Eric Oksanen, a Canadian expat in Texas, wonders if his upcoming interview with US Immigration authorities has something to do with a recent pilgrimage to the UFO mecca.

I have waited nearly four years for this moment: a newly arrived envelope with a Department of Immigration and Naturalization seal contains a terse note summoning me to San Antonio.

Two years ago I petitioned to become a Resident Alien of the United States and now finally I have the opportunity to state my case. I am instructed to bring my passport and the letter. But printed in bold capitals, the letter reads "THIS INTERVIEW WILL BE VIDEOTAPED."

The video taping intrigues and frightens me. What will they do with the tape? Will a panel of experts in Washington scrutinize my reactions to questions, zooming in on tell-tale fidgeting hands or an unconscious facial tic? Will they replay portions of the tape and study it in freeze-frame?

And why did this letter arrive now? Only days before, I was in Roswell, New Mexico, the holy land and mecca of the UFO enthusiast community. I had visited the International UFO Museum and Research Center and signed the guest register. That evening, I turned on the television to view "Alien Autopsy", a scientific analysis of a secret government film recording the autopsy of an extraterrestrial. Could there possibly be some connection?

Roswell is a town of 50,000 conveniently located, for the conspiracy-minded, in the middle of nowhere -- it seems to take a four hour drive to reach the nearest major city in any direction, be it Albuquerque, El Paso or Amarillo. Roswell’s fame will forever stem from the speculation that, on the July 4 weekend in 1947, an extra-terrestrial spaceship crashed in the nearby desert. Believers contend that the dead bodies of several aliens were found inside the craft but that one was captured alive. Before you could say "Oliver Stone", the "guys in suits" were apparently up to their usual shenanigans: destroying evidence, hustling away the dead aliens, conducting a clandestine autopsy, doctoring radar and personnel records, intimidating witnesses into silence and claiming the object in question was nothing more than a simple weather balloon.

One legacy of the crash is the International UFO Museum and Research Center in downtown Roswell, a non-profit organization that occupies two storefronts and is topped by a plastic flying saucer.

The museum endeavors to provide an objectively scientific but entertaining forum for the subject of UFOs. Endless panels of newspaper clippings from American and British tabloids detailing UFO incidents are presented as evidence. Bigfoot, Atlantis, and the Lochness Monster also make an appearance. There is a diorama faithfully recreating the alien autopsy from the movie Roswell. It doesn’t seem unusual then, that you can "Have Your Picture Taken With Our Little Friend From Another World" for $2.50.

A new installation presents the I-beam of the alien ship which supposedly crashed at Roswell, as described by one Dr. Marcel; 12 years old at the time of the crash, the young Marcel was awoken at 2:00 a.m. by his father, an Air Force Major, and shown some of the remains of the ship before they were returned to the base. Created by an artist according to Dr. Marcel’s specifications, the display features a piece of aluminum etched with arcane symbols.

There are also scientific presentations on a variety of UFO phenomenon. While I’m there, a lecturer is arguing that the complex illustration on a 1,500 year-old Mayan tombstone depicts a reclining figure in the cockpit of a spaceship.

Drawing about 400 visitors a day, the Museum attracts all types: the curious, the sceptical and the convinced. There is no doubt among the volunteers who work there, however. Little old ladies in knit cardigans respond to sceptical inquiries with the patience of kindergarten teachers. One visitor mentions that her brother-in-law was stationed in Roswell when the crash supposedly occurred, but has never said anything about it. One of the staff nods and tells her that "When the Air Force told you to be quiet, back then, you did." Another adds, "They’d kill anyone." To this all the volunteers nod and murmur something close to an Amen. How I longed to believe and be a part of the community and to have such conviction; fortunately, according to the staff, it is just a matter of time before the truth is accepted by everyone.

A few days later, back at the main library in Austin, Texas, I discovered that almost all of the books about UFOs and the Roswell incident were either loaned out or presumed lost. From what little research I’ve been able to do as a result, I’ve found that the current scholarship is broken down into jealous factions -- each claiming to tell the definitive story. The primary evidence is usually third-hand testimony from long deceased eyewitnesses, hazy recollections, newly regained repressed memories and ambiguous Air Force memos. Any dissenting view is typically attributed to Government intimidation and misinformation.

That my letter from the Department of Immigration and Naturalization and the possibility of my deportation coincides with my visit to Roswell and cursory attempts to research government cover-ups, gives me pause for thought: somebody out there has it out for us aliens. I hope I fare better in my video than the subject in the secret film.

Editor’s note: Well, Mr. Oksanen fared slightly better than the alien. Rather than perform an autopsy the INS interviewers revoked all his permits and his green card. They informed him that it would be in his best interest to leave the country quickly and quietly as he has little hope of winning an appeal (the lawyer Mr. Oksanen has since retained insists otherwise). The interviewers, it seems, do not believe Mr. Oksanen’s marriage four years ago to an American citizen was authentic; they cite a lack of documentary evidence (co-signed leases and agreements). Mr. Oksanen confesses that sometimes he has trouble remembering all the circumstances leading up to the divorce.

In a recent letter to Outpost Mr. Oksanen cited his difficulties: "My failing memory with missing blocks of time; the lack of any ‘significant’ documentary evidence to back up any of my claims; the general feeling of anxiety; secretive and manipulative encounters with obscure and powerful government forces are not coincidences but symptoms.

"The correct diagnosis is that I have been abducted. Taken from secure and familiar surroundings and experimented upon, questioned, studied and schooled in a vastly superior and advanced civilization, and finally expelled -- without so much as gas money or a bus ticket home.

"Those aliens that are left must still be needed for some grand and overall nefarious scheme. I wonder what labours await them."

Info: The International UFO Museum and Research Center (400-402 North Main, PO Box 2221, Roswell, NM 88202, Tel. 505 625-9495, Fax 505 625-1907) is open 7 days a week from 9 am to 5 p.m. Various Memberships are available. For $25, members at the General Level receive a newsletter; Lifetime membership, at $1000, includes invitations to meet with investigators, authors and TV personalities. It does not mention whether membership is transferable in the event of abduction.

As for the Center, it shouldn’t take more than an hour to get the idea, but then what? Check out the many modern art galleries and museums, where you’ll notice a distinct lack of extraterrestrial displays and motifs. They are all within a ten minute walk or drive from the UFO Center.