Roswell, New Mexico

While we overnighted in west Texas, the first real stop on our road trip was an unplanned detour. And if you're going to go off course, why not to Roswell, New Mexico?

It only took us about an hour out of our way and once we calculated that we'd be spending close to 60 hours in the car over the course of this trip, one measly hour didn't seem like much. And it was worth it!


Now, mind you, I wouldn't make any special trips to Roswell unless you have a lot of time on your hand already but it was a kitschy and amusing start to the trip. It's impossible to mistake Roswell for any other town; nearly every shop and restaurant was capitalizing on the UFO phenomenon, including chains like Whattaburger and Walmart. Our main stop was the UFO museum on Main Street. Surrounding by tourist shops and located in a converted theater, the museum absolutely lived up to our expectations.

The first half dealt with the UFO "crash" in Roswell and how the "cover-up" was conducted by the US Air Force. I don't know about you, but just because a piece of paper has "affadavit" written at the top and is signed by a notary doesn't convice me of jack. And the exhibit was mostly paper narratives, many from people who were children at the time. It sure seems like something happened (hey, it was the Cold War) but seriously...little green men? The second half of the exhibit dealt with UFOs in general: how to report them, classification of phenomena (close encounters of the first through third kinds), and previously reported sightings and hoaxes. Learning how they disproved the hoaxes (especially in the days before digital photography) was pretty interesting but the presentation definitely lacked sophistication. I hate to hate on the people who work very hard on this stuff but really, there were literally printed emails pasted onto colored construction paper mounted onto a black poster board and framed. This was the serious stuff, see below. My tenth grade science project looked more professional (ahem, I did win a prize for it too).


Despite the overall ridiculous story and the lack of convincing "evidence" or story, Roswell was an amusing stop and we are glad that we can now say that we've survived our time without any alien abductions.