Roswell (pop. 48,422) is a city in southeastern New Mexico best known for the mysterious 1947 crash of what many people called an unidentified flying object (UFO). A rancher named William W. (Mac) Brazel claimed that he discovered debris from the crash on land north of the city. He reported it to the United States Army Air Forces, which had a base in Roswell. On July 8, 1947, an officer from the base reported that the debris was a crashed “flying saucer,” a spaceship from another planet. The military reversed its report the next day and stated that the wreckage was in fact a weather balloon.
The UFO incident has attracted hundreds of thousands of tourists, UFO researchers, and UFO enthusiasts to Roswell. The city is the home of the International UFO Museum and Research Center and hosts an annual UFO festival in July. Apart from UFO-related businesses, Roswell’s economy is largely agricultural. It includes the production of chili peppers and dairy products, especially cheese. The city also has many oil and natural gas businesses.
Ranchers and farmers settled the area in the mid-1800’s. In the early 1870’s, the town was named Roswell for an early settler’s father. Roswell was incorporated as a city in 1891. It is the seat of Chaves County and has a council-manager government.
