EDITOR'S COMMENT:
I'm a few days late getting this story out, but thought many of you would still find it interesting.
Larry King is also planning to cover this topic on his Friday night program.
--- David Sunfellow
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TRUE BELIEVERS FLOCK TO ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO, FOR 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF ALIEN 'CRASH'
Associated Press
July 8, 2007
Original LinkROSWELL, NEW MEXICO - If you truly believe a UFO and its crew of bug-eyed aliens came crashing down here 60 years ago, rest assured: You're not alone.
At least 35,000 people have descended on Roswell this weekend for the 2007 Amazing Roswell UFO Festival <http://www.roswellufofestival.com/> to commemorate a purported flying saucer crash on a nearby ranch in July 1947. Participants have filled hotel rooms and nearly doubled the southeastern New Mexico town's population for a few days.
The festival, which began Thursday, is a mixed bag that includes live concerts (one headlined by a band with a computer-generated 'alien' drummer), costume contests, a Main Street parade and a slew of lectures that ponder everything from body snatchers to "What Does NASA Really Know?"
The festival emerged in the 1990s to spark debate about the purported flying saucer crash, which the government says was a top-secret weather balloon. Believers in the Roswell Incident say the government is conspiring to hide the truth about the events of that day and, more broadly, the existence of extraterrestrial life.
Al Dooley, 59, of Seattle, said he wasn't sure what happened back then, but came to the festival to learn more. He was nestled into a seat at a convention center auditorium, eager to hear a talk on "UFO Files from the UK and Government Surveillance of Ufologists."
His wife, Nancy, sat nearby, visibly less interested. She was waiting for the festival to be over so the couple could move on to the next leg of their vacation in Sedona, Arizona.
"I didn't come for the carnival atmosphere. I came to listen to the speakers," Al Dooley said. "I wanted to hear what serious and educated discussion there is."
Although he's not certain whether an alien craft crashed here, he might have seen one himself in 1968 or 1969, he said.
Michael, who plays guitar in a rock band called Element 115 and doesn't use his last name, said he doesn't merely believe the crash happened. "I KNOW it," he said, as he handed out a business card.
Michael said he hoped Element 115 would one day be the house band for a huge theme park being debated here -- featuring amusement rides, a concert hall and a 300-room hotel that looks like a flying saucer.
"I want to help them with that," he said. "I see millions and millions of dollars in this place -- they just need to know how to market it right."
The city's convention center <http://www.roswellnm.org/> was swarming with vendors hawking trinkets and dolls, photo ops with costumed aliens, psychic readings and a kit to test whether your neighbor or boss is from outer space. Many peddled their books, DVDs or artwork of all things otherworldly.
Chase Masterson, a singer and actress, was signing autographs for fans who remembered her role as Leeta on several episodes of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine."
"I am having a very interesting time exploring the theories that are set forth here," she said. "Some are completely outrageous but some are very intriguing."
The festival was being organized for the first time by the city of Roswell, after the local UFO museum <http://www.roswellufomuseum.com/> hosted it for more than a decade.
Mayor Sam LaGrone said he was happily surprised by the turnout -- and the economic boost it would give the city.
"I've never seen so many cars in town," he said.
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UFO FEST TO MARK 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF 'ROSWELL INCIDENT'
By Justin M. Norton
Associated Press
June 19, 2007
Original LinkROSWELL, NEW MEXICO - Is "The Truth" located in this remote city in New Mexico?
Driving alone down a stretch of desolate highway en route to Roswell, I begin to understand why conspiracy buffs have long argued that aliens crash-landed in the desert here a half-century ago.
Darkness engulfs desert fields. A misshapen yellow moon hangs in the sky. Husks of abandoned buildings litter the roadside. Has an alien invasion already taken place? I notice a blinking light in the sky -- but quickly discern it's an airplane.
Being out here by yourself is enough to make you think twice.
"I do know this. There are other things out there in the universe," said John Turner, 78, who was working the desk of the International UFO Museum and Research Center <http://www.roswellufomuseum.com/> on Roswell's North Main Street when I visited.
I have secretly wanted to visit Roswell since I was a boy. What I got during my brief visit -- something I've contemplated doing for years -- was a lesson in how a small city in the middle of the American southwest became enshrined in American pop culture.
The 60th anniversary of the so-called "Roswell Incident" will be marked July 5-8 at the city's annual UFO festival <http://www.roswellufofestival.com/>. City officials say 50,000 people are expected for the event, which will include lectures, book-signings, tours, entertainment, and, according to the organizers, perhaps an alien abduction or two.
Long-term plans are underway as well for a UFO-themed amusement park, complete with an indoor roller coaster that would take passengers on a simulated alien abduction. The park, dubbed Alien Apex Resort, could open as early as 2010. The city has received a $245,000 legislative appropriation for initial planning, but the park would be privately built and managed.
The original Roswell Incident occurred in July 1947, outside the city. A rancher named W.W. "Mack" Brazel went to check on some sheep after a night of storms. He claimed he found some strange debris. Neighbors told Brazel he might have pieces of a flying saucer.
On July 8, 1947, a local military office issued a press release saying that pieces of a "crashed disk" were recovered. A story featured on the front page of the Roswell Daily Record claimed a flying saucer was captured (the paper is now reproduced and sold to tourists). Other news agencies picked up on the event -- albeit in a cursory fashion.
A revised release was soon sent out that said the material was a weather balloon. But stories about requests for tiny coffins and a nefarious plot began to emerge and Roswell went from small town to Alien Capitol.
What exactly happened more than a half-century ago in the desert remains murky. But it did inspire me to drive hundreds of miles across the desert to a town of roughly 45,000 people.
After a fitful sleep at the Best Western, I rubbed my scalp to search for any curious implants or scars, and headed out early to spend the morning downtown.
I was greeted at the UFO Museum (a former movie theater) by an alien dummy wearing a Santa Claus hat. The light posts on the streets of Roswell feature alien heads wearing Santa Claus hats. The creatures look utterly incapable of such malevolent acts as abduction and brain surgery.
The museum takes visitors through a timeline, beginning with newspaper clips and printed affidavits from many who claim to have intimate knowledge of the crash. For an extra donation, visitors can take an audio tour with a decidedly low-tech cassette Walkman.
The convoluted timeline of what happened after "The Roswell Incident" shows just why there are so many conflicting stories about the event.
The museum freely mixes documentary materials and kitsch. Among the displays are explanations of crop circles and an exhibit detailing how Roswell has been portrayed in pop culture.
It's curious how aliens are almost inevitably depicted by those who claim they've been visited by extraterrestrials as diminutive with oval heads, green skin and doe-shaped eyes.
The museum's most popular and photographed exhibition is purely fictional: the set of an alien autopsy from the 1994 television movie "Roswell." The vivid exhibit, in which doctors prepare to examine an emaciated alien corpse, is on a permanent loan to the museum.
The gift shop takes up a good chunk of the first floor and offers every conceivable extraterrestrial gift: alien plush dolls; alien shot glasses and magnets that say "I BELIEVE." A wide selection of books and documents on the Roswell incident is also for sale.
There's also a research library for those inclined to further study the alien phenomena.
"We'll tell people the story of what happened and tell them to make up their own mind," Turner said.
Downtown Roswell is a hub of alien-themed shops. There's the Not Of This World coffeehouse and the Cover Up Cafe. Even businesses like banks have cardboard cutouts of aliens in the windows.
One shop worth a visit is the Alien Zone, roughly a block away from the museum. For a small fee, visitors (the human kind) can see an exhibit called "Area 51" that features displays of roughly 3-foot-tall alien models in very human poses.
One display shows an alien in a sauna reading a newspaper; another features a forlorn-looking alien lounging in a jail cell in prison stripes. The main exhibit features an "alien autopsy" complete with an alien baby fetus in a glass jar in the background and another life-size model of an alien stumbling from a crashed space ship.
There's plenty else to do in Roswell. But even city officials now seem to know why many people trek across the desert for a visit. The city's Web site says: "Roswell has something to offer all of our special visitors, whether from this planet, or from a distant galaxy."
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