2007年VOA标准英语-Supposed Flying Saucer Incident Marks 60th Anni

By Greg Flakus
Roswell, New Mexico
29 June 2007
 

Sixty years ago this July, something happened in the desert about 100 kilometers northwest of Roswell, New Mexico. A local newspaper at the time reported that a flying saucer had crashed and that the wreckage¹ had been taken to the U.S. Army Air base just outside of Roswell. The military said it had been a weather balloon that crashed.

An 'alien' in a storefront window display

But many people who research UFOs -- unidentified flying objects -- think aliens from another planet crashed in New Mexico and they have made the Roswell incident a major focus of their attention. As VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Roswell, local people have decided² to go along with all, much to their profit.

There are some scenic³ places in New Mexico for tourists to visit. But they are all about a two-hour drive from Roswell. Very few tourists came here before the aliens arrived.

Sandy James

Roswell's big attraction now is the UFO Museum and Research Center. Sandy James is deputy director.

"Basically, a long time ago, if you came to Roswell, you were lost. Now, if you come to Roswell, you are coming to see the museum."

People from around the world flock here to see exhibits about the July 1947 incident and other UFO stories. They also buy lots of souvenirs. James explains the attractions. "Top items that people buy would be tee-shirts, first.  Coffee mugs are second, then shot glasses and key chains."

A large family from India spent more than an hour looking at the evidence of alien visits and came away convinced. One of them commented on the museum, "I see all the pictures and all the signs and I heard before some stories about the aliens."

A skeptical⁴ boy in the family says, "I believe it somewhat, but not fully⁵. The skin of the aliens is green and my favorite color is green." 

Roswell, a town of some 50,000 people, will double in size during the four days of the 60th anniversary UFO Festival in early July.

Guy Malone

Guy Malone is organizing the festival and a concurrent⁶ conference of UFO investigators⁷.  He says the city government realizes the importance of the whole UFO story to the local economy. "It seems 11 or 12 percent of the employment base in Roswell is now tourism and hospitality-oriented such as hotels, restaurants, museums, things like that.  A decade ago that figure was zero-point-something percent."

Malone says Roswell's residents are divided between those who think the famous 1947 alien incident is a bunch of nonsense that can be exploited for tourist dollars and those who really do think something happened and that the government covered it up.

"You have a whole community involved here. You do have the serious side of researchers and witnesses that can actually give you the serious side if that is what you are looking for and then there is also the campy or schtick side, too."

One of the serious Roswell residents is former Texas civil engineer Dennis Balthaser.  He says his investigations⁸ have convinced him that the U.S. military did recover a crashed alien craft 60 years ago and hid it from the public.

"The United States government has had a lot of practice keeping secrets. Good examples are the atomic bomb project, which was carried out right here at Los Alamos, north of Roswell.  Fifty-thousand people were involved with that project for about 10 years and it was kept secret."

Dennis Balthaser

Balthaser thinks it may have been the first test of an atomic bomb, here in New Mexico in 1945 and the atomic bombs kept at the Roswell army base that drew the attention of visitors from another world.

He is aware that many people, here and elsewhere, view belief in UFOs as irrational⁹, but he thinks this would change if the U.S. government followed other governments in revealing what it knows. "Within the past six months, the government of France and the government of England (Great Britain) have both announced that they are going to open up their UFO files. The United States has made no attempt to do that."

It is not likely that any dramatic new evidence will emerge at the upcoming UFO conference here to change anyone's mind one way or the other on the Roswell incident. 

Guy Malone believes the town will be able to capitalize on it for a long time to come. "I think the mystery will always endure. The mystery will always be there. Nobody is ever going to have conclusive¹⁰ proof of what it was or wasn't."

Local business owners agree and there are now plans for a new, much larger UFO Museum in town.

But the questions about what happened here 60 years ago will never be resolved unless, of course, the aliens themselves were to pay a return visit just to clear things up.

1 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 scenic   

adj.自然景色的，景色优美的

参考例句：

• The scenic beauty of the place entranced the visitors.这里的美丽风光把游客们迷住了。
• The scenic spot is on northwestern outskirts of Beijing.这个风景区位于北京的西北远郊。

4 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 concurrent   

adj.同时发生的，一致的

参考例句：

• You can't attend two concurrent events!你不能同时参加两项活动！
• The twins had concurrent birthday. 双胞胎生日在同一天。

7 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

9 irrational   

adj.无理性的，失去理性的

参考例句：

• After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
• There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。

10 conclusive   

adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的

参考例句：

• They produced some fairly conclusive evidence.他们提供了一些相当确凿的证据。
• Franklin did not believe that the French tests were conclusive.富兰克林不相信这个法国人的实验是结论性的。