About Roswell

Rodney Pygoya Chang July 10, 2007

1. The airport was originally called Walker Air Force Base from 1941-1967. Today it’s named the Roswell Industrial Air Center. When the base closed it really hurt the economy of the town of now about 50,000. Interesting right after that (1970s) interest resurfaced over the Roswell Incident. Then in the 80s-90s Hollywood took off on it and make the incident famous in the whole world. The UFO museum there was founded in the 90s by aging men involved in the incident. 2. It is a large paved air field that was important for World War II and the Cold War with the U.S.S.R. The Engola Gay bomber took off from here to bomb Japan. The field is so large and there is little commercial traffic now that large jumbo jets now create an eerie “graveyard” of retired airplanes. It has become the “final destination” or final “arrival” for many retired airplanes. 3. The field now is also used by Flight Research Training Center, a joint industry-university initiative. 5 founding members include New Mexico State Highway & Transportation Department, Eastern New Mexico University – Roswell, the City of Roswell, Calspan-U Buffalo Research Center, and Veridian Corporation. 4. Alamogordo-White Sands Regional Airport is tiny. The elevation is 4197 feet. Our 6 p.m. flight out of Roswell had 3 persons and we came here before arriving at Albuquerque. It was raining and nobody else was seen at the airport, other than 1 baggage worker. Told to the pilot: “Nobody’s coming on, I don’t why you guys even came here.” There’s a sign at the “terminal” entry: “N.M. Airport of the year 2001” 5. On Corn Ranch, where the Roswell Incident occurred in 1947, there’s tarantulas, scorpions, bull snakes, rattlesnakes, and turkey buzzards. The latter will dig out the eyes of dying cattle, then eat out its tongue, and finally rip out its innards. Maybe this is what people find when they talk about “cattle mutilations” said rancher Corn. 6. The crash site on Corn ranch has received “visitors from around the world,” including Japan, Australia, China, and Europe. 7. The falling object came in a southeastern direction and crash here. 3 aliens were found, one was sitting where the orange marker is before it got rifle-butted or something like that. The debris crash occurred further south about 30 miles away near Corona. Before, visitors could view the site from above that ledge. His father bought the ranch in 1979, father died in 2005. There’s vandalism, one of the towering stones was tagged close to the top. It’s greener now than usual. The military back then created a 5 mile corridor where nobody could get in.- Rancher Corn 8. There seems to be political and economic in-fighting between the UFO museum and the City. This is the first year that the UFO Festival is sponsored by the city instead of the museum which started it back in 1995. It seems visitor attendance has been dropping since the end of the 90s, It seems tourism is the major goal now of the museum instead of UFO research which is why it was founded by Haut and Glenn Dennis, both now deceased. It was tough for visitors like me who wanted to attend lectures both at the UFO museum on 2nd/Main and the Roswell Museum and Convention Center up at 6th/Main. In hot July weather it’s tough to walk the distance. There was no busy during this festival time and taxi is expensive. One had to choose between two competing lists of speakers. This year the vendors were inside the Convention Center, not like last year where the booths were outside the entrance of the UFO museum and in the 100F heat. 9. Just going to Roswell is surreal with all the alien themed shops and stores (for example MacDonald’s is designed as a flying saucer and Walmart’s front has UFO decoration). But one of my best 2 experiences this year (my 2nd visit to Roswell) is getting buzzed and shot at by a World War II Japanese fighter plane! Yeah, just standing there at the airport waiting for my flight out to Albuquerque, to start the 19 hour journey back to Honolulu (via Albu., Alamorgado, Las Vegas, Oakland; to get here it was Salt Lake City, Pheonix, Albu.). Suddenly this plane came straight at me, at about only 25 feet off the ground. At about 50 yards it opened up its machine guns (blanks) at me. As it flew over me I saw the red Rising Sun insignia. Turns out there was a air show going on as part of the UFO Festival that I was not aware of. Very cool experience giving me some idea of how it felt to be surprised at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. How ironic I thought, the Engola Gay took off from this airfield and today I get shot at by a Kamikaze! 10.Ate at the Coverup restaurant located right next to the UFO museum on 2nd and Main. Food took very long to get to us. Didn’t taste great. Turns out the owner is the former wife of the owner of the adjacent new UFO gift shop, the Planet Roswell, I liked the ambiance inside. The waitresses wore military wardrobe and 40s music played in the air. The Jerry Pippen radio show spent some time at a makeshift table at the front of the restaurant. But for the most part the show was conducted in the Convention Center. On July 5, 2007, I was interviewed about my Roswell Sci Fi novel, “Roswell Encounter Gallery,” in the Convention Center with Jerry Pippen. 11. The weather was better this year. Last year it was sunny and HOT and humid, about 100F. This year it felt about 90 and we were even treated to a sudden lightening and thunder rain shower. It lasted however only about 1-2 hours or so on the 6h.