Roswell UFO Festival

Roswell UFO Festival

Early July

Around July 4, 1947, a UFO (unidentified flying object) allegedly crashed near Roswell, a farming and ranching community in southeastern New Mexico. According to some reports, the bodies of four aliens were found at a site around 30 miles from Roswell. Mack Brazel worked on a ranch southeast of Corona, New Mexico, where he found strange debris on July 5. The next day he went to Roswell to show it to the Chaves County sheriff, who in turn passed the information along to officials at Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF). An investigation was begun and a press release about the crash was released by the RAAF. The headline in the July 8 Roswell Daily Record read, "RAAF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region." But the Army-Air Force changed its story the next day, claiming that the debris was from a weather balloon.
The "Roswell Incident" has remained a subject of controversy for years. In September 1994 the Air Force produced a report which asserted that the recovered object was in fact a spy balloon flown as part of the then-top-secret Project Mogul. On the 50th anniversary of the event in 1997 the Air Force issued a report designed to put continuing rumors about a cover-up to rest. That report claimed the retrieved bodies were actually crash-test dummies (even though such experiments did not begin until 1953).
The town of Roswell celebrates its reputation as the UFO capital of the United States with a week-long festival in early July, which has been officially designated as "Alien Month." Activities include a UFO parade, an alien puppet show, concerts, and special exhibits. The UFO Museum and Research Center invites UFO experts from around the world to speak at the festival, which combines traditional Fourth of July barbecues and fireworks with serious discussion of UFO reports.

CONTACTS:
Roswell Chamber of Commerce
131 W. 2nd St.
P.O. Box 70
Roswell, NM 88201
877-849-7679 or 505-623-5695; fax: 505-624-6870
www.roswellnm.org