PAUL SEMONES flicks on the handheld microphone that pipes his voice through the speakers of his 15-seat van and points to an unassuming midcentury house.
The Roswell UFO Tour guide tells us it’s the former home of Dan Wilmot, who gained notoriety after he and his wife, Mary, claimed to see a flying saucer over their quiet Roswell street on July 2, 1947. Today, the house rents on Airbnb as the “UFO home.” The fun 90-minute tour through this southeastern New Mexico town centers on the 1947 crash landing of a mysterious flying saucer, stray weather balloon, or secret military aircraft on a nearby ranch—depending on whom you ask. More than 75 years later, the Roswell Incident draws tens of thousands of visitors here every year to seek the truth for themselves.
“I love presenting intriguing truth to people and trying to strip away the misconceptions,” says Semones, a forensic engineer and UFO researcher. What exactly happened here might be up for debate, but the Roswell Army Air Field did put out a press release saying they found a flying saucer.
Although the military retracted the news a few hours later, UFO believers think the weather balloon explanation was a cover-up. The story proved so captivating that Roswell has been associated with UFO culture ever since.
Kayak Bottomless Lakes State Park.
Photograph by Christina Selby.
However, a common misconception is that Roswell is only about aliens, Semones says. While Main Street leans into the UFO aesthetic with streetlamps shaped like alien heads and signs of extraterrestrial life galore, the city of 50,000 serves as the business, political, and cultural center of Chaves County. “It’s basically the hub of this area,” says MainStreet Roswell director Barbara Gomez.
Creativity flourishes here as well, with the Roswell Artist-in-Residence program bringing an influx of new talent and fresh ideas. Each year, six gifted visual artists spend a year living and working in a complex of houses and studios on 50 acres. Since its founding in 1967, the program has infused an artistic spirit that has spawned new galleries, budding entrepreneurs, and fresh perspectives.
Roswell draws visitors from surrounding towns and around the world with more than 100 restaurants and food trucks; a galaxy of shops, boutiques, and museums; an annual gathering of UFO fanatics; and two outdoor oases nearby. “Roswell is very welcoming,” Gomez says.
In September, Roswell adds to its out-of-this-world reputation by hosting the National Championship Air Races. Known as “the fastest motorsport in the world,” the Air Races had been held in Reno, Nevada, since 1964, but Roswell beat out 38 other cities as the new home thanks to its landscape, resources, and enthusiasm for air racing.
Roswell artist-in-residence Wen Liu.
Photograph courtesy of Tonee Harbert/RAiR Foundation.
To learn more about how Roswell became wrapped up in interstellar drama, head to the International UFO Museum & Research Center, which occupies a renovated movie theater. “You learn a lot,” says Snow Oropesa, librarian for the museum’s research library. “The weird side of life is in here.” Before starting at the library, Oropesa never thought much about UFOs. “Growing up here, you become numb to everything alien,” she says. “I’ve always been skeptical about life on other planets, but I never really researched it. Reading the books that we have here really makes you think.”
Dioramas of UFO landings and extraterrestrials make the museum feel larger than life, but the exhibitions’ witness testimonies make it personal. “The museum is a tribute to all the brave souls who stepped forward and said, ‘We were there. We saw it, and it wasn’t from here,’ ” says Donald Schmitt, the UFO museum’s lead investigator.
The museum also pays tribute to Roswell’s place in pop culture, including displays of the 1994 movie and 1999 TV show both titled Roswell. For decades after 1947, the crash was almost forgotten. It wasn’t until the 1980s and ’90s, after investigators like Schmitt got the word out, that people began taking interest in the story again.
Tourists showed up to learn about the city’s extraterrestrial history, and Roswell started the UFO Festival in 1995, embracing its identity as the UFO capital of the world.
“There are serious believers that come looking for the truth,” says Gomez, who heads the UFO Festival held this year from July 4 to 6. But many of the approximately 15,000 festivalgoers just come for a good time. “People dress up like aliens, bring little antennas, and wear green.”
Read more: The world’s fastest motorsport comes to Roswell.
UFO FESTIVAL
CAN’T MISS EVENTS
“We’re pulling out all the stops,” says MainStreet Roswell director Barbara Gomez of the 2025 UFO Festival in Roswell. Seven blocks of Main Street close from July 4 to 6, so families can walk downtown to check out vendors, food trucks, and performers, including Star Wars storm troopers and stilt walkers in alien costumes. “It’s truly a street festival,” Gomez says.
Gomez encourages visitors and their pets to get into the act by dressing up like their favorite sci-fi characters and alien creatures for costume contests on Saturday. Two outdoor stages showcase local New Mexican and regional musical acts Friday through Sunday, while a free children’s area on the Chaves County Courthouse lawn helps to keep kids occupied. The annual parade with dozens of performers and UFO-related cars and floats kicks off Saturday night.
