Thursday 10th April, 1997 Alien Autopsy                                                         Roswell Impact Site                                             Stats.: Route: Roswell(NM) 28562/180 20 10 Sierra Blanco(TX)   Road Kill: Birds---1 Cats----3 UNKNOWN-4 As the 285 runs through Roswell, it becomes Main Street. At 400 to 402 North Main Street is The International UFO Museum. As I walked in I was welcomed by an older woman who showed me how to sign in and mark my home town on their huge map of the world. She then gave me a small pile of documents before showing me into the main hall. The museum space occupies what must have once been a theater of some sort. At the rear, the stage is setup for ET announcements. The exhibits are arranged around the edge and in the middle is a screening room, where videos of interviews with witnesses and their relatives play back to back with documentaries. It was extraordinary seeing all this information in one place. The way that they just lay all this out for you to study, and make up your own mind on, is especially good. They also cover a number of other sightings and hoaxes. A camera crew finished up at about the same time as I did. The director/producer/writer was going red while he "vented" at the Museum Curator who had just informed him that, earlier that morning, news had come in that a sworn statement had been found to be fake. The Curator just shrugged and said that it was just one of many. The director/producer/writer visibly trembled as he exclaimed that it was critical to his story. I smirked and headed off to find the Impact Site and the Military Base. Both locations were clearly marked on the map the lady had given me. As you can see from the photos, I found some interesting stuff!! Okay ... they ARE fake. But they are original fakes. I was just curious as to how hard it would be. The Impact Site was just a campsite, with a couple of people and their tent. It was about fifty-one miles from Roswell along the 246. I have to admit that after I got there I was wondering why I bothered. Back through Roswell, heading South, down Main Street is the Military Base. This was much more interesting, but it was still just a bunch of derelict military buildings, with another museum. But the feeling that something pretty weird had happened right where I was standing, was quite a buzz. The rest of Roswell acts somewhat embarrassed by the entire thing and see tourism as a bit of an intrusion. They are proud of the high level of public amenities their city has, and quite rightly so. I would be interested to visit in a year or two, when UFO mania has had a chance to really take hold. As I headed for Texas, the 285, and then 62/180, took me through drastically different terrain. First was an agrarian area and then a wonderful flowering desert. Part way through this I stopped at Carlsbad Caverns, but they had shut ten minutes earlier to allow the thousands of bats that inhabit them, to go about their nocturnal activities. As the desert turned into rolling grassy plains, the wind grew incredibly strong. And for some unknown reason every vehicle I came across was towing something. (Cars towing cars, RVs towing cars, cars towing trucks!) I started to wonder what they did with all these recks in El Paso. I soon found out. From about thirty miles out, every plot of land had recked cars, busses, trucks - basically anything that had once had wheels - all of varying vintages, laying around on them. Some where integrated into houses others were green-houses and chicken-coops, but most were just rusting away. Some one should tell them that: Cars only equal status, if said cars work! From about twenty miles out the sky looked hazy and I assumed I was driving into fog. It looked very unusual though. It was blindingly white and cars would just appear out of it. With fog things fade into view. With this, one minute they were there, the next they were gone. A few miles later on I noticed thick layers of dust washing across the road. It was dust! All of it! I have no idea what this would be technically known as, but it was mighty weird. As I drove through down town El Paso toward the interface between two nations it grew thicker, and so did the traffic. I was really just there to see the border. I always find man made borders fascinating demonstrations of futility. The US/Mexican border consists of a series of fenced-off, huge ditches with halogen lamps and jeep patrols. Or at least that is what it is like in the city areas. I know for a fact that as you travel out of the cities these defenses dwindle. It is quite a sight. This sort of thing doesn't really exist any more in the UK. Britain and Scotland used to have Hadrian's Wall, but there is no divide with Wales and all the other countries are kept at bay by the sea. This fails to explain how strange I find this concept of enforced separation. Anyway, I took the 20 Eastwards, specifically to follow the border for as long as possible. The 20 is an old road and for a good part of its length it exists as the first road on US soil. It also had a number of historical sites, where frontier forts once stood. Here the road kill of progress litters each side of the road; Clusters of houses, motels, restaurants and cafes. All dead, deserted and falling into ruin or already just burnt-out carcasses. Others were still intact and bore their original signs, "Curious Rock Museum." All no more. The 10 appears to have now replaced the 20 until the two intersect after Fort Hancock. I was the only car for the entire run from El Paso to the junction with the 10. Shortly after joining that, I decided that it was time to stop for the night. The first place that I came across was Sierra Blanca. Like the 20, it is not on any of the maps and most of the trade - in what looks like a once prosperous town - is gone. The old cinema stands, crumbling across the street. Funny that I lament the past using one of its murderers. ------