UFO Museum - RVing with Rex

The Enchanted RV Tour

Summer’s arrival cues the call of the open road, peak season for loading up the RV and taking in as much as the windshield allows. This road trips through the Land of Enchantment will mandate keeping a camera, curiosity, and a sense of adventure close at hand.

I’ve written about New Mexico for years. It is an amazing state and Land of Enchantment really sums it up. On this enchanted RV tour our first stop to check the latest on UFOs and aliens!

Roswell

Roswell has a zoo, an art museum, and a military academy but it is most famous for aliens. Yes, aliens, the most notably from the alleged 1947 UFO crash.

The International UFO Museum and Research Center only costs $7 ($5 for seniors and military) and is a great way to spend a couple of hours. If you are interested in the 1947 crash or alleged sightings of UFOs and alleged abductions you won’t be disappointed.

Main Street is full of alien sculptures that make for fun photo opportunities. There is even a UFO themed McDonalds close to the museum.

There are numerous of RV Parks and a state park located in the area. If you are traveling there in early October make sure to make your reservations early. That is when the Eastern New Mexico State Fair (September 30-October 5, 2024) is going on and the sites fill up early.

This is a fun-filled trip that can be done in a weekend. If you want to continue down Highway 70 toward Albuquerque the scenery changes from high plains desert to spectacular mountain vistas. It’s a trip worth taking.

Want more travel ideas for this area?

If you haven’t been beamed up by aliens after your visit to Roswell, head down Hwy 70 into Ruidoso.

World’s Largest Pistachio *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

Ruidoso

This is a charming mountain town located in the Sierra Blanca Mountains and is surrounded by the Lincoln National Forest.

It has plenty of RV parks to stay at. If you have an itch to fish, check out Riverside RV Park with access to the Rio Ruidoso River for some prime trout fishing.

The Hubbard Museum of the American West is worth the stop. It boasts a Galloping Horses sculpture garden by sculptor, Dave McGarry as well as a wealth of information about New Mexico’s history.

From Ruidoso, you can continue on U.S. 70 into Alamogordo.

Be sure to take in Pistachioland, home of the World’s Largest Pistachio, a mammoth outdoor sculpture.

You will see signs for it miles before you get to it.

The $3 tour of the pistachio grove and vineyards is well worth the price of admission and the pistachio almond ice cream cone is da bomb. Get some pistachios to go.

The store offers free samples of the most amazing flavors of nuts. Can’t decide? Grab “The Works” and get a little bit of everything.

Want more on pistachios?

Alamogordo is a great place to stay if you are planning on visiting White Sands National Park, and you should definitely plan on visiting it.

White Sands National Park *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

White Sands National Park is the perfect New Mexico RV Tour Spot

Driving into the park is one of the most amazing road trips you will ever take. It is the world’s largest gypsum dune field, 275 square miles and one of the world’s greatest natural wonders. Be sure to allow a few days to explore.

The entrance fee is $25 and is good for 7 consecutive days, unless, of course you have the Lifetime Senior Pass then it is free.

Take those shoes off. The sand is cool and soft and the undulating dunes make it a surreal place to view a sunrise, sunset, or moonrise, or to take a sled ride.

There are Park Ranger Programs ranging from the nightly Sunset Strolls to Lake Lucero and Full Moon guided hikes.

Be sure to take a sled to sled down the dunes.

If you stay at the Alamogordo KOA, they furnish sleds for free. This is one place that you will never forget.

After a day in the park, eat some authentic Mexican food at Si Senor, located along the main road. It is delicious.

Here are some articles to help:

Carlsbad Caverns National Park *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

Carlsbad Caverns is another awesome New Mexico RV Tour location

Next on the Enchanted Land of New Mexico Tour is Carlsbad Caverns, located about 3 hours east from Alamogordo.

You will travel through the Chihuahuan Desert and over some pretty steep mountain passes to get there.

Carlsbad and White’s City offer plenty of RV park options.

An entrance fee of $15 is required to enter Carlsbad Cavern and provides access by elevator and hiking in. In addition, a timed entry reservation ($1) must be purchased to access Carlsbad Cavern. Time entry reservations ensure a more enjoyable experience and help to protect the cave formations. Ranger-guided tours are an additional fee and can be reserved on recreation.gov.

There are two ways to enter the caverns. The Natural Entrance Trail has a steep grade (15– 20 percent) or you can elect to take the elevator that descends 750 feet below the surface.

The trail to the Big Room is one mile and will take you on one of the most spectacular, delight-to-the-senses walk you have ever taken. It is mindboggling.

The Big Room’s ceiling ranges from 50–250 feet high. There are about 3 miles of underground trails in the caverns.

Just a note of caution, the trail is often wet from dripping water and can be slippery and at times uneven. The trail is wheelchair accessible to the Big Room.

You may take pictures of everything and, though you will never be able to capture the magnificence of the caverns, keep clicking away. The images will delight you long after you leave Carlsbad.

Don’t miss the bats!

Be sure to allow time to watch the nightly Bat Flight at the Bat Flight Amphitheater. 116,000 plus Brazilian free-tailed bats fluttering out of the natural entrance to the carven, spiraling upwards to gain momentum is a spectacle to behold. A ranger gives a talk beforehand that it is both informative and entertaining.

Put this place on your bucket list. Carlsbad Caverns should be placed on your itinerary if you are within 5-10 hour driving time. It is a natural wonder not to be missed.

It took a while to become a National Park

When it was being considered as a possible national park in 1923, Robert Halley, a representative of the US Department of Interior, concluded in his report:

“I am wholly conscious of the feebleness of my efforts to convey in words the deeply conflicting emotions, the feeling of fear and awe, and the desire for an inspired understanding of the Divine Creator’s work which presents to the human eye such a complex aggregate of natural wonders.” Carlsbad Caverns became a national park in 1930.

Here are some posts to help you plan your visit:

Las Cruces *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

Heading to Las Cruces, another New Mexico RV Tour spot

Leaving the caverns, you will head south along the Chihuahuan Desert heading to Las Cruces.

The sign as you leave White’s City reads “Next Services 130 Miles.” Be sure to fuel up as you leave.

You will travel next to the fabulous Guadalupe Mountain Range which rises up on the northern edge of the Chihuahuan Desert.

Eventually, you will cross over into Texas and traverse the Texas Mountain Highway for about another 20 miles.

The Cornudas New Mexico RV Tour stop

One of the most fun stops along this route is Cornudas, Texas. It was originally established in 1929 as the most direct route between and El Paso, Texas and Carlsbad, New Mexico.

It still is that, but, what you’ll find along U.S. 62/180 now is the self-proclaimed BEST hamburger in Texas at Cornuda’s Café established 1923.

They aren’t just telling tall tales.

Stop for home cooking and a relic of the past almost unchanged. You’ll need to be looking for it—it’s one of those places that if you blink, you’ll miss it.

68 miles later you’ll pass through El Paso, Texas on your way to Las Cruces, New Mexico but that is a tale for another time on our Enchanted RV Tour.

Where should you go next?

Worth Pondering…

If you ever go to New Mexico, it will itch you for the rest of your life.

—Georgia O’Keeffe

A Giant UFO Festival with All the Outer Space Vibes

It’s going to be out of this world!

Was it an alien encounter, a weather balloon, or a flying saucer? The event known as the Roswell Incident quickly swept through the nation in 1947. The “UFO Capital of the World” is known internationally by UFO enthusiasts and deniers alike!

Roswell UFO Museum and Research Center *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

Beware, Earthlings, soon you will be abducted and dropped into a land full of alien fun. If you love UFOs, Sci-Fi, and all things extraterrestrial, the Roswell UFO Festival this summer is the place to be. This is the only RV road trip that will take you to outer space!

The Roswell UFO Festival is a 3-day event happening on July 1-3, 2022. This fest will be filled with tons of music, photo ops, and activities (most of them free) for everyone. This destination Festival will include plenty of immersive experiences, live music, local food, out-of-this-world photo ops as well as other family-friendly events happening all over the city.

This is a great place to visit if you plan to go on a road trip with family or friends this July. If you plan to stay for the three days, make camping reservations early since the fest is quite popular.

The festival will have guest speakers, space-loving authors, live entertainment, a costume contest, a light parade, a reenactment tour, and even the cutest pet costume contest (Saturday, 10 am), and parade. Family-friendly activities will also be part of the schedule. You will be learning how to create your very own alien hat and other fun crafts.

From the adorable ET to the vast alien universe of Star Wars, American Culture loves all things alien. But the city of Roswell plays an essential part in our fascination with UFO appearances beyond movies.

Roswell has been at the heart of the UFO scene since July 1947 when the military announced it had found the remains of a crashed UFO in the desert nearby.

Seventy-five years ago, a rancher named W.W. Mack Brazel checked his sheep after a thunderstorm and found debris made of a strange metal scattered in many directions. He noticed a shallow trench cut into the desert floor. As the story goes, Mac Brazel drove his rusty pickup to the county seat of Roswell to inform authorities that something had crashed and scattered metallic debris across his ranch land.

Figuring it must have come from the nearby Army airfield, officers accompanied him back to the ranch and what they witnessed in the desert has, in the decades since, mushroomed to become the most widely publicized event in UFO lore.

Days after something shiny crashed in the New Mexico desert, the Roswell Army Air Field issued a press release that said the military had recovered the remains of a “flying disc.” Although quickly discounted as erroneous, the announcement laid the groundwork for one of the most enduring UFO stories of all time. There had been 16 reported unidentified flying object sightings reported that year during the several months preceding what would be known as the Roswell Incident.

So—what is the truth? Well, plan to attend the Roswell UFO Festival and judge for yourself. Roswell has become the epitome of everything alien and is even called the “UFO Capital of the World.” The city is home to a UFO Museum and a planetarium that you can visit during the festival.

According to Will Rogers, Roswell was the prettiest little town in the west. Money magazine has called it one of the 10 most peaceful places to retire. Hugh Bayless, in his book, The Best Towns in America, listed Roswell as one of the 50 most desirable communities in which to live.

The festival is a loved tradition in the city of Roswell, so you’ll see people of all ages and backgrounds enjoying the festivities. Many will be wearing costumes, hats, makeup, matching outfits with their pets, or creating their own UFO vehicles for the parades.

Both UFO enthusiasts and skeptics alike are welcome to join the fun.

Besides the activities, parades, movie screenings, panels, and contests, you will also be able to shop alien and UFO unique souvenirs and presents and even have some awesome thematic food and drinks.

During the UFO Festival you will love the entire festivity in Roswell. But what to do if you arrive a week before or stay a few days after the festival?

Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

Be sure to visit the world-famous UFO Museum and Research Center, Bottomless Lakes State Park, Bitter Lake Wildlife Refuge, Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art (free admission), Roswell Museum and Art Center (free admission), Walker Aviation Museum (free admission), Spring River Zoo (free admission), all of which are located in Roswell.

Looking for more fun near Roswell? You can plan a day trip to Carlsbad Caverns National Park or enjoy gaming at the Casinos and Ruidoso Downs race track in Ruidoso, New Mexico. Visit Lincoln and see where Billy the Kid made his last escape. There are countless sightseeing places you can explore in a day.

If you are ready to experience tons of alien fun, let this UFO festival “abduct” you this summer. You won’t regret it.

Worth Pondering…

Well, at least my mom knows what species I am.

Should We Be Taking UFO Sightings More Seriously?

There is very compelling evidence that we may not be alone

In April, military officials released footage of three Navy videos that they say show “unidentified aerial phenomena” or in layman’s terms, unidentified flying objects (UFOs). The videos which were released previously by a private company show the objects which were not identified flying quickly through the air. They were recorded by infrared cameras.

UFO Museum, Roswell, New Mexico *© Rex Vogel, all rights*

The videos were published by the New York Times in 2017. Two had been recorded in 2015: the other was captured in 2004. One person is heard on a clip saying that an object could be a drone.

From 2007 to 2012, the Pentagon had studied UFO encounters but was stopped because other programs needed funding. But the former head of the program said: “There is very compelling evidence that we may not be alone.”

“These aircraft—we’ll call them aircraft—are displaying characteristics that are not currently within the US inventory or in any foreign inventory that we are aware of,” Luis Elizondo said in 2017.

These physics-defying aerial phenomena elevated the UFO conversation from Bigfoot Reddit forums to Bloomberg opinion columns. Here are a few prominent people saying we should take UFO sightings more seriously:

1. Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Twitter: “The U.S. needs to take a serious, scientific look at this and any potential national security implications. The American people deserve to be informed.”

2. Economist Tyler Cowen for Bloomberg: “Humanity has a long history of being caught unawares by outside arrivals, and so we should pay more attention to that bias in ourselves.” He cited the “technologically superior” Spanish invasion of the Aztec empire as an example.

3. Political scientist Alexander Wendt to Vox: “Whether it’s alien life, who knows? It’s a plausible explanation. My point is that we should be agnostic about this and simply study it scientifically. Let’s do the science and then we can talk about what we found.” The overarching argument: Strange phenomena should be investigated, whether the end goal is to protect ourselves from cone-headed extraterrestrials or just to learn something new.

+ If you want to learn something new…here are a few of the UFO sightings taken seriously by the U.S. government. Mysterious lights. Sinister saucers. Alien abductions.

Between 1947 and 1969, at the height of the Cold War, more than 12,000 UFO sightings were reported to Project Blue Book, a small, top-secret Air Force team. Their mission? Scientifically investigate the incidents and determine whether any posed a national security threat.

> Here is one of their most fascinating cases along with the latest on alien abduction insurance.

The Roswell ‘UFO’ Incident

In the summer of 1947, a rancher discovered unidentifiable debris in his sheep pasture outside Roswell, New Mexico. Although officials from the local Air Force base asserted that it was a crashed weather balloon, many people believed it was the remains of an extraterrestrial flying saucer; a series of secret “dummy drops” in New Mexico during the 1950s heightened their suspicions. Nearly 50 years after the story of the mysterious debris broke the U.S. military issued a report linking the incident to a top-secret atomic espionage project called Project Mogul. Still, many people continue to embrace the UFO theory and hundreds of curiosity seekers visit Roswell and the crash site every year.

What Really Happened at Roswell? Click here, for the rest of the story…

Alien Abduction Insurance Policy

Did you know you can purchase alien abduction insurance? Seriously! According to a Geico blog post, a London-based firm has sold over 30,000 policies throughout Europe. Like other insurance, alien abduction policies can be used to cover medical or psychiatric care, lost wages, or additional damages caused by an alien abduction. But, contrary to many life insurance policies, these insurance claims can be filed if abductees are considered missing and never return.

If you’re a believer and alien abductions are a concern, you might be interested in learning more about this. However, you should consider that filing a claim will require proof of the occurrence. This would likely include providing specific information about the aliens and spacecraft involved, a detailed description about the incident, passing a lie detector test, providing video footage and alien signatures, and including statements from a third-party witness. Also, coverage will only include a single abduction so if you have “frequent flier miles” on alien spacecraft, you won’t benefit from a policy.

$10,000,000.00 ALIEN ABDUCTION INSURANCE

The “Perfect Policy for Anyone Who Thinks They Have Everything Covered

You can’t be turned down regardless of your Age or Frequent Flyer Status. Only if you don’t …*

Worth Pondering…

Don’t Leave Earth…Without It

What Really Happened at Roswell?

The Roswell UFO Incident

One morning around Independence Day 1947, about 75 miles from the town of Roswell, New Mexico, a rancher named Mac Brazel found something unusual in his sheep pasture: a mess of metallic sticks held together with tape; chunks of plastic and foil reflectors; and scraps of a heavy, glossy, paper-like material.

Unable to identify the strange objects, Brazel called Roswell’s sheriff. The sheriff, in turn, called officials at the nearby Roswell Army Air Force base. Soldiers fanned out across Brazel’s field, gathering the mysterious debris and whisking it away in armored trucks.

On July 8, “RAAF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region” was the top story in the Roswell Daily Record. But was it true? On July 9, an Air Force official clarified the paper’s report: The alleged “flying saucer,” he said, was only a crashed weather balloon. However, to anyone who had seen the debris (or the newspaper photographs of it), it was clear that whatever this thing was, it was no weather balloon. Some people believed—and still believe—that the crashed vehicle had not come from Earth at all. They argued that the debris in Brazel’s field must have come from an alien spaceship.

International UFO Museum & Research Center at Roswell exhibit *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

It turned out that the Army knew more about Brazel’s “flying saucer” than it let on. Since World War II, a group of geophysicists and oceanographers from Columbia University, New York University, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod had been working on a top-secret atomic espionage project at New Mexico’s Alamogordo Air Field that they called Project Mogul.

Project Mogul used sturdy high-altitude balloons to carry low-frequency sound sensors into the tropopause, a faraway part of the Earth’s atmosphere that acts as a sound channel. In this part of the atmosphere, sound waves can travel for thousands of miles without interference, much like under the ocean. The scientists believed that if they sent microphones into this sound channel, they would be able to eavesdrop on nuclear tests as far away as the Soviet Union.

According to the U.S. military, the debris in Brazel’s field outside Roswell actually belonged to Project Mogul. It was the remains of a 700-foot-long string of neoprene balloons, radar reflectors (for tracking), and sonic equipment that the scientists had launched from the Alamogordo base in June and that had, evidently, crashed in early July 1947.

Because the project was highly classified, no one at the Roswell Army Air Field even knew that it existed and they had no idea what to make of the objects Brazel had found. (In fact, some officials on the base were worried that the wreckage had come from a Russian spy plane or satellite—information that they were understandably reluctant to share with the public.)

The “weather balloon” story, flimsy though it was, was the simplest and most plausible explanation they could come up with on short notice. Meanwhile, to protect the scientists’ secret project, no one at Alamogordo could step in and clear up the confusion.

Today, many people continue to believe that the government and the military are covering up the truth about alien landings at and around Roswell. In 1994, the Pentagon declassified most of its files on Project Mogul and the dummy drops and the federal General Accounting Office produced a report (“Report of Air Force Research Regarding the Roswell Incident”) designed to debunk these rumors. Nevertheless, there are still people who subscribe to the UFO theory and hundreds of thousands of curiosity seekers visit Roswell and the crash site every year hoping to find out the truth for themselves.

International UFO Museum & Research Center at Roswell *© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved*

The International UFO Museum & Research Center at Roswell was organized to inform the public about what has come to be known as “The Roswell Incident” and other unexplained phenomena related to UFO research.

Every July, the UFO Museum celebrates the famous Roswell Crash of 1947 by hosting several guest speakers who give lectures to thousands of people over the course of three days. During those three days, the Museum sees on average 12,000 visitors from all over the globe.

The uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic brings concern for near-future events. The safety and well-being of our employees, speakers, visitors, and community remain a top priority. With all of that being said, the decision was made to cancel the 2020 UFOlogist Invasion. Although it was a difficult decision, it was the responsible one, according to the website.

We hope to see you all at the 2021 UFOlogist Invasion.

Worth Pondering…

Well, at least my mom knows what species I am.

A Great Place to Crash a UFO

Roswell has been at the heart of the UFO scene since July 1947 when the military announced it had found the remains of a crashed UFO in the desert nearby

Seventy two years ago, a rancher named W.W. Mack Brazel checked his sheep after a thunderstorm and found debris made of a strange metal scattered in many directions. He noticed a shallow trench cut into the desert floor.

As the story goes, Mac Brazel drove his rusty pickup down to the county seat of Roswell, New Mexico to inform authorities that something had crashed and scattered metallic debris across his ranch land.

Figuring it must have come from the nearby Army airfield, officers accompanied him back to the ranch, and what they witnessed in the desert has, in the decades since, mushroomed to become the most widely publicized event in UFO lore.

There had been 16 reported unidentified flying object sightings reported that year during the several months preceding what would be known as the Roswell Incident.

The Air Force issued a press release stating that a UFO had been found. That statement was quickly rescinded and another was issued indicating that the debris came from a top-secret weather balloon test.

Adding to the mystery, the Air Force ordered sealed coffins from a Roswell undertaker, fueling speculation that aliens had been recovered.

Roswell Army Air Field became Walker Air Force Base two years after the flying saucer flap. In 1967, the military vacated altogether, leaving what would eventually be developed into an industrial air center.

It’s also home of the notorious Hangar 84 where, legend has it, the Roswell wreckage and bodies were stored before shipment to their new digs at the even more notorious Hanger 18 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

Roswell has wisely embraced its extraterrestrial past. Once-empty storefronts in downtown Roswell overflow with E.T. and UFO everything. Cornerstone of it all is an old movie house converted into the world’s foremost center for UFO information and study.

Roswell, however, boasts much more, historically.

The cattle industry brought settlement to the Pecos Valley when John Chisum founded the Jinglebob Ranch in 1878. Growth was slow at first.

Added to the usual frontier lawlessness, hostile Comanches east of the Pecos and Apaches to the west was the violence erupting from the Lincoln County War.

Roswell has been famous in agricultural circles for its high-quality alfalfa, in scientific circles for the rocket experimentation of Robert H. Goddard between 1930 and 1941, and in academic circles for New Mexico Military Institute.

Roswell has a varied economy based on agriculture, shipping, manufacturing, and oil production. Large artesian water supplies have enabled farmers to grow alfalfa, cotton, chilli peppers, corn, and pecans, while cattle, sheep, and goats thrive on local ranch lands.

Roswell’s food processing industries include the nation’s largest producer of mozzarella cheese, and a lollipop factory.

Roswell now is becoming known for its Downtown Historic District, which was created by the Historic Society for Southeast New Mexico. It was named to the State and National Registers of Historic Places in 1985, along with the campus of New Mexico Military Institute, several outlying ranches, and Chihuahuita, probably the oldest settlement in the Roswell area.

The Downtown Historic District covers approximately 40 city blocks and contains homes of more than 22 architectural styles. Roswell’s early history explains this unusual architectural style mix. Many styles—Prairie-style, Bungalow, Mediterranean, California Mission, Pueblo Revival, Simplified Anne, Period, Federal, Colonial Revival, Southwest Vernacular, Italiante, and Southwest Vernacular—dot the historic district eclectically.

So—what is the truth? Well, visit Roswell and judge for yourself.

Worth Pondering…

Well, at least my mom knows what species I am.