LETTERS

THE ROSWELL FILES

"The only thing more incredible than extraterrestrials' visiting Earth is the U.S. government's denying that they exist." GARY OSTROW Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

For believers, the strange events at Roswell, N.M. [SOCIETY, June 23], represent the core of a vast panoply of beliefs in the same fashion that Christ does for Christians. Both claim to make sense out of senselessness. Videos of recent events and countless photos of wingless and bladeless craft, as well as the physical marks left on abductees, support the Roswell belief. DOUG PARRISH Howell, Mich.

The "alien" on your cover--with its predictable oversize head and creepy doe eyes--prompted one of my pet peeves: illustrations of extraterrestrial creatures that look just like humans. Get real! We humans are the product of a host of improbable accidents. Science tells us that space and life are weird beyond belief. And so are real aliens. ALAN M. PERLMAN Highland Park, Ill.

As executive producer and co-writer of the 1994 Showtime film Roswell, I believe you are wrong to be dismissive of Philip J. Corso's book The Day After Roswell. It is the most important breakthrough on UFOs in a half-century. Here is an author who served as part of President Eisenhower's National Security Council, has 19 medals and has let the genie out of the bottle on the UFO cover-up. Corso gives the best justification for secrecy about the Roswell Incident ever offered.

Those who kept the secret and lied repeatedly to the public to hide the technological manna from heaven end up looking omniscient and justified. He shows how America's interests were served for decades by publicly stonewalling the UFO issue while achieving, in total secrecy, the scientific breakthroughs that literally define our modern world. The debris from the Roswell crash was not manufactured on Earth. PAUL DAVIDS Los Angeles

Does the U.S. Air Force really think people will accept the explanation that its high-altitude balloons dropped dummies that did not in any way resemble human beings but just happened to be 3 1/2 to 4 ft. tall, with bluish-colored skin? DEE SCHOR Arlington Heights, Ill.

Your poll showed that 13% of Americans believe intelligent beings from other planets have been in contact with members of the U.S. government. I think the numbers would have been higher if you had asked people if they thought U.S. government officials were from another planet. Why would E.T.s want to speak to anyone in our government? MARE MEYER Los Angeles

I usually take my copy of your magazine with me to lunch when I privately indulge in reading the tabloids (the Star, the National Enquirer, etc.). I use TIME to cover my other reading material so that no one will know my secret. The Roswell cover didn't provide much of a disguise. What's next? Elvis sightings? STORMY JADE WONG Lawndale, Calif.

Anyone who believes that humans are the only intelligent life-form in the universe is ignorant and narrow-minded. Since we can achieve space travel, we can conclude that in this vast universe others have also done so, and that their technology may be even more advanced than ours, allowing them to reach other solar systems. There are a lot of people out there who are lying and just trying to make a buck from this phenomenon, but there is also validity. GENE PATTERSON Palmetto, Ga.

Perhaps the real cover-up concerns the Air Force's waste of taxpayer money in releasing spy balloons in the U.S. instead of in Europe or Asia and dropping dwarf dummies just to make sure that gravity still exists. When the extraterrestrials officially land, we should sue for damages arising from the mindless hysteria they have caused. BRUCE C. JEWETT Belmont, Calif.

The only thing from Roswell that is out of this world is Demi Moore. Now that is a heavenly body! TONY PASSANISI San Francisco

ENDING AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

Is affirmative-action opponent Ward Connerly [NATION, June 23] the Martin Luther King Jr. of our time? King fought against entrenched racism, sought equal rights for all Americans and met vicious opposition. Connerly is fighting an entrenched reverse racism in the name of the same cause and meets vicious opposition as well. But as we stand with Connerly, we shall overcome. THOMAS A. HEPPENHEIMER Fountain Valley, Calif.

Connerly may be correct when he states that "we have used racial preferences to prop up a system of artificial diversity instead of doing the heavy lifting that leads to real equality." His desire to see affirmative action dismantled, however, is premature. Using Connerly's metaphor, wouldn't it be wiser to do the heavy lifting first, thus building a solid foundation before hastily tearing down the prop? That way, no one will end up under a pile of rubble. KURT TEZEL Merritt Island, Fla.

The mixture of antidiscrimination legislation, quotas and affirmative action is a policy of folly. Demanding affirmative-action employment and education preferences does not advance the struggle for equity or fairness when the applicants refuse to educate themselves and do not support academic excellence by their peers. The inevitable response is that intolerance grows. MICHAEL SAMUELS New York City

As a teacher in the U.S. during the early '70s, I realized that achievement through persistence, self-discipline and hard work fosters self-esteem, self-reliance and many other positive qualities. Racism is bred in homes where children are deprived of the motivation that helps them to achieve. It is not racism that is a deterrent to success, but ignorance and personal vices. Minorities need only equal opportunity, education, pay and fair treatment. Like Connerly, I see myself as a color-blind American. Minorities will never be considered equal until they see themselves that way--as humans and Americans, not as minorities. CHRISTINE JONES Barcelona, Venezuela

INDEPENDENT COUNSEL RESPONDS

Your story "The Peril of Prosecutorial Passion" [NATION, June 16] was a mixture of misleading and inaccurate observations. You claimed that Whitewater's independent counsel, Kenneth Starr, told me to back off from issues involving Clinton. That statement is false. You stated that I was appointed to learn "whether a Cabinet member [former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy] got some free football tickets and a few other gifts." That misstates the court order appointing me Independent Counsel. Your conclusion that I have "turned up little" in a "costly probe" failed to note the 44 criminal convictions of three corporations, five individuals and one law firm, plus the imposition and collection of more than $3.5 million in criminal fines. This investigation is in fact about Big Business and powerful individuals illegally buying or attempting to buy access to a member of the Cabinet who regulates their industry. It is not about just a few football tickets. I will continue to perform the duties for which I was appointed fairly, vigorously and expeditiously. DONALD C. SMALTZ, Independent Counsel Alexandria, Va.

GIRLS WITH TURNER'S SYNDROME

We were distressed that your article on the genetic disorder Turner's syndrome [SCIENCE, June 23] would saddle girls who have this condition with such labels as "socially inept" and "insensitive." These girls have enough challenges to face without the additional stigma created by such distortion and oversimplification. LYNN-GEORGIA TESCH, Executive Director Turner's Syndrome Society of the U.S. Minneapolis, Minn.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SINEAD

Sinead O'Connor should stick to singing and lay off religious commentary [MUSIC, June 23]. Her statement in her interview with TIME that "people of the Christian church preach that God is dead and we can never be like God..." is the opposite of what Christianity means and what Christian churches teach: that God is alive and eternal. If Rastafarianism appeals to O'Connor because it proclaims that God is in every one of us, it is not alone in that concept. Christians, particularly Roman Catholics, also believe God is in each of us if we accept God--whom we are also free to reject. RICHARD HUNTER Pleasantville, N.Y.

If O'Connor thinks that christianity teaches "God is dead," then she should learn about religion from someone other than electronic rocker Trent Reznor. NATHAN CAHILL Rochester, N.Y.

SUCH GOOD COMPANY

Gee, I felt bad that you called me quirky [PEOPLE, June 23] and deemed two of my movies "box-office poison." But then I noticed in the same issue you said that Dennis Rodman's sometime religion is "Moron" and that Farrah Fawcett has Jell-O for brains. Now I realize it's still an honor to be mentioned in such a classy magazine! GEENA DAVIS Los Angeles

CANINES UNDER ATTACK

Although the number of dog bites that caused people to seek medical care increased from 1986 to 1994 [LIVING, June 23], dog-bite fatalities, tragic as they may be, are not on the rise: 10 to 15 have occurred each year for the past six years, and six have occurred thus far in 1997. An estimated 4.7 million people are bitten by dogs each year, and most of them are children. Dog-bite injuries are a largely preventable problem. Responsible dog ownership and public education are the keys to prevention. LESLIE SINCLAIR Director of Companion Animal Care Humane Society of the U.S. Washington

When I was a toddler exploring our yard, our family's Rottweiler, Friday, repeatedly pushed me away from a part of the yard. Over and over, I tried to go around Friday, but she continued to block me, pushing me back with her chest. Frustrated, I began to cry. My mother had been watching Friday's unusual behavior, and as she approached she saw the reason Friday was blocking my path: a nest of copperhead snakes. Rottweilers have saved many more lives than they have taken. PATTY OXLEY-LEONARD Houston

It is a disgrace that dogs are killed for the hideous crimes of their owners. It is the owner who needs punishment. There is no dog in this world, unless it has been abused or trained to hate humans, that cannot become a loving creature. Rottweilers and pit bulls, for example, get a bad name because they are more easily hurt and affected by human cruelty than other breeds. If a dog attacks someone, look at the way it has been treated. Can you really blame the dog? HEATHER MACLEAN WALTERS Chester, N.J.

Owners of large, aggressive breeds of dogs must take responsibility for their pet's actions. The owner must see to it that a dog is properly socialized, trained and exercised. These three things are essential to a harmonious relationship between humans and animals. The intelligence of these dogs cannot be doubted. The inactivity (both physical and mental) of it owner can contribute to a dog's attacking people. You can gain many benefits from managing your dog properly. The cliche still holds: with the right care, dogs are "man's best friend." NICK CARRIGAN Bellevue Hill, Australia

WASTEBASKET BABY

Why would anyone but Melissa Drexler be to blame for disposing of her baby? She's the one who put it in a trash can at her prom [PUBLIC EYE, June 23]. With all the methods available to teenagers today to prevent an unwanted pregnancy, there is simply no excuse. You cannot blame her parents for not putting her on the Pill, her teachers for not handing her condoms to use when she wanted to have sex, or a political party for wanting to preserve life. Drexler knew she was expecting and had time to have a legal abortion. This horrible disregard for life should leave everyone looking no further than the killer's eyes. LORI ANNE CARTER Georgetown, Ohio

Early Sunday morning, Aug. 22, 1993, I opened my front door to find a beautiful, breathing newborn baby. Like Quasimodo, he had been brought to the church with the knowledge that he would be lifted up into life. Memory of that remarkable moment makes it especially painful for me to read about babies who are not given any chance for life. (The Rev.) RAYMOND MICHAEL UTZ St. Susanna Church Pittsburgh, Pa.