Man Fights 'Alien,' Proposes Marriage

The Associated Press

Date: 17 July 2006 Time: 01:29 PM ET

ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) _ Ross Savedra fought aliens to rescue his girlfriend, then popped the question in an out-of-this-world proposal. Savedra, 32, staged his elaborate proposal Sunday afternoon for Ariana Ash, 23, with the help of family members and Roswell's UFO Museum.

Savedra and Ash were touring the museum when a silver-suited, masked alien from an exhibit called "alien autopsy'' suddenly abducted Ash from in front of a group of tourists. Savedra dashed through the crowd, fought two aliens and rescued her.

Then he dropped to his knees, presented her a ring and asked her to marry him.

They embraced in a cloud of shiny colored confetti tossed by onlookers and were applauded by tourists who had been tipped off by the aliens _ Ash's brother-in-law and stepfather.

"By the way, everyone, she said yes,'' Julie Shuster, the museum's director, announced over the sound system.

Savedra, a Roswell native, chose the museum for his proposal because of its uniqueness. Shuster said it was a first for the museum.

"She's always calling me her alien man,'' Savedra said of his fiance.

Savedra and Ash, of Albuquerque, have been seeing each other for about three years.

Ash's family traveled secretly to Roswell to witness the proposal after a month of planning beforehand.

Her mother, Margie Farrar, and sister Naomi sneaked through the museum behind the couple, waiting for them to get to the alien autopsy display, and working to keep Naomi's young daughter from getting a glimpse of Ash and yelling for her.

"It was fun,'' said alien Nick Caffey, Ash's brother-in-law.

"It was great,'' said the other alien, John Farrar, her stepfather.

Ash had celebrated her birthday in Roswell, but her family couldn't let her know they were in town, Farrar said.

"We had to call her on our cell phones, even though we were in the same hotel, upstairs,'' he said.