Out of this World

Roswell, New Mexico. That name had always brought to my mind the image of a small town crazed with UFO fever. I was curious to see that spectacle. The reality turned out to be considerably different.

First of all, Roswell is not some little hamlet, it’s a good-sized city: about 48,000 at last count. Second, driving into the city, it looks pretty much like any other city. There might be an occasional billboard or two advertising the museum downtown, or a Burger King with “UFO parking in back” on their signpost, but for the most part, it’s a normal southwestern town. Most surprising to me, all the UFO-related businesses are confined to a three-block area downtown. I saw no kooks dressed as little green men, no Klingons, no space cadets. Granted, mid-November is probably the off season, but I’m not sure when the “on” season would be. (A quick check of the web indicates that the 2015 Roswell UFO Festival is July 3rd-5th. I might have to check that out.)

The tourist shops in the “UFO-zone” run from barebones:

to quite elaborate:

The center of attention,though, has the imposing name of “The UFO Museum and Research Center”:

The price of admission certainly isn’t astronomical: $5. Inside are displays on the Roswell incident and the history of UFOs in general that range from scholarly to ridiculously cheesy. However, I was surprised that there is at least some attempt to represent the positions of both UFO advocates and skeptics, particularly with respect to Roswell. There’s also a library of UFO-related books and articles that give grounds for the “Research Center” in the name.

Here’s an example of the more scholarly exhibits:

The cowboy in the center is Mack Brazel, the one who first found the Roswell crash debris. Below is a photo of a military type sitting with some of the recovered debris:

Sure looks like a weather balloon to me. In all the museum’s historical records, I’m not sure there’s anything you couldn’t find by searching on the internet, but it’s convenient to have it all gathered and organized in one place. And now for some of the more fun exhibits. “Klaatu barada nikto” anyone?

And there’s the expected assortment of “alien autopsy” displays:

My favorite display was the centerpiece of the museum:

I sent this photo to my friends with the caption: “Roswell, New Mexico. Made a few new friends today. They tell some kooky stories, but the RV they drive is out of this world.” Spoiler alert: every 15 minutes or so, the saucer begins to spin and emit steam. But more surprising, the little green men are animatronic, they begin to move. When that happened a woman next to the display screamed.

I found only one other UFO-related business in town that was more than just a souvenir shop, but it appeared closed for the season. A friend asked me if I went to the A’Le’Inn, but that’s in Nevada, near Area 51, so my answer was, “Not yet.”

With a short day’s travel, I went from looking beyond the stars to looking below the ground. That’s the topic of my next post.