Every Friday evening my family has a ritual: All the kids must be in bed by 9 p.m. so my wife and I can spend the evening with Scully and Mulder.
For the uninitiated, they are the two FBI agents on the popular Fox television show The X-Files. And The X-Files (http://www.thex-
files.com), with its obsession on aliens and alien abduction, apparently has spawned a renewed interest in UFOs and the paranormal.
Aliens are also hot at the movies this summer, considering the money being made by the hit movie Independence Day (http: //www.id4.com).
But where UFO fever really is raging is on the Internet. Not surprising, considering that many of the folks with an interest in science fiction are the kind with the technical prowess to use the Internet.
If ''The Truth is Out There,'' as the X-Files poster says, it might be hidden among the sometimes specious, sometimes fantastic photos, movie clips and documents posted in hundreds of Web sites devoted to aliens.
A quick sampling:
Alien Exploratorium (http://area51.upsu.plym.ac.uk/~moosie/ufo/ae xplo.htm): Lots on paranormal information is compiled on this English site. Even a short tour covers most of the areas of alien investigations: abductions, UFO sightings and crashes, crop circles, cattle mutilations, faces on Mars and more arcane theories, such as UFOs are ancient Indian flying machines and the Miracle at Fatima was actually an alien encounter.
The Roswell Incident (http://www.hangar18.horizonco.com/): In 1947, a strange piece of machinery crashed near Roswell, N.M. The Air Force kept mum about it for years, feeding the rumors that a UFO had crashed. Recent declassified documents say the wreckage was a U.S. spy balloon, but True Believers know otherwise. The site, maintained by the Roswell Group (''dedicated to exposing government secrets'') also contains alien autopsy information.
Alien Autopsy film (http://www.execpc.com/vjentpr/rfilming.htm l): Last year, a strange black-and-white film appeared in England, purporting to be a record of the autopsy of a humanoid alien from the Roswell crash. It was shown on European and American television and became a staple of supermarket tabloids. If you missed the Fox Network airing, you can rent ''Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction'' at the video store, or see images from it here. Or you can read opinions that it's a hoax at Alien Autopsy: Faked or Fiction (http://www.trudang.com/autopsy.html).
The Z-Files: Tour the mysterious San Luis Valley in Colorado, the ''Heart of Weirdness.'' This valley has been the site of regular alien activity, including livestock mutilations and UFO sightings. Tour guide is writer David Perkins, who also throws in Bigfoot, the ''Taos Hum'' and Mexican legends about buried treasure near UFO sighting sites.
Aliens Built the Pyramids (http://www.nltl.columbia.edu/students/iluw an): If you saw the movie Stargate, you might believe this one. Evidence: The Great Pyramid of Giza is so perfectly aligned to astronomical and geographic landmarks that only aliens could have created it. Lots of interesting pyramid trivia here.
Aliens, Aliens, Aliens (http://www.xensei.com/users/john9904/): A tongue-in-cheek, somewhat ribald look at the aliens-among-us hysteria. Find out if you're a clone, read about Marilyn Monroe's alien abduction. Very silly.
Alt.Alien.Visitors Frequently Asked Questions: (http://zeta.cs.adfa.oz.au/Spirit/ufo-gaq.ht ml) Although it hasn't been updated for a couple years, this document explains most of the theories and controversies in the UFO world. If nothing else, it will help you better understand some of the stranger X-Files episodes.
E-mail Charles Brewer with questions, comments and suggestions at CBrewer@enquirer.com.