February 3rd, 2018
Aliens Everywhere
Roswell, New Mexico
The town of Roswell, New Mexico. Population: 48,148(2016)
A short drive North of Carlsbad on Hwy 285, past factory farms and military bases, is the city, Roswell. Roswell is famous for an alleged UFO Spaceship crash in 1947. Well, it’s technically a conspiracy theory that many believe is a government cover-up. For sci-fi/X-Files nerds like us, it’s a well-known story and going to Roswell is the best place to nerd out. The main attraction is the International UFO Museum, but to our surprise, there is plenty more to do here. Besides the UFO museum, there are several art and history museums all of which are free of charge, there are charming restaurants, bookstores, cafes, and all the alien memorabilia one could want.
Roswell has a bustling downtown scene and that’s where the majority of the UFO attractions are. We were able to park at the visitor center and walk to everything.
We stopped in the visitor center and a kind employee took our picture with our new friends.
On our way to the UFO museum we treated ourselves… we deserved it, right?
Street lights getting into the Roswell spirit.
Ah yeah, here we go! As we get closer to the International UFO museum we pass by several souvenir shops, which just get us even more excited to see the museum.
So much made in China crap… we want it all!
Cool sticker! Although, it might be from a disgruntled local who is tired of all the UFO attractions.
The UFO Museum and Research Center was created to inform the public about what they believe really happened with the 1949 incident. For us, it was a fun place to travel down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories and enjoy the alien models that have made appearances in some of our favorite sci-fi films and tv shows.
“Greetings, Earthlings.”
The museum has done a really good job collecting every newspaper article before and after the crash event and displaying them in chronological order. They also have on and off the record interviews with every townsperson and military personnel that was nearby when the event happened.
Showing the kind of technology that was used in the late 1940’s.
Artist interpretation of the alleged crash site
Camrin made friends with the Alien from the movie, The Day The Earth Stood Still.
A rather realistic looking model of a dead alien creature. Many witnesses believe that after the UFO crash the U.S. Military found and experimented on a creature that was found inside the UFO. A creature that looked much like the one in this display.
An overview of the inside of the museum.
Laura is trying to fit in with the aliens. This display was pretty fantastic with a light display and smoke machine going off every few minutes.
This display was donated to the museum after it starred in the 1994 movie Roswell starring Kyle MacLachlan of Twin Peaks fame and Martin Sheen.
Leaving the museum.
Exploring town
Passed by city hall. Notice the green dome.
Treating ourselves to lunch at Big D’s Downtown Dive
Roswell has a Museum of Contemporary art that is free to visit. Camrin is imitating the art.
The walls are packed with art from previous artists in residence recipients.
Artist: Janice Jakielski Created: 2010
Having worked at the EcoRanch in Texas we feel like we’re seeing cement bottle art everywhere.
We only spent a few hours in Roswell, but it was more than UFO’s and tourist traps, and that was more than we were expecting. We didn’t do any research before arriving but were pleasantly surprised at all there was to do. There were still several free museums we could have seen, but we still had a long drive to get to our campsite for the night.
Thank you for reading our blog… Up Next: White Sand Dunes National Monument.
