out may have "induced" the But how did the "implant" to be calcified damaged SAY BUFFS, implant much like people get there in the first place? Cone, a psycholo- tissue of terrestrial, and THAT THE IMPLANT, who practice visualization William human, origin. exercises have been shown gist in private practice in But despite the rather DESIGNED to improve their T-cell Newport Beach, California, mundane outcome, Pritch- BY CLEVER ALIENS, counts, boosting the im- thinks he knows the answer. system. "To my knowledge we have ard feels that the Price im- MIMICKED mune plant case is as good as But psychologists reject yet to recover an implant

. anything anyone in the business of THE NATURAL the notion that Price's be- that resembles analyzing possible extra- DEFORMITIES OF lief in aliens might some- alien," he states. "Instead, terrestrial artifacts is likely how have provoked the the chances of somebody

MAN, little to get. "I thought this object growth. "To willfully create finding a something had an extremely good such a calcification is highly wrong with his or her body greater than think. pedigree because it was unlikely," says Kentucky are we associated with a conscious psychologist Robert Baker, Statistically, if you look at the recollection," notes Pritch- author of Hidden Memories, population at large, you are ard, "and Price even has a "almost as unlikely as an going to see a lot of people doctor's report indicating alien implant." who have had growths and that he had something Baker also largely dis- bumps and pieces of stuff under his skin 1 years ago." misses the possibility that stuck in their body. Out of While Pritchard found no Price might be using an that large population, some sign that the "implant'' was alien encounter story to people interested in abduc- an alien artifact, he states cover up an episode of tions are going to find things his investigation does not childhood sexual abuse. in their body, and as far as I rule out the extremely re- "While such things are pos- am concerned, that is prob- mote possibility that, -as sible," he says, "it's not usu- ably what happened here." believers might argue, the ally the case. In fact, over Meanwhile Price, in an calcified tissue was actual- the years we've discovered effort to come to grips with

ly manufactured by aliens. that people .remember the turmoil this and two

"it's possible," he- ex- very clearly cases of child- subseguent alien encoun-

plains, "that the aliens are hood sexual abuse. It's not ters have caused, is in the so clever that they can a guestion of repression." process of writing a book make devices that serve More likely, notes Baker, about it all with a surpris- their purposes yet appear Price's so-called aliens were ingly down-to-earth title: to have a prosaic origin as a hallucination associated What Affects Your Life.DO N V.E

Roger McGuinn of The will enable you to assess a THE be able to assign the orig- Byrds once put it this way: sighting's importance, de- inal stimulus to a particular

If you want to be a rock- termining how much time and specific category, be- ginning, in broadest terms, and-roll star, it's- a relative- and energy, and what in- OMNI 1 ly straightforward affair. strumentation, you want to OPEN BOOK with "identified ' and "un- "Just get a guitar and bring to bear on a particu- FIELD identified." learn how to play." Musical lar case. A report of a bright Identified means that a rhetoric aside, much the white light that lines up INVESTIGATORS particular phenomenon or same can be said of a with Venus's known posi- GUIDE: object can be attributed to UFO investigator. No spe- tion in the sky at the time, PART TWO a known natural or man- cial degrees or licenses for example, should attract made source, be it a star, are required—just a few much less attention than, planet, weather balloon, or basic chords. say, a competing case in- advertising blimp. As you go about mak- volving multiple witnesses, By the same token, un- ing your UFO album, you'll radar returns, and indica- identified does not in and find yourself returning to tions of a physical impact of itself connote an extra- those chords again and on the environment, such lerrestria! spaceship; it again. first pre- tree limbs, merely that the The one : as broken indicates sented in this chapter, is a scorched grass, piles of source or stimulus of the basic UFO sorting system. debris, and so on. ARTICLE BY original sighting remains

When you've mastered it, A classification system DENNIS STACY unknown and unidentified. you'll gain the virtuoso is necessary not only as a While all known phenome- ability to recognize and starting point, but also as na may have been ruled classify potential UFOs. It an end result. Once your out as a possible explana- stands to reason that, as a investigation is concluded, tion, other unknown, but

UFO hunter, this basic skill in other words, you should perfectly mundane, phe- '

nomena may have been the form of two saucers, themselves or dismiss it lines, "the probabilities are operative at the time. Put one inverted over the other," altogether before even con- great that it is not worthy of another way: Unidentified then allegedly touched down sidering the possibility of follow-up. As a word of cau-

Flying Object means only on his property about 200 classifying it as an Uniden- tion, however, should a large that the object was uniden- feet away. About five feet tified Flying Object. number of individual ob- tified after investigation, not thick and the color of lead, The intended end goal servers concur on an un- sighting of a few. sec- that it was from another plan- the device reportedly rest- of any proper UFO investi- usual et and necessarily hellbent ed on the ground for only a gation, of course, is to sort onds' duration, it should not . on abducting humans and/or matter of seconds before through ail possible expla- be dismissed." mutilating horses and cattle, lifting back up in the air nations in order to arrive at The Air Force observed, or otherwise wreaking high- above some pine trees and the most likely solution. no doubt correctly, that tech alien havoc on the resi- shooting away to the north- Sometimes the UFO hunter sightings of extremely short dents of Earth. east. A circular ring just over can easily attribute a sight- duration generally turned As humans, we have a six feet in diameter was par- ing to some mundane out to be meteors, incoming built-in classification sys- tially scoured into the ground. source, natural or manmade. space debris like satellites tem to begin with, one that Even when things are this At the same time, other falling out of orbit, or some compares present experi- unusual, the natural human sightings will remain uniden- other mundane object only ences- with past ones on an impulse is to classify and tified or unknown after the briefly glimpsed.

"as like" basis. Most of us dismiss what we see. The investigator's best attempts The Air Force also placed have seen airplane landing French contractor at Trans- to explain. value on multiple witnesses lights at one time or anoth- en-Provence, for example, As we'll see, however, a and a sighting's geographi- er, Venus shining like a felt he was witnessing some classification' of "unknown" cal range. "As an example," searchlight in the evening sort of secret aerial device presents its own problems the ATIC memorandum or morning sky, a full moon built and flown by the and requires its own further noted, "twenty-five people peeping through ragged French military. classification system if the at one spot may observe a clouds, and whatnot. Other witnesses in simi- UFO hunter is to make any strange light in the sky. This,

It's only when "Venus" lar sightings have suggest- sense of the phenomenon however, has less weight suddenly executes an abrupt ed that apparently inexplic- at all. than two reliable people ob- right-angle turn or divides able objects were weather One such system comes serving the same light from into two smaller lights that balloons or the Goodyear to us from the Air Force, different locations. In the lat- streak away at high speed blimp, anything, in fact, but which used it to evaluate ter case a position-fix is that we find our attention a UFO. the quality of the unknowns. indicated." Of course, it attracted and realize we Contrary to public opin- Were they worthy of further goes without saying that 25 may, in fact,, be in the mid- ion, we are not primed to see investigation? Or were they witnesses in a single loca- dle of a UFO sighting. UFOs everywhere at the drop just too vague and amor- tion will hold more weight One of the most thor: of a proverbial hat. And most phous, too cloudy, to pur- than two witnesses also at a oughly investigated and UFO reporters are not un- sue at all? single locale.

well-documented UFO re- abashed publicity seekers. The'system, developed The Air ' Force consid- ports in history is that of Conservative indications by the Air Technical Intelli- ered the investigator's prox-

Trans-en-Provence, so called are that fewer than one in gence Center (ATIC) at imity to the pase crucial as for the small French village twenty UFO sightings are Wright-Patterson Air Force well. That makes sense. in which it occurred. ever reported to anyone Base, Dayton, Ohio, also Obviously if you live in Albany On the evening of Jan- other than immediate family home of Project Blue Book, or Trenton, the chances of uary 8, 1981, Renato Nicolai members and friends. In- held, first of all, that would- personally investigating any was working in his garden deed, many witnesses start be witnesses had to time UFO case, however com- when he heard a whistling out in denial. Startled and the duration of the sighting pelling, in, say, Denver or noise. What he would later surprised by what they see, itself. When a sighting was San Francisco—never mind describe to government in- they generally make repeat- less than 15 seconds, ac- France or Russia—are great- vestigators as "a device in ed efforts to explain it to cording -to the ATIC guide- ly diminished. While much —

can be inferred and con- sidered the amount of A BASIC UFO SORTING continues to. this day. firmed by telephone, a per- elapsed time between when SYSTEM WILL So the Air Force's seven- sonal, on-site investigation the UFO was sighted and day limit should be taken HELP ASSESS A is best. when it was actually report- YOU with a grain of salt. Besides, The Air Force also placed ed or investigated. ATIC rec- SIGHTING'S some Investigations should reli- ommendations noted that be historical by nature and some'emp basis on the IMPORTANCE, DETER- ability of the witness; the "if the information, cannot design. A few years back, more reliable the witness be obtained within seven MINING HOW for example, I approached the more professional, the days, the value of such in- MUCH TIME AND the Sunday magazine sup- plement of my local news- the more formation is greatly de- . more educated, ENERGY AND sane—the more the Air creased." However, in cases paper with the idea for an Force encouraged investi- where "physical evidence WHICH INSTRUMEN- article based on San gators to pursue the case. exists," the Air Force con- TATION YOU Antonio residents who had This is a subjective call, ad- ceded, "a follow-up should previously reported UFOs. WANT TO BRING mittedly, but one we have to be made even if some of Part of the purpose of the consider. Rightly or wrong- the above criteria have not TO BEAR article was to see whether 57- the average citizen still ly, most of us regard a been met." ON THE CASE. year-old astronomer or re- Ideally, any case should stood by, or even remem- tired fighter pilot as somehow be investigated as soon as bered, his or her sightings the more reliable—and there- possible after it comes to years after the fact. From fore more believable—than, the investigator's attention, offices of the Mutual UFO say, a couple of high-school but this is not always feasi- Network in nearby Seguin, kids in a parked car. Chalk ble. Most of us have day Texas, I was able to exam-

it up to human nature. jobs and family lives, as do ine the files of some ten To some extent, howev- most witnesses. Coordinating past reports, the oldest er, the perception is cor- schedules is not always having occurred a decade rect. The astronomer and easy. Nor are ail of us suit- previously. Only one or two the fighter pilot are trained ed to the personal interview witnesses no longer lived in observers. They are familiar situation and its demands.- San Antonio. Somewhat to with much of what happens Moreover, much valuable my surprise, the others re- in the sky simply because historical UFO information membered their sightings that's what they get paid to remains essentially un- as if they had happened do. At the same time, an plumbed and unmined. yesterday "I'll never forget advanced degree in astron- In one prominent exam- it as long as I live," was an omy or a pilot's license pie, the front-page headline almost universal response.

does not confer infallibility. . of the Roswell (New Mex- Equally interesting, despite For that matter, one of ico) Daily Record once an- the passage of time, was the most famous hoaxes in nounced in bold type that the fact that the events UFO history was perpetrat- the Army Air Force had re- dredged up from contem- ed by a former Navy officer covered a flying disc near- porary memory were re- with a Ph.D. degree in bio- by. That headline, dated markably consistent with chemistry. Ultimately, it is up Tuesday, July 8, 1947, lay the original report, with little to the individual investiga- buried in the Record's files or no embellishment on the tor to establish or confirm the for more than 30 years, until witnesses' part. credentials and bona fides it was discovered by UFOI- I was able to conclude of his or her witnesses, and ogists in the late 1970s, set- that, whatever the source of to corroborate their sighting ting off an investigation the UFO stimulus, its im- as best he or she can. which has resulted in at pact and impression on The Air Force also, con- least four books and which percipients was both dra- O M N B O O K

matic and relatively "per- The first classification THE MOST term "radar-visual.". above, tantaliz- manent." So, while sooner system to gain widespread FASCINATING YET All of the is no doubt better than later currency among civilian ing as any single case as a general rule ot thumb, UFO investigators was that TROUBLING might have been, still repre- a week or more of elapsed proposed by the late Dr. J. UFO REPORTS WERE sented. remote observations, time between a UFO event Allen Hynek in The UFO whether by human beings or THE CLOSE and the onset of an investi- Experience (Henry Regnery electronic monitoring equip- gation isn't necessarily the Company, Chicago, 1972). ENCOUNTERS IN ment. More troubling—and kiss of death the Air Force Hynek certainly knew where- WHICH HUMAN therefore ultimately more would have had us believe. of he spoke; from the sum- interesting—were those UFO The intended results of mer of 1947 until December BEINGS CLAIM TO reports that could loosely any investigation should also 1969, he had served as the HAVE ACTUALLY be defined as "close en- re- be considered. If you want Air Force's scientific consul- counters." And UFO BEEN to examine how the national tant on UFO reports. The TOUCHED OR searchers found the closer press treated UFO reports Hynek system had the ad- TAKEN ABOARD the better in terms of the during the Korean War, for vantage of being both sim- A LANDED UFO OR— potential information that instance, or the origin of the ple and, as it turned out, could conceivably be gath-

1 phrase "little green 'men' memorable. (In fact, cine- IN THE CASE ered for review. Hynek was willing to and its derogatory associa- matic wunderkind Steven OF ABDUCTION—TO tion with the UFO phenome- Spielberg would base one consider the Air Force's HAVE BEEN non in general, it doesn't of the highest-grossing mo- basic contention that most make much difference when tion pictures of all time, Close KIDNAPPED BY THE UFO reports represented started—only how Encounters of the Third the simple.misperception of you get ALIENS AND deep you're willing to dig. Kind, on Hynek's evocative ordinary objects or phe-

-And believe it or not, these nomenclature.) BEAMED ALOFT nomena—particularly when questions are important. Hynek's system was the UFO was seen at a dis- They help us place individ- based on both numbers tance. But Hynek also felt ual sightings in cultural or and phenomenology. Most that the "misperception" historical context,^ rovide a UFOs were reported as bril- theory tended to lose cre- referential base of meaning liant light sources seen in dence and viability in those for the language used by the nighttime sky, so his first cases in which percipients witnesses, arid illuminate the category, or classification, claimed to have actually social significance of the was the self-explanatory touched, or been taken phenomenon as a whole. "nocturnal light." aboard, a landed UFO. Such searches also help Although significantly Hynek broke close en- with the broader goal: deL fewer in number, many UFOs counter cases into three ciding whether a UFO is were seen by the cold light separate categories: those worth investigating in the of day, and the majority of of the first, second-, and third first place. Once you have these tended to be shaped kind. All were assumed to made that decision in the like a circular plate or have taken place within 500 affirmative, you must be saucer, hence the popular feet of the UFO stimulus. able to categorize the par- phrase "flying saucer," and A close encounter of the

first subsequently ab- ticular sighting—to place it Hynek's second category, kind, in the appropriate slot so it "daylight discs." breviated as CE I, was a can be compared to other Some daylight discs were UFO report in which the wit- similar- sightings that have reported by witnesses and, ness or witnesses claimed come before. Toward that simultaneously, captured by that the UFO physically ap- end, a usable classification radar. To these cases Hynek proached within 500 feet of system is a must. assigned the descriptive their position but otherwise . .

FLYING SAUCER. VERSUS UFO

Believers and skeptics aiike UFO—Unidentified Fly- ously, "is the official term cessor, in USAF Report

agree that much of the ing Object—also implies by that I created to replace the No. F-TR-2274-1A, which problem revolving around definition that some sort of words 'flying saucers.'" In dated from February of a dispassionate discussion physical flying object is in- a briefing—classified secret 1949. In addition, a 600- oJ the so-called UFO phe- volved in each and every at the time—given the Air page report released in De- nomenon stems from basic UFO report, when it is not Defense Command in De- cember of that same year

linguistics. Kenneth Arnold, clear that this is the case. As cember of 1952, Ruppelt (Technical Report No. 102-

for example, whose June astronomer J. Allen Hynek reiterated, saying, "We don't AC49YI5-10G)—two years

24, 1947, sighting arguably- pointed out, "the U in UFO like the name 'flying sau- before Ruppelt assumed

initiated the modern era of stands for 'Unidentified.'" cers' and only rarely use it the Project Blue Book man-

UFO reports, never once As with flying saucer, the because it seems to repre- tle—was titled "Unidentified mentioned "flying saucers" original coinage of UFO sent weird stories, hoaxes Flying Objects—Project or UFOs. What Arnold told remains in some dispute. [and some] sort of joke." Grudge." Clearly, the UFO Associated Press reporter In the opening pages of But earlier that same year acronym hadcrept into of-

Bill Bequette was that the his classic The Report on Ruppelt had contributed an ficial Air Force usage be- nine crescent-shaped, ob- Unidentified Flying Objects, article, to Air Intelligence fore Ruppelt's time. The jects he saw behaved "like former Air Force captain Digestin which he referred true originator of the phrase, a saucer skipping over wa- and Project Blue Book' to UFOs as UAOs—Uniden- in other words, was un-

ter." An anonymous head- director Edward Ruppelt tified Aerial Objects. doubtedly some lower-

line writer coined the phrase claims to have invented the UAO, however, had first echelon staff person who "flying saucer," and the phrase out of whole cloth. been used by Project Sign, will probably forever re-

rest is pretty much history. "UFO," he says unambigu- Project Blue Book's prede- main anonymous. DQ

left no lasting impression or was coming from overhead. is a perfect example of a CE were approaching a bridge

II residual effects on the sur- I looked up and saw the case. The witness was when they noticed "a large,

rounding, environment. In outline of an object moving within 500 feet or less of the flat, sort of egg-shaped

other words, it was a visual out past the pitch of my object, landing traces were object" hovering about 100

sighting only. roof, approximately 250 to found: and 'scientists were feet above its superstruc- At 6:05 on the morning 500 feet high. The red glow later able to determine an' ture, at which point the of February 6, 1966 at was coming from beneath implied physical effect on car's electrical system ap-

Nederland, Texas, for in- the object, about center. It the environment apparently parently failed.

' stance, one of the most appeared as a stream of caused by the UFO source. The engine died and the

famous close encounters in- light coming from inside In this case, physical effects dashboard lights and head-

volved at least "three wit- through a hole." were most pronounced in lights went out. Then "a bril- nesses and lasted for ap- A close encounter of the plant samples, which regis- liant flash of white light"

proximately five minutes. second kind (CE II) repre- tered a measurable reduc- emanated from the object

As the primary witness de- sented a sighting in which tion in the green pigment and both witnesses ''feit

scribed it, "the neighbor- the UFO was not only seen known as chlorophyll. heat on our faces." A "dull

hood was lit up in a red glow. at a distance of 500 feet or Many CE II cases in- explosion" was heard, the

My first thought was that a less, but also during which volve individuals whose car object began rising verti- police car was parked near- "measurable physical ef- engines stall and headlights cally and disappeared from

by or a fire truck. I called to fects on the land and on go out, as was reported by view in a matter of five to my wife that something must animate and inanimate ob- two witnesses at Loch Raven ten seconds.

be wrong in the neighbor- jects are reported." Dam, Maryland, on October A CE 111 was defined, in hood and to come and see. The Trans-en-Provence 26, 1958. The pair had just Hynek's words, as one "in

Suddenly I realized the light sighting mentioned earlier driven over the dam and .which animated entities (of- T H E OMNI B O . O K

1 2 3 4 5

ANOMALY ft ft * €) yfe ^ FB f FLY-BY -A/W- % sf MANEUVER

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CLOSE w ENCOUNTER ^^ n ( ^/£ w _AMA- #f (Sj •

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Sighting Physical Living Reality Lasting Effects Entities Transformation Injury ten called 'humanoids,' finally passed out of sight figures reportedly climbed against their will, often in a paralysis. 'aliens,' or 'occupants') have behind a small hill. inside the craft, which then state of physical been reported." Eventually, Zamora was took off vertically and shot The most famous such case, One of the more cele- able to drive his patrol car off horizontally. perhaps because it was brated and controversial within 150 feet of the object, To his dying day, Hynek one of the first, involved Betty Barney Hill of Ports- CE III cases involved police- which, he said, now resem- remained concerned and and man Lonnie Zamora of Soc- bled an egg-shaped craft perplexed by the growing mouth, New Hampshire. On orro, New Mexico. On the parked atop metallic legs at new category of UFO reports the evening of September afternoon of April 24, 1964, the bottom of a gully Two known as "abductions" 19, 1961, the two were Zamora said he broke off white-cloaked figures stood (sometimes referred to as CE returning home from vaca- chasing a speeding motor- nearby, he reported, and he IVs), those instances in which tion in Niagara Falls along isolated ist when his attention was could see a kind of insignia witnesses claim to have an highway when distracted by a descending on the side of the craft. At been 'beamed" or otherwise they reportedly experienced of "missing time." object emitting flames. It Zamora's approach the two transported aboard UFOs two hours Under hypnosis, the Hills, burn, scar, or otherwise harm IN HIGH- cally down Vallee's chart re- filled in their memory gap its nearby percipients—on flect the various categories. STRANGENESS CASES, with an account of abduc- rare, unconfirmed occasions AN stands for Anomaly Fly- tion. While inside the star- fatally—while at other times UFOS ARE By (FB) and Maneuver ship, both said, they were the effect, or by-product, of ALLEGED TO HAVE (MA), are basically equiva-

. subjected to invasive med- a UFO close encounter could lent to Hynek's distant en- "MORPHED" ical procedures performed only be described as heal- counters (that is, Nocturnal by alien beings dressed in ing or beneficial, almost en- OR CHANGED SHAPE, Lights, Daylight Discs, and shiny black uniforms and lightening, in nature. To para- DIVIDED RadarA/isuals), with the dif- caps. Afterward, the Hills phrase Forrest Gump: "UFO ference that Vallee's terms

were allegedly returned to is as UFO does." INTO TWO ORTHREE, ultimately reflect the behav-

their car and allowed to go Indeed, one has only to DISAPPEARED ior of the phenomenon it- on their way. review a small number of self, as opposed to cir- FROM VIEW, OR the While more serviceable the abduction cases that cumstances (day, night, ra- than anything the Air Force can now be found some- OTHERWISE dar) of the actual sighting. ever managed, the Hynek where in the media almost VIOLATED THE Vallee's final category is also classification system, also every day to see the princi- KNOWN the CE, or Close Encounter. had its shortcomings, as was ple illustrated. Some abduc- Each of these basic cate- readily apparent. For exam- tees claim that the aliens NORM OF PHYSICS. gories has five "degrees" ple, not all daylight UFOs are brutal, inflicting untold SOMETIMES of horizontal complication, were shaped like discs. pain and torture with each as reflected in the chart and

' Triangle-, cigar-, box-, new encounter. Others, A UFO SEEMED TO roughly equivalent to the boomerang-, teapot-, and however, say that the aliens BURN, SCAR, distance of the observer globe-shaped UFOs have are benevolent visitors, here OR OTHERWISE from the phenomenon. also been reported, and not to -help us transcend our These horizontal elements

just once or twice, but on own frailties so the human FLARMITS include: (1) Sighting, (2) numerous occasions. species can prevail. NEARBY PERCIP1- Physical Effects, (3) Living Moreover, not all noctur- Given all the fine distinc- Entities, (4} Reality Trans-

. ENTS—AND nal lights are necessarily tions, it fell to computer sci- formation,' and (5). Lasting

simple pinpricks of lu- entist Jacques Vallee, author ON RARE, UNCON- Injury. Each category is rep- minosity. Multicolored beams of several pioneer UFO FIRMED resented by a telling icon. and rays of light have been studies, to fine-tune Hynek's Thus, for those tapping

reported over the years, as system of UFO case classi- OCCASIONS, WITH 'into Vallee's system, AN1 have diffuse areas of illumi- fication. In its final version FATAL RESULTS. would represent anomalous nation that can only be de- (see chart), Vallee main- events such as amorphous scribed as glowing shapes. tained Hynek's basic dis- lights or sounds with no ob- And then there were the tinction of UFO sightings as vious source and no lasting "high-strangeness" cases, either distant or extremely physical effects. those reports in which the near events. To reflect the AN2 are anomalies that UFO allegedly "morphed," fact that certain aspects of display lasting physical ef- or changed shape, divided the UFO phenomenon often fects—for instance, objects into two or three, disap- seem related to anomalous that appear out of nowhere

peared from view altogether, experiences in general (pol- or fields, with mysterious, or otherwise violated the tergeists, near-death, out- flattened swirls of grass. known norm of physics. Nor of-body experiences, and so AN3 would involve any

were the reported physical on) he added the category report of an entity, be it an

effects always lined up like of Anomaly to those pro- alien, an elf, or a ghost. neat ducks in a row. Some- posed by Hynek. AN4 would be those

times a UFO seemed to Columns running verti- anomalous experiences in A T O U ID

which the percipient re- MA sightings are said to NOT ALL DAYLIGHT eter, (3) data indicative of ports interacting with the execute abrupt changes in UFOS ARE gross alterations of several entity; here Vallee includes trajectory—a right-angle parameters, (4) best avail- religious visions and mira- turn, for instance, or a" DESCRIBED AS DISC- able evidence indicates no cles, near-death experi- rapid approach. SHAPED. UFOS natural explanation. ences, and some out-of- Vallee's final category is Under Vallee's SVP IN THE SHAPE OF body experiences. the Close Encounter (CE) Credibility Rating system, AN5 represents anom- and its now self-explanato- TRIANGLES, then, an average "good" alous healing, injury, or ry permutations, ranging in BOOMERANGS. UFO report might be rated death—associated phe- complexity as with Ma- 222 -in terms of overall BOXES, nomena include sponta- neuvers, from Sighting to "weight" or reliability. This neous combustion., mirac- Lasting Injury. CUBES, CIGARS, would mean that the re- ulous healing, and even Vallee also applies what GLOBES, port, although secondhand, some instances of sponta- he calls the "SVP credibili- was from a reliable source EVEN TEAPOTS neous remission, ty rating" to individual UFO AND (S2), that the actual sight- FB1 would be a simple incidents, in which the ini- HAVE BEEN ing site had been visited sighting of a UFO flying in tials stand for Source relia- REPORTED ON and investigated by per- the sky, the most common bility (credibility of witness- sons familiar with the UFO of all UFO reports. es), site Visit (credibility NUMEROUS phenomenon (V2), and that FB2 is a fly-by with as- and efficacy of investiga- OCCASIONS AS at least one accepted law of nature would have to be sociated physical effects, tors), and' Possible expla- WELL. such as a fall of alleged nation. Each letter in order grossly distorted to assign

"angel hair." is assigned a digit from the sighting a natural ex-

FB3 is a fly-by in which to 4 as follows. S, Source planation (P2). living entities are seen on reliability: (0) unknown or if the Vallee classifica- board the UFO, usually in- unreliable, (1) known source tion system seems too con- side a clear dome or through of uncalibrated reliability, fusing or complex or too windows or portholes. (2) secondhand reliable far out at first glance, them

FB4 represents a fly-by source, (3) firsthand reli- you might want to stick in which the witness's sense able source, (4) firsthand with Hynek's for the time or experience of reality is persona] interview by reli- being, at least until you affected at a distance. This able investigator; V, on-site gain more on-the-job expe- might involve a loss of mem- Visit: (0) none or unknown, rience. The important thing ory or a momentary feeling (1) casual visit by individ- is to keep a detailed record of paralysis. ual not familiar with phe- of your investigation; that

FB5 would represent nomenon, (2) visit by per- way other investigators will lasting injuries as a result son or persons familiar with be able to assign credibili- of a fly-by. This could range phenomenon, (3) reliable ty ratings of their own. from the "sunburn" experi- investigator with some past . Now that you know how enced by Richard Drey- experience, (4) one or more to classify UFO reports, fuss's character in Close visits to site by skilled ana- you're ready to venture out

Encounters of the Third lyses); P, Possible expla- in the field on your own.

Kind to more serious radi- nation: (0) if data is consis- Next month, we'll describe ationlike burns reported by tent with" natural causes, (1) the tools of the UFO hunt- other UFO witnesses. data indicates only a slight er's trade. After you outfit Vallee's Maneuver (MA) deviation from possible yourself lock, stock, and category describes distant natural cause, (2) data sug- barrel, you'll be able to UFOs. Unlike their Fly-By gests a gross deviation of start your investigation of counterparts, objects in at least one natural param- the best UFOs.DO . —

Close Encounters of the substantial amount of dried tinct purpose. My hus- samples. Two major uni-

Orange Kind blood on his pillow, indica- band and I were devastat- versities and one indepen-

" •For quite a few years my tive of a nocturnal nose- ed at the notion of having dent laboratory have run

family has been- aware that bleed. This is quite com- found material used in tests attempting to deter- something strange has mon among abductees. "outer space" and of not mine the makeup of this been happening to us. The The child also had three having the foresight to ob- unusual compound. Though

innocence and insight of my large bruises on his left tain samples before wip- the exact nature of the

two young children finally lower stomach area which ing it off. When we saw the compound hasn't been

defined what these strange had not been present the same residue on our son defined, it is certain that events were: abductions. evening before. The third we made sure we took the combination of ele-

I eventually sought the and most unusual of the samples. ments contained therein

help of Dr. David Jacobs of signs found on the child I took photographs of resembles nothing known

Temple University. I did this is what prompts me to the orange material on my .to be found in a normal

in an attempt to deal with write this letter. On his son's stomach and photos household environment. All

and understand this phe- right lower stomach area of his bruises as well. I test results exhibit a high nomenon that so plagues was a blotch of brown- photographed his face sulfuric content as well as my family. ish/orange residue that, where the dried blood was other common elements.

Because so little docu- like the bruises, was not around his nose and, to this The EDS scan shows a

mentation can be found evident the night before. day, still have the blood- significant spike labeled, to

on this subject, I set out on My husband and I had stained pillow put away for be Rubidium, which has an

an investigative course of seen a substance similar .whatever. I then immedi- atomic number of 37 and

my own. I have kept de- to this only one other time. ately called an abduction has radioactive properties.

tailed notes and charts. I Some months, before, my researcher. I explained to More sophisticated spec- have countless photos of four-year-old daughter, who him what we found on my troscopic analysis would physical "aftermaths" of also recalls detailed ac- son and sought his guid- prove to be of great value

abductions found on our counts of abductions, woke ance. It was my under- in determining the con-

bodies. I have also opened one morning with- this standing that many at- tents of this compound. up our experiences to sci- orange substance splat- tempts by other abduc- Apart from what has al-

entific investigation and will- tered all over her face. We tees to retain samples of ready been submitted, I ingly played "guinea pig" questioned the child and this substance had failed just received word from one to various types of equip- investigated the room for because the residue has a of the'universities that fur- ment set up in our home. the possible origin of this tendency to fade/evapo- ther testing has been com-

Through the above- substance (for example, rate/disappear. I did not pleted on this orange ma-

mentioned course of action food, toys, play makeup, want this to happen to us. terial. It is my understand-

and my strong-willed de- and so on). We came up My husband and I ing that no organic com-

sire to stop these intrusions, with nothing. I took a few soaked a few cotton swabs ponents were identified.

I have become more aware photos of my daughter's with rubbing alcohol and I understand that what- of the signs and symp- face and then, having no proceeded to wipe the ever this substance is toms of abduction events. other course of action, pro- substance from my child's finally determined to be On the morning of De- ceeded to wipe the sub- stomach. The cotton swabs no matter how extraordi- cember 22, 1993, various stance off. containing the residue were nary—that it in and of itself signs and symptoms of an Two weeks following the then wrapped in plastic, does not prove the exist- abduction were found on incident with my daughter, set in an airtight container, ence of UFOs nor will it my seven-year-old son I investigated this event and placed in a dark cup- validate in a skeptic's mind

When I woke up my son through discussion and board. One set of swabs the reality of the abduction

for school, I noticed some hypnosis. We found that this was sent to the abduction phenomenon. What I do dried blood on his nose. substance was indeed ap- researcher, another set hope is that this may help Further investigation of his plied during an abduction given to Dave Jacobs, and provide, at best, another, bedclothes revealed a event and it served a dis- I kept the two remaining tangible "clue"—verifiable .

NOTES FROM N D E R G R O U N D

by the scientific communi- ural weather occurrences. 1AM NOT vidual lights began to ty—toward the ultimate In order to create these "jockey for position" moving A UFO FANATIC. I search for answers. you would need a bird's- up and down at 90 degree AM, HOWEVER, angles. suddenly be- I am not a UFO fanatic, eye view and very large They and formed a i am, however, an unwill- tools or electro-magnetism. AN UNWILLING came huge caught in Someone is leaving mes- great stacked formation in ing-participant PARTICIPANT the web of the abduction sages in fields and I want the sky—then slowly moved CAUGHT IN THE across the sky keeping their experience, i am willing to to know why and what work with any reputable they mean. Most that I've WEB OF THE formation. persons in an attempt to seen appear to be sym- My girlfriend and I were ABDUCTION EXPE- gain knowledge in this bols of unknown meaning, both watching this incredi-

in I ble event and both agreed area. I am willing to openly yet they are familiar RIENCE. AM that "these were definitely tell my family's story if some subliminal way. Could WILLING TO WORK sharing our experiences will aliens be easing their way UFOs." Unfortunately the WITH ANY highway empty at the help to educate others. I into our lives and minds was

want this intrusion to stop! via crop sculptures? REPUTABLE PERSONS time, it was approximately

that aliens 9:00 p.m. I intuitively felt a "I appreciate the long- I'm assuming IN AN ATTEMPT awaited serious approach communicate using sym- connection with the event TO GAIN KNOWL- that Omni is taking in ad- bols and these sculptures and feel that a letter Mwas dressing this issue. are more than just unique- EDGE [N THIS being created, which is Name withheld designs with no signifi- my first initial. AREA. I AM WILLING by request cance. They are doing this About three months

for a reason and we should TO OPENLY after the event I was walk-

Editor's Note: take it seriously. We finally TELL MY FAMILY'S ing down Fifth Avenue and Omni's Project Open Book have physical proof that 23rd Street, intensely re- STORY. is currently investigating aliens exist and it is time to membering the experience.

the information this reader investigate the evidence. For some reason I looked submitted. Results from the Crop sculpture may be up, there were two objects

investigation will be pub- one step closer to a formal hovering far above the lished in a future issue. relationship with aliens. Empire State Building. They J. Case hovered there for about 45 Alien Crop Sculptures Scottsdale, AZ minutes.

I I have seen a lot of televi- During both events sion programs about crop A Tale of Two Sightings was stone cold sober and

formations and small I had an incredible sight- I am absolutely not prone

first . metallic balls that suppos-' ing in September 1989. to hallucinations. The

edly create these awesome My girlfriend and I had just event was witnessed by crop sculptures. What the spent the whole day at the two totally awake, sober,

hell is going on out there? Grand Canyon in Arizona. intelligent, college educat-

Europe is being invaded It was evening, we were ed individuals, I have by extraterrestrial artists on the highway heading to been left with a deep feel-

and I feel like no one cares Flagstaff—approximately ing of 'anger for any skep- except for a few UFOI- ten miles south of the ticism concerning UFOs,

ogists and locals. These Grand Canyon—and I no- but understand that un- crop sculptures are too ticed what appeared to be less someone actually perfect to have been cre- satellites in the sky—first a sees them, they will prob- ated by humans with tools few, then many. They had ably be skeptical. and'they are too perfect to the appearance of fireflies Marshall Jacobowitz have been created by nat- in. the night sky. The indi- New York, NYOQ QUEST F O R E V I D E N C E

UFO CRIME LAB

ARTICLE BY PATRICK HUYGHE

If UFO abductions are real, there should be real evi- dence for them. That sim- ple premise has led Vic- toria Alexander, a writer and

UFO researcher in Santa Fe, to advocate the use of crime-scene investigative techniques to obtain evi-

dence in UFO abduction

cases. "After all," she says : "crimes are supposedly

being committed. The ali- ens are accused of unlaw-

ful entries, kidnappings, as-

saults, and rapes. So I think

it's time we start looking at the typical bedroom ab- duction as a police crime- scene unit would."

Alexander's interest in a forensic approach, grew out of her frustration over the lack of physical evi-

dence in abduction cases, the helplessness of the vic- tims, and the apparent willingness of many UFO researchers to simply ac- cept such stories as true. Though the crime lab ap- proach has never been pro- posed— let alone attempt- .

QU E S D E N

Having the ab- ed—in two decades of UFO their skin, clothes, or craft. ANYTHING' it's done.

' ductees do it themselves abduction investigations, Alexander is calling on ALIENS HAVE COME stir claims of Alexander felt it was the next abductees to collect this evi- might up new logical step. dence themselves. "There IN CONTACT hoaxing and improper pro-

it should "Since the vast majority is not an emergency room WITH MIGHT YIELD cedure. Ideally, done by an outsider." of abductees claim the ali- in the country that is going FORENSIC be ens are humanoid, not to say 'Oh, you've been Temple University histo- robots," she argues, "there raped by aliens? Let's run EVIDENCE—HAIR rian David Jacobs, author tests,'" she notes. of Secret Life: Firsthand Ac- should be biological and . some SECRETIONS, chemical traces of their "No police department is counts of UFO Abductions, PRINTS, OR EVEN proposal a presence. If these are real going ,to believe such a also gives the "Any effort to' events, if the aliens are real, story and go through your PARTICLES thumbs-up.

is place with a fine-tooth^ gather evidence is worth if contact taking place, FROM THEIR SKIN, there has" to be real evi- comb. Abductees have to doing," he says, though he CLOTHING, doubts the aliens have fin- dence for it—latent finger- do it themselves. And UFO the re- prints, fungi, particles, what- investigators can help. It has OR SPACECRAFT. gerprints, based oh ever. It's a basic tenet of to start this way. Then, later, ports he has from abduc- criminalistics that when any maybe we can attract the tees who have seen their two items come in contact help of professionals." captors' fingers close-up. there will be an exchange Thomas Van Valken- Victoria Alexander is now of microscopic particles." burgh, bureau chief of working on a manual de- But the only way to gath- the Department of Public scribing collection proto- er such evidence, Alex- Safety's crime lab at the cols, and she's designing a ander realizes, is to recruit New Mexico State Police kit to be used by abduc- the cooperation of "con- headquarters in Santa Fe, tees and investigators. "We scious repeaters," those finds Alexander's sugges- have to at least make the at- people who claim to be ab- tion feasible. "We should tempt," she continues. ducted over and over again be able to use forensic tech- "Even if it all fails, if the

1 ' don't and remember it the next niques in this situation, he prints are sloppy or At least will be morning. The first thing they says, "though I have a come out. we should do is take a urine problem with people doing changing the abductees' sample, she says. "Lab their own crime scene be- mind-set about the expe- tests of urine should show cause they are not trained." rience. I want them to stop if the body has undergone He admits, however, that thinking .of themselves as start' any stress. And if the ab- since some police bureaus victims and thinking ductee wakes up with a may turn down requests, about trying to find an an- bloody nose, they should people "are probably going swer. Doing this has to their experi- keep a sample of that, too, to have to do it themselves, change whole for later analysis." at least at first." ence. This sort of participa- Otherwise, anything the The reaction to Alex- tion should empower them." aliens have come in con- ander's proposal in the UFO Skeptics, not surpris- tact with—any part of the community has been gen- ingly, tend to regard such abduclee's clothes they erally positive. "1 think it's proposals as futile. "In my may have touched", any por- great," says John Carpenter, opinion," says Philip J. tion of bedroom floor or car- director of abduction re- Klass, "if abductions were pet they may have walked search for the Mutual UFO fact and not fantasy, we impres- over—might yield tangible Network, "if it's done prop- would have had evidence: hair, secretions, erly. My main concern is sive evidence a long, long prints, or particles from who is doing it and how well time ago. "DO ',. MAX ••

ingenious rocket \f Article by James Oberg • He holds patents on the Mercury spacecraft, the space shuttle, an FAG E T:

escape system, and other notable pieces of space hardware. He supervised development of the Apollo

MASTERspace vehicles and Skylab. For 20 years he was director of engineering at NASA's Johnson Space Cen-

ter in Houston So why have you never heard of Max Faget? • Photographs by William Coupon BUILDER HII — —

One day last November in Houston, spaced pages in his official biography. rudimentary computational and ana- three men met for lunch. Two of them Faget's name was never kept a lytic tools, Faget and his fellow engi- Russian cosmonauts in training for an state secret, but nonetheless, it re- neers were faced with the task of upcoming joint U.S. -Russian space mains so unfamiliar to the U.S. public investigating the problems associated barrier. mission —had never met the third, a that it might as well have been. Consid- with breaking the sound They slightly built American gentleman in his ering his accomplishments, why soon decided to take the practical ap- seventies. But 12 years ago, he had haven't his name and face been proach —flight-testing small models. saved the Russians' lives. burned into the American conscious- Faget's model-building skills, honed in Vladimir Titov and Gennadiy Strekalov ness like those of the Mercury 7, John childhood, blossomed along with his were strapped into a capsule one night F. Kennedy, and others connected with aerodynamic intuition. in 1983, waiting for the giant booster the U.S. race to the moon? Unfortu- Faget's flight research work quickly rocket beneath them to ignite and send nately, Faget is not the stuff that media boosted him up the ladder of responsi- them into orbit. Instead, a fire broke out dreams are made of. Shy and diminu- bility. At times, he led small, ad hoc on the launch pad. The cosmonauts tive, he's possessed of whimsical into- teams on specific projects, becoming would have perished in the blaze if nation, an uninspiring appearance, and the head of the performance aerody- their capsule had not been hurled clear a predilection for bow ties. So like Ko- namics branch of the Pilotless Aircraft by an ingenious escape system de- rolyov, Faget remained in the back- Research Division. Shortly after the signed by a NASA engineer named ground all those years, invisible to the Space Age truly began, he was ap- Max Faget. Knowing a good thing public but indispensable to NASA, pointed to the position of chief of the when they saw one, the Soviets had while others appeared on magazine Flight Systems Division. When Presi- copied the system, installed on all covers and TV broadcasts. dent Kennedy called for a manned manned NASA spacecraft from Mer- Faget himself scoffs at the notion of lunar landing three years later, Faget cury on, for their own. being the "chief designer of American was the logical choice to be named di- "No one has ever come and spaceships." 'This is not that kind of rector of engineering at the new space thanked me," Faget told Omni with a country," he says. "Nobody is ap- center in Houston, a post he held for chuckle. "Whatever they give, the Red pointed by the king to be the royal the next 20 years. He turned out to be Star or whatever, they've the right choice as well, in- tuitively hard- never given it to me." knowing how On that November after- HIS NAME APPEARS ON THE OFFICIAL U.S. ware interacted in flight on noon, Titov and Strekalov a complex vehicle and the were only too happy to be- PATENT OFFICE DOCUMENTS best ways to prove the stow informally upon Faget safety of a design. His en- the honor he had wistfully REGISTERING THE INVENTION OF THE MERCURY gineering judgment sup-. mused about for years. With plied what answers his ceremonial flourishes and SPACECRAFT, THE SPACE SHUTTLE intuition didn't. genuine respect, they pinned Faget's first major task to his lapel a Soviet space SYSTEM, AND A HOST OF OTHER CRUCIAL as director of engineering medal donated by a collector. was developing the design Before the meeting, Titov PIECES OF SPACE HARDWARE. of the Mercury capsule, a and Strekalov were told only spacecraft upon which he that the "American Korolyov" unmistakably left his mark. wanted to meet with them, and to them spaceship designer." "I will maintain to this day that it would that was reason enough to agree. Max Faget was born in British Hon- be very difficult to design a more effi- Sergey Korolyov was the engineer duras (now Belize) to American parents cient spacecraft to do the job that the final whose genius created the Soviet tri- a few years after World War I. His phys- Mercury had to do other than the umphs of the early "space race," in- ician father was working in Central design we came up with," he states. cluding the Vostok, Lunik, and Voskhod America as an employee of the British Remarkably, during the same period of space vehicles. For years the Soviet government after all British physicians intense creative work, he also con- government identified him only as the had been sent to the trenches in France. ceived the Scout and Little Joe solid- "chief designer," keeping his name se- Dr. Guy Faget, a noted specialist in fueled research rockets and designed cret until his death in 1966. tropical diseases, is credited with finding the initial warhead shape for the sub- Faget, 15 years Korolyov's junior the first practical treatment for leprosy. marine-based Polaris missiles. and still active to this day, is indeed the As a child, Max Faget remembers A detractor once sniffed that "Faget nearest American equivalent to Ko- building lots of airplane models, reading only really had one good idea, and he rolyov. His name appears on the official Astounding Science Fiction, and want- stole that," referring to the blunt shape U.S. Patent Office documents register- ing to become an engineer. He attended of the Mercury capsule, which Faget ing the invention of the Mercury space- Louisiana State University and graduated based on the aerodynamic principles craft, the space shuttle system, and a at the height of World War II, Faget, the first established by engineer Harvey host of other crucial pieces of space future spaceship builder, initially wound Allen in the mid 1950s. But Faget's tal- hardware—including the escape sys- up under water, a junior officer on a ent has always rested on his wide- tem to which Titov and Strekalov owe combat submarine in the Pacific. ranging knowledge of alternative their lives. As director of engineering With the war behind him and his en- designs and his instinctive choice of and development at the Johnson Space gineering diploma still fresh, Faget set the best one available, often with some Center in Houston, he oversaw the de- out for the government's flight research subtle but highly original twist. The velopment of the Apoilo, Mercury, and center in Langley, Virginia, to look for a Mercury capsule's escape tower—the Gemini space vehicles and the space job. He got one, just as the challenge device that saved Titov and Strekalov shuttle. His complete list of profes- of supersonic flight appeared. With no provides a classic example of his engi- sional awards extends to two single- access to good wind tunnels and only neering ingenuity. 64 OMNI CONTINUED ON PAGE 82 .esoive The beggar was in the ruins of

London, leaning against the

stump of a tree in the blighted

field which had once been

Hyde Park, watching the

foreign conquerors parade

arm in arm with trollops, and

with girls who would not have

been trollops had their fathers

and sweethearts not perished

in house-to-house fighting. And

perhaps some of the girls

were not trollops,- the invasion

was a year past, and the

young have short memories. .esistan.ee Fiction by S. N. Dyer 4° Illustration by Gregory Manchess he beggar shifted slightly, suppressing a moon His absent arm and his blind eye had

long since ceased to ache, but the loss of his leg was still fresh Perhaps because he had

missing lost it in defeat, it continued to trouble him. It was if the foot were present, each toe

his throbbing continually in phantom agony, -f Sensing him move, the ginger tomcat on

shoulder began to purr, and his parrot That night some roughs came and ports and harbours of England, old men

looked over from its perch on his took his coins, dealt him a few blows and boys halfheartedly rebuilt burned empty cap. "Do your duty, do your for no good reason, and tossed his out shipyards and raised scuttled ves- pleasure of sels, all that had been left by the Navy duty," it said. crutch away for the sheer

He saw some officers approaching watching him crawl after it. Nappy and and merchant ships which even now

in their savage finery, led by a servile Farmer George had taken refuge set forth from colonial ports under the Englishman. Soon he could hear the together in one of the few standing guidance of the exiled Prince of Wales. ' man's voice, and recognized the broad trees, and watched their master's new England still ruled the waves, she just nasal accents of his own native Norfolk. humiliation with impassive eyes. did not rule herself. But here, now, it and The beggar ducked his head and tried The beggar did not care. He raised was if the war had never occurred, to appear asleep, leaning his face so himself upon his crutch and hobbled the Frenchmen were the invited guests

that the cat obscured it. back, whistling for his pets. He had a of Mad George. "You there. Do your pets do tricks?" destination now, though he He stopped by the He sighed. Norfolk was a large had no idea where Pemberly pump, drank his fill, then county; he could only hope that the man might be, or what manner cupped his hands for his would not recognize him. He preferred of man Darcy. But for the comrades. The parrot stood to think that none who had ever known first time in a year he had upon the cat's back to drink,_ him could become collaborators. more to his life than pain and and they soon had a small "Aye, me lords," he said. "Now the shadow of inchoate audience for their small Nappy, where's Farmer George?" He yearnings. performance. shrugged so that the cat jumped down. And so, smiling, a green A pair of French officers The parrot began to strut, shouting Indies parrot upon his left emerged from a shop and "Hooray for Boneyparte! Hooray for shoulder, a flearidden watched Nelson.

Boneyparte!" Then it leapt upon the orange cat curled in his lap, "Tree amusant," said cat's back and rode about contentedly. Horatio Lord Nelson, Vis- one. The French officers laughed happily, count Bronte, Knight of the "He must come with us," and each tossed a coin into the cap. Bath, Commander in Chief said the other. "The fair !< Elisabeth appreciates The Norfolkman bent down. 1 knew a of the Channel Fleet,

bird like that once—smaller, it was, fell asleep and dreamed oddities." their belonged to a boatswain's mate when I of battles that would never They mounted was a lad." be and of others that horses, nervous Thorough- The collaborator stared at the beggar, would never end. breds who were obvious his gaze dissecting away the tangled booty from the stables of shock of white hair, the disgusting Two months later he arrived some Englishman of taste. beard, the missing teeth, and focusing at Pemberly. The nights had "You there," an officer called. instead upon the long thin nose, the turned cold, and he knew Nelson looked blank until in English. huge black eyes. He drew in a quick that if he did not find refuge here, he the fellow spoke to him again breath, his own eyes widening. would not survive the winter. "You there, beggar, come with us. "I'm done for," thought the beggar. The village was surprisingly pros- Madame will give you dinner and a

The thought was nowhere near so un- perous, as if bypassed by the war and place to sleep." pleasant as he had expected. After the blockade. He saw French soldiers Nelson nodded and tugged on his losing the last battle and his leg, his hope laughing outside a pub, ruffling the hair hat in a crippled imitation of servility. had been of vengeance and salvation. of a child, and he felt unreasoning He whistled. Farmer George's sole trick But this year of wandering had buried hatred for these simple country folk. In was to leap up to his shoulder. As ever any hope, even that of escape. Norfolk, in Yorkshire, even in Scotland the cat managed to make it seem he well The Norfolkman said, "No, the par- and Wales, those wild lands with the had done it of his own accord as claim of loyalty to their Hanover- as a great favor to his master. rot I knew had some yellow to him," .and least whispered before he drew away, "Darcy. ian king—there guerrillas fought a war The Frenchmen rode slowly, admiring Pemberly." that was vicious and unrelenting. In the the fine hedgerows and fertile fields 68 OMNI where they soon intended to hunt, Once more, Nelson's fingers tight- One may toss a bucket overboard, while Nelson stumped along behind. ened about his crutch. What beneficent a bucket of slop, of blood, of fine wine. They were entirely unaware that he God would reduce him so, and now It does not matter. It wili strike the understood them, and probably would force him to smile as the women of his water, spread forth and in seconds dis- not have cared had they known. country were denigrated? Nappy chant- solve entirely, no trace of it remaining in

"You will like Elisabeth, Jean-Paul, ed again, "Do your duty, do your duty." the grand, cruel ocean. So it was, then, but remember—she will not award you "The sisters, tell me again of the with Nelson's last hope. Sometimes, in the grip of extreme her favors. I believe she is holding out sisters." for the emperor himself." "Ah. Les belles filies Bennetts. Jane hunger or fatigue, he felt his mind slip "Perhaps he'll let me search her." is the most beautiful, but she is faithful into a delirium the equal of those which Nelson gritted his teeth and gripped to her boring husband Bingley. Mary is had tormented him during his various his crutch more firmly, longing to dash a bluestocking; any man who tries to tropical fevers. Now, hurrying after the will Lydia horsemen, he felt the waking dreams out the man's brain. The casual joke en- seduce her die of boredom. : compassed a tragedy which had struck though—ah Lydia." It was clear from come upon him once more. He was in him as severely as the fall of his coun- his lascivious tones exactly how friend- charge again of the fleet, but this time try, and even now made his one good ly Lydia might be. the invasion force did not slip past him eye see through a crimson fog. Emma. "She is a widow, and you know how in the fog, as had previous French fleets His beautiful Emma. She had gone to they are. Kitty, now, she is malleable and at Alexandria and Toulon. This time he

Bonaparte in the guise of a lover and will do what she sees others are doing." did not sate his fury upon empty ves- the role of an assassin, and had met her "I see," said Jean-Paul. "But in this sels, nor send Hardy and the ships to fate at the guillotine which had replaced fine household of Madame Darcy, I Brighton to rescue whom they might ." hopelessly the gallows at Tyburn field. While she have one question . . while he and his marines died in futile bravery, he skulked At the name Darcy, Nelson's heart pursued the vast army on land . . . anonymously about the country, sense- began to beat faster, and not merely This time he came instead upon the lessly preserving his life. Emma had from the exertion. fleet a mile off Portsmouth, and set his died in a vain glorious gesture for her "Where might be Monsieur Darcy?" own ships amongst it, pell mell, without country—and now she was reduced to "You must ask Elisabeth, she says it regard to the line. Cannons exploded, a sniggering policy of caution. so amusingly. How foolish he acted, she ships burned and he gave no quarter, "Elisabeth may set her sights high," will say. Did he not know how interest- listening to the screams of drowning the- Frenchman continued. "She is quite ing and entertaining we soldiers of the men and horses, while in reality he the original. Your average Englishwoman, Empire would be? It certainly served walked a sunlit path, smelling late of course, will sleep with anyone for a her husband right, to refuse us hospi- autumn roses and hearing the song of dram of gin, and not be worth the price." tality and to be shot instantly dead." the mockingbird. In his mind he had fought not only this battle but others, his tactical sense and his rage so heightened that, did he only think he might go to some harbor without being recognized and cap- a***""!) tured, might find some vessel to smug- £%£* gle him away to the colonies, might meet up with his men again and com- mand a fleet—then he should be the invincible arm of terror and destruction. Then no Continental ship should ever

leave its port, no ship at all touch shore

upon his besieged island home . . . And to what avail, even in his dreams? He who was thought dead and was as good as such; no hero in hiding, to save his nation. Only a crip- pled and sun-touched old sailor, mas- querading as a buffoon for so long that

it no longer seemed a masque. His reverie ended at the finely wrought gates of Pemberly. The great

home, like its village, seemed untouched by conflict. Perhaps more horses had once graced its stables, perhaps famous pictures and crystal chande- liers no longer decorated its halls. No

matter, it seemed whole and inviolate. The only curiosity was a building beside the stable, its equal in size but with walls of canvas. Odd sounds emanated from the massive shed. "Philippe, what is that?" asked the younger officer, echoing Nelson's silent question. .

Get TV reception yon never had before, with the . . "Did I not tell you that Elisabeth loves oddities? She has given refuge to a genuine ancient eccentric, who is Antenna Multiplier ." building . . Here he paused to laugh, and could barely continue, still only $29^* ". . . building a balloon that will travel '''But read this ad for an even better deal! to the moon."

: 'But that is absurd. It could not fly You won't need it if you arc connected to a cable sys- ." tem, but if you are not you will now get TV reception high enough . . "Ah yes, but he uses chemicals that you could never enjoy before. Inside its plastic hous- ing, the Antenna Multiplier™ hides a small technical mir- ." rather than hot air, and . . Again he An Lain a acle—an array of electronic components that literally Multiplier interrupted himself, this time with a fit of multiplies the reception power of your TV. The Antenna -ipiincantii/ ungentlemanly giggling . . . "and he Multiplier™ stabilizes your TV picture, eliminates "ghosts' boosts will harness birds to it, and they will pull and static, and brings in stations that were until now only UHF/VHF, teleui- visible as flickers and annoying shadows. In most areas you will be sion, AM/FM, and it to the moon!" ^orta^w radio reception. able to eliminate any outdoor antenna completely (limited by atmos- "Oh dear," said Jean-Paul. "And so - M phone or geographic constraints). The Multiplier needs no outside power—it gets its if the lovely ladies take us hunting, as "juice" right through your TV set. You place the Multiplier™ on the television set itself, lay will you said they would, then we be it on a nearby table, or hang it on the wall. And, of course, you can bid your messy and slaying the steeds of this noble effort!" ineffective rabbit ears, loop, rod, or dish antennas good-bye. Antenna Multiplier-** 1 will not He, too, succumbed to merriment. just enhance your TV reception, it also vastly improves AM/FM radio reception and brings in new stations on multiband and shortwave receivers, for new entertainment alternatives. And so, reflected Nelson, I seek We are the exclusive importers of the Antenna Multiplier™ in the United States and can refuge with a woman whose sense of therefore bring you this outstanding TV accessor}' for just S29.95. But we have an even better cruelty delights in allowing to madmen deal: Buy vivo for $59.90, and we'll send you a third one, with our compliments—absolute-

1 M make fools of themselves. I should be ly FREE! Unleash the full power of your television with Antenna Multiplier" . Order it today! most welcome. FOR FASTEST SERVICE, ORDER For quantity orders (100+), cil 1 TOLL FREE (800) 797-7367 om ft hole ' Imager at (415) 543- 24 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week. 6675 or write her at the address below. Farmer George and Nappy performed their act at the doorstep for Madame Please give order Code #10068105. If you prefer, mail check or card authorization and expiration. Darcy and her sisters. The women were We need daytime phone # for all orders and issu- indeed beauty incarnate, wearing fash- ing hank for charge orders. Add S4.95 standard shipping/insurance charge iplus sales la\ lor CA ionable gowns of simple, sheer silk that delivery). You have 30-day return and one-year were testimony to their collusion with warranty- We do not refund shipping charges. 185 Berry St., San Francisco, CA 94107 the enemy. They watched with vague ennui, never gracing Nelson with more than the briefest of superior glances. The lady of the house then ordered Advertisement her butler to take the beggar below and bathe him—"Twice," she added "Desperate 32 Year Old imperiously—and bring him to dinner. He protested, but her odd whims Discovers Amazing Method seemed to be law. This, Nelson reflected, might be a danger equal to any he had faced since For Creating Love, Luck, being wounded and finding refuge in the hidden-cellar of a smuggler—a man Money & Confidence" who had made his living circumventing By Sean P. Kearney - Special Feature Wriiei the law and profiting from the enemy, but who in the throes of invasion proved Denver CO.- Entrepreneur Bob things still weren't working. The rage himself a better friend to his country Scheinfeld had it all, lost most of and confusion were still there, he still it, then got it back bigger and better, in didn't know why, and he was almost out than so many who had adhered to the the process, he discovered an amazing of money. conventional path, and ultimately dying new method for getting anything he Then Scheinfeld had his break- a more virtuous death than many. really wants with a fraction of the effort through. He discovered an amazing new Nelson submitted to the bath and and a lot more enjoyment. He says he can method that showed him what was show others to do the same. causing the crazrness and how to turn allowed himself to be dressed in coat At age 32, Scheinfeld had it all. Or so he everything around. and breeches which must have thought. He was rich, had a big income, two cars, Five years later, he has all the money and belonged to the late and apparently two homes, and all the electronic toys. But he material things again, hut with a joy, a sense of unlamented Mr. Darcy, but he refused wasn't happy. Something inside seemed to be ease, a balance, and the quality relationships he eating away at him and he didn't know what. never had before. And this lime, it's all resting on to be shaved. Examining his now Then, suddenly, he lost just about everything. a stable and lasting foundation. coif in trimmed and beard a small mir- "Everything I touched — work or personal — "The beauty of it," he said, "is the method is so ror, even he could barely recognize his got screwed up," he told me. His relationship simple, anyone can use it to get anything they famous features, sunburned and lined with his girlfriend ended in a lawsuit. He was really want, almost immediately, no matter hemorrhaging money. He couldn't understand what's going on around them." with illness and fatigue. Still he took why it was happening. He was angry and Scheinfeld has been giving away a free report pains to rearrange his hair so that it confused. explaining the amazing method he discovered. To stood at odd angles, and to put the Desperate, he quit his job to look for answers. get a copy, call 1-800-894-6999, 24 hours, for a psychics, write to: neckerchief in disarray. He read hundreds of books, consulted recorded message. Or The Transition channels and astrologers. He tried hypnosis, Institute, 9075 S. Jill Drive, Conifer, CO, 80433. Dinner was a bizarre yet festive occa- meditation, sound and light machines. "You Ask for Special Report OM997. sion, feast that would so great a one name it, I tried it at least once," he said. But not suspect the nation to be under the — —

briefly retired, and Nelson yoke of a dictator, the people starving But while no one would suspect this the women room from the thievery of the conquerors and pitiful beggar of being the late com- was escorted to a windowless pets awaited. from the half-successful blockade of mander in chief, surely they could rec- with a cot, where his He remain there, no mat- the remnants of their own Navy. ognize him as a fugitive gentleman. was instructed to Madame Darcy had placed the Investigation would then identify him ter what he might hear. French colonel at the head of the table and he would be disposed of swiftly by after midnight to the sound of and flirted with him shamelessly and firing squad, or slowly and visibly with He woke for the relentlessly, though with an undercur- farcical trial. Or most likely, and most an opening door, and groped of his crutch. Farmer rent of coldness that signified a resolu- detestable, he would be pardoned in a feeble defense beast, began to purr as tion to maintain her virtue. Her sister humiliating show of magnanimity to the George, foolish and Jane and husband Bingley were bluff fallen nation, to be kept as a crippled he always did upon half-wakening, behaviour, English gentry, polite, hearty, and caricature of his former dignity. Kept as Nappy, now off his best duty, men. Do entirely ignorant of the fact that they a house pet, fed and groomed and squawked, "Do your your duty." were engaged in giving comfort to the brought out at state dinners to shout enemy. Lydia Wickham, evidently the "Hooray for Boneyparte." A figure stood in the doorway— Darcy, with her hair down now, widow of an Army captain who had "Has your cat lost as many lives as Madame clad in a simple muslin gown which died in service, was even more the you?" and strumpet than the Frenchman had Nelson started back to the moment. gleamed ghastly in the light of a candle. abound, thought Nelson. implied, and her sister, Kitty Bennett, Miss Mary Bennett was speaking to Marvels oddities thus include seemed to possess that lack of dis- him. "Whatever d'ye mean, milady''" Did her interest in amatory prowess? He had been crimination which was common to the "It is said that a cat has nine lives. their for a long time, at first with a animal for which she had been named. You have obviously had a number of celibate sailor's tired stoicism. Then his mistress The final sister, Mary Bennett, was misadventures, losing your leg and executed and his wife Fanny, actually engaged in reading at table. your arm. Your right eye would also had been ..." outshone even in Beside her sat an ancient wearing an seem to be weak determined not to be her rival, had succumbed in outmoded long wig and a He cursed it silently. It did not appear death by ornate : foolish show dressing gown, who babbled some equally of resistance. In this act of on to himself about something bravery she called chymical economy. THAT NIGHT SOME ROUGHS sublime stupid Occasionally Mary would look had been joined by his step- Josiah, who had saved up from her book and address CAME AND TOOK HIS COINS, DEALT HIM A son

his life at Tenerife . . . And a question to this Lord Henry, deaths of those wo-. and then their conversation FEW BLOWS FOR NO with the would become so abstruse as men he had loved had died also any carnal longings. to seem to be conducted in a GOOD REASON, AND TOSSED HIS CRUTCH foreign tongue. Madame Nor did he think his ill body, whose Darcy's father, Mr. Bennett, AWAY FOR THE SHEER and battered equal to that finished the party, an oblivious suffering was willing to gentleman who did not seem PLEASURE OF WATCHING HIM CRAWL AFTER IT. of his spirit, erotic perturbed by his daughters' acquiesce to any scandalous behavior. adventure. But Madame

spirited, if devi- No one at this table of ignorance, scarred or shrunken as did so many Darcy was lovely and licentiousness, and madness spoke a sightless eyes, but the damned thing ous and cruel. And if such a woman seduce this wretched word to Nelson. He thought back to his had lately taken to wandering. was of a mind to ". to bit of humanity, he doubted not that meals with his sailors, and tried to . . and that scar you attempt the means to bring behave in the uncouth nature of the hide with your hair is most impressive. she would possess untutored, eating with his fingers or a In fact, the mere fact that your hair is him to the mark. closing knife, downing his watered wine in a entirely gray and your age not so very She slipped into the room, waved the candle at his single gulp. And indeed, after a year of advanced— fifty, I should judge- the door and

..." I thought," she said. "The living upon the rude charity of the road, bespeaks a life of action eyes. "As swiftly. You are he did not have to entirely feign the "Sister," yawned Elisabeth Darcy, right does react less not?" manners of a starveling. cutting short the disquisition. "You are blind in that eye, are you ." "Ey, this ain't done now . . He ate in fear of committing some wont to experiment thoroughly with bor- mum, error which might call attention to the ing subjects, and as such have quite he whined. one used reality of himself. His identity itself must lost the ability to be entertaining. "Enough." She spoke as "I you at table. be safe, for he was presumed dead. Philippe here has been telling us that to command. observed well done, His boatswain, after entrusting the care the emperor will soon come to resi- Your ill manners were most

I inner battle against of his parrot to the wounded admiral dence in the city, and you would rather but sensed the life story of acci- proper behaviour. You are a gentleman, or perhaps it had been the opposite hear the sanguine an had taken Nelson's blood-stained coat dent-prone drunkard." are you not? And a man blind in his right arm, with evi- and attempted to sell its wealth of And so the table was instead regaled right eye, absent his ." medals. Eager French officials had with news of the imminent resumption dence of a serious head wound . . Darcy He had an uncomfortable presenti- known it immediately to be a relic of the of the social scene. Madame missing Nelson; the boatswain had ended dinner with the announcement ment where this trail might end. 1 then bragged of stripping the coat from that she would, indeed, winter in "Missing me left peg, too, mum.' dismissively. "One can- a corpse hastily tossed into some mire, London, and enjoy the opportunities of She waved

to remain static. Sir, I and held to this brave contention even which the metropolis provided. Next not expect things know are you Admiral Nelson?" to his death. the gentlemen called for brandy and must — CONTINUED ON PAGE 84 —

irUTGRVIElAJ

WHY THE U.S. SECRETARY OF ENERGY TURNED ON THE LIGHTS AND TURNED UP THE HEAT AT THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Unlike other Clinton administration cabinet nominees, Hazel R. O'Leary's confirmation as Secretary of Energy was swift and relatively unremarked. She pre- sented excellent credentials: years as an electric utility industry executive, extensive work with the Department of Energy, and experience as assistant attorney general for the state of New Jersey. Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Fisk University with a J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law, O'Leary is the first woman and the first African- American to serve as energy secretary.

During the first months of her tenure, O'Leary worked quietly to research and re- structure the Department of Energy. She prepared a new budget and devised a com- prehensive review policy for contractor- re- lated activities. In and of themselves, none were surprising undertakings for a new cabinet member in a new administration.

Then, in late November 1993, an aide in- formed O'Leary of the imminent publica- tion of an article concerning plutonium experiments on uninformed human sub- jects. Spurred by the certain publication, O'Leary went public with her own effort, begun in May 1993, in response to a presi- dential directive, to declassify millions of documents in the cold-war archives of the

Department of Energy (DOE) and its pre- decessor, the Atomic Energy Commission. Suddenly she was catapulted into a posi- tion of national prominence. Her immediate forthrightness—so rare in today's cautious and surly political cli- mate—stunned official Washington, the press, the scientific community, and the public. In contrast to O'Leary's predeces- sors' piecemeal efforts to open the DQE's past activities to public scrutiny—efforts that led largely to internal standoffs within the department's own vast bureaucracy O'LEARY'S SHEER GUTS, CANDID DISCLOSURES, PROMISE OF MORE SWEEPING DISCLOSURES, AND HER CONCERN FOR THE

VICTIMS OF GOVERNMENTALLY SANCTIONED MEDICAL EXPERIMENTATION, STRUCK A RESPONSIVE CHORD. TO MANY, HER MESSAGE WAS TRANSFORMING: THE AMERICAN EQUIVALENT, PERHAPS, TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BERLIN WALL, A tangible sign that the shadow government the Smithsonian Castle and the Mall? Now JOS DEFINIflON: can kick of security secrets could finally be dis- if this isn't informal enough, we The Secretary of mantled. Cold War secrecy, she implied, off our shoes!" She settles comfortably Energy diddly-bops around, into conversation. "Now, tell me about had its time and place, but also has hidden dealing with the a part of our history that we need to re- yourself. The writers life sounds like politi- scientific national community, life in Washington. So, which was more cover in order to solve important problems. cal security people, Since then, O'Leary's initiatives have difficult, your divorce or your move to Defense Department, and the gained national media attention that she's Baltimore?" universe of people I exclaim. effectively used to enliven public dialogue "So you're interviewing me!" interested in the energy policy. about the development of a national en- "Oh, 1 always do that," she smiles. By the way we Turbyville ergy policy and problems of nuclear waste —Linda shape the mission of the DOE cleanup. Cleanup cannot take place co- all that is funda- Turbyville's vertly under a shroud of public fear. Be- O'Leary: Let's roll! [noticing mentally interconnected. lieving that only through public debate two tape recorders] You must have worked in power plants. You've got redun- and education is change possible, she GOAL AS EMEHGY dant systems!! has sought forums in which business, SECRilAHYi

I the Omni: When I think of you think of government, public policy groups, scien- A better and cleaner environ- person who said, "The emperor has no tists, and environmentalists can hammer ment with an energy clothes." And suddenly everyone says, out a National Energy Policy Plan. "The policy built on principles of yes! That's right!" People have been standard government stiffs sit and read sustainable development. "Oh in- their scripts," she complains. 'The talkers struck by your personal courage and ONE PROBLEMS proba- talk and the listeners listen. Can we shake dependence of action, and would

: ' We've gotten very confused your this dialogue up? bly like to learn something about about science. If O'Leary has used her leadership abili- background. you ask Americans how we will ties to build consensus to shape difficult O'Leary: Boo! Hiss!!! solve the problems of policy decisions. Recently, she announced Omni: Boo, hiss? Well, redirect as you the next century, they answer conversion of the Lawrence Livermore please. You grew up in a segregated old science and technology. Lab to a laser fusion research facility, a community in Newport News? If do you feel you ask, "How it relatively new first step in what she hopes will be a broad O'Leary: In fact, was a about science and redirection of the national labs away from one called Aberdeen Gardens, built to technology?" "Great!!" they military preoccupations toward basic sci- house people coming into tidewater Vir- say, "I want my kids ence and partnership with an American ginia to work in the war effort. My father to be scientists!" Well, who's business community increasingly strapped came because the community needed a going to pay? The public for research and development funds. In physician. It was outside of Newport News wants the government to do her view, these labs contain the very ge- and bisected by Aberdeen Road, a high- everything, but nobody nius required to tackle the technology way my sister and I were forbidden to wants to pay. We want a problems of the twenty-first century and cross. Behind the farm was a wonderful Cadillac on a VW budget. from tall the facilities— like the superconductor fa- stream where we swung on vines cility in Virginia'—which the business com- trees like Tarzan. munity no longer can afford to provide. But she worries that It was a great, almost enchanted growing-up time, though so, Congress and the public will no longer bankroll the national it was somewhat repressed because my parents were

I keeping us labs. "How is it," she asks, "that we have failed to generate well, as look back on it now, concerned about

called "segregation." I just remember public support for our big science projects? I grapple with safe from the thing

I privileged and this—how to drive the message to the public/' that as the daughter of the doctor was very Hazel O'Leary is a strikingly pretty woman, whose fluid ele- different, and had pretty much free run of the community. gance conveys strength and resilience. There is compassion We were sent to New Jersey for high school because my experi- in her expression, and a touch of mischief. Known for her use parents wanted us to have an integrated educational of the well-placed cuss word, she delights in outdated slang. ence. At that time schools were still segregated in the South. vs. Board of Education "It'll be groovy!" she interjects into an articulate response fo I remember the day when Brown the

It birthday; I a complex question, or, "No. Not on your bippy." Her voice was announced by the Supreme Court. was my has the genteel resonance of an educated Virginian—re- was a junior in high school.

laxed yet precise. We had a big family, and I had lots of role models who "That color you're wearing is so becoming! I've been were accomplished either through education or through grit thinking of trying something in that shade," she says, leading and hard work. My grandfather was a physician, and my an extraordi- me to the window of her office at the top of the James Forres- grandmother had gone to Hampton Institute, both parents tal Building in Washington, DC. "Have you seen this view of nary accomplishment for those days—to have

76 OMNI —

and grandparents with a college edu- syndrome. You know, folks who say, "I Omni: Some say the issue of disclosure is in a barrel. Prob- cation. So there were strong expecta- knew it was a damn dirty government like shooting fish all learned that open- lems of developing an energy policy tions that I would be successful and along!" We've well-educated. That my paternal ness helps to bring a corrective to gov- and of nuclear waste clean-up are so grandmother fought in the town of ernment, and quickly. pressing that the openness issue is no Portsmouth to establish the first library While the cloak of secrecy shrouded more than a historical footnote or a wel- real for colored people, which is what we us during the Cold War, a real struggle come distraction from the prob- were called then, was important. My actually took place between scientists lems that the DOE faces. paternal grandfather's five brothers had and the military establishment over O'Leary: My view is because the prob- been educated at Shaw, a black uni- how open we could be about our de- lems are so expensive, so contentious, versity. One was a doctor, one a den- fense work, including even the bomb so scary, without credibility, nothing example, the waste tist, one a lawyer, one a minister. The design. Some scientists argued for happens. For other owned businesses—but he, too, more openness, at least in terms of issue. Since 1979 this nation has had was educated. Every summer we had peer review; the military saw a need for no strategy for disposal of spent nu- important, a huge family reunion in Dare County, national security and secrecy ultimately clear fuel. And what's more North Carolina, where my grandfather's reflected in the Atomic Energy Act. no strategy for the disposal of the mili- people came from. Now—and precisely because the tary production of this material. I came Omni: Did you feel you were being pre- shroud has been more or less totally to the job with a legal mandate to char- to "find out pared for a special life? removed—comes the awful part. acterize the site at Nevada, O'Leary: Oh yes. A sense of responsi- Actually, the shroud was removed in whether Yucca Mountain will safely for ten thousand bility came with the sense of privilege, 1986 when the first full report on contain nuclear waste an expectation that we would be, you human experimental subjects with ra- years." People have been pushing that know, "perfect." That's a heavy burden. dioactive materials was released. But wet spaghetti strand up the mountain short shrift in now since 1982. And this work has Much of it was unspoken, woven into the report was given slowly the fabric of our traditional family life. major newspapers and went away. And been advancing very because re- frankly, the citizens of Nevada But many of us grew up that way, and the reason it went away is because quite haven't been absolutely we finally learned to accept it. One person who made a cheered by their selection as the site. big difference in my life in col- DISCLOSURES ARE NOT A DIVERSION. THE DOE lege was Professor Collins Since I've been here we've worked harder and still at Fisk, though he's retired NEEDS CREDIBILITY TO a now—who taught the first faster to finish blasting hole in that mountain so we, course at Fisk in Negro litera- DO ITS WORK. THIS STUFF IS TOO EXPENSIVE, ture. You see, in my family can answer the question, there was some denial about TOO CONTENTIOUS, "Can nuclear waste keep who we were. We didn't really going there?" Because if it CREDIBILITY can't, guess what? In an- celebrate our blackness. I re- TOO SCARY—WITHOUT THE other ten years sites in the member that my sister and I read everything that was for- NOTHING HAPPENS. United States are going to bidden us. By flashlight, of have spent nuclear fuel sit- course! Most of the books that ting around outside of re- in sponsible government officials said, actors. And their state legislators won't I read by black authors we brought secretly. And now, here at Fisk, was "There's nothing there." The difference think that's a good idea. They'll close someone offering courses celebrating between 1986 and now boils down to down power plants that provide 20 per- in the black writers and the black experience. different leadership. I was empowered cent of the power that's used United States. I Now, And it was like, "Holy God! This is won- to do what did by the president. Utility been paying derful stuff!" At home the attitude had if some think that I went further than my rate-payers have into to have the been more, "Well, you may be colored empowerment . . . well, we'll all have money a fund Yucca but you're not that colored.* And all of to decide that for ourselves. Mountain blasted for the last 12 years. first in the administra- Well, guess what the fund is being a sudden I experienced this rush of, The time we about used for? To balance the U.S. budget! "Yes I am! And this is great stuff!" tion met as a cabinet we talked Omni: Honesty is important to you. And the need for openness. We joked about We've not been able to touch it. This proposal before Con- it seems that you have much less cyni- the classified material that comes to us year we have a cism about government than many straight from the CNN newsroom! One gress to get at some of these funds to site. In people do. For example, many still be- study showed the only group rated have us develop a new 16 states involved, lieve there is little we can do to repair lower than the DOE in public confi- years, we will have 32 nuclear power sites likely the damage of the Cold War. But you dence was Congress. I thought, "We're and some 59 don't think it's possible? going to change that." The focus of all to close down. Frankly, we have O'Leary: Oh yes! But there is no experi- that we do at DOE is science and tech- the time and money as a nation to pay this nuclear ence in life that comes without pain. In- nology. So, if people can't get at the the power plants to replace dividuals, we must recognize, are not data, then how can we resolve issues power. Like it or not, it's up and run- clean-up de- ning, and it's relatively cheap. So we'd perfect, and since institutions only re- regarding environmental : flect people, to pretend they can be militarization, and dismantling of better find some way to get spent nu- perfect or that they do not require con- weapons? People must be certain clear fuel stored.

I the job, I tinuous maintenance and improvement we're doing it in a way that protects our When came to knew we target date for is to live in a dream. But the initial -ac- workers and communities. None of this had already missed the

site. If can knowledgment of defects in govern- can happen unless we open our data 1998 for a new deposit we finish the characterization, science, ment plays into the "Aha! I knew it!" to public scrutiny. 78 OMNI CONTINUED ON PAGE 92 involved, it's just a lot of standing the blackboard now read NA0A/NA$A, the difference was obvious. MAX FAGET around to watch it go off." Faget is not and his reputation as a meticu- CONTINUED FROM PAGE 64 comfortable just standing around, and Despite so during the entire Apollo program, he lous engineer, Faget always retained When NASA began developing the witnessed only one blastoff. He has his instinct for high-performance flight one-man Mercury ship in 1958, even never seen a space shuttle launch. testing, an instinct that sometimes than exhaustive the most optimistic engineers held little On that spring day 34 years ago, he proved more accurate hope for raising the booster reliability to watched the Atlas head up into a cloud theoretical calculations. He even has a for much above 75 percent. When the with its precious cargo—and explode. space souvenir to make the case his intuition: a simple piece of blue booster failed, they knew that it would "The cloud lit all up," he says. "You probably do so catastrophically. So the could see the cloud turn gold. It was plastic wrapper. of his early Apollo design ques- spacecraft and any astronauts inside up pretty high, and it takes a long while One shielding to had to have an instantaneous way of to hear the first bang. But we got the tions was how much heat install on the lee side of the Apollo cap- getting clear if either were to survive. capsule back." it the One proposed recovery system Again and again in his career at sule to protect it when reentered atmosphere upon returning from called for small booster engines—glori- NASA, Faget used flight-testing experi- earth's intuition, not cal- fied versions of the JATO (Jet-Assisted ence to come up with "new" ideas to the moon. "Based on

l to put Take Off) engines that had helped air- solve new problems. In the mid 1970s, culations, said you didn't need planes get airborne since World War Faget drew on his experience building anything on it," Faget says. "But the calculations II—mounted on the side of the capsule. model airplanes to illustrate the sound- people who were doing about Another option required the pilot to use ness of the idea of test-flying the space were ultraconservative. They put ablative material on the lee an ejection seat with its own rocket shuttle from the back of a 747 carrier an inch of thing pack. But making either these rockets aircraft. When doubters claimed the side. Sure enough, when the its mylar dust or the JATO engines strong enough to two craft could never separate safely, reentered, it still had thin get clear fast enough meant that they Faget recalled that, while in college, he sheet. So my intuition would have couldn't be steered accurately. had built and flown a powered tandem saved at least four or five pounds a Faget recalled a simple square foot, carried all the back, device used in early flight way to the moon and useless." tests of models, developed by HE EXPLAINED THE DIFFERENCE absolutely Woody Blanchard, one of his Faget didn't win some other, more significant en- engineers. The "tractor rocket" BETWEEN NACA AND NASA BY WRITING THEIR system consisted of a power- gineering battles either. He fought against the big cen- ful solid-fuel rocket attached INITIALS ON A BLACKBOARD AND to the model by a long cable. tral window in the Mercury capsule on weight and Once the rocket fired, it was MAKING TWO VERTICAL CHALK. STROKES. THE kept on course by the trailing strength grounds, but the a model's air drag. In addition, the BLACKBOARD NOW READ pilots won. He wanted rocket usually had several noz- single, central window in in- zles to direct its exhaust slightly |sjACtA/NA$A; THE DIFFERENCE WAS OBVIOUS. Apollo's lunar module side away to the sides in order to stead of two smaller avoid scorching the model. windows, arguing that the field of view it practi- Faget knew that, if needed to save model that had worked just fine. increased made an astronaut, the rocket would have to Seeing things from a different angle cal for just one crew member to pilot to the lunar surface fire immediately. It had to be already was another strength, and he sometimes the module down of course, to secured in its forward position, above made dramatic demonstrations of this. and back. NASA, chose the capsule, since there would be no A gymnast in college, Faget liked to put two crew members aboard the module, but th'e Russians followed time to deploy it on a cable—as was leap over chairs in conference rooms Facet's design for their abortive man- done with the models—and then fire it. or to stand on his head "to improve This in turn required that the rocket be blood circulation in my brain," as he put on-the-moon effort. He preferred sin- solid-fuel boosters for the attached to the capsule with a rigid it. With keys and coins falling out of his gle-segment, tower, rather than the tension-tightened pockets, Faget would calmly discuss the space shuttle, a design that probably line used with the models. engineering questions on the agenda. would have prevented the Challenger Faget's escape-tower concept was Faget's wit and bold style manifested disaster. But because only one com- tested, accepted, and built into the themselves in other ways as well. An pany had a factory close enough to the Mercury system, with the astronaut, an amateur sailor, for years he kept a por- Kennedy Space Center in Florida to on-board autopilot, and ground com- trait of John Paul Jones on his office transport such structures, NASA to multiple-segment mand each capable of triggering it. wall, with the quotation "I will not have changed the design While none of NASA's manned space- anything to do with ships which do not boosters so that other rocket compa- could for the contract. craft ever had to put Faget's invention sail fast, for I intend to go in harm's nies compete to actual use, as the Russians did, the way." He was known to explain con- The final NASA space-shuttle de- engineer did on one occasion see how cisely the major difference between sign changed in other ways, too, from his design really worked. doing research for the 1950s National the plan that Faget originally patented. He attended the launch of an un- Advisory Committee on Aeronautics But he's not disappointed. "She really says. manned Mercury capsule on an Atlas and its 1958 successor, the National is a very marvelous machine," he better." rocket in May 1961—a rare occurrence Aeronautics and Space Administration, "However, it could have been admits with in itself, because Faget rarely went to by writing the initials NACA/NASA on a He pauses, smiles, and lot better." launches. "To watch a flight is not that blackboard. Grinning impishly, Faget pride, "I don't think an awful in 1981, after the big a deal," he told Omni. "If you're not made two quick, vertical chalk strokes; Faget left NASA 82 OMNI space shuttle's second flight, to pursue on a space shuttle, Faget himseff of the vehicle. The second Wake Shield new space engineering challenges. would ride into space as a payload flight, with improved components, is But both NASA and the outside world specialist. But NASA, fearful that a scheduled for this summer. had changed, and Faget's new proj- small but successful space platform Today, Faget looks back to the years ects—as innovative and practical as could threaten congressional support of the "space race" and recognizes ever—never met with as much success for the grandiose space station Free- what he and his associates achieved

as his famous space designs for Mer- dom, saw to it that the project got little before NASA metamorphosed into an- cury, Apollo, and the space shuttle. He or no support in Washington. other federal bureaucracy. "It was an founded a small firm called Space In- The company's other spacecraft, accomplishment of the species to be dustries, which, over the next ten years, the Comet, was to have been a small, able to get free of the planet's gravity," developed two modest but potentially recoverable unmanned space vehicle he says. One popular misconception

powerful spacecraft designs. Both intended to perform various orbital mis- he still objects to is that it was "easy" to promised to satisfy operational needs sions and then bring the results back to get to the moon. Faget endorses an far more cheaply than NASA's big-bud- earth. It would have gone into space observation made to him years after get alternatives. on a new, privately developed, small the last Apollo flight by Robert Gilruth, Space Industries designed the In- booster. Again, Faget assembled an who had managed the space center in dustrial Space Facility as a Greyhound- optimal combination of proven tech- Houston during the race to the moon bus-sized module that operated nologies and innovative design. But as and who, as a young engineer, had first unmanned, with automated equipment performance requirements and budget hired Faget for NACA in 1946. "Max, aboard producing pharmaceuticals, plans changed from month to month, we're going to go back there one day," crystals, and other valuable materials. the original program proved impossible Gilruth prophesied, "and when we do,

The space shuttle would occasionally to complete. It may, however, be re- they're going to find out it's tough." visit to service it, harvest the products, vived, Faget says. It was indeed tough to get to the and reload the equipment, and the Still, Space Industries and Faget moon. Max Faget knows that better shuttle would in turn receive power have kept right on designing. Space than anyone; he was there from start to from the module's solar batteries to ex- Industries produced the Wake Shield finish, testing models, designing un- tend its flight time. Faget and a small Facility, a revolutionary spacecraft conventional spacecraft, improvising team of co-workers (including ex-astro- aimed at improving the purity of space remarkable solutions to seemingly in- naut Joe Allen) came up with simple, vacuum for industrial processing. It tractable problems. Without him, hu- reliable, cheap, and fully adequate sys- was launched into space early in 1994, mans would never have walked on the tems to make the spacecraft work. and its concept proved sound, al- moon, and without someone like him at Some of them even cherished the no- though the freak failure of one "off-the- NASA or its future counterpart, we'll tion that when the module was launched shelf" component prevented a full test never walk there again. DO

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replied. "I trust that I have placed the

I am, high enough, and sealed them Own A He sighed. It was over. "That bags madame. At your service." He waved adequately, to prevent the sparks of his left arm in a parody of a flourish, un- our own flints from igniting them. But able to bow as the scene demanded. one must lack certainty without the Modem? observation." To his surprise, she fell to her knees, opportunity of direct first clasped his hand in hers, and raised it Ah well. Nelson had seen rates to a face now glistening with tears. "Oh explode when fire reached their maga-

had risked it himself. No one milord, how I have prayed for such a zines, happenstance as this!" who had ever witnessed such a confla- gration —the awful roar, the instant She led him through a house strangely extinction of hundreds of men—no one sight. one still active, then outside. It seemed that half could forget such a Yet the yeomen of the district were present. sailed into battle. "Will you not wake the Frenchmen?" There was much to do. Before She laughed. "They think them- teaching the crews, Nelson had first to selves exhausted by Lydia and Kitty, devise methods of flying. It was a bit botanicals." like sailing, in that one was at the Explore but in truth it is Mary's The studious sister, leading out the mercy of wind and weather, but it dif- ancient eccentric, said, "A simple dis- fered in the addition of the vertical. solution of laudanum and extraction Long sails might be extended iater- Magazine ." ally from a ship, to aid in steering. OMNI . . of "Later, sister," sighed Elisabeth These might even be manned as OS's Darcy. They passed men practicing if the ship were to become becalmed. on America with rifles. When one is constantly The crew, when aloft, wore ropes entertaining hunters, the lady ex- about their waists in case of turbu- set of leather belts plained, it was only natural that some lence. Nelson had a Online FREE weapons and charge might disappear, with which he strapped himself to a for- and be put to better use. ward strut, whence he might survey They came to the huge shed. The both the ship and the path ahead_. for 10 Hours! canvas had been drawn up. A strange From this odd perch, jutting out some- vessel rested there, a framework of what like a figurehead, he could see light wood above an open boat. Four sepulchral wisps of cloud, and the dark If you own a computer and a modem, you similar craft sat behind it. fields below, divided by fence and can get even more of the OMNI experience "What then, do you need my knowl- hedge and sparkling ribbons of water. with OMNI Magazine on America Online. call- edge to invade the moon?" At times it seemed almost inviting, Broaden your horizons and enter the Darcy, "to ing to him to step away, to fly freely . . . worlds of science, science fiction, and the "No," replied Madame then glad of his bonds, like future with information and insights from invade London." And he was tied to his mast, listening to this month's issue. Talk to other OMNI She turned and curtsied. "Lord Odysseus readers on interactive message boards or Nelson, your fleet awaits." the song of the siren maidens. send e-mail to the OMNI staff. Participate There were signals to devise, and

in live conferences and events, and enjoy In reality, his fleet was nowhere near marksmen to train. His sergeants in this OMNFs sibling publication, COMPUTE ready. The moonboats were not, as were a pair of poachers known as the Magazine. Just use keyword OMNI to Nelson had feared, mere balloons har- Wheat brothers, Dick and Rees, unruly access OMNI Magazine Online! nessed together. Rather than hot air, they men who could hide in a tree and shoot Or, sample hundreds of other informative relied upon a heretofore unknown sub- a rabbit through the eye. This seemed and entertaining services, like computing stance which Lord Henry Cavendish re- a valuable talent, and soon Nelson was support from leading hardware and soft- ferred to as dephlogisticated air, which sending all his new marines into tree- ware makers, more than 70,000 software he formed of water and electricity. tops, both to impart to them the skill of programs you can download and keep, "Lord Henry, you must know," Miss shooting accurately downward, and to and an international e-mail gateway. Mary Bennett took pains to inform Nel- steel them to heights. His men were Order today to get America's most exciting son, "is the man who weighed the earth." armed with rifles, which gave them trial they might online service and your free iO-hour "A boon to humanity I am sure," he some small advantage— membership. replied. But he was pleasantly sur- accurately shoot three times the dis- prised the first time he took his flagship tance of a French musket. But those

1-800-827-6364 up. It veritably sprang into the air, French muskets, of course, outnum- angered at restraint, and reaccepted bered them by the thousands. Ext. 7926 the ground only grudgingly as the odd There was no lack of volunteers. gas was returned into storage vats. Madame Darcy's collection of oddities,

it contained several former "Did I mention," asked Lord Henry seemed, casually as he flew with Nelson one soldiers and a surveyor, all pretending night above the trees, "that dephlogisti- to be farmhands. Nelson's own lamen- cated air is remarkably inflammable table cover identity was Mad Tom the and will explode upon any contact with human scarecrow: on pleasant days he Ul-; cl America Oili:-.c: vl' lju: !:: fire or lightning?" stood in the housegarden and waved his crutch at birds. It was a humiliating it did explain some of the surreptitious ENTERTHE performance that he found himself visitors and odd meetings he had entering with no qualms, to the extent noticed. It also explained his old ship- Dodge Neon ." that he sometimes abased himself fur- mate's message to him. "But . . ." ther, to earn a coin from an amused "And besides . . said Lydia, a French visitor. dueling pistol appearing suddenly in SWEEPSTAKES He began each night as a beggar, her hand. She aimed at a rat which rag-clad, red-eyed. Yet as he entered was skulking in shadow toward the sta- ANDYOU WIN... the shed and passed amongst the bles. There was a brief thunderclap, COULD shadows of the moonboats he became the smell of powder, and the rodent fell a different man, standing straighten pain twitching. Lydia smiled, her small teeth A HOT, NEW

ignored, voice deep and resolute. Those gleaming ferally in the moonlight . . . who laughed at him by day took his "And besides, our solicitous French 1995 DODGE NEON! orders by night, and wondered to them- friends have turned us all into crack selves who their new admiral might be. shots. And we are, I do not blush to ONE OF 30 MONTHLY And so he would find himself in the say, utterly ruthless." FIRST PRIZES... ONE MONTH'S helm of a moonboat, snapping com- He had some question regarding ACCESS FEE PLUS 5 HOURS mands to the boys as they ran aloft in that— he had seen Jane cry over a the riggings—for other than the few old wounded sparrow, and thought Mary ON AMERICA ONLINE! soldiers designated for boarding, and might be quite distracted from combat Each month, from February through the indispensable Wheat brothers, it by the sight of an interesting toadstool, July 1 995, OMNI will introduce an orig- seemed best to have lightweight crew- but he did admit that Elisabeth and inal science fiction thriller from one of men. This allowed the boat to go high- Lydia had the makings of diligent and today's leading authors... but only on er, and gave them the luxury of lining stern warriors, and that Kitty might be America Online! Each story is full of casings relied on to whatever the others did, the underside of the balloon do unseen surprises... including the with a padding of burlap—sufficient, it only more vigorously. chance to win fabulous prizes. was to be hoped, to prevent musket "Very well," he said. "But be warned Participation in the contest is easy fire from piercing the bags and igniting that, as admiral of this fleet, I shall not and fun! Simply log-on to America the dephlogisticated air. temper my language or orders out of Online, go to the keyword OMNI, and One cloudy night he determined to regard for your sex." follow the instructions that appear on your screen. take his men up all together, to practice 'Be certain you do not," snapped some vague concept of formation fly- Elisabeth, and she and her sisters DON'T MISS THE ing. The surveyor was complaining bit- each betook themselves to the helm of EXCITEMENT! terly—he had just finished painting fig- a moonboat. ureheads upon the boat, carved wood April's exclusive seeming an excessive weight, and the Mr. Bennett tended to be somewhat premiere... paint was not yet dry on Nelson's flag- overwhelmed by the activities of his ship, the Electra. The name amused daughters, though he was often heard "Black Mist" him, as he remembered his triumphs in to say, "If Lizzy believes it correct, I by Richard A. Lupoff the Agamemnon. shall abide by her decision." He spent What happens when you mix murder He had thought himself immune to most of his days in the nursery, super- with Mars? Science Fiction and mys- surprise, but as he donned an extra vising the education of the various tiny tery master Richard A. Lupoff shows coat for it was cold aloft, and cloaks Bingleys, Darcys and Wickhams who — you in this brilliant novella, "Black tended to become entangled in the rig- were trotted out intermittently after Mist." Available exclusively Online. ging—he saw the five Bennett sisters meals or on sunny afternoons, and No purcnasc- c on-line i,;.e reefed. Open to res- approach him, scandalously attired in were otherwise kept in seclusion. idents of the contiguous U.S., 18 and older

..' : ii breeches and jackets. One day Bennett came to Nelson's i i- ei 7/31/95. For a free entry kit vvrn : nsTucfions on how to enter .•.it." cut cccess- of periodic "Ladies!" he said. not small room. Nelson's ' "We do One :: . ,.*', -ir-.il I i. I, i I . , r i i. embark upon a pleasure voyage." fevers had recurred, and he lay drenched sta~ped envelope to: NEON "Future Visons"

. Bo* 6D4R, Gibbstown, NJ 08027 by He did not share the superstition that in sweat, sipping bitter quinine and 0//C/96. '/'/A end VT -esidents may omit return women were bad luck aboard a ship, hoping that he would recover in time for postage. Void where prohibited, and in any event, they had yet to invent their proposed action upon Boxing Day, new superstitions suitable to the airships. or weather not permitting, upon the Hi.

"This is not a cruise," agreed Elisa- New Year's day. It seemed wise to attack beth Darcy. "We have always intended when the better part of their foes, com- to captain these ships ourselves. We placent with garrison duty, would be are smaller even than your village lads, obtunded from holiday celebrations. we are familiar with London and its As always when his master had a troop dispositions due to our recent fever, Farmer George hovered closely, 'S~L^ =03«0- journey of reconnaissance. And if we delighting in the heat and adding his own are ignorant of seamanship—why, so feline warmth to Nelson's discomfort. are the men of this county, and all "Brought you something, Mad Tom," humanity is equally ignorant of airman- said Bennett, with a slight cough of

ship. To further my qualifications I am disparagement. He, as all the men, also, as you are no doubt aware, the held clueless suspicions regarding general as it were of the Free Patriot Nelson's identity. Army of this part of England." "Thought you might like it," he con- He actually had not been aware, but tinued, and held up an antique scarlet ADVERTISEMENT uniform coat. "My great uncle's. Can't the parrot groomed its feathers. have you going into battle dressed as "We are," he remarked, "the Spartan TERMINAL CAFE a beggar now, can we? Meaning no army, bathing and oiling that they might by iAN Mcdonald offense, of course," as he recalled that look well as they die." It felt good to be the man was a beggar. back in uniform, even this foolish anti- in Review by Andrew Wheeler Nelson thanked him. It did suit his quated one, and to speak again his purpose. His crew were to wear no signs own voice.

Nanotechnoiogy— : of identification, to aid in their escape The troops seemed taken aback by ;r; microscopic ma- should such be necessary. He, howev- Mad Tom's transformation. He leaned chines of infinite er, lacking various limbs as he did, had against the railing of the Electra, uni- potential— are K to no chance of escape, and would prefer formed, his gaze hard and steady, as nation. Even the crews gathered in the twilight by the latest hot topic to die in the uniform of his uniform some fifty years outdated. the moonboats. The craft had taken on in SF. But what's a a full load of dephlogisticated air, and the first thing nano- "Mi They held their final conference on they strained against their bonds like tech will bring? Ian Christmas morning. The Yule log roared cavalry horses eager for battle. He McDonald says it will be the raising in the fire, and Cavendish rattled on a called for their attention. of the dead, as a physically perfect, bit about the hazards of the explosive "England expects every man—and nearly unkillable slave workforce grenades he had concocted, the need woman—to do his—or her—duty." that doesn't need to eat or sleep. to watch the temperature of the air in Elisabeth Bennett stepped forward. Unfortunately, there's no way to relation to the balloon's ascension, and "My friends" —-only a woman would become immortal without dying; various other facts with which Nelson exhort warriors so—"Tonight, with the depressingly familiar. Almighty's help, we will liberate our the treatment is fatal. And once was already scholar, "I captive nation, and free ourselves from you're dead, you're legally dead, "And now," said the aged in onerous odious foreigners. believe I have finished my role this the and with no rights at all. lest doubt that God has al- comedy of patriotism. I have noticed And you The unhappy dead revolted, certain properties in stationary bodies ready given us every sign of his favour, seizing control of space in the of of water which make me believe it will let me remind you that in our hour Night-Freight War. Only Earth is be possible to weigh the moon, and I need he sent us this man to lead us ruled by the living, and the self- have delayed my investigations into into battle. Sent us Horatio Nelson, proclaimed Freedead (for whom this matter long enough." He left the hero of the Nile, Commander in Chief of living casualty is a new only Elisabeth's peremptory the British Navy." every room : and recruit) are moving in, ready to free command kept her sister Mary from Her troops exchanged astonished then to cheer. It was the dead of Earth. Meanwhile, five hurrying off to discuss this interesting glances, began question with the old only with a loud shout and his much friends travel into St. John, the mathematical gentleman. enhanced reputation that Nelson was biggest necroville (ghetto of the "Very well," said Elisabeth. They able to restore order. dead) in LA for their annual get- went over the plans again. The Free Then suddenly the damned parrot together at the hip Terminal Cafe Patriot Army—a motley selection of had flown onto his shoulder and was festivities of la Dia de los for the allied individual groups which tended shouting, "Do your duty, do your duty." Muertos (Day of the Dead). to the occasional act of terror or thiev- He was never sure what fool had set You can guess the friends get ery—was to be alerted but only when them loose, but the cat was there as well, sidetracked. McDonald's story is the fleet was already above London, to scrabbling up into the rigging, and the how they survive (or don't) the keep any from suspecting trouble and parrot had flown amongst the gasbags.

were It would take too long to catch them; huge upheavals in their society. He rousing the troops. Their own men to begin the day's action, however, by they would simply have to come along. crams every page full of action and silently capturing the semaphore sta- And when he stopped to consider it, fascinating information about this tions which allowed messages to be they were in fact the only veterans of society. A bare-bones (sorry about transmitted across country at a shock- naval combat at his command. the pun) description makes it sound ing speed. They would send their own "Set sail," he ordered. High above, the like a George Romero movie— message, but only when the moon- Nappy called, "Hooray for Boneyparte! dead come back to life and they boats had begun their action. Do your duty!" want your job!—but it's definitely Mr. Bennett entered the room as

SF. McDonald cares about his char- they were ending their conference. "I The most astonishing thing about air acters, and he's chosen them care- had thought we ought to ask the vicar travel was its utter silence. Floating the clouds, guided only by fully so the story of five people to dine tonight, and hold services for now above the holy day," he said. compass and the surveyor's dead over one night is the story of a "It will not be convenient, Father. We reckoning, linked by dark lanterns whole society. I found it engrossing have planned otherwise," replied flashing code, they were alone in a and thought-provoking— I don't Elisabeth. "Tonight we leave to invade world of black sky and white clouds. agree the rebirth of the dead will be and conquer London." There were, to be sure, various creaks the first mass use for nanotech, for "If you think it advisable, Lizzy," her and aching sounds from the rigging, one thing—but it's a novel that makes father returned. the soft ripples of the billowing sail, and you think about consequences and Then they went to prepare for the the occasional odd beat of the gives you a good time to boot. night's action. Nelson allowed himself mechanical wings as they corrected in ail impression was of Terminal Cafe is available in to be shaved, and his hair to be tied course, but the They traveled within the clouds book stores and from The Science back with a riband. His cat, meanwhile, silence. bathed in equal self-satisfaction, and themselves, cleaving through the Fiction Book Club on p. 37.

3 OMNI ghastly, fluffy field of white. The cold tained the bulk of their sharpshooters, lagging a good ten paces behind, and haze of the clouds was nothing like the and were to stay above, offering cover- the hope that the illiterate blacksmith's salt spray of the ocean. But Nelson felt ing fire. apprentice piloting the ship had judged strangely at home. Nelson sighed, slipping free of his the descent properly, lest all come to

The ships seemed to fly as if pos- restraints and wrapping his arm about resemble a pudding dropped from a sessed, and the crews as well. Nelson the post. He was about to land in the bell tower—when a guardsman looked found himself under constant scrutiny, enemy stronghold, he was beplumed up and began to scream. village lads looking at him with what and dressed in an absurd outfit of Nelson heard a sharp retort, and could only be termed worship. When bright red, he could not run —one saw the guard fall. "Never has so much the Meryton came alongside, he even might think him nothing but a target to been owed to a handful of poachers," surprised Mr. Bingley, (acting as sec- draw fire. Yet had not he always stayed he thought. Around him, rifles began to ond in command to his wife) with a upon the quarterdeck during melees, fire. His men had the advantage. He similar expression. The jaded, familiar dressed in his every medal, seeming to saw the Wheat brothers calmly take voices of the Bennett women, immune dare the sharpshooters to take him? aim and fire, lads behind them reload- to hero worship, were a relief. Best to do battle in the same manner ing, while the terrified French soldiers "You should not have told them, he always had before. could not even reach the ships with Captain Darcy," he said to Elisabeth. They were halfway down—landing their musket fire, which then tended to She was perched high in the prow was always a bit unsettling, the ground return to them ... But then they had beside him, telescope at the ready. rushing up beneath you, your stomach fallen within musket range. "They now feel themselves invincible." She merely smiled.

Travel without regard to roads and The Best Sleep Money Can Buy! waterways was remarkably quick. They were over London within hours; odd Also it keeps your how one disregarded the stench of the Frustrated With spine in its natural place when one approached slowly by Your Sleep £ land or sea, but how it struck one alignment. And that Do you toss and turn almost physically as one floated down lowers the tension at night? Can't seem gently from above. in the surrounding to find a comfortable Until now, if seen at all, they must muscles. So you can of position? Does your have been considered part the sleep comfortably clouds. As they began to draw lower back ache when you in any position and they would be apparent to those below. awake? These are signs wake feeline great. Nelson suspected, however, that most that your mattress who noticed them at this hour would be doesn't support you drunk, and the rest (he hoped) disbe- properly. lieving or awestruck. Their good luck was, indeed, unbe- lievable unless (as Mistress Darcy

would have it, and Nelson might once Select Comforts patented have been inclined to accept) God was air cushion design has no for them. They hovered far above the springs or coils that can create pressure points and With Select you each get Tower of London. Comfort, '. support. exactly the firmness you need. "If Bonaparte is not there, we are done for," said Nelson. Call For More Information Elisabeth, peering below with her You owe it to yourself to learn more about this telescope, made an impatient sound. Metal coil mattresses support lutionary way to a better night's sleep. "Remember the cowardice of the man. only the firm parts ofyour He could not sleep in a captive nation hody, C7t;a;;r:t'pressure points, For FREE Video and Brochure, Call

i spinal support. but inside a fortress. Besides, I have had intelligence from within." 1-800-831-1211 One could hardly argue with that. Sleep Better On Air Nelson nodded. Perhaps he should A Select Comfort adjustable firmness give some new, bold signal to his mattress doesn't rely on springs or fleet but he had not the heart. — water. Air is better SEL£CTCOMFORX. Instead, he signaled for commence- because it gently ment of their plan. The Electra and jfes! Please rush a contours to your me Boadicea were to land, whilst aboard Video and Brochure. body's shape. FREE the Boyle, Mary Bennett would discov- er whether the grenades were truly ef- V fective by dropping them upon the Address_ guardhouses. Nelson hoped that there I City were not many Englishmen amongst _ I'hoi S «P The Only the French, then shook his head quick- Corporation Mattress with Mail to: Select Comfort ly. If so, they were collaborators, and de- Push Button I 6105 Trenton LaneN., Minneapolis, MN 55442 I served what fate might overtake them. rirnrk'ess i.^rniroi. [©Select Comfort Corp., 1995 Dept. 3933j The Beryton and the Canada con- stumbling "Do your duty!" screamed his bird. ing footing. The crew was half off al- himself lagging far behind, over the of a foe or "Get above, you idiot," Nelson cursed, ready, screaming and drawing weapons now and then body only and immediately swore again, as he for close fighting—a few swords and friend. Once he rounded a corner himself staring directly into the felt sharp claws dig into his shoulder. cutlasses, more pitchforks and scythes. to find The terrorized Farmer George was "For England! For Nelson! For George!" muzzle of a French officer's pistol. Only mistress smashed a moving on to his accustomed refuge. they shouted and their admiral, a bit then the man's his head. The surprise unbalanced him entire- concussed by the bullet, wondered if chamberpot down upon his cat. "Thank you, madame," said Nelson. ly and he pitched backward, but not that final cheer were for the wail, he was able before hearing a musket ball pass far Then he was out of the moonboat, Leaning against furiously for cover. Soldiers to doff his absurd feathered hat. Of too close. It singed his scalp and tore hobbling parrot upon his shoulder the unfortunate cat off his shoulder and were approaching from the opposite course, the smil- the gesture a bit less courtly. into eternity. Another had died for his side of the ship. Elisabeth turned, made lips and eyes, and "My pleasure, sir," she replied, tak- sake—and if the cat had not surprised ing with narrowed the central airbag. ing up the loaded gun and departing, him, it would instead be he who had shot directly into in search of game he presumed. been sent to greet his forebears. The dephiogisticated air exploded, new ornate bed- Elisabeth skidded down beside him. destroying the Electra and taking out Then he was in a large H the majority of the pursuers. Still chamber with his men (and women) hold- "Admiral? Are you . . , on side, and "Damnation! Help me up," he said. though, she had been a noble ship and ing guns outstretched one on the other Napoleon Bonaparte him- He was bleeding, but this time it merci- he regretted her loss. firing self, clad in an astonishing saffron night- fully poured over his blind eye, leaving They could hear shouts and surrounded by loyal guards. his vision unencumbered. "Then see to inside the Tower. As Elisabeth had gown and opti- "You cannot escape," said Elisa- that lad." expected—she was so much the Outside a building exploded. That lad was beyond help—a belly mist—the English servants had fallen beth. expressly asked wound. But deferring his own medical upon their foreign masters. Damn! Had they not of Mary to spare the magazine, of which help in favor of the sailors had always They met up with the crew the might future need? won Nelson their hearts, and this time Boadicea. Nelson watched as Lydia, a they have will it be?" Elisabeth contin- was no different. knife in her teeth and her blouse open "What let your men fight There was an explosion, and great to the waist in a remarkable display, put ued. "Die now, and Little good that gouts of flame leapt up beyond the a bullet through a guardsman's chest on to keep the country? you!" wall. Evidently Cavendish's inventions and a second bullet through another's will do contort- had succeeded again. throat, then paused calmly amidst the The emperor's pudgy face The Electra thumped to her rest carnage to reload her pistols. ed as he thought. What to choose, glorious upon the ground, Nelson barely retain- They entered the Tower. He found safety and surrender, or death? It was certain that, while he would ordinarily not hesitate to opt for the former, he was having unexpected difficulty with the choice. The man was not entirely without honor.

"I cannot surrender—not to rabble, not to women," he cried. "Then surrender to me," said Nelson, limping forward. He bent down and shook off his hat, then looked directly at Bonaparte. Would his famous profile, LANDFILL his well-known haunted eyes, reveal his identity despite the comic but blood-soaked costume and the parrot? Napoleon's eyes widened and his jaw dropped in the moment of recogni-

tion. Then he smirked. "If 1 have been

defeated, it has been at the hands of a dead hero." ! 'My death, perhaps, was reported

prematurely, sir," replied Nelson. "May I have your sword?" Bonaparte gestured to his men to put down their guns, then proffered his

sword, hilt outward. Nelson smiled, and waved his hand

dismissively. "I fear I cannot oblige you without help. Captain Darcy?" And to the emperor's eternal scan- dal, the woman went forward to accept the token of surrender. At that moment Nappy began to squawk. "Hooray for Boneyparte," he said. "Hooray!" The admiral of the airfleet and savior "

of England sighed. He was obviously effect of ending all conversation for the going to have to work on his pet's space of several minutes. OUTER LIMITS repertoire. Then Nelson wished the ladies CONTINUED FROM PAGE 43 happy, and rose. He imagined he had their never faithfully at all. it is a truth universally acknowledged more to do that evening, to ensure adapted, but that a single woman in possession of safety until the Navy returned and the "I was becoming intensely aware as

I the the gratitude of her nation must be in Army was reconstituted. was developing and working on want of a husband. "Does no one intend to ask my first few episodes of what a challenge it Nelson, newly bandaged, having set future?" asked Lydia suddenly. was to do Outer Limits in the 1990s be- is culmina- guards about the castle and having Nelson paused. "I had presumed, cause the original show the supervised the incarceration of the Captain Wickham, that you would wish tion of a certain kind of science fiction prisoners and the sending of mes- to remain with your ship, and make a and fantasy, certainly in the mass media. 15 years after The Outer Limits sages regarding the victory, as well as career, as it were, of flight." The new Air About Aliens, you had briefly paying his respects to his oblivi- Navy would need experienced officers. went off the air, you had ous mad monarch, had been pleased "Not enough," she said, and rose to Predator, and now you've got The X- really to do Outer Limits to discover his own medals in the pos- walk over to where he stood leaning upon Files. It's tough straight-line session of the emperor. Their familiar his crutch. She took his lapels in her for the 1990s, at least the problem." weight gave solidity to the scarlet coat- hands, and came very close. "Not enough evolution. It's a postmodern Still, of science-fiction All this exertion, far from tiring him, had to be a captain. I wish an admiral." the norm exhilarated him. He found, also, that for Nelson felt a sudden odd weakness shows lately seems to be pat series beloved, unchangeable the first time in a year his missing left before her predatory gaze, and real- containing regular sci- leg no longer ached. ized something else. For so long his life characters. This will be a with un- He located the Bennett sisters in a had been circumscribed by pain and ence-fiction anthology show situations in drawing room-, finely painted though its want. And now, in his time of triumph, predictable plots and are in true jeopardy decorations and the bulk of its furnish- pain had retreated—and he felt the first which characters ings had been removed as booty long stirring of that other long dormant phan- of the most unsettling sort. ago. They sat demurely, pistols beside tom, of pleasure. The range of human drama reflects The them, as the staff served tea. Jane was "It may yet be arranged," he the range of human experience. silent; Mr. Bingley had been amongst replied. DO advent and development of science the casualties. However Kitty, one arm fiction was the intellectual and emo- of technological and so- in a sling, was remarkably ebullient. S. N. Dyer is a pseudonym for a full- tional product Extrapolation epiph- "It is settied then, -Elisabeth," she time physician in private practice. Dyer cial movement. and was saying. "You shall accept no less has been nominated for the Hugo any. Fear and loathing. With the form- than the Prince of Wales. Award, the Nebula Award, and the and texture of these changes shifting in He sat, and allowed the captain of World Fantasy Award. Dyer's last story unsettling and surprising ways, can it sci- his late flagship to pour him a cup of for Omni, "On the Edge," was pub- be any wonder that the nature of fiction itself has warped? tea. Nelson admitted that it did seem a lished in December 1988. ence on good match. One felt that this year of With 44 episodes ordered, money table, and an audience hungry for the fugitive adversity must have matured CREDITS the George, honing him from a dissipated stuff, this show will happen, postmod- Page 2, top left: Showtime; page 2, top selfish fop into a stern, dedicated patri- ern problems or no. "We'd like to cham- right: Gregory Manchess; page 2, bottom "We'd ot. Or so one, at least, hoped. pion science fiction," says Coto. left: Di Maccio; page 2, bottom right: William "And for Jane?" That sister wiped like to champion the intellectual side." Coupon; page 4: Rosemary Webber; page "The goal at the end of this," says away a tear. It was clear she would 8: Gary Retherford/Photo Researchers; Stern, "is that the viewer should turn off maintain deep mourning for at least a page 9: Bettman Archive; page 12: Ken year. "Another royal duke?" Davies/Masterfile; page 14: Clint Clemens/ the TV (after each show) and go 'Wow!'" to "I think not," said Elisabeth thought- Liaison International; page 16, top: Art & "The challenge' really comes back Editorial Resources; page 16, middle: Golin/ fully. "We shall need the royal dukes telling stories that grip us as human be- Harris Communications; page 16, bottom: single, to induce treaties. So many sov- ings," says Densham. "The things that Nintendo of America; page 18: Moller Inter- ereigns have marriageable daughters." scare you and me don't change." national, page 20: Phil Boatwright Illustra- "Allow me to recommend my execu- Attitude, talent, good scripts, deter- tion/Image Bank; page 24, top, middle, and mination, and heritage seem to weigh tive officer and dear friend Captain bottom: D. Kibler; page 28: David Scharf/ favor. Hardy" said Nelson, entering into the Peter Arnold; page 29, top: Art & Editorial in the show's spirit of the thing. "A capable man, and Resources; page 29, bottom: Jose Molina/ Ultimately, the irony of the original I'm sure he has been promoted to Graphistock; page 30: Malcolm S. Kirk/Peter Outer Limits was that the viewer had a Arnold; page 32, top: Rae Adams/Georgia of that dial admiral in my absence." lot more control than the Tech Photo; page 32, bottom: A. W. lasted Jane allowed that she might take it Control Voice admitted. The show Stegmeyer; pages 34-36: Showtime; page under advisement. only a year and a half. 45: Attila Hejja; page 46: Di Maccio; page In this interactive technology age. "Well, I want a duke," said Kitty, and 48: Di Maccio; page 49: Steven Hunt/Image you can almost hear the Control Viewer began to pout. "Foreign would do, just Bank; page 50: Jim Zuckerman; page 51: incarnation. "I not from too far east." Steven Hunt/Image Bank; page 54: Dia- speaking to this new "And you, Mary?" gram by Patrick O'Brien. Copyright 1990 by control the horizontal. I control the verti- The studious sister glanced up from Random House, Inc. Reprinted by permis- cal. Now scare me." The new Outer division of Ran- a book of philosophy she had discov- sion of Ballantine Books, a Limits hopes to do just that. DO dom House; page 59: Jim Zuckerman; ered in Napoleon's bedchamber. "I 63: William Coupon; pages pages 62 and David Bischoff's latest novel is The suppose I shall have to marry Lord 67 and 68: Gregory Manchess; page 103: Judas Cross with Charles Sheffield, Henry. I do, after all, bear his child." Kathy McLaughlin. This comment had the insalubrious from Warner Books. though there is a kind of inverse rela- ogy we developed, or the advance- irUTERVIEUU tionship between government secrecy ment of women in the workplace. Great the benefits came from nuclear medicine CONTINUED "ROM ^.G:- Ti and public voyeurism regarding private lives of public figures. Is this in- in diagnostics and treatment. and technology for Nevada, the earliest vasion of the intimate a kind of a substi- Omni: Why is it so hard to develop a policy? we can get a site up is 2010, depend- tute for political activity? national energy develop often but no- ing on how much of the money we can O'Leary: I don't think so. Remember O'Leary: We one

it it developed. get at. This plus the nuclear clean-up is there had been a real enemy. Once my body likes when gets for passes some- one of my major initiatives. But, hey, husband and I were in Frankfurt a Whenever Congress administration articulates everything we do here is expensive. It's conference. We were walking down the thing, or an dangerous, untested. Some places we street and heard singing in a some change, the public—to the extent

it all always have to clean up don't even have blue- rathskeller and decided to go in. My it remembers at — remem- something I bers, "Oooh, someone said prints. We go in to decommission and husband opened the door, and : having to worry about [oil] decontaminate a site, and we don t looked into a long, dark room filled with about never again." issues go to the even know where the electrical box is people—and they all looked very imports When with music Congress every few years, no one because no one drew it in! Aryan to me. Suddenly, the Most people active on issues of nu- and the smoke in this dark room, all of seems to want to bite the bullet. The last true supply interruption we had, clear waste work on two levels. If it's my childhood terror of Nazi Germany spiraled so terribly, was in going to be in your community, you rushed back to me. I looked at my hus- when prices

1980 and 1981. I purchased a house don't want it; but you're also concerned band and said, "There's no way I'm ! percent! about nonproliferation and the environ- going in there, man!' and the mortgage rate was 16 its impact on the ment. You want this material contained, For Americans, the next terror was The price shock and finally caused the Congress under surveillance, and ready for the Communism. I was graduating from economy : next technological advancement that college when Nikita Khrushchev said, to say, 'Hey! Hold it! Enough!" With threats price projections for petroleum at $80 a might help further destroy it. We're not "We will bury you!" And the Soviet initiated defen- barrel, you could begin a vigorous pro- going to let it pile up around each and posed by power in technology underlying every power plant and let each com- sive behaviors that in retrospect we gram to invest for imported fuel. munity be responsible for its security. find unacceptable—especially those replacements safety, created the Synthetic Fuels Cor- I'd like it all in one place under con- affecting our health and our We stant security. where we think it's the government's re- poration whose goal was to convert that could replace pe- Omni: In my lifetime I've seen a trivial- sponsibility to protect us. But some- coal into liquids syn- ization of political agendas. Might this times we need to look at positive things troleum. The market entry price for also be a legacy of the Cold War? As that came out of that time—the technol- thetic fuels was close to 50 bucks a barrel. Good policy! If you can keep the price of, the product that we're try- ing to wean ourselves away from high enough to develop the alternatives. But once the price of oil drops, cost-effec-

tive alternatives dry up. It's happened. Time after time. Going for energy effi- ciency helps a bit, but it's not a solu- tion. Some of us now realize part of the solution involves diversifying our import base. By increasing supplies from Mexico, Canada, Venezuela, and North Sea producers we can reduce our de- pendency on Middle Eastern suppliers. Omni: Doesn't cheap foreign oil make capital investment in new technology less attractive. O'Leary: Well, yes and no. New tech- nology has been developed. Compact fluorescent bulbs reduce energy con- sumption. We use them here. But we need to focus on technologies for large industrial processes. Using private and public sector money, the United States has spent over $7 billion designing new technology to generate electric- ity —mostly involving coal, but some using natural gas and nuclear energy. Fuel cells are an option already being used by some of our East Coast utility companies. That the fuel cells have ap- plications for connection to our ex;s:"c

national grid system spells opportun :, to utility company executives who frankly don't like to think their business —

will be obsolete in the twenty-first cen- new increments of power coming on tury. One day soon we may all have a line in the United States over the next

little fuel cell in our basement that will seven to ten years will be from inde- pick up enough power overnight to run pendent power producers. It's cheaper, our homes and power our cars Or they cleaner energy, and generating sta- tions are smaller. We like that. It meets TALK BACK! will power whole office buildings, busi- ness complexes, and even entire com- the test of sustainability. munities. But pretty much all of the Omni: What might an energy-efficient 1900 285-5483 energy will come off the grid. economy built on American love of per- busi- sonal autonomy look like? (950 per minute) People in the traditional utility to ness are starting to think this way—to O'Leary: I know!! You want me be a futurist! In vision, people who drive beat what I call the Western Union phe- my We at nomenon. Folks there couldn't see that opinion really focus on the requirement been Omni have always a plastic card with a line of credit for environmental-economic balance. are asking the in the forefront of would make it easy for people to get Here at the DOE we don't have largest energy consumers by industrial promoting innovation and money anywhere. Now you to call Aunt Sarah when you need sector to make assessments about cor- imagination. for the $200! They missed it. And the same rect manufacturing processes Now we bring you the latest thing even happened with some banks. twenty-first century. Their research and come up to a machine development data tell them pollution breakthrough in "Let somebody and get money? No teller? Have you prevention saves money for business interactive publishing: lost your mind?" Understand, someone and makes them more competitive.

in the banking system had to have the They also recognize that the public has THE OMNI EDITOR LINE vision and take the leap of faith. become much more conscious of the a direct link Omni: Can so-called free sources of need to protect the environment and to — correct its degradation. to our editorial staff, offers energy geothermal, wind, solar—be used to meet some energy needs? Take the pulp and paper industry: you the opportunity O'Leary: Well, first, there really is no Large polluters, they've done a lot over truly participate in the to pollution to free lunch. Take wind. When I left the the last ten years reduce shaping of Omni. Carter administration 18 years ago, the especially by getting involved in recy- cost per kilowatt hour for producing cling their products. But now they're Call the wind power was at about 22 cents. The recognizing that unless they can de- of producing electricity then was sign new pulp and paper manufactur- OMNI EDITOR LINE, and cost between six and eight cents. So, if you ing processes for the next century, you will be asked were sitting at the state regulatory com- they'll get left behind. And they're also to leave a message for our mission and reviewing the data, unless recognizing they have to deal with the you could find some other things to put information highway. We're working Editors, or you can in the equation, wind didn't make the with the steel industry, aluminum, listen to messages left by economic cut. glass, and cement. We're also working other readers. Now, in those days no one com- with Argonne National Lab in Chicago

full of conven- which is involved with some local We want to hear from you puted the life-cycle cost tional energy sources. The economic groups trying to get a set of new elec- whether it concerns picture changes if we ask, for example, trical wiring codes approved so they a specific article or feature "How do you handle waste? What's the can build attractive, affordable, energy- efficient homes. They're now stuck with in a current polluting effect?" While people were debating true societal costs, the DOE lighting codes developed In the 1950s issue of Omni or if it's was working with the private sector on when we didn't contemplate trying to about our science and engineering projects to be so much more energy efficient. magazine in general. drive down the cost of wind. By the late Omni: You've expressed excitement Eighties, wind still wasn't as cheap as about a, well, almost low-tech develop- The OMNI EDITOR LINE coal or hydro, but darn near. Title 29 of ment called "bio-barrier." What is it? the Tax Reform Act of 1986 said, "If you O'Leary: Say you plant a tree and you is here to make sure can get alternative energy in produc- want to keep it away from your septic that you have an opportunity to tion, you can knock off 1.5 cents per tank or plumbing lines. In the old days for bad to hap- become a part of the kilowatt hour as a tax rebate." All of a you'd wait something sudden wind is economical. With a pen and Mr. Rotor Rooter—the guy with future of the magazine of the production tax credit for alternative the auger—would come and remove it future. We hope fuels, there are now real opportunities from your lines. Now you can plant this to hear from you soon. to introduce alternative energy sources strip of bio-barrier next to your tree, into the grid. Some large power sta- and it will keep the roots of that tree or tions are making that decision. shrub from incursion into anything. 1-900-285-5483 As we've opened up competition to How did this get developed? At Han- (95^ per minute) entrepreneurs who've given some ford [Nuclear Reservation, Washing::" thought to designing power plants that State] we had to make sure no underly- PET INC., BOX 166 built and operated a little more ing roots of shrubs and trees mucked HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA 90078 can be take up the piping or equipment around Must be 18 or older. cheaply, electric companies can bids from outsiders instead of building tanks containing nuclear and haz- : Touch-tone phones only. their own stations. Fifty percent of the ardous waste. Then, along comes a — . bright entrepreneur who reads the re- ple who think about the improbable." Personal search, finds out about bio-barrier, and But as scientists themselves will gets a license to use it. Suddenly, all point out, the scientific community has over the Northwest you can go in K- been accustomed to showing up once Products Mart or your local green-thumb store a year, scouting the halls of Congress and buy bio-barrier. This guy, who had with two or three Nobel Prize laureates a one- or two-person operation, now and saying, "We need it because we has 60 people working for him and pro- need it." Now budgets are tight. The jects 500 in the near future. case for science has got to be better A small particle accelerator facility made. These people all talk about their is being built in Virginia. We're inter- community—the scientific community, ested in doing basic science there, but academic community, public policy the business community is also lining community. It drives me nuts. You ". up to use it for things like testing fibers know, they say . . and the commu- ..." and materials for use in industrial nity thinks I say, "Excuse me processes. As competition with Europe guys? It doesn't work any longer to talk and Japan grows and U.S. business only to yourselves, nor just to show up How to order them has to drive down costs, the private in a meeting once a year." without embarrassment. sector has tended to reduce its research People who are engaged in scien- How to use them and development budget. More and tific endeavor are starting to be a pres- without disappointment. more frequently, they rush to our labo- ence here in Washington. They're ratories saying, "We want to work with finally getting it that contact with public you've been reluctant to purchase you, because it's cheaper and maybe policy-makers needs to occur on a Ifsensual products through the mail, better for us to use your facilities." more routinized basis. If we don't pull we would like to offer you three Right now our national labs have the these groups together we are lost. Be- things that might change your mind. ability to work from basic science all cause the American public won't pay First, we guarantee your privacy. the way to applied technology. But the tab. We cannot draw the line at ap- .livery thing we ship is plainly and secure- Congress or the American people may plied science. If we don't fund basic ly wrapped, with no clue to its contents with its big question not want to continue to fund our na- science marks, from the outside. All transactions are tional In there will be nothing to drive us toward laboratories. western Europe strictly confidential, and we never sell, and Japan, the governments have long technological innovation. rent or trade any customer's name. since made the decision that govern- Omni: People have commented that Second, we guarantee your satisfaction. ment policy would undergird its com- women often bring to the workplace If a product is unsatisfactory, simply petitive push in science and tech- and political life substantial skills in return it for replacement or refund nology. This is our dilemma. Now, if the working with people to get things done. Third, we guarantee that the product you American public can equate the work Is that true of you? choose will keep giving you pleasure. of our national labs to jobs: "Oh, good! O'Leary: I'm so clear about goal-set- Should it malfunction, simply return it to If you guys did all of this and if Mr. Bio ting. I have almost laserlike attention. us for a replacement. Barrier who had two employees now I'm clear about who I am. Right now, I've has 200 and will soon go to 500—well, I'm giving this job all my focus. got What is the Xandria Collection? then, maybe that's okay." five or six things that need doing It is a very special collection of the Omni: What about basic science itself? things that can maybe make a differ- finest and most effective sensual products

O'Leary: The supercollider went down. ence. I love my job. One day I may from around the world. It is designed for station didn't it say, "This is The space —because wake up and where we the timid, the bold, or for anyone who has was more easily understood by the have to go/' and I may make a big mis- ever wished there could be something

it won't big mistake that American public. The space station take. But be a more -to their sensual pleasures. was personalized through ads run by adversely affects the health or safety of The Xandria Gold Collection celebrates businesses who could point back to anyone who works for us or who lives the possibilities for pleasure you each

Sputnik and our Apollo flights. When near one of our sites. If I make a big have within. Send for the Xandria Gold the benefits people saw were personal- mistake, it will be on the side of ensur- — Edition Catalogue. Its price of $4.00 is ized "one small step for man, one ing that people are healthy and safe. applied, in full, to your first order. giant leap for mankind"—folks under- These are heavy responsibilities. Write today. You have absolutely noth- stood it. If you come to the Department of ing to lose, and an entirely new world of

But there I was with the supercon- Energy thinking that you can't make a enjoyment to gain. ducting supercollider, trying to explain difference, it will grind you down. We're that some of its applications might sitting on thousands of acres of land The Xandria Collection, Dept.OM0495 yield ionized equipment and material we need to clean up and nuclear waste P.O. Box 31039, San Francisco, CA 94131. that would help us treat brain cancers materials that need to be finally dis- PTease send me, by first class mail, the Xandria Gold :• Edition Catalogue. I'm losei i i';v chock or money order or soft cell tumors. That bothered the posed of. I get up every morning fully for S4.00 ivlikii v-.-:ll he .ippliee! towards my first pur- physicists no end! Because in their pu- understanding that—and that the ge- chase. <£4 U.S., SS CAN., £3 U.K.)

1 am an adult over 21 years of age: rity they said, "Well, Secretary, we don't nius in our national laboratories can

." know. . . Meanwhile in Congress, help provide answers to questions we Signature rstjitlfed they were saying, "Hold on a minute, have as a nation. And I do believe that woman! You need $11 billion! What is it we can make a better and cleaner en-

going to get us?" So, I tried to talk vironment with an energy policy built about it from the general perspective: on principles of sustainable develop- "We have to encourage more science ment. That's where we're headed. And and scientists. There have to be peo- the challenge is really groovy.DO A IS FOR APRIL: The best letter logos combine form and function

By Scot Morris

Graphic artists have twisted THE SCIENCE OF LAUGH- the alphabet in endlessly TER. Here are some creative ways to convey their chuckles from Absolute Zero clients' images in a single Gravity: Science Jokes, letter. Look at the logo on a 5* Quotes, and Anecdotes by 1 7 13 bottle of water, # Betsy Devine and Joel Evian A stamped into the plastic E. Cohen (Simon & Schuster, above the paper label. 1992). The lowercase "e" is a streamlined skier bent The answer is "Game, set, 2 8 14 over and racing to the right, and match." What's the with his ski poles forming question? the letter's crossbar. Good- Name two theories invited will Industries has a logo by von Neumann, and an that you have probably seen incendiary device. many times. Have you ever 3 9 15 noticed that the lowercase How many programmers

"g" is, appropriately, one does it take to change a side of a smiling face? light bulb? Considering just the first None. That's a hardware letter of the alphabet, Arn- CL.A R problem. trak recently introduced in its print advertising a de- How many gorillas does sign of two lines tilted toward it take to change a light each other, suggesting bulb?

V8V it an "A" shape, or two parallel Ai Only one gorilla, but 5 11 17 A lot of light bulbs. railroad tracks apparently sure takes a converging in the distance. The Alaska Catalog has Answer: Count Dracula for its logo an A that is snow- Question: What did Tran- capped on top, with a sylvania's only demograph- 6 12 18 crossbar formed by the flukes er forget to do? of a diving whale. Here are some of my A. Acasso Supermar- J. Architettura Design A great scientist reaches favorite As from around the ket (Buenos Aires) School (Milan) the pearly gates, and the world, as found in Trade- B. Adams Waste Disposal K, Armando Electrical angel Gabriel rewards him marks and Symbols of the (England) Machinery (Milan) by offering the choice of

dearest wish: Will it World, Volumes I and IV, C. Aerographics Lithog- L. Arntz Cobra automo- his be by Yasaburo Kuwayama (the raphers (Toronto) bile (U.S.) infinite wealth, infinite books were published by D. Ager Auto Repair M. Assicurazioni Intercon- beauty, or infinite wisdom? Rockport Publishers of Rock- (Amsterdam) tinental insurance com- "Infinite wisdom," says port, Massachusetts, but E. Alpeadria and Dos pany (Rome) the scientist. There's a poof! are currently out of print), in Ljubljana tourism (Yu- N. Association of Archi- and a cloud of smoke, each case, there's a sug- goslavia) tects (Lyon) and the scientist sighs, with gestion of the typ.e of com- F. Anchomar Fishing 0. Automatic Plastics infinite wisdom, and says, pany that employs that (Buenos Aires) Limited (Dublin) "Damn! So I should have particular logo. Match each G. Anorsa, manufacturer P. Autoroute (logo for taken the money!" "A" or "a," numbered in of materials for experi- French Association of the box at right, with the ap- ments (Madrid) Highways) QUIZ ANSWERS: propriate company name, H. Anzen auto accessories Q. Avant card publishers 1-P.2-J, 3-C.4-L, 5-M, 6-F listed below in alphabetical (Japan) (U.S.) 7-D, 8-R, 9-N, 10-H, 11 -A. 13-1, 15-Q. order. The answers are I. Ar. Co machine tools R. Azurna Drive-ln 12-B, 14-K, 16-G, at the end of the column. (Naples) (Japan) 17-E, 18-ODQ r Tte Artist © ART CUMINGS I need a "title "that will not sound "too cerebral

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PORTLY'S COMPLAINT: Finding room in America for the not-so-average physique

By Daniel Pinkwater

have been fat all my life, ex- loony, or I'll eat you." I suppose I cept for a period of about two should apologize to the mentally

I years when I was thin. In this infirm who may read this, but un-

regard, I was within statistical derstand, it's impossible to enjoy limits: All the studies on the sub- one's taco platter when someone ject of weight loss I have found is yelling atone.

suggest that people who lose It's at least six times as hard weight gain it back, plus more, to get hired if you're fat. There's within two years. It's always com- an ingrained belief that fat peo- forting to know that one is normal ple are excessive, bestial, greedy, and average. lustful, stupid, lazy, dishonest, and During those two years when weak. Perfectly true, of course,

I was not circumferentially chal- but no more for fat people than lenged, I was unpleasantly startled designed to consume the 16- all humans, fat and thin. The re- In his every time I caught an acciden- ounce rib-eye dinner with baked cent announcement of a "fat rat latest novel, The tal glimpse of myself in a mirror potato, all-you-can-eat salad- gene" suggests what we knew all or a shop window, I felt that movie and-appetizer bar, and the slab the time—fatness is hereditary. Diet just out from and airplane seats were unnatu- of New York-style cheesecake for Notwithstanding, former Surgeon Random rally large and uncomfortable, dessert—but we sure do. Not to General C. Everett Koop an- House, Daniel and I worried about my health a mention the couple of drinks be- nounced only one week later a new Pinkwater lot—something I never did when fore, the unlimited free refills of war on fat. Make up your minds! takes a seriously

I was fat. soda, and the cups of coffee Is it our fault or not? demented Speaking of health, doctors with cream and sugar. But there's good news for the look at weight- have always told me that, as a fat The difference between fat diametrically disadvantaged. Fat conscious- person, I was at greater risk of gluttons and thin gluttons is purely people are on the march—and ness in America. heart attack, diabetes mellitus, metabolic—and societal. There our numbers are expanding, our hypertension, atherosclerosis, is nothing we humans like better ranks are swelling. The Centers osteoarthritis, and a bunch of than abusing and reviling others for Disease Control recently re- other terrible things. It took years for perceived faults of which we ported that about one-third of for it to occur to me to ask the are guilty ourselves— but are Americans are seriously over- questions, How much greater is getting away with. Baiting the weight, a finding backed up by the risk? and Which would confer obese is the last safe prejudice. an American Medical Associa- the greatest benefit, quitting TV comedians can make fat jokes, tion report that claims some 58 smoking, getting more exercise, which if they were about racial or million people in the United States reducing stress, or losing weight? ethnic groups, would result in are at least 20 percent over their

Having asked these questions, I collective outcry, cancellations of ideal body weight. It used to be

worry even less. contracts, and humiliating forced that I would have to make spe- A recent study, widely re- public apologies. cial trips to a fat men's clothier in ported by the media, concluded In public, fat people, espe- New York, but these days, Sears that—get ready for this astonish- cially women, are regularly sub- and J.C. Penney have catalogs of ing result—overweight people jected to vile remarks, lectures, fashions for persons of size. There overeat! My God, isn't science pointing, and mockery. I submit are many journals concerned with wonderful? The same study fur- that there is no fat person in questions of fatness, including ther observed that fat people America who has not been con- Rump Parliament, FatlSo?, and generally turn out to have eaten fronted in a restaurant by some the dating magazine for fat gay more than they themselves maniac, who fulminates, "How guys, Big Ad. thought they had. could you let yourself get like Many culture heroes are fat: Like most people don't do that? You're disgusting! Aren't Roseanne, John Goodman, the that. I once informally polled all you ashamed?" I, for one, am not late John Candy, Marlon Brando— my acquaintances, fat and thin, ashamed. What I usually say to and even our president may yet and asked everybody 1 knew these people, taking advantage fulfill his destiny and achieve true whether they regularly ate to the of the fact that they are delu- greatness. A fat day is dawning, point of discomfort. They all said sional and probably highly sug- America. Remember—you heard they did. Human beings are not gestible, is, "Get away from me, it herefirst.DO