New Mexico Uncovered
MrNuz
Abducted by aliens in Socorro. Or was it solar flares in Sunspot?
1 May 2006
based on 11 votes
Unusual things to do in New Mexico, while avoiding the Santa Fe and Taos "art scenes". Believe in UFOs?
-
Explore locations featured in this Traveler List:
Roswell, Cloudcroft, Alamogordo, Ruidoso, Capitan, Lincoln, Albuquerque, Socorro
- Category: Roadtrip
-
Traveler type: Culture, Sightseeing, Active/Outdoors, Never been before, Repeat visitors
-
Appeals to: Couples/romantics, Singles, Seniors, Students, Budget travellers , Active/adventure, Pet owners
- Seasons: Spring, Fall
- Tags: UFO, aliens, atomic, sunspots, interplanetary, haunted
|
|
|
|
|
|
No bug hunt is complete without a visit to the capitol of UFO lore. Enjoy signs like "Alien parking in rear", and streetlamps along Main Street shaped like alien heads. Did you know that Roswell is the home of the country's largest mozarella cheese plant, and an old military academy? Coincidence, or Conspiracy?! |
|
|
2. International UFO Museum and Research Center
|
|
| Yep, it's all here in this hokey ex-movie theater: alien autopsies, proof of government cover-ups, abduction stories. All in exhibits slightly resembling a grade school science fair. Definitely worth the price of admission: FREE! And the people are a trip (try to guess which ones are not earthlings). |
|
|
3. Rebecca's At The Lodge
|
|
| Drive up to Cloudcroft, where you will be out of breath carrying luggage up five steps because you're now at 9000 feet. The hotel is haunted (ask to see the Governor's Suite if it's unoccupied), and dine at Rebecca's, named for a dead employee who haunts the place. The food is also incredibly good. At night, you will see billions of stars, some of which may be circled by inhabited planets. |
|
|
4. National Solar Observatory at Sacramento Peak
|
|
| Near Cloudcroft is a facility that keeps a close eye on the sun. Take a self-guided tour (free), or just glom on to some visiting scientists and listen in, like we did. Fascinating, and not at all hot like the sun. Get close up looks at the star that keeps us all alive. Lovely drive through a high altitude forest. |
|
|
5. White Sands National Monument
|
|
| Descend from 9000 feet to below sea level in less than an hour to visit and stroll or drive through White Sands. It's a gigantic beach (visible from outer space) with no water whatsoever. Bring plenty to drink, and enjoy finding the tracks of the mysterious dung beetle (sung to the tune of "Goldfinger"). |
|
|
6. International Space Hall of Fame
|
|
| Be sure to stop by this interactive museum in Alamogordo (the town where the first atomic bomb was assembled). Wonderous exhibits, educational and fun- just TRY to land the space shuttle yourself. Not as easy as you thought, eh? Now try piloting a flying saucer! |
|
|
|
|
|
| Nice little town, site of a famous horse racing track. Many small cabins, rustic shops, piney woods. We saw an eagle fly right over our place at pleasantly homey (and inexpensive) Dan Dee Cabins, but it could have been an alien space ship. |
|
|
8. Museum of the American West (Ruidoso)
|
|
| Used to be the Museum of the Horse, with lots about racing, breeding, and these wonderfully wise mammals that may be a transplanted alien race. OK, I'm just kidding. But it is a fun couple of hours. |
|
|
9. Smokey Bear Museum and Gift Shop
|
|
| You must not miss the small but fascinating Smokey Bear Museum and gravesite in Capitan New Mexico. The Capitan Mountains is where the original Smokey (the) Bear was found as a cub after a huge fire around 1950, and turned into the world's best known public service icon. Horses and bears and aliens, oh my! |
|
|
|
|
|
| Tiny little town that was home to Billy the Kid, a psychopathic killer who has been treated kindly by history. Historical and haunted, with an interesting little museum. Stay at Casa de Patron for luxury amidst reminiscences of the old OLD West. |
|
|
|
|
|
| We planned our trip around one of the two days per year that the site of the world's first atomic bomb explosion is open to the public for 6 hours. Drive 30 miles through the White Sands Missile Range, closely watched by cameras hidden in the cactus ("Do Not Stop"). At the site, share the history, science and horror of the day the genie was let out of the bottle. Was Oppenheimer an alien? He sure acted like one... |
|
|
|
|
|
| End your trip in lovely Socorro, site of a fantastic bird sanctuary and an alien landing site. We picked up weird vibes at a long-abandoned drive in movie theater, and it turns out, THAT WAS THE PLACE! The locals told us, and we were drawn to it like ducks to a decoy. Aliens were in the audience in 1959 as they screened "Teenagers From Outer Space". No wonder they moved to Hollywood! |
|
Compliment MrNuz
