Happy Science Fiction Day!

Fragment of a Roswell mural by Larry Welz

“Science fiction stories are extraordinary voyages into any of the infinite supply of conceivable futures.” - Isaac Asimov in “Asimov on Science Fiction”

Saving Earth

For James

 

Prologue

Roswell, NM. July 8, 1947

 

Twenty minutes too late! Can you imagine? The entire area where the spacecraft crashed has been cordoned off. It's like a scene from a late 1930s science fiction movie! Bright lights, cops, military, journalists, suspicious looking men in black suits, suspense. This could have been the greatest story ever told. If only I got a hold of the rancher. But Mac Brazel was nowhere to be found...

 

Moon Base Luna Alpha One.

Mission Commander. Personal logbook. June 29, 2378 (Ancestral Time System).

I am a third generation scientist here on the Moon. There are twenty five thousand of us. We are the only humans in the entire universe, although our ancestors would probably call us "trans-human".

Here on the Moon we outlived the humanity which was obliterated in three consecutive atomic wars in the 2020s.

We can see the earthrise, but the Earth we see is not the blue-green planet our grandparents watched rising when they first came here in the year 2018. The planet we see is a dead, scorched, inhabitable sphere that resembles Mars rather than the image I remember seeing on my father's personal computer.

 

As a child I always wondered what life must have been like on Earth. I visited the Gaia Park as often as I could, but I was never sure that the holographic images we created at the touch of a button were what the Earth was really like before the destruction. You could immerse yourself in any landscape with all its scents and sounds, temperature and precipitation for the most authentic earth experience. And yet, I was never fully satisfied. I always wanted more.

This is why I decided to develop the time travel technology. I wanted to go back to the world my grandparents loved so much.

Like every child at Luna Alpha One I studied the old masters. They had so many interesting concepts, but they seemed to never agree on anything. Out of hubris they would dismiss the truth in order to uphold their own faulty theories. Can you imagine that they would kill those who disagreed with them? And yet, not even one of them ever came close to the Truth. At their evolutionary level none of them would comprehend it anyway.

 

Discord seemed to permeate all aspects of human existence. They were so rich and yet, so poor. Maybe it was their fear of dying that made them so hostile, so belligerent, so hateful.

I remember reading my grandmother's diary. Since the young age she was terrified of getting old. In the 1990s she studied human genetics and the orthomolecular medicine. She hoped to discover the Fountain of Youth. She made some progress when she stumbled upon the telomerase research. With this knowledge she was able to considerably slow down the aging process, but was not fully satisfied. The real breakthrough came when she met my grandfather. They combined her research with his progressive nano-technology. Together they were able to extend the lifespan of existing humans to 140 years, but the embryos they created were immortal. 

 

We are the new humans. We grow older, but we do not really age. Senescence is unknown to us. And we do not die. Those who wish may withdraw from life and enter the state of Permanent Awe, but most of us prefer to remain active for hundreds of years. There is simply too much to do in this vast universe.

We can synthesize our own nutrition accordingly to our individual needs and are able to monitor our somatic processes. Nano robots are mobilized to repair any damage to a tissue or an organ, and we can upload the latest longevity software into our mitochondria.

We live in our trans-human paradise and no one even thinks of changing the way we coexist. We do not use money and consider material possessions meaningless.

The only wealth we care about is our knowledge. Although any of us can upload any information to our brains, the real wealth comes from our ability to use that data. Unlike our human ancestors we use our knowledge to create, not to destroy.

 
It is difficult to imagine that most of them believed they were alone in the universe. Those who considered that there was life in the outer space believed that contact was impossible with the technology they possessed. What they did not understand was that it was their mindset and not the lack of technology that prevented them from making a connection with what they called non-human entities. 

 

I look out and see Earth. It must have been such a lovely planet once. Pity, really. But maybe not all is lost. If my mission is successful we may be able to turn things around and prevent the disaster that destroyed all life there. 

 

Our space-time ship is equipped with a state of the art technology. We have transformed my husband's Vega 123 vehicle. Jim designed it for our honeymoon in outer space. He even received a Moebius Prize for her! An unbelievably clever trick and a state-of-the-art technology prevents molecular disintegration upon the entry into a black hole. We named her Gaia 1, of course, and I cannot wait to board it. 

 

We plan to land on Earth at a place called Los Alamos/35°53′28″N 106°17′52″W moments before the first atomic test on July 16, 1945. I studied the Manhattan Project materials. Some interesting stuff. Clever minds at work. But no one there seemed to understand that there were so many other uses for the nuclear power. 

 

If I could only persuade all those involved to abandon the thoughts of destruction we could alter the flow of events on Earth...

Epilogue

 

Moon Base Luna Alpha One. Mission Control Center. Newsroom. July 7, 2378 (Ancestral Time System).

Something went horribly wrong! The last message that came from Gaia 1 indicated a serious change in space-time coordinates. The craft seemed to have crashed at Roswell/33°23′14″N 104°31′41″W/July 7/1947. Connection was lost after impact. We suspect that the blast at Los Alamos altered Gaia's landing coordinates. A rescue mission is being considered by the Council. Our hearts and minds are with the brave crew. 

 

By Dominique Allmon

Dominique Allmon©2023

 

75th Anniversary of the Roswell Incident

Happy 75th Anniversary of the UFO Crash in Roswell! 

As every year, Roswell, NM, celebrates the alleged event with a colorful three-day long  festival.  Alien parade, costume competition, night sky watch, live music, and other activities fill out the weekend.

For three days UFO enthusiasts from all over the world descend on this small desert town. There is something for everyone there, even for the UFO deniers and skeptics. Leave your Serious Hat at home and join the jolly crowd! 

Dominique Allmon

Image: Alien on Main, Roswell by Dominique Allmon©2022

Happy World UFO Day

 

Buzzing Roswell Since 1947 Alien UFO Commander Science Fiction 

Classic T-Shirt by Jim Allmon

World UFO Day is an awareness day for science fiction aficionados to gather together and watch the skies for unidentified flying objects.

Some people celebrate the UFO Day on June 24, others on July 2. Why two different dates? June 24 is the date that the aviator Kenneth Arnold reported what is generally considered to be the first widely reported UFO sighting in the United States. July 2, on the other hand, commemorates the alleged UFO crash in the famous 1947 Roswell UFO Incident.

The beginning of July normally is a time when people of Roswell, NM, are preparing to celebrate the annual UFO Festival. Visitors from all over the world descend on this quiet desert town. Not this year, though.

The 2020 Roswell UFO Festival has been cancelled due to COVID-19. Nobody is happy about this.  Local artists are desperate to keep their business alive. Everybody is struggling.

In times like these, one has to be inventive and so, the festival organizers resorted to online venues that include virtual costume contest. Popular gifts from Roswell can be bought online. 

For more information visit Roswell UFO Festival website

70th Anniversary Roswell UFO Festival

Sometime in July 1947 a mysterious flying object crashed in the desert of New Mexico in the vicinity of a sleepy desert town known to everybody as Roswell. 

Wreckage that was recovered from the crash was brought to the Roswell Army Air Field. The local paper, the Roswell Daily Record, reported that a "flying saucer" had been captured and started the biggest UFO controversy ever recorded, or so. 

The "remains" were allegedly transported to Area 51 in Nevada and the whole incident remains covered in a fog of secrecy. To this day no one really knows what was found in the desert. Was it an alien spaceship, a secret government experiment, or simply an high altitude weather balloon

Year 2017 marks the 70th anniversary of that event. Roswell expects more visitors than ever and welcomes true believers, those who want to believe, UFO aficionados, skeptics, science fiction lovers, artists, artisans, and everybody who simply wants to have some fun. 

For many people UFOs are a serious business. More than thirty speakers were invited this year to discuss the challenges of alien life in Space and on Earth. Alien costume contest, laser show, concerts, Light Parade and a parallel Galacticon venue are all scheduled to take place during the celebrations that will end with fireworks on the 4th of July. All this is happening at temperatures around 100°F and is accompanied by tasty Southwestern food, spices, flavors et al.

By Dominique Allmon

Roswell 2015 UFO Festival

Alien eyes on a Roswell lantern by Larry Welz

We are in the middle of the Roswell UFO Festival that is celebrated every year from 3-5th July to commemorate the legendary UFO crash of 1947.   

Roswell does not have much to offer to tourists and yet, every year people are coming to this sleepy Southwestern town to have some fun. 

Unfortunately, from one year to another, the festival becomes a pitiful and rather boring event as if the organizers were determined to discourage people from future visits. And truly, if this was not for the UFO fame, no one would even stop here on their way to or from the Carlsbad Caverns. Roswell is one of those small American towns you pass through very quickly and hope you do not have to come back. 

When we first moved to Roswell in 2009 the sight of tumbleweeds rolling dawn the road near our house was a sign of the doom that was soon to spread over Roswell like an impenetrable cosmic fog from a science fiction movie.

Roswell McDonald's mural by Larry Welz, fragment

Things changed from bad to worse over the past few years. The 55th anniversary of the UFO crash in 2012, for instance, did not even have the alien parade. You could see slightly disoriented and very disappointed tourists wandering around the town. The gift shops selling kitchy UFO-inspired gifts were dying off like flies. The artist who created beautiful murals in the city and adorned the street lanterns with alien eyes, moved out of town.

Roswell space ship shaped McDonald's restaurant

The few remaining gift stores and UFO aficionados are struggling against the dictatorship of the Roswell UFO Museum who imposes strict interpretation of events and does not tolerate creativity. And yet, there are few determined local artists who bring out original designs not seen anywhere else. 

One such artist, James W. Allmon, created the unique Crashed In The Dirt Roswell T-shirt. Each shirt was dyed in the same Roswell dirt that the UFO is believed to have crashed in 1947.

The dirt used in the process is a red oxide that was dug out by James near the city of Roswell. The dyeing process that was perfected by the artist takes almost a week. Because the garment was hand dyed there are some variations in color that make the T-shirt even more attractive. A noticeable thing about the Crashed in the Dirt T-shit is that it’ll fade a bit over time, but the color never washes out completely. The Roswell dirt stays with you forever.

 

The one of a kind hand-dyed Crashed in the Dirt
Roswell T-Shirt by James W. Allmon

 

If you happen to visit New Mexico you may not want to waste your time on Roswell. People here are not necessarily hostile to visitors, but they do not want to be remembered as a freak town. They are very proud of their cheese factory, pecan plantations, art museum, and a few other things, but UFOs? Not really. 

By Dominique Allmon

Dominique Allmon©2015

Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Roswell

It's not always the flying saucers that appear in the skies over Roswell. Once a year, during the first weekend of May, hot air balloon aficionados meet for the annual Old Timers Rally.

The spectacle is quite amazing and really worth seeing. All proceeds go to charitable organizations in Roswell. 

If you missed the Roswell event there will be three more hot air balloon rallies in New Mexico: One in September in Elephant Butte and two in October - the famous Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta and Mountain Balloon Rally in Taos.

Images by James W. Allmon©2014

128,000 ft Jump!

Everyone has limits. Not every one accepts them. - Felix Baumgartner

Austrian extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner, aka Fearless Felix, jumped from the altitude of 128,097 feet around noon this Sunday, October 14, just outside of Roswell, NM, breaking several world records: highest free-fall, fastest free-fall, and highest manned balloon flight.

The free-fall lasted 4 minutes 22 seconds.

Although Baumgartner broke several world records today, he was unable to break Kittinger's free-fall record.

The Red Bull Stratos mission to the Edge of Space attempted to transcend human limits that had been set by Joseph W. Kittinger some 50 years ago. 

The Red Bull Stratos team brought together the world's leading minds in aerospace medicine, engineering, pressure suit development, capsule creation and balloon fabrication. It included retired United States Air Force Colonel Joseph Kittinger, who holds three of the records Felix wanted to break.

Joe's record jump from 102,800 ft in 1960 was during a time when no one knew if a human could survive a jump from the edge of space. Joe was a Captain in the U.S. Air Force and had already taken a balloon to 97,000 feet in Project ManHigh and survived a drogue mishap during a jump from 76,400 feet in Excelsior I. The Excelsior III mission was his 33rd parachute jump. This was the time he established a world record that remains unbroken to this day. Kittinger's free-fall lasted 4 minutes 36 seconds - 14 seconds longer than Baumgartner's. 

 Felix Baumgartner in free-fall

Although researching extremes was part of the program's goals, setting records wasn't the mission's purpose. Joe ascended in helium balloon launched from the back of a truck. He wore a pressurized suit on the way up in an open, unpressurized gondola. Scientific data captured from Joe's jump was shared with U.S. research personnel for development of the space program. Today Felix and his specialized team hoped to take what was learned from Joe's jumps more than 50 years ago and press forward to test the limits of the human capacity.

 

Landed safely east of Roswell

 

Baumgartenr ascended to the low stratosphere in a capsule that was carried by a balloon which itself was a technological marvel.

The balloon was constructed of strips of high-performance polyethylene (plastic) film that was only 0.0008 inches thick or 10 times thinner than a lunch bag. In total, these strips would cover 40 acres if they were laid flat. Polyester-fibre reinforced load tapes were incorporated to do the weight bearing.

The Stratos balloon was filled with 30 million cubic feet of helium which10 times larger than Joe Kittinger's balloon in 1960.

The Roswell-jump not only terminated Baumgartner's skydiving career, but it also marked the 65th anniversary of US test pilot Chuck Yeager successful attempt to become the first man ever to officially break the sound barrier aboard an airplane.

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