From: JDeRuvo@aol.com
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 1996 03:20:09 -0500
To: campbell@ufomind.com,

Subject: Area 51 is Deal Breaker for Independence Day pact w/ Military

Here's something interesting from a 20th Century Fox Newsletter;

"As most of Hollywood has learned, the process of obtaining the government's
cooperation and blessing on a motion picture project can often make for a
riveting story in its own right.  Such cooperation is highly sought after by
the major studios, especially for big-budget productions involving military
hardware.  Perhaps Hollywood's toughest critic, Uncle Sam sets forth an
extremely detailed and strict set of criteria that must be met before such
cooperation is granted.

"The filmmakers behind 20th Century Fox upcoming sci-fi epic INDEPENDENCE DAY
made every effort to meet these requirements.  The government, in turn, was
impressed by the story's patriotic themes and heroic portrayals of the
country's fictional leaders, including the President.  Prepared to give
INDEPENDENCE DAY producers it's blessing, the government requested only one
change ... "All references," said Uncle Sam, "to Area 51 MUST BE DELETED."
 (Located in Nevada, Area 51 is a block of government land on which a
military base is situated (officially denied by the government).  It's long
been rumored to be the site of a top secret alien study project.)

Since Area 51 was critical to the film's theme of our work being visited by a
non-terrestrial force of incredible magnitude, the filmmakers, as much as
they desired the military's cooperation, could not comply.  Filming proceeded
without the government's help."