THE OUTER LIMITS; HANGAR 84, ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO.

Byline: Laurie Beasley Daily News Staff Writer

Once upon a time, in a tiny hamlet in New Mexico, visitors from another galaxy crash-landed and left remnants of their spaceship strewn across an empty field. The government denied reports that glowing alien corpses were recovered nearby. Mystery shrouded the crash site; the Air Force said nothing but a weather balloon crashed that fateful evening, yet the tiny town is now a mecca for believers of all sorts ...

Well, sort of.

Smack in the middle of nowhere, a little town in New Mexico called Roswell certainly wants us to believe something happened there. Surrounded by miles of empty high desert and flat, dry, treeless ranch land, there's little to draw tourists and even less to sustain them. The alien incident was a marketing miracle for Roswell. By now, you've probably seen the headlines in Time magazine, surfed the Net for images of the alien autopsy film or seen the ``Dateline NBC'' expose on the spooky summer activities in sleepy Roswell.

And whether or not extraterrestrial beings actually crashed on rancher Mac Brazel's farm on July 5, 1947, some locals are milking the mystery for all it's worth.

This Fourth of July weekend, in fact, marks the official 50th anniversary of the crash, and the town went all out with its Roswell UFO Encounter '97, including everything from a symposium on extraterrestrials and UFO lectures to crash-site tours and a UFO film festival.

But is it a place you should put on your ``must visit someday'' list?

I decided to investigate for all Los Angelenos, believers and skeptics alike. I dragged along my boyfriend, John, for perspective - he's a true L.A. cynic, I'm the Internet geek and wannabe believer.

After a 14-hour drive, we arrived in Roswell, where it was 100 degrees in the shade. We scoured the town looking for signs of life from other planets, bizarre incidents, strange coincidences and decent restaurants. No luck. Roswell seemed studiously middle class (although you can find gems like Bud's Bar, which claims to be the unofficial crash recovery site, and motel signs that beckon travelers to ``Crash Here Tonight'').

At first, we couldn't even find our main destination - the International UFO Museum & Research Center that I had heard of on the Internet.

Since it's the town's claim to fame, you'd think it would be a breeze to find.

Wrong.

It took us an hour to find the place.

The small converted movie theater that houses the museum in downtown Roswell has no signs posted along the town's main entrances to help bumbling tourists. Guidebooks and maps printed as recently as January downplay the alien incident, and some don't mention it at all. Locals are resignedly helpful, but they seem to want you to experience Roswell as a quaint slice of Americana rather than just the birthplace of the American alien.

We finally found the museum on a strip of Main Street that showed a little out-of-this-world town spirit - a sprinkling of businesses dressed up for the festival storefront contest with hand-painted cardboard cutouts of aliens playing guitars, riding horses, climbing cacti and other local interpretations of alien activities.

The museum is the primary visitor destination for outsiders looking to unravel the Roswell mystery. The first exhibit catches your eye before you finish printing your name in the visitor log. A mannequin dressed in doctor garb poses over what is supposed to be the decomposing remains of an alien, presumably one of the Roswell crash fatalities.

There's a time line detailing the events that are the Roswell legend. Photographs, eyewitness statements and framed newspaper headlines form the largest chunk of the exhibit. And there are photos of the crash site as it is today and artistic renderings of the area at impact, littered with what purport to be shiny bits of an alien spaceship.

The actual crash site is several miles outside of town, said museum volunteer Natalie Kranitz. ``What are you gonna see? The original owners are long gone. And the new people charge you 15 bucks to see a whole lot of nothing. It's just a big empty field, but I guess people want to see where it all started.''

Far more interesting than the time line is the exhibit devoted to ``The Great Cover-Up,'' a conspiracy-theorist's dream. Smudgy documents casting doubt on the government's activities are displayed next to detailed descriptions of weather balloon construction and diagrams that explain how the wreckage differed substantially from the standard government-issue Mogul Balloon. The presentation has tons of good technical jargon and shady government characters to fuel a heated cover-up debate in the car on the way home.

Model citizens

The centerpiece of the museum is a cheesy panorama painting of a dead alien sprawled in front of an artist's rendering of the crash site. A little plastic model alien poses in front. The remaining displays in the center of the museum showcase photographs of what appear to be flying discs in the night sky.

One section of the museum is dedicated to artistic interpretations of UFOs, ETs and otherworldly art. Some are serious artistic endeavors, but there are also colorful crayon and Magic-Marker masterpieces from local grade-school kids.

The museum's exhibits are rounded out by two separate viewing rooms with repeat showings of alien-related videos and a snack shop called the Alien Caffeine Espresso Bar. Visitors can exit the museum through the gift shop, a surprisingly small commercial venture with just a smattering of T-shirts, mugs, postcards and alien toys.

Most of the staff are unpaid volunteers. Kranitz told me her interest in UFOs began long before she became a museum volunteer.

``I've never had an encounter personally,'' said Kranitz, ``but a few of the people who work here claim to be involved in the incident.''

One of the most well-known volunteers is sought out by visitors around the world. Dennis G. Balthaser's business card said it all - ``Certified Mufon (Mutual UFO Network) UFO Investigator.''

``If there's something unusual in the area, I get the call,'' said Balthaser. ``We've had three sightings in the last month alone. Most of them are easily explainable, but of course I investigate them all.''

Balthaser is a tan, lanky, slightly balding 56-year-old Texas native who said his fascination with all things otherworldly began some 26 years ago.

``I bought a book about the stars and laid out in the yard on my back, looked up in the sky and wondered what the hell was up there.''

And he's still wondering. Like most of the museum volunteers and visitors I met, Balthaser devotes a large chunk of his time and energy because he has a deep-seated curiosity and fascination with the unexplained. He recounted endless stories about people who travel to Roswell hoping to find an understanding listener.

``The fascinating part of my job is that maybe I'm the first person they tell their stories to,'' he said. ``Some of the tales are far-fetched, and some of the people I meet are real nuts, but I've met a few that, without a doubt, experienced an abduction or visitation. And they all say the same thing: They say, `I know what I saw. I'm not crazy.' ''

What a crowd

Seventeen-year-old Kelli Tydings has lived in Roswell her entire life. Her mother owns the Alien Caffeine Espresso Bar, where Kelli said she spends most of her free time working and talking with visitors to the museum.

``We see some real weirdos here, but I try to listen to them all,'' she said. ``Most people who want to tell me about seeing spaceships or being abducted are just determined to make me - or anyone - understand. I hear a lot of strange stories. My friends say I must have the coolest job; I guess it's OK, if you like making coffee.''

Like most of the people I met during my stay in Roswell, Tydings said she believes something happened in 1947 but she isn't sure exactly what. And, like most people I met who call Roswell home, she adamantly insisted that it's a perfectly normal town.

``When I go on vacation and I tell people I live in Roswell, they say, `Oh, the alien place?' But it's just a regular town,'' she said. ``Nobody thinks too much about the museum; we're all used to it. We have a crappy mall and an average Wal-Mart. Believe me, it's totally normal.''

So, for Angelenos, is it worth 14 hours of ``I Spy'' and ``99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall'' to see normal little Roswell? I guess that depends on your perspective. The truly skeptical traveler will have a hard time justifying the trek to Roswell.

But if you're a believer, or if you've had some ``X-Files'' experiences yourself, Roswell is just waiting for you.

On Location

The International UFO Museum & Research Center is at 114 N. Main St., Roswell, N.M. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; admission is free, but a donation of $5 is requested. The museum also accepts ``any contributions of information, personal experiences or research materials.'' Information: [phone].

You can reach Roswell via a 14-hour drive from Los Angeles, a connecting flight through Albuquerque or Las Cruces, N.M., or by Greyhound bus.

Information: Roswell Chamber of Commerce, [phone], or visit the UFO Research Center's Web site at

http://www.lookingglass.net/commercial/ufo/displays.html.

CAPTION(S):

6 Photos, Box

Photo: (1) Sheep ranch where flying saucer is said to have crashed in 1947.

The New York Times

(2--Color) Mannequin looms over alien body in UFO museum exhibit.

(3--Color) Museum's centerpiece: Panoramic painting of a dead alien.

Laurie Beasley/Daily News

(4--Color) Artist's rendering of an alien invasion over Hangar 84, supposedly the Roswell holding facility for the alien bodies and the site of the ``alien autopsy.''

(5--Color) Typical Roswell alien figure.

(6--Color) The International UFO Museum & Research Center is the primary destination of visitors to Roswell.

Box: On Location (See text)