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Travel in New Mexico can be tedious to say the least.
Long stretches of highway with nothing but desert on either side can make one go almost mad! But, a good travel companion and a decent music playlist can alleviate the monotony and when you’ve got something fun to break up the trip, it makes it all the better!
On our fifth day in New Mexico, we were heading south. Our destination was Carlsbad Caverns but there was a place along the way that we just had to visit…Roswell. If you believe that we are not alone in this universe, then Roswell is a must see destination!
Leaving Santa Fe a little after seven allowed us to arrive mid morning with a plan of touring the International UFO Museum and Research Center and having lunch. Having to get to Carlsbad, an additional hour and a half from Roswell, around dinner time was the plan so with a departure from Roswell around 2:30ish, we would have plenty of time to see what else the state’s fifth largest city would offer.
As expected, the three hour drive was a little tedious but we were soon pulling up next to the green Welcome to Roswell sign signaling our arrival at the UFO Capital of the World. Driving down the small town’s main street area, we soon found the museum and something out of this world…almost as if they had expected us, there was a parking space right in front of the UFO museum!
For those not aware of Roswell’s UFO affiliations, it began in 1947, when rancher W.W. “Mack” Brazel discovered metal debris near a giant trench spanning hundreds of feet. After reporting the find, the military descended upon the area, closing it to the public and later stated that the incident was merely the “crashing of a military balloon” despite an Army press release initially stating that a “flying disc” had been recovered. The statement was quickly retracted leading to speculation of a military cover-up.
During the 1970s, the incident was reintroduced to the public when retired lieutenant colonel Jesse Marcel, admitted to Ufologist Stanton Friedman that he believed the debris he retrieved was extraterrestrial. This admission sparked considerable conspiracy theories claiming that multiple spacecraft had crash-landed on the Brazel ranch and their alien occupants were recovered by the military.
Though nothing has ever been proven or disproven, the events have forever marked Roswell as a UFO hotspot and the incident continues to spark interest, especially with the recent admission by the government of their cognizance of aircraft and military interactions with spacecraft. The Roswell incident has been described as “the world’s most famous, most exhaustively investigated and most thoroughly debunked UFO claim.
The museum contains a vast collection of written, audio and visual information relating to the 1947 Roswell Incident and other unexplained phenomena associated with UFO research. Located in a former movie theater, the large open space’s exhibits routed us through the timeline of the incident with models scattered throughout. Our favorite? The giant metal disk fronted with three silver aliens in the center of the museum! There was much to absorb during our visit and we had to be content with relying on the short movie at the onset to acclimate us with the storyline and skim through the remainder of the information, however, we learned enough to make our visit worthwhile.
After our visit was complete, we decided to keep our primo parking space and walk throughout the small downtown area. Now lunchtime, we were seeking out a place to eat and discovered that everything and every place of business in Roswell seemed to capitalize on the UFO phenomenon including a spaceship themed McDonalds!
Little silver aliens greeted us as we made our way inside the disc-shaped restaurant, but standard McDonald’s culinary fare prevailed. I think we had expected Alien Big Macs and Flying Saucer Fries, but the regularly titled sustenance did the trick. While the dark nighttime skies were many hours away, it would have been fun to see this unique McDonald’s lit up with red neon highlighting the spaceship!
After our lunch was complete we continued to investigate the downtown area, reveling in the giant alien next door holding the Dunkin Donuts sign, the alien waving a Domino’s Pizza flag and all of the murals and UFO paraphernalia throughout the city. Everyone was in on the action!
And of course we needed souvenirs! There was definitely no short supply of stores hawking everything from t-shirts to coozies to stickers to…everything you can thing of relating to aliens! While we visited many shops, including Invasion Station, we found some of the best prices at Walmart, no doubt not wanting to be left out of the mix.
We decided to take a peek into the Roswell Visitor’s Center adjacent to Pioneer Square, to obtain any pertinent information that we may had missed. Located across from the beautiful architecture of the Chavez Country Magistrate Court, we learned of the UFO Fest held every summer which includes immersive experiences, live music, local food, photo ops and many other family friendly events throughout the city. The best part of our visit, however, was the photo opportunity the Visitor Center offers. A set with two small aliens and a BELIEVE sign beckons visitors for a portrait, which the staff takes and emails to you for free.
Finally, we stopped in to Spaceport Roswell, a virtual reality experience. Given VR headsets, we were ushered into a small spaceship-themed room where we donned the headsets and watched a version of the Roswell Incident story unfold in almost-life-like reality. A fun way to end our time in Roswell, we enjoyed the experience and headed back to our parking space readying ourselves the completion of our day’s journey.
Pulling out of Roswell, I must admit…I almost wished that we would have had the time built into our schedule to spend the night in this fabled town so that we could do a bit of UFO watching. It would have definitely been the perfect place to have a Close Encounter of the First Kind! Casting our eyes above the long highway and seeing nothing but sun and sand, we began our drive to Carlsbad, ready for the next adventure.
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International UFO Museum and Research Center
- https://www.roswellufomuseum.com/
- Address: 114 N Main Street, Roswell, New Mexico 88203
- Hours: 0900-1700, daily
- Admission: Adults, $7.00, Children (ages 5-15), $5.00, Children (under 5), free, Seniors, Military, First Responders, $5.00
McDonalds
- https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/location/nm/roswell/1804-s-main-st/8084.html
- Address: 720 N. Main Street, Roswell, New Mexico 88201
- Hours: Monday-Friday, 0500-2300, Saturday and Sunday, 0500-midnight
Spaceport Roswell
- https://spaceportroswellnm.com/
- Address: 121 E. 2nd Street, Roswell, New Mexico 88201
- Hours: Monday-Thursday, 0900-1700, Friday-Sunday, 0900-1800
- Admission: Adults, $14.50, Children (ages 12 and under), $9.50, Seniors (65+) and Veterans, $12.50