Space
aliens story helped put Roswell on the map
60
years later, UFO Festival and questions about little green men and their flying
machine attract droves of tourists
By
JUSTIN M. NORTON The Associated Press
ROSWELL,
N.M. – Is the truth in this remote city in New Mexico?
Driving
alone down a stretch of desolate highway en route to Roswell, I begin to understand
why conspiracy buffs have argued that aliens crash-landed in the desert here 60
years ago.
Darkness
engulfs desert fields. A misshapen yellow moon hangs in the sky. Husks of abandoned
buildings litter the roadside. Has an alien invasion taken place? I notice a blinking
light in the sky but quickly discern that it's an airplane.
Being
out here alone is enough to make you think twice.
"I
do know this. There are other things out there in the universe," said John
Turner, 78, who was working the desk of the International UFO Museum and Research
Center on Roswell's North Main Street when I visited.
I
have secretly wanted to visit Roswell since I was a boy. What I got during my
brief visit was a lesson in how a small city in the middle of the Southwest became
enshrined in American pop culture.
The
60th anniversary of the so-called Roswell Incident will be marked Thursday through
July 8 during the city's annual UFO Festival. City officials expect 50,000 people
to attend the event, which will include lectures, book-signings, tours, entertainment
and, according to organizers, perhaps an alien abduction or two.
Long-term
plans call for a UFO-themed amusement park, complete with an indoor roller coaster
that would take passengers on a simulated alien abduction. The park, dubbed Alien
Apex Resort, could open as early as 2010.
The
Roswell Incident occurred in July 1947 outside the city. A rancher named W.W.
"Mack" Brazel, who went to check on his sheep after a night of storms,
claimed he found strange debris. Neighbors told Mr. Brazel the objects might be
pieces of a flying saucer.
On
July 8, 1947, a nearby military office issued a press release saying that pieces
of a "crashed disk" were recovered. An article on the front page of
the Roswell Daily Record claimed that a flying saucer was captured. (That issue
of the newspaper is reproduced and sold to tourists.) Other news agencies picked
up on the event, albeit in a cursory fashion.
What
exactly happened remains murky, but it inspired me to drive hundreds of miles
to a town of roughly 45,000 people.
After
a fitful sleep at a Best Western, I rubbed my scalp to search for any curious
implants or scars and went out early to spend the morning downtown.
I
was greeted at the UFO Museum (a former movie theater) by an alien dummy wearing
a Santa Claus hat. The museum takes visitors through a timeline, beginning with
newspaper clips and affidavits from many who claim to have intimate knowledge
of the crash. For an extra donation, visitors can take an audio tour with a portable
cassette player.
The
convoluted timeline of what happened after the Roswell Incident shows why there
are conflicting stories.
The
museum freely mixes documentary materials and kitsch. Among the displays are explanations
of crop circles and an exhibit detailing how Roswell has been portrayed in pop
culture.
The
museum's most popular and photographed exhibit is purely fictional: the set of
an alien autopsy scene from the 1994 television movie Roswell. The vivid exhibit,
in which doctors prepare to examine an emaciated alien corpse, is on permanent
loan to the museum.
The
gift shop takes up a good chunk of the first floor and offers extraterrestrial
gifts: alien plush dolls, alien shot glasses and magnets that say "I Believe."
Books and documents about the Roswell incident also are for sale.
There's
also a research library for those inclined to further study the alien phenomena.
"We'll
tell people the story of what happened and tell them to make up their own mind,"
Mr. Turner said.
