Editing Roswell incident (section)

==Cultural impact==
===Tourism and commercialization ===
[[File:Roswell NM Main Street.jpg|Alien-themed street light on Main Street|alt=busy street with alien-style eyes painted onto streetlight covers|thumb]]
[[Roswell, New Mexico|Roswell]]'s tourism industry is based on ufology museums and businesses, as well as alien-themed iconography and alien [[kitsch]].<ref>{{harvnb|Siegler|Baker|2021}}</ref> Many typical city features in Roswell are UFO-themed, including fast food restaurants, grocery stores, and street lights. A broad range of establishments offer UFO items.<ref>{{harvnb|Ricketts|2011|p=248}}</ref> A yearly UFO festival has been held since 1995.<!--<ref>{{cite web |title=FAQs |url=https://ufofestival.com/faqs/ |website=UFO Festival |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918234138/https://ufofestival.com/faqs/ |archive-date=18 September 2021 |location=Roswell, New Mexico}}</ref>--><ref>{{harvnb|Ricketts|2011|p=253}}</ref> Several alleged crash sites are open to visitors for a fee.<ref>{{harvnb|Ricketts|2011|pp=251–252}}</ref> There are alien festivals, conventions, and museums, including the International UFO Museum and Research Center.<ref>{{harvnb|Ricketts|2011|pp=250, 253}}</ref> Around 90,000 tourists visit Roswell each year.<ref>{{harvnb|Clancy|2007|p=94}}</ref>

===Popular fiction===
The incident spread internationally through films depicting the key points of Roswell conspiracy theories.<ref>{{harvnb|Clarke|2015|loc=ch.&nbsp;6}}</ref> In the 1980 independently distributed film ''[[Hangar 18 (film)|Hangar 18]]'', an alien ship crashes in the desert of the US Southwest. Debris and bodies are recovered, but their existence is covered up by the government.<ref name="Erdmann-p287">{{harvnb|Erdmann|Block|2000|p=287}}</ref> Director [[James L. Conway]] summarized the film as "a modern-day dramatization of the Roswell incident".<ref name="Erdmann-p287" /> Conway later revisited the concept in 1995 when he filmed the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' episode "[[Little Green Men (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)|Little Green Men]]"; In that episode, characters travel to 1947, triggering the Roswell incident, with their ship being stored in Hangar 18.<ref>{{cite web |date=February 16, 2012 |title=Catching Up With Director James L. Conway, Part 1 |url=https://www.startrek.com/article/catching-up-with-director-james-l-conway-part-1 |website=StarTrek.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://tv.avclub.com/star-trek-deep-space-nine-little-green-men-the-swo-1798175514 |title=Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: "Little Green Men"/"The Sword Of Kahless" |last=Handlen |first=Zach |website=TV Club |date=January 17, 2013 |access-date=April 18, 2021 |archive-date=April 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418225818/https://tv.avclub.com/star-trek-deep-space-nine-little-green-men-the-swo-1798175514 |url-status=live}}</ref><!--The 1994 film ''[[Roswell (film)|Roswell]]'' was based on the book ''UFO Crash at Roswell'' by [[Kevin D. Randle]] and Donald R. Schmitt.<ref name="Rich1994"/>--> In the 1996 film ''[[Independence Day (1996 film)|Independence Day]]'', an alien invasion prompts the revelation of a Roswell crash and cover-up, including experiments on alien corpses.<ref>{{harvnb|Entertainment|2013}}</ref> The 2008 film ''[[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]'' sees the protagonist on a quest for an alien body from the Roswell Incident.<ref>{{harvnb|LeMay|2008|p=7}}</ref>

In the 1990s, Roswell became the most well-known of the early flying saucer accounts, due in part to frequent portrayals of a Roswell conspiracy on television. The hit series ''[[The X-Files]]'' featured the Roswell incident as a recurring element.<ref name="Gulyas-2016-p84">{{harvnb|Gulyas|2016|p=84}}</ref><!-- Prominent Roswell ufologists Thomas Carey and Donald R. Schmitt embraced Chris Carter's ''The X-Files'' as "touched by Roswell" and said the "underlying and continuing basis" of the X-Files "was the Roswell UFO Crash of 1947".--><!--needs a secondary source--><ref>{{harvnb|Carey|Schmitt|2020|p=184}}</ref> The show's second episode [[Deep Throat (The X-Files episode)|"Deep Throat"]], introduced a Roswell alien crash into the show's mythology.  The comical 1996 episode "[[Jose Chung's From Outer Space]]" satirized the recently-broadcast Santelli ''[[Alien Autopsy (1995 film)|Alien Autopsy]]'' hoax film.<ref>{{harvnb|Klaver|2012|p=149}}</ref> After the success of ''The X-Files'', Roswell alien conspiracies were featured in other sci-fi drama series, including ''[[Dark Skies]]'' (1996–97)<ref name="Gulyas-2016-p84"/> and ''[[Taken (miniseries)|Taken]]'' (2002).<ref>{{harvnb|Frost|Laing|2013|pp=53–54}}</ref> Starting in 1998, Pocket Books published a series of young adult novels titled ''[[Roswell High]]''; from 1999 to 2002, the books were adapted into the WB/UPN  TV series ''[[Roswell (TV series)|Roswell]]'',<ref>{{harvnb|Beeler|2010|pp=219, 214}}</ref> with a second adaption release in 2019 under the title ''[[Roswell, New Mexico (TV series)|Roswell, New Mexico]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2022/05/roswell-new-mexico-has-been-canceled-after-four-seasons-1235022470/ |title=The CW's 'Roswell, New Mexico' Canceled After Four Seasons |first=Rosy |last=Cordero |date=May 12, 2022}}</ref>

Journalist Toby Smith has described Roswell as the "embarkation point" for mass media and pop culture treatment of UFOs, crashed saucers, and aliens on Earth.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|2000|loc=dustjacket, introduction}}</ref> In a 2001 episode of the animated comedy ''[[Futurama]]'', titled, "[[Roswell That Ends Well]]", protagonists from the 31st century travel back in time and cause the Roswell incident.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://tv.avclub.com/futurama-roswell-that-ends-well-anthology-of-intere-1798183928 |title=Futurama: "Roswell That Ends Well"/"Anthology Of Interest II" |last=Handlen |first=Zach |website=TV Club |date=May 28, 2015 |access-date=April 18, 2021 |archive-date=November 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191104035508/https://tv.avclub.com/futurama-roswell-that-ends-well-anthology-of-intere-1798183928 |url-status=live}}</ref>  The 2005 animated series ''[[American Dad]]'' features a character [[Roger (American Dad!)|Roger]] who is an alien that crashed at Roswell.<ref>{{harvnb|Meehan|2023|p=8}}</ref>  The 2006 comedy ''[[Alien Autopsy (2006 film)|Alien Autopsy]]'' revolves around the 1990s-creation of the Santilli hoax film.<ref>{{harvnb|Lagerfield|2016}}</ref> The 2011 [[Simon Pegg]] comedy ''[[Paul (film)|Paul]]'' tells the story of Roswell tourists who rescue a grey alien.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/paul-2011 |title=Phone home? Dude, I'm into texting |date=March 16, 2011 |first=Roger |last=Ebert |website=RogerEbert.com}}</ref>

===Statements by US Presidents===
Widespread speculation of a cover-up led to United States presidents being questioned about the Roswell incident.<ref>{{harvnb|Goldberg|2001|pp=223-225}}</ref> In a 2014 interview, [[Bill Clinton]] said, "When the Roswell thing came up, I knew we'd get gazillions of letters. So I had all the Roswell papers reviewed, everything". Clinton's administration found no evidence of alien contact or a crashed ship.<ref>{{harvnb|Kopan|2014}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Clarke|2015|loc=ch.&nbsp;6, paras.&nbsp;17–19}}</ref> When asked during a 2015 interview with ''[[GQ]]'' magazine about whether he had looked at top-secret classified information, Obama replied, "I gotta tell you, it's a little disappointing. People always ask me about Roswell and the aliens and UFOs, and it turns out the stuff going on that's top secret isn't nearly as exciting as you expect. In this day and age, it's not as top secret as you'd think."<ref>{{harvnb|Simmons|2015}}</ref> In December 2020, Obama joked with [[Stephen Colbert]], "It used to be that UFOs and Roswell was the biggest conspiracy. And now that seems so tame, the idea that the government might have an alien spaceship."<ref>{{harvnb|Diaz|2020}}</ref> In June 2020, [[Donald Trump]], when asked if he would consider releasing more information about the Roswell incident, said, "I won't talk to you about what I know about it, but it's very interesting."<ref>{{harvnb|Madhani|2020}}</ref>