Back in 1950, a local farmer named Paul Trent took two photos of supposed UFOs from his land just outside of McMinnville. These are some of the earliest and most famous UFO photos ever taken. They were printed in Life magazine and in newspapers across the country and around the world. Every year McMinnville hosts a UFO festival which is equal parts serious lectures and discussions at the convention center and tin foil hats and ray guns at the street party downtown. I was thrilled to be able to attend the UFO Fest this year and to be able to take some photos of the parade and the participants in costumes around town. Sometimes it’s nice to take some photos just for fun.
Roswell is a town of about 48,000 people, making it the fifth largest city in New Mexico. The area was originally settled in 1869 when Van C. Smith and Aaron Wilburn built a small store, inn and post office. They named their settlement Roswell, which was Smith’s father’s first name. Roswell was the home of Walker Air Force Base from 1941-1967 and housed a POW camp during World War II, holding mostly German prisoners. In 1947, a UFO purportedly crashed in the area and the military seized the aircraft and its alien operators. This alleged incident has brought interest and controversy ever since, and you can read all about it and decide for yourself at the International UFO Museum and Research Center. Roswell has embraced the tourism opportunity from their UFO encounter and there are no shortage of T-shirts and bumper stickers to be had. Beyond that, I found Roswell to be a pleasant place full of kind and welcoming people and I’m definitely glad I stopped in for a while. I hope you enjoy these photos from fun and beautiful Roswell, New Mexico.
