Here's the story. NM News, also styled CTRL+P (obviously a PC guy) by its owner and founder, which is best known by me for New Mexico Political Report, decided to "rescue" it.
First, it's no longer daily, in print.
Second, NM News is not the only people to fellate the NOT A UFO story. Publishers Auxiliary did so a year ago and got called out by me.
Here's the details.
Per the "about" on its website, it's like Jill Stein trying to pretend to not be an antivaxxer while actually being one. In this case, it's trying to pretend not to push 1947 UFO conspiracy theory while actually doing so.
In July 1947, something streaked out of the sky, hitting the ground outside of Roswell, New Mexico, beginning years of ongoing speculation as to what the object was. According to initial information provided to the Roswell Daily Record by the Roswell Army Air Field, the startling headlines claimed that the military had recovered a flying saucer from a nearby ranch.
Overnight, the story changed from a flying saucer to a weather balloon, and over the ensuing years, that explanation morphed into a military high-altitude surveillance program. Over decades of conspiracy theories that the U.S. government has covered up the possibility that an alien spacecraft and its otherworldly crew were responsible for the 1947 crash. Through it all, and continuing to this day, the Roswell Daily Record was there to report the news and to spark the public interest and fascination with this story.
Wrong.
The publisher, and owner, is the daughter of a long-term owner who died in 2018. AFAIK, it's the only paper they own.
And, Beck daughter has a reason to peddle this, as did daddy, assuming he did, too.
The paper owns its own UFO store.
Of course, here's the reality.
And, I knew that reality long ago. I also know that, 25 years ago, Roswell boosters were talking about when the city would hit 50,000. Never happened. Population's been basically flat since 1990 and Farmington has just about caught it, while the Farmington metro area is much bigger.
Basically, it's a High Plains/edge of desert community, that has, or it was when built, the largest mozzarella cheese plant in the US if not the world. But climate change and water owed to Texas on the Pecos and no aquifer of note in the area will ding that. There's some oil there, but not like in the Permian. New Mexico Military Institute is the only other major or semi-major business driver.
And, I wasn't impressed with the Beck daughter's takeover, as also noted in the post from which the above is quoted.
Anyway, here's what I told Pat Davis:
It's bad enough that the Daily Record has peddled that BS with its "on the one hand, then on the other hand" comments on its "about" page.
It's worse that it has a "merch" page part of the company's website, and that most of the merch being sold is company owned. I'm unaware of the RDN selling any coffee mugs that say "Project Mogul" on them.
Beyond Project Mogul, I don't think Mack Brazel ever actually called what he claimed had crashed a "flying saucer," either.
As for the paper, really? The Oily Harvey Yates (his actual name) didn't buy it, and/or isn't starting a Roswell branch of the Artesia paper?
Best of luck, but seriously, for journalistic integrity, you all need to spin off the merch sales, and also clean up the about page.
Yep, a bushel basket of snark. But also a bushel basket of seriousness.
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