Although I had been told and warned that the annular eclipse wasn’t as dramatic or even as good as a total eclipse, because during a total eclipse it briefly becomes night during the day, still I had to make the assessment for myself and trekked out to the annular path that was not close. As an astronomy writer, amateur astronomer, a UFO enthusiast and a believer government cover-ups, visiting Roswell, New Mexico was on high on the bucket list. So when I discovered the annular path for the Oct. 14 eclipse ran through this city, I didn’t hesitate to make it my destination for that astronomical event.
I read somewhere that the Roswell, New Mexico embraces it’s alien culture but still was completely unprepared by the number of alien and UFO structures and tourist shops. It seemed obvious that the stores learned that the alien and UFO swag are money makers.
It’s the only place in our nation where you’ll find a UFO shaped McDonald’s, complete with aliens standing outside! One stands in front and pointing and looking up while the other just stands there, observing those that might pass by.
There’s a 22-foot tall alien that holds a Dunkin and Baskin Robbins drive-thru sign. They even hold a UFO Festival over July Fourth! That’s not to mention the International UFO Museum and Research Center or even the nearby air base.
As I was told, during the peak of the annular eclipse Oct. 14, it was barely noticeable with the unaided eye – assistance is needed it in order to experience it fully – such as using solar glasses or using two pieces of paper to look at a reflection of the Sun, which is similar to creating a pinpoint camera.
The Sun definitely looked different that day – it almost seemed both – brighter and dimmer! According to NASA, the Sun gets about 10% dimmer during an annular eclipse. We went to the Cielo Grand Recreation Area, at the corner of West College Boulevard and N. Montana Avenue. Roswell’s Astronomical Society was set up across the street at Spaceport Park. Since I wasn’t feeling well, I didn’t make any attempts to reach out to them except admiring their gear as we drove by.
When I looked about the parking lot, it was hard to notice it was dimmer. During this annular eclipse there was a Sun halo that caught a few colors of the spectrum so at times it seemed brighter. Nevertheless our Sun was just too overpowering for the moon that was a little further away than normal, in relation to its orbit.
I was able to catch the peak of the total eclipse on video without any solar screens so I anticipated the same for the annular but the effect wasn’t as revealing as it was during the total eclipse. I finally used the solar glasses for recording and was able to catch the beautiful and rarely seen crescent Sun. I enjoyed the rest of the eclipse through solar glasses over the lens of my camcorder.
The rest of the day was like any other as the Sun shined brightly in Roswell, New Mexico.
As a timeless event, I couldn’t help but think of some ancient societies that might not have possessed the knowledge of eclipses and wonder how they endured such events. Did many loose or impair their vision because they kept looking at the Sun? It’s most likely not since it doesn’t happen instantaneously it does take several hours, like four to six hours.
Again, I had to visit Roswell since it’s infamous for a 1947 UFO incident that thrust the small town in the limelight when they announced a UFO crashed near its city. Less than 24-hours later, the federal government announced that it was actually a weather balloon that crashed. Locals said that the government replaced the broken pieces of the UFO with weather balloon pieces and some even claimed to have seen or were involved with an alien autopsy.
The Roswell UFO Walking Tour takes people around to key sites as the Roswell incident unfolded except for the crash site. Due to its remote location, going to the actual site crash site wasn’t included with this tour. The alleged crash site is about 70 miles from Roswell and now has a monument acknowledging the incident. Most of the walking tour was spent in a large van. The first stop on the tour was the police station. Of course it has since expanded quite a bit but the original building is still noticeable. This is where farmer, Mac Brazel, showed up with box full of debris that he said was scattered all over his ranch. Those who saw the items described them as “not being of this world”. The police station was one of the few buildings that is still being used as it was originally intended 76 years later. The other buildings that had a place in the incident, the radio stations and newspapers, are now restaurants.
It was our tour guide that revealed the jets that dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 came from the Roswell Army Air Field. It was these bombings that would eventually end World War II with Japan’s surrender. We also learned that for many years those jets were on standby with bombs, just in case.
However that isn’t entirely accurate, it was 509th Composite Group at Wendover Army Airfield, Utah and activated Dec. 17, 1944 who trained for the mission. They were later relocated to Roswell Army Airfield Nov. 6, 1945.
The details of the event are also laid out with pictures and signed avadavats from the 1990s in the International UFO Museum and Research Center, which includes some air base history nuggets, as well.
Another thought our tour guide left us with was, “Why little green aliens? No one said that they were green.”
Our tour guide also reminded us that it was the 1989 episode of Unsolved Mysteries that re-introduced the world to the Roswell incident. It was the second episode of the second season.
However it was a signed sworn affidavit that was released after the death of Walter Haut, the public information officer that issued the press release about the Roswell incident. He was sworn to secrecy by the base commander and close personal friend, Colonel William Blanchard. Haut found a way to keep his word to his friend and the government while still revealing the truth by releasing a signed affidavit of the Roswell incident after his death. It states that there were two crash sites with flying discs and several bodies of aliens. After Haut’s death in 2005, the affidavit was published in 2007 in book titled, “Witness to Roswell: Unmasking the Government’s Biggest Cover-Up,” by Don Schmitt, UFO researcher and Thomas Carey, investigative author.
Although Roswell’s population almost makes it a budding metropolis, it has that small town feel, particularly with its older buildings downtown. For instance, the visitor’s center was once a gas station when it opened 100 years ago. What really gives it the small hometown feel are its friendly people. Everyone was really friendly and most were more than happy to talk about the City’s claim to fame.
Besides having the pleasure of visiting a different state, the trip to see the annular eclipse was worth it. Again, we rarely get to see that crescent Sun and think it’s a treat, regardless of the type of eclipse.
We plan to go to Austin, Texas for the April 8 total eclipse.