Roswell,
N.M., home to all things alien conspiracy
By
JUSTIN M. NORTON
The Associated Press
ROSWELL,
N.M. - Is "The Truth" located 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 long argued that aliens crash-landed in the desert here
a half-century ago.
Darkness
engulfs desert fields. A misshapen yellow moon hangs in the sky. Husks of abandoned
buildings litter the roadside. Has an alien invasion already taken place? I notice
a blinking light in the sky -- but quickly discern it's an airplane.
Being
out here by yourself 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 -- something I've contemplated doing for years -- was a lesson in
how a small city in the middle of the American southwest became enshrined in American
pop culture.
The
60th anniversary of the so-called Roswell Incident will be marked July 5-8 at
the city's annual UFO festival. City officials say 50,000 people are expected
for the event, which will include lectures, booksignings, tours, entertainment
and, according to the organizers, perhaps an alien abduction or two.
Long-term
plans are under way as well 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 city has
received a $245,000 legislative appropriation for initial planning, but the park
would be privately built and managed.
The
original Roswell Incident occurred in July 1947, outside the city. A rancher named
W.W. "Mack" Brazel went to check on some sheep after a night of storms.
He claimed he found some strange debris. Neighbors told Brazel he might have pieces
of a flying saucer.
On
July 8, 1947, a local military office issued a press release saying that pieces
of a "crashed disk" were recovered. A story featured on the front page
of the Roswell Daily Record claimed a flying saucer was captured (the paper is
now reproduced and sold to tourists). Other news agencies picked up on the event
-- albeit in a cursory fashion.
A
revised release was soon sent out that said the material was a weather balloon.
But stories about requests for tiny coffins and a nefarious plot began to emerge
and Roswell went from small town to Alien Capital.
What
exactly happened more than a half-century ago in the desert remains murky. But
it did inspire me to drive hundreds of miles across the desert to a town of roughly
45,000 people.
I
was greeted at the UFO Museum (a former movie theater) by an alien dummy wearing
a Santa Claus hat. The light posts on the streets of Roswell feature alien heads
wearing Santa Claus hats. The creatures look utterly incapable of such malevolent
acts as abduction and brain surgery.
The
museum takes visitors through a timeline, beginning with newspaper clips and printed
affidavits from many who claim to have intimate knowledge of the crash. For an
extra donation, visitors can take an audio tour with a decidedly low-tech cassette
Walkman.
The
convoluted timeline of what happened after The Roswell Incident shows just why
there are so many conflicting stories about the event.
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 exhibition is purely fictional: the set
of an alien autopsy from the 1994 television movie "Roswell." The vivid
exhibit, in which doctors prepare to examine an emaciated alien corpse, is on
a permanent loan to the museum.
The
gift shop takes up a good chunk of the first floor and offers every conceivable
extraterrestrial gift: alien plush dolls; alien shot glasses and magnets that
say "I BELIEVE." A wide selection of books and documents on the Roswell
incident is also for sale.
Downtown
Roswell is a hub of alien-themed shops. There's the Not Of This World coffeehouse
and the Cover Up Cafe. Even businesses like banks have cardboard cutouts of aliens
in the windows.
One
shop worth a visit is the Alien Zone, roughly a block away from the museum. For
a small fee, visitors (the human kind) can see an exhibit called "Area 51"
that features displays of roughly 3-foot-tall alien models in very human poses.
There's
plenty else to do in Roswell. But even city officials now seem to know why many
people trek across the desert for a visit. The city's Web site says: "Roswell
has something to offer all of our special visitors, whether from this planet,
or from a distant galaxy."
