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Sci-Fi Science

Roswell UFO Festival 133

Posted by CmdrTaco from the take-us-to-your-beer-tent dept.
jmcharry writes "From the Washington Post: 'Attention, all aliens. Come on down. Because, seriously, this is your crowd. About 50,000 of your closest admirers are expected this weekend for the Roswell UFO Festival, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the nearby crash landing of a flying saucer — and, naturally, the ensuing government cover-up.'"
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Roswell UFO Festival More

Roswell UFO Festival

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  • "The army's explanation of weather balloons in the Roswell, New Mexico incident 60 years ago has been dealt a serious public relations blow. Late Army Lt. Walter Haut had signed a sealed affidavit prior to his death last year asserting that he had witnessed the wreckage of an egg-shaped craft and its extraterrestrial crew while working at the Roswell Army Air Field. An article at News.com.au reviews how Haut had worked as public relations officer for the Roswell base and was involved in the original weather

    • Why not link to slashdot ? (Score:5, Informative)

      by aepervius ( 535155 ) on Sunday July 08, 2007 @12:06PM (#19790005)
      walter haut [slashdot.org], and I'll repeat what I said there : a confession discussed in 2000, made in 2002 for a death in 2005 is a way wee bit exagerated for the term "deathbed". Furthermore There is no way the guy would want to attract glory after his death. No, he was clearly impartial. wait wasn't it the guy with the ufo museum ? And wasn't it the guy which pretended that the US army would be stupid enough to ask casket (kid sized) from a local mortician ? I am surprised that some people give credence to this. Finally I'll deathbed confess that I know where a lot of gold is. Since it will be on my deathbed that will make it automatically true.

      Come on, next you will tell me silvia browne conatct the dead, Steorn has got free energy, and geller really bend spoon with his will. What next ? Homeopathy, the way hahneman described it, works perfectly ?

    • Re:Army Lt. Walter Haut (Score:4, Insightful)

      by tb3 ( 313150 ) on Sunday July 08, 2007 @12:12PM (#19790055) Homepage
      Here ya go, the real story [wikipedia.org]. Project Mogul was an Air Force project to detect nuclear tests by listening for them in the high atmosphere. It had the highest security classification, and when one of the balloons, along with it's plastic and tinfoil acoustic detectors, crashed near Roswell, the CIA decided that the UFO story provided a good cover.

      So, technically, it wasn't a weather balloon. Oh and the egg-shaped saucer? That was a different test version of the acoustic detector. They experimented with a number of different shapes.

      • Re:Army Lt. Walter Haut (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Bombula ( 670389 ) on Sunday July 08, 2007 @01:47PM (#19790835)
        Well, it's a shame that Roswell gets all the attention because it turns out there is a logical explanation for what happened. In thousands of other UFO sightings, no such explanation is available. The most compelling one to me is the black triangle incident with the Belgian Air Force, where the government has come right out and said that they have no terrestrial explanation for what all of their radar installations and two F16s witnessed, and that really leaves very few alternative explanations.

        It's a shame the subject of UFOs is ridiculed instead of taken seriously, and of course that is due in large part to the goofball social community surrounding unexplained phenomena. This Roswell celebration is, sadly, a prime example. If instead we had five million people march on Washington and demand the truth, we might get some real disclosure.

        • I have no knowledge of the Belgium incident, but I do not ridicule UFO sightings. After all, a UFO is just something up in the sky that you can't identify. Happens all the time, and will continue to happen.

          But things must happen all the time that we can't explain. That's because (wait for it) we are not omniscient.

          The problem comes when people go from "can't fully explain it" to "space aliens". That's when things go loony. That's when people get dumb.

          To buy into the "space aliens" theory requires a

        • Other sightings (Score:4, Informative)

          by Boronx ( 228853 ) <evonreis&mohr-engineering,com> on Monday July 09, 2007 @12:48AM (#19796037) Homepage Journal
          Anybody else remember when this got out? This video [youtube.com] was broadcast live during a classroom discussion that included shuttle astronauts. It made the national news at the time and AFAIK is legit. I think NASA stopped doing live broadcasts of exernal video after this.

          I'm pretty sure the panning and zooming were added by the Youtuber, but the actions of the UFO in the picture are exactly as I remember from the news clips.

          • gemini (Score:1, Interesting)

            by Anonymous Coward
            back in the 60s I was listening to live radio coverage of a gemini flight. The astronauts started excitedly talking about something they were seeing (implied UFO whatever, not space junk), then poof, the feed was cut, then later on they resumed and neither they nor the news ever referred to it again. Instant hushup. Pretty obvious, too. If it was junk, they would have talked about like "Nasa has figured out from trajectories the astronauts were seeing the blah blah satellite as it passed over...", but..noth

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by rtechie ( 244489 )
            It's ice people. Get a grip.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by rxmd ( 205533 )

          The most compelling one to me is the black triangle incident with the Belgian Air Force, where the government has come right out and said that they have no terrestrial explanation for what all of their radar installations and two F16s witnessed, and that really leaves very few alternative explanations.

          That incident is apparently also quite ambiguously interpreted; for another opinion you might be interested in reading this page [aol.com] (brought to you by dodgy AOL, but it does have references) on the 1990 Belgian

      • Tinfoil acoustic detectors? Do you need the hat to use them or will they run on their own?

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Shihar ( 153932 )
      The idea that the US government is capable of covering up UFOs, 9/11, or offing a JFK is laughable. The US absolutely terrible at keeping secrets that stick even a toe into controversy. Just Bush's presidency alone is a long series blown secrets. For better or for worse, American officials love to blow the whistle on anything that is sketchy, and the say what you will about the US press, but they love to expose secrets almost as much as they love Paris Hilton.

      Personally, I have very little fear about wha

  • UFO - Roswell? HAHA (Score:3, Informative)

    by IdleTime ( 561841 ) on Sunday July 08, 2007 @10:30AM (#19789197) Journal
    Well, I guess it's a form of socializing and these people get off on it...

    Btw, Area 51 has been closed for some time due to hazmat risks, the business is now moved to a more desolate place.

    • Re:UFO - Roswell? HAHA (Score:4, Funny)

      by lena_10326 ( 1100441 ) on Sunday July 08, 2007 @10:39AM (#19789269) Homepage

      Well, I guess it's a form of socializing and these people get off on it...
      I spose you haven't heard. Earth Girls are Easy.

      http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Girls-Easy-Geena-Davis /dp/B00005QCVN/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-5539242-8032110 ?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1183905454&sr=8-1 [amazon.com]

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by jawtheshark ( 198669 ) *

      For those who do not know what hazmat [wikipedia.org] means... I didn't...

    • groom lake closed??? (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      maybe you should check it out on google earth. even on google earth there is a plane on the tarmac and visible markings all over the area. maybe they are bomb targets, but why would you need a bomb target at a non functioning base. and wouldn't the classic target symbol be good enough instead of crazy geometric shapes like triangles inside of circles. the "targets" are not necessarily a big deal (maybe) but the plane sitting on the tarmac says that someones home.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by qzulla ( 600807 )
        Maybe this is a recent closure and the google pic is several years old? Just guessing on this, mind you.

        qz
      • HAHAHA!

        The picture of Groom Lake is years old, same is the picture were they moved. If you knew the new location and looked at it with Google Earth, it would look like a normal wooded area.
    • UFOs, whatever their origin, are an air safety hazard.

      There are literally thousands of credible, documented encounters between Civil/Military Aviation aircraft alone. See http://narcap.org/ [narcap.org] headed by a retired NASA scientist who has scientifically categorized various air encounters, EM interferences, and near-collision events.

      The recent hovering UFO incident over the busy and restricted airspace of O'Hare airport is yet another example. The airline employees who reported the incident did so because th

  • Seriously, aliens, stay away. (Score:4, Funny)

    by gardyloo ( 512791 ) on Sunday July 08, 2007 @10:31AM (#19789203)
    If I were an alien, landing in the midst of 50,000 "worshippers" in a town of 45,000 people in SE New Mexico would NOT be my first choice. Actually, that goes for just about everyone, alien to the planet or not. Unless, of course, my menu normally consisted of nutjobs in RVs and on motorcycles.

  • They're Really Here! (Score:5, Funny)

    by camperslo ( 704715 ) on Sunday July 08, 2007 @10:37AM (#19789255)
    They've come in under radar... from Mexico

    • No, really! (Score:3, Informative)

      by hey! ( 33014 )
      I was in the gym the other day, and the "Discovery Channel" had a show on about Mexican UFO sightings. Apparently, Mexico is the hot new location for "UFOlogists".
      • I hear you can get a degree in UFology from the correspondence college of Tampa.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by niktemadur ( 793971 )
        I was in the gym the other day, and the "Discovery Channel" had a show on about Mexican UFO sightings. Apparently, Mexico is the hot new location for "UFOlogists".

        It's this guy's fault: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaime_Maussan [wikipedia.org]

        He used to be a serious reporter (an anchorman for the mexican 60 Minutes), but in the last decade or two he's made a mint holding conferences all over Mexico about the grays and illuminati and all sorts of rubbishy things. Whenever he's on television (which is often), his appearan

  • That aliens read the Washington Post and speak English?

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Tim_UWA ( 1015591 )
      I'd say pretty close to the chances that they read the Washington Post. Unless you can think of a reason a non-English speaker would read it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by niceone ( 992278 ) *
      That aliens read the Washington Post

      Good point - they probably read one of the down-market tabloids that take alien abductions etc. seriously enough to devote extensive coverage to them.
    • Have you never watched Stargate? All aliens speak English.
  • The fact that Chase Masterson [startrek.com] (the DS9 "Dabo" girl) will be attending is probably more interesting (and definitely more probable) than potential aliens showing up ;)

    --Ivan

    • Ah, damn. I hoped for the guy who held the spotlights during the shots. 'cause of his qualified technical knowledge ;-)

  • American only belief? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by renoX ( 11677 ) on Sunday July 08, 2007 @10:50AM (#19789367)
    I read on the Internet (so it must be true) that 50% of the Americans believe that there are aliens on the earth, I wonder why so many Americans?

    In France, from my informal questions hardly no-one believes in aliens living on the earth, of course on the other hand we have our own myths, for example the Graphological analysis (believing that you can know someone by looking how his writing look) which is very widespread: you almost always have to do one to get a high-paying job..

    • Re:American only belief? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Joe The Dragon ( 967727 ) on Sunday July 08, 2007 @10:53AM (#19789409)
      It may have to do with all of the covering up that is being done.
      • It's more to do with the US's dissident origins, and the ingrained belief in the American psyche that people in positions of power are constantly trying to screw them over.

    • Re:American only belief? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Colin Smith ( 2679 ) on Sunday July 08, 2007 @11:25AM (#19789685)

      I read on the Internet (so it must be true) that 50% of the Americans believe that there are aliens on the earth,
      50% voted for Bush, sounds plausible to me.

      I wonder why so many Americans?
      It's all explained in full here:
      http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/credulous [reference.com]

       
    • This my friend, might have something to do with it: 22 out of 400 senior Government, CIA & Military & NASA officials went public admitting UFO's and aliens are real.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vyVe-6YdUk [youtube.com]

      Also, France & Mexico governments are supposed to be releasing all the info they have on the subject soon, if they haven't already done so.

      Adeptus
      • France has released its 'cometa' report: http://www.ufoevidence.org/topics/Cometa.htm [ufoevidence.org]

        In 1999 an important document was published in France entitled, UFOs and Defense: What must we be prepared for? ("Les Ovni Et La Defense: A quoi doit-on se préparer?"). This ninety-page report is the result of an in-depth study of UFOs, covering many aspects of the subject, especially questions of national defense. The study was carried out over several years by an independent group of former "auditors" at the Insti

    • Re:American only belief? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by kripkenstein ( 913150 ) on Sunday July 08, 2007 @11:35AM (#19789775) Homepage

      I read on the Internet (so it must be true) that 50% of the Americans believe that there are aliens on the earth, I wonder why so many Americans?

      In France, from my informal questions hardly no-one believes in aliens living on the earth, of course on the other hand we have our own myths, for example the Graphological analysis (believing that you can know someone by looking how his writing look)
      Why? Well, why do Americans like fast food or blockbuster movies? It's a cultural thing. UFOs are as much American as Bruce Willis action flicks or interest in people like Paris Hilton.

      Why specifically are UFOs an American cultural thing? Well, for some reason in the US many conspiracy theories thrive (JFK assassination, etc.), perhaps because there have been plenty of actual conspiracies: Nixon, Iran-Contra, and so forth. (Or do all countries have conspiracies, but the US is better at finding them? Who knows.) The US has a thread of anti-establishment thought that is quite strong, this might also factor into it.

      That, and sci-fi was very big in the US around the middle of the century; the Roswell incident - whatever happened there - was in the right place at the right time.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by LuNa7ic ( 991615 )

        (Or do all countries have conspiracies, but the US is better at finding them? Who knows.)
        Or worse at hiding them...

      • UFOs not an "American only belief" (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Jeremy_Bee ( 1064620 ) on Sunday July 08, 2007 @02:19PM (#19791069)
        Not that I am defending the motives and beliefs of the "True Believers" that gather in Roswell for these kinds of things, but ... anyone familiar with the history of belief in UFO's, Flying Saucers and Alien saviours can tell you that UFO's are certainly not an "American Only" phenomenon.

        If you check the data, only the belief in Alien Abductions and the whole "Grey aliens stole my baby" thing can truly be said to have originated in America or to be exclusive to American culture.

        UFO *sightings* on the other hand, and the UFO phenomenon in general (regardless of whatever the cause turns out to be), are pretty much uniform over all cultures and take the same general form in each. Often a small amount of local cultural belief is overlaid on the data set, but the data itself is very homogeneous and consistent across cultures.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by bortizc ( 828055 )
        I have this theory: it is due to american isolationism. Americans would rather believe (from 1950-2001) that their biggest threat came from outer space. The goverment was happy with that belief; it let them do as they pleased in other parts of the world ---guatemala, iran, cuba, chile, vietnam, grenada, panama, etc---while the american people speculated on alien abductions. It all ended the 11th of september of 2001. Now it is all a nostalgia of a better time.

      • Re:American only belief? UFO fleets spotted (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Well, here is some interesting video of UFO fleets over Peru and Mexico. Mass sighting mid-day. All I can say is they are unidentified, I'm not going to insist they're alien, but some of the vids I've seen before out on the net (rense/google video/youtube/etc) stuff doesn't look terrestrial or military to me.

        UFO Fleet in Lima, Peru ... May 2007 [liveleak.com]
        Large Fleet of UFO's in the skies over Mexico City [liveleak.com]
        UFO fleet over Guadalajara Mexico in 2004 [liveleak.com]

        Anyways, I dunno what those are. I think balloons is the wrong answer. But

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by foobsr ( 693224 )
      That very large majorities of the American public, and almost all (but not all) Christians believe in God, the survival of the soul after death, miracles, heaven, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the Virgin birth will come as no great surprise. What may be more surprising is that half of all adults believe in ghosts, almost a third believe in astrology, and more than a quarter believe in reincarnation - that they were themselves reincarnated from other people. Majorities of about two-thirds of all adul

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Peet42 ( 904274 )

      I read on the Internet (so it must be true) that 50% of the Americans believe that there are aliens on the earth


      Yet there's so much resistance to the idea that George W Bush and his father before him are really shape-shifting lizard creatures with a hidden agenda. Go figure.
    • There are plenty of superstitions to go around, starting with the one that causes the most misery -- the belief in a sky-spook(s). I am only slightly amused when god-believers look down their noses at UFO-believers, astrologers, graphologists, fortune-tellers/seers, and other such that have no grounding in reality. Superstition appears to me to be the basic state of humanity.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )
      I read on the Internet (so it must be true) that 50% of the Americans believe that there are aliens on the earth, I wonder why so many Americans?

      It's because they trust what the read on the Internet :-)
           

  • If you're in the area, go! (Score:4, Informative)

    by dave-tx ( 684169 ) * <(df19808+slashdot) (at) (gmail.com)> on Sunday July 08, 2007 @10:51AM (#19789383)

    Seriously - if you're in the general area (as much as THAT can be said in New Mexico), go to Roswell. My wife and I stopped by during the 50th anniversary and had a blast. It's a cute town, and when it's overrun by UFO nuts and X-Files fans, it's just plain silly.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by SQLGuru ( 980662 )
      I highly recommend the production at the community theater (joke) and the observatory (the trip highlight). The parade is a joke.....of course, I lived in New Orleans for a while and sort of have a totally different perspective on parades.

      Layne
    • It would have been nice to know about this a few days ago; the festival started Thursday and today is the last day. I'm not exactly close but I'm not too far; a road trip would not have been out of the question. The Washington Post article makes it sound like the 50,000 are "expected" to show up -- making it seem as if this thing will go on for a few more days. But according to this article [voanews.com], it ends today.

  • Jerry Pournelle (Score:4, Interesting)

    by jenesais ( 614180 ) on Sunday July 08, 2007 @10:51AM (#19789385)
    Jerry Pournelle commented on Roswell recently: http://www.jerrypournelle.com/mail/mail473.html#Ro swell [jerrypournelle.com]. Pournelle says that because he was involved with the USAF Project 75 technology survey, he would have had access to any information that could have helped with defense planning. He originally suspected that the USAF had dropped a nuke that didn't exploded ("laid an egg" as he puts it) near Roswell.
    • If you read onward, he's also a global warming denier. Sounds like a loyal bushie.

      • If you read onward, he's also a global warming denier. Sounds like a loyal bushie.

        Is that really the best you can do? You can't conceive of any reason beyond partisan politics that someone might not have completely bought the notion that - absent humans living their lives - there wouldn't be any climate change going on? You're confusing people who think that the breathless fearmongering being used to push socializing policy agendas and a more government-centric regulatory environment is something worth r

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Threni ( 635302 )
          > You can't conceive of any reason beyond partisan politics that someone might not have completely bought the notion that - absent
          > humans living their lives - there wouldn't be any climate change going on?

          The question is usually `are humans contributing to global warming`, not `is there global warming`. I don't see that an affirmative answer to the latter question is treated as being particularly controversial.
          • The question is usually `are humans contributing to global warming`, not `is there global warming`. I don't see that an affirmative answer to the latter question is treated as being particularly controversial.

            Of course there is warming. It's been happening for at least 15,000 years since the last ice age (except when it's not). That's not the point. The point is that when people push back against the Gore-type message that humans are THE (as in, THE ONLY) cause of climate change, they're called "deniers.
            • Sure, he is questioning whether or not global warming is caused by humans NOW. A while ago? He was probably questioning whether or not global warming was even happening. That's how these people work. He doesn't want to agree, but he has to seem like he's considering the opposition and it's views. Most of the people who are questioning our part in global warming were at one time questioning the very existence of global warming.

              Anyway, he's most obviously in league with the other politicians and croni

  • Cover up? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by iknownuttin ( 1099999 ) on Sunday July 08, 2007 @11:01AM (#19789477)
    The U.S. government, of course, has issued its share of reports debunking UFOs. Here in Roswell, those reports are generally seen as desperate attempts to whitewash the truth.

    Wasn't there a ton of UFO sightings when the USAF was testing the F-117? As top secret that stealth aircraft was, the US Gov. eventually announced it.

    And, whenever the US Gov. really wants to keep a secret - they can't - can you say Abu Ghraib or bombing in Cambodia, and wiretapping US citizens and violating the Fourth Amendment?

    Sorry, I think between incompetence in Gov. and just decent people in the World (I guess I'm getting soft in my old age), any secrets won't stay secret very long.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by TrekkieGod ( 627867 )

      And, whenever the US Gov. really wants to keep a secret - they can't

      Well, if an alien spacecraft really did crash in Roswell, they did a horrible job of keeping it a secret. For starters, they screwed up and the USAF initially announced they had recovered a flying saucer. Then they went back on the claim and said it was a weather balloon. Now we're all talking about it, multiple movies have been made...if you say "Roswell" to someone, they know what you're talking about. And that's from 1947, when it was a lot easier to destroy records than it is today.

      I know, you s

    • Ok, I'm just gonna poke a couple holes and it won't hurt too much, I promise. First Abu Ghraib, do you honestly think that the government wanted that to be a secret. They didn't even know what was going on there, secret things are handled by people with *gasp* security clearances. How many of those guys do you think that were working there have them? The correct answer for the people directly involved with the offenses is none and if any of them did they have now lost them. The point being is that faci

  • How about a double cover up ? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by ivan_w ( 1115485 ) on Sunday July 08, 2007 @11:08AM (#19789543) Homepage
    Ok.. Let me, just for a sec, take the conspiracy theory just a tad further...

    Let's say the government has something REALLY big to hide.. What could be one of its approach.. Well : Take an insignificant incident and PRETEND it's a cover up (that is, give obviously phony explanations, use wandering and puzzled looks during media conferences, have people sign funny papers, etc..).. For the 60 years to come, people are going to be going CRAZY about *this* particular cover-up (which may incidentally - should the double cover up theory be true - not even be one, but rather an elaborate hoax).

    Now *THAT* is conspiracy !

    --Ivan

    (PS : I'm not actually buying this - and believe it or not, I'm going with the weather balloon gone awry explanation)..
    • How about you watch this? You know... the Internationally broadcast episode where 22 out of 400 Senior Military, Government & NASA officials admit publicly UFO's are real.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vyVe-6YdUk [youtube.com] [youtube.com]

      Adeptus
      • I just did. I'd like ~ 116 minutes of my life back, please.
      • And millions of Americans have admitted publicly that they believe Jesus will come out of the clouds to destoy civilisation and kill everyone who disagrees with their particuliar religious viewpoint.

        Where is your evidence ?

    • The big untold story is the implantation of microscopic mind control devices in ordinary aluminum foil. Remember, always buy the store brand.

      Wait a minute, why did I just say that?
    • oh come on..
      its obvious...
      it's not cause they want to HIDE something its because they knew that ~50 years on there would be massive *festival* there, boosting the economy...
      the economy... everyone knows thats what the US government cares about the most.
  • I've always thought it an interesting coincidence that the Roswell myth dates from about the same time that the Manhattan Project - which was an actual large-scale government cover-up - became public knowledge.

    Not only that, but Alamogordo is less than a hundred miles from Roswell.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by petrus4 ( 213815 )
      Interesting idea, but the atomic bomb was used in 1945, which means that its' existence obviously had to be public knowledge by 1947, which is when Roswell happened. Thus, there wouldn't be much sense in trying to cover that up.

  • Slashdot, skeptics, and Roswell (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Roswell is one of the greatest misdirections ever pulled off by the government and no credible Ufologist pays it any attention.

    Slashdotters love to pat themselves on the back by pointing out the all the inconsistencies in the Roswell story. Newsflash - ufologists have known about these for years, and Roswell itself is only considered a conspiracy by the New Agers and self-styled Agent Mulders of the world.

    Want to poke holes in a REAL ufo mystery? Take a look at Tehran 1976 or Malmstrom AFB.

    • ...credible Ufologist...

      I'm sorry, but I can't read the rest of your post because I'm too busy laughing myself to death at this amusing turn of phrase.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ettlz ( 639203 )

        ...credible Ufologist...
        I'm sorry, but I can't read the rest of your post because I'm too busy laughing myself to death at this amusing turn of phrase.
        Way to insult Sun Ra's biographer.
  • What exactly does the Government have to gain by a conspiracy?

    Stop widespread public panic? would the panic be anymore than the terrorism panic?

  • Leela: No, over here! (reads headline) Flying saucer captured!
    Bender: That's no flying saucer! That's my ass!
    Fry: My God! This means the flying saucer that crashed in Roswell... was us!
    Farnsworth: And the alien they captured was... was...

    Cut to aircraft hangar, where soldiers pry open a crate, revealing....

    Zoidberg: Hello!
    General: Eegh!
    Zoidberg: So what are you guys doing tonight? I'm up for whatever.
  • Is the sound of 100,000 parents rejoicing that their children have finally left their basements.
  • Easy to say, I am an alien actually reading /. from another galaxy through an ip v256 subspace tunnel (we have a few secret gateways on your planet). I see no mention of travel expenses being reimboursed. I so, I might consider showing up. It just seems to me they want to make money off our poor alien backs so far...
  • UFOs in the Vedas were called "Vimana", which in Hindu is used now to refer to aerial aircrafts. The difference being that these were not really "UFOs" (Unidentified Flying Objects), but more like "flying saucers", which had all kinds of shapes like: triangles, saucer shapes, sigar shapes, huge bowls and shapes more resembling our aerodynamic crafts of today. Another exception also being that some of these ancient crafts could travel in space, in the air, in the water and below water too. They behaved much
    • Congratulations. The Vedas wrote some interesting Bronze Age fantasy tales indeed. That is, however, what they were. You don't get the technology to fly mechanical craft with atomic weapons and then land on the ground to fight it out with maces or ride around on traditional chariots with traditional charioteers firing massive volumes of traditional and fantasy arrows. This is the bulk of the Dronaparva battle epic.

    • This would be spectacular, except that the apparatus as described does not function. A great hullabaloo has been made regarding ancient civilizations' supposed technological advances, and yet not one of them wrote of molecular structures, proteins, chemistry and knowledge of the elements, or materials science of composites or alloys.

      If building flying machines as described in your post, one must understand the physical principles of flight, aerodynamics, and center of gravity for the device. The descript
      • You may have to consider the people writing/preserving the text were not necessarily the same people using- or making the apparatus. Much has been lost, indeed since most of the world described is totally gone - back to a stone age world.

        Much of the Vedas were never actually written, but remembered in an oral tradition, passed down from generation to generation.

        You may find similar things in the Bible. Start reading from Ezekiel 1, and see if you can find the sci-fi story that unfolds there. Of course, the
  • First, the Government denies the existence of aliens in the United States.

    Then, the Government says that there is a problem with aliens in the United States.

    THEN, the Government continues to deny that there ever were aliens in the United States, but simultaneously continues to say that aliens are flooding into the country at a rate of millions per year.

    I can see where those Roswell people may be more than a bit confused.....
    • Brilliant reply! I'll go further - if there is a single slashdotter out there that can tell me with a straight face that they believe a government as inept as the US could keep the greatest secret in human history, but take almost four days to get a glass of clean water to the Superdome in New Orleans (Yeah, remember those guys, *our own* citizens? They're STILL waiting for help!) then I'll meet you down in Roswell...I truly DO hope they find intelligent life in outer space because lately there's a seriou
  • ...at this event will be the ones in the audience. Although in their case, I suspect "intraterrestrials," might be a more accurate term. ;-)
  • Make fun of these people all you want, but as far as I am concerned these people have a better chance of their wishes/beliefs to come true (meeting an alien) then a religious person has of hoping to talk to any of his divine entities (god, christ, angles, ...). To be really fair in this comparison, those waiting for aliens "have" a chance.

  • Yet another troll story. Clearly brain parasites, possibly of alien origin, have infected CmdrTaco's brain. I can see no other reasonable explanation for all the stories on Roswell and perpetual motion machines of late on Slashdot. I wish we could Digg this story down.

    It doesn't belong under science. Not even close. Is there a pseudoscience category?
  • I have been to Roswell, NM and have seen all the exhibits. The stories are actually a brilliant idea hatched by a couple of local businessmen to resurrect a failing local economy. It has worked perfectly and continues to bring in more and more money to the Roswell economy. And yes I recommend going there and enjoying the sites. It was fun. It is also close to the Carlsbad Caverns which is well worth the trip.

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