Think of Roswell and the first thing to come to mind is…? You got it. UFO’s. The Roswell UFO Incident was the alleged recovery of extra-terrestrial debris, including corpses, from an object that crashed near Roswell on or about July 8, 1947. Since the late 1970s the incident has been the subject of intense controversy and the subject of conspiracy theories as to the true nature of the object that crashed. The United States military maintains that what was actually recovered was debris from an experimental high-altitude surveillance balloon belonging to a classified program named ‘Mogul’. However, many UFO proponents maintain that, in fact, a crashed alien craft and bodies were recovered, and that the military then engaged in a cover-up.
Well, believe that, or not, there’s no denying that Roswell has been known for little else ever since. This is a pity, as besides the souvenir stores crammed with UFO tat, and the ‘unofficial’ Roswell UFO Museum, the town is also home to the accredited Roswell Museum and Art Centre. This excellent museum, founded in 1935, has grown into a 50,000 square foot facility that includes twelve galleries dedicated to the exhibition of the art and history of the Southwest and beyond. As well as a fascinating permanent display, crammed with Native American artefacts and those of the incoming settlers, the museum has an ongoing calendar of temporary exhibitions, making it one of the best I’ve visited in the US.
So, if you’re ever in Roswell, sure, weigh up the evidence as presented in the UFO Museum, but don’t leave town without visiting the other place, where the truth isn’t ‘out there’, but ‘in there’. Not that I’m biased. I still left town with my UFO fridge magnet.
