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Downtown Roswell is considered a historic district. Not only is it famous for its alien cohorts, it is also hometown to stars like Demi Moore and John Denver. The buildings are all in the old Mexican style, and tourists swarm the streets and coffee shops which have names like Out of This World Café. The downtown streets are lined with tourist filled stores selling alien t-shirts and pamphlets on the “crash landing”.
“Let’s stop and go in,” Mom said.
“I’m not sure. Do we really wanna be those people?” I asked with skepticism. “Yes!” And so we went. Walking in and out of the shops, we learned a few more interesting facts about Roswell, N.M. In a recent book published in 2007, it is claimed that the crash has over 600 eye witnesses, that the crash actually occurred on the 3rd of July, not the 7th, that people took debris from the site before the military was made aware of the accident, and that several military personnel were witness to actual alien bodies. If the military wasn't aware until later, how could it have been a top-secret military weather balloon? These new findings put a glitch in what is said to actually have happened in Roswell, New Mexico.
I snapped a few more pictures of the aliens and a cute one from an Arby’s with an “Aliens welcome!” sign. We had already reached the end of town in a matter of minutes.
“Well that’s it I guess,” I said when we stopped at the last gas station in town.
“Do you wanna go back and get a t-shirt or something?” Mom asked.
“You know what Mom, I think the pictures we took and the story we can tell now is enough. I don’t think I need a t-shirt at all,” I said. As we rolled out of town in our old ‘89 Volkswagen van. I was glad I got more out of the town than a stupid 20 dollar t-shirt. Mom and I laughed hysterically the rest of the way out of town as we continued to make up stories about underground alien cities and crash landings.
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“Maybe the aliens came down,” my mom said, "and a laser beamed the top of the mountains off. That’s why all the mountains are flat!” We both laughed.“And the dirt is red because of all the laser-beam residue!” I added. I watched the heat roll off the miles of pavement that stretched before me in the baking sun. Our '89 Volkswagen bus with an "Alaska Girls Kick Ass" bumper sticker rolled down Highway 285 at top speeds of 60. The van is a classic that my dad lovingly had a 20,000 dollar insurance policy placed on. With a folding bed in the back, a pop-top that sleeps two, and all the accouterments of a small RV, it really is the best way to road trip.
We were in our ninth hour of driving. As I watched the unchanging scenery of flat wastelands and distant mesas, I thought this would be a perfect place for an alien landing.
Mom pointed at a faded old sign on the side of the road. “Look! There’s the UFO crash site.” I didn’t want to pull over in this sweltering heat.
On July 7, 1947, something crashed in the desert surrounding Roswell, N.M. The U.S. Military issued a press release the following day saying that it was a top-secret weather balloon. The residents of Roswell and many other Americans didn’t believe it. This incident is now the most famous alleged UFO related incident. There are even a few alleged eyewitness accounts.
“Ok Mom, let’s take the business route so we can go through downtown,” I suggested. She readily agreed and we headed toward what we thought was going to be alien central. As we started toward town, the first thing I saw was Wal-Mart. "Well that’s not very alien-y," I thought to myself.
“There’s a big alien on the side of Wal-Mart Mom!” I yelled. “Pull in there right now!” We pulled the old red van into the parking lot. I rolled down the window and sat up on the side of door. Turning on my camera, I noticed all the awkward stares from the locals. We sure looked like tourists. I snapped a few pictures of the painted UFOs and aliens doing normal things like drinking coffee and listening to their iPod’s.
In 1989, a former mortician claimed that he personally autopsied several alien life forms that had crash-landed in Roswell. More and more books have been written about this alleged alien landing over the years and rumors abound. I had heard about this and it really peaked my curiosity. So, I suggested we go to the visitor’s center. They were sure to have information on everything there. It turned out we rolled through town a little too late. The visitor’s center was closed. It did, however, have a mailbox shaped like R2-D2 from Star Wars. After insisting on a picture of this, we decided to hit downtown.
No matter how normal This city in the middle-of-nowhere New Mexico seemed, they just couldn’t ignore their famous alien history.