City in New Mexico, known for tourism industry based on aerospace engineering and ufology museums and businesses, as well as alien-themed and spacecraft-themed iconography

General Information

Hours:

Winter Park Hours (November 1 to January 30)
7am to 6pm
Summer Park Hours
May 31 to September 6
7am to 9pm
Fall to Spring Hours
September 8 to May 27
9am to 5pm

Fees:

Vehicle - $25.00
Accepts America The Beautiful Pass.

Pet Policy:

Pets allowed

Closest cities with hotels:

Alamogordo, 13 miles

Seasons:

All year

Location:

Website:

Rating:

★ 5.0

Alamogordo, NM Weather Foecast

How to Get There

Overview

Roswell is a city in Chaves County in New Mexico. Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located a few miles northeast of the city on the Pecos River. Bottomless Lakes State Park is located 12 miles (19 km) east of Roswell on US 380.

The Roswell UFO incident was named after the town, though the crash site of the alleged UFO was some 75 miles (121 km) from Roswell and closer to Corona. The investigation and debris recovery was handled by the local Roswell Army Air Field. In the 1930s, Roswell was a site for much of Robert H. Goddard's early rocketry work. The Roswell Museum and Art Center maintains an exhibit that includes a recreation of Goddard's rocket engine development workshop.

Roswell's tourism industry is based on aerospace engineering and ufology museums and businesses, as well as alien-themed and spacecraft-themed iconography. The city also relies on New Mexico and Americana related tourism. New Mexican cuisine restaurants are located near downtown on Main Street, near the International UFO Museum and Research Center. Local American folk and New Mexico music performances occur near Pioneer Plaza and in parks around the city.

Roswell has benefited from interest in the alleged UFO incident of 1947. It was the report of an object that crashed in the general vicinity in June or July 1947, allegedly an extraterrestrial spacecraft and its alien occupants. Since the late 1970s, the incident has been the subject of intense controversy and of a conspiracy theory regarding a classified program named "Project Mogul". Many UFO proponents maintain that an alien craft was found and its occupants were captured, and that the military then engaged in a cover-up. In recent times, the business community has deliberately sought out tourists interested in UFOs, science fiction, and aliens.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Roswell, New Mexico", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0