Roswell, New Mexico: International UFO Museum and Research Center

International UFO Museum and Research Center
Roswell, New Mexico
Telephone: (800) 822-3545
Website: RoswellUFOMuseum.com

Friendly, knowledgeable docents at this oasis in the middle of the New Mexico desert answer questions for visitors trying to make up their own minds about the “Roswell Incident.” No conspiracy theorist myself, I was rushing through the museum with my Editor in search of photo ops when the well-balanced exhibits caught my attention, and I stopped for a closer look. Like me, kids will enjoy posing with the alien models and examining the crop circles display, before visiting the world’s only alien-themed McDonald’s up the street. Need a few gifts to take home? You’ll have no problem finding something for your quirkier friends in the gift shop. (Alien salt-and-pepper shakers, anyone?) In fact, the staff members there were so taken with yours truly that they presented me with a plush green alien doll before we left.

International UFO Museum and Research Center Roswell, New Mexico
Photo at right courtesy of Richard Truesdell