So a biology teacher (retired) and a software engineer walk into a UFO museum and get pretty much what they expected, some fun and silliness, but also some unexpected NASA displays and a very large library collection. First there was a display about the Roswell incident in 1947 in which the US Army picked up debris from a crashed spy balloon and covered it up as a normal weather balloon. Rumors started about a flying disc landing on a ranch with this debris, and that started the idea that the government was covering up a crashed alien spacecraft. These aliens supposedly visited Earth because they detected our atomic bomb tests in White Sands and wanted to observe, but crashed before leaving. There is a really cute simulation of this at the end of the displays right before you go to the gift shop.

There was one room devoted to NASA, with mentions of space exploration history, the Webb Space Telescope and SETI. I expected more about SETI, because that is a scientific group devoted to searching for life elsewhere in the universe. Maybe the fact that they haven’t found anything yet would ruin some of the fun of this museum. SETI says “all possibilities remain in play. Including the possibility that we are alone.”

The research library actually impressed me. Not as a research library per se, but as a huge collection of all things UFO and science fiction and old scientific papers that took someone a great deal of time to catalog and organize.

The town of Roswell knows why the tourists come, and the local businesses get into the spirit.

Roswell is also the Chaves County seat and has a very lovely, serious courthouse with no alien lore in sight.

Addition to this post: On Sept. 29, 2024, I was talking with my dad, and describing the trip from Alamogordo to Roswell. We took Highway 70 through the Mescalero Reservation and had a really beautiful view of Sierra Blanca Peak. I’m wanting to add this picture to this day as I’m not sure why I didn’t include it the first time. It was a very breathtaking view!