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Roswell, NM, is an interesting town. In 1947, the town made a splash in the news when an alleged UFO crashed on a ranch in the vicinity. The Air Force identified the debris as being from a weather balloon (initially) and more recently as being from a then-classified balloon research project. However, millions of people believe the government is covering up the crash of an extra-terrestrial space ship. The town attracts large numbers of UFO believers, and the town seems quite content to cater to them.
On our way to visit the International UFO Museum and Research Center, we made a short stop to see Roswell's unique McDonald's restaurant. The front of the building is build to look like a flying saucer, and the interior could have been taken from a Star Trek set. As we gawked at the interesting architecture, we noticed that a number of the people in line ordering food were wearing aluminum hats or alien eye-shaped sunglasses. Clearly, this town has a high tolerance for the eccentric!
The UFO Museum itself was a bit of a surprise. I was expecting it to be a cheesy bit of propaganda supporting the conspiracy theories of those who believe the government is covering up evidence of alien visitations to Earth. However, the displays were surprisingly balance, presenting both the arguments of the believers with the evidence advanced by the government (and others) that suggest that the events have a more down-to-earth explanation. The visitor was left to draw his or her own conclusions from the evidence. I didn't find any reason to change my skeptical attitude towards reports of UFOs and Alien contact, but it was interesting to see some of the things that remain unexplainable.
On our way to visit the International UFO Museum and Research Center, we made a short stop to see Roswell's unique McDonald's restaurant. The front of the building is build to look like a flying saucer, and the interior could have been taken from a Star Trek set. As we gawked at the interesting architecture, we noticed that a number of the people in line ordering food were wearing aluminum hats or alien eye-shaped sunglasses. Clearly, this town has a high tolerance for the eccentric!
The UFO Museum itself was a bit of a surprise. I was expecting it to be a cheesy bit of propaganda supporting the conspiracy theories of those who believe the government is covering up evidence of alien visitations to Earth. However, the displays were surprisingly balance, presenting both the arguments of the believers with the evidence advanced by the government (and others) that suggest that the events have a more down-to-earth explanation. The visitor was left to draw his or her own conclusions from the evidence. I didn't find any reason to change my skeptical attitude towards reports of UFOs and Alien contact, but it was interesting to see some of the things that remain unexplainable.
