Spring Break breakdown - 6

Deer observation, Roswell reconnaissance

Friday, March 20: It was time for us to start heading back to Texas. Before we loaded up the truck, we were graced with the presence of several deer, which wandered down the hill behind the house, scrounging for pinon nuts and other food. The deer in the Alto Lakes area, while not tame, are certainly used to the presence of people and will closely approach houses and cars, providing many opportunities for observation and photography. The dozen or so which visited us on Friday morning hung around for about half an hour.

Alto Lakes doe

Miss C, C, and I headed out around lunch time. L and M stayed behind an extra day and rode back home with Mom. We'd rendezvous with them at the Clyde Dairy Queen the next day. First stop for my half of the group? The International UFO Museum and Research Center in nearby Roswell. We've been driving through Roswell for years, but had never visited the museum before. It was time to see what all the hype was about.

Roswell's downtown are is crowded with tributes to the area's UFO connection.

Inspired by the purported UFO crash near Corona, NM in 1947, and the subsequent analysis of "UFO debris" (and allegedly, even alien bodies) in Roswell, the UFO museum presents a multitude of displays and "evidence", encouraging believers and skeptics alike to decide for themselves for themselves if the reports were true.

Summer of 1947: NM alien activity at its peak

Alien autopsy diorama

Exhibits run from factual and informative to humorous and comical to just plain weird. Nothing we saw helped confirm the presence of UFOs or aliens to US... then again, we didn't have time to conduct our own research in the museum's "research library" since closing time was approaching. I do believe that intelligent life has evolved somewhere else in the universe... but has it ever visited Earth? Call me a skeptic.

One of many displays implying (playfully... right?) a gummint cover-up

Alien hunters, don't leave home without one of these...

The museum's most, umm, unusual exhibit was this sculpture of a horse plastered with newspaper clippings about the Roswell Incident. WTF?

He prefers Dr. Pepper? Not an alien...

So, was it worth the $5.00 admission charge (per person)? Well, it was interesting to read a few of the news clippings and some of the affadavits from people connected with the incident. Beyond that, it was about what I expected it to be... mildly entertaining, with more hype than substance. I suppose it was worth visiting once...

Coming next... Saturday morning train watching in Midland.

WSC

np: Gurf Morlix - "Your sister"