Petroglyph Panel with Complex Imagery
I’m not sure this really counts as a frequently asked question, but it is something entertaining that comes up from time to time. There’s an idea out there, in certain circles, that the sites at Chaco were built by extraterrestrials. This is not something we pay much attention to most of the time, but from time to time a visitor will ask about the aliens. Usually they’re joking, but very occasionally they’re serious. There’s not a whole lot we can do in those contexts except to be polite and tactful in declining to engage further.
Farmington Civic Center
A few weeks ago, our Chief of Interpretation went to the Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Farmington. Tourism groups from all over the state were there, and many of them had little souvenirs that they were giving out. The Roswell Chamber of Commerce was giving out little plastic aliens, which were green and about an inch tall. Our Chief took some and gave us at the front desk one, apparently intended to be female, with a skirt and a little red bow on her head. We named her Alvina and amused ourselves with moving her around to different locations on the big topographical map of the canyon mounted vertically behind the Visitor Center desk. If any visitors asked where the aliens were, we could show them on the map.
Topographical Map of Chaco Canyon behind Visitor Center Desk
About a week ago, we suddenly noticed that Alvina was missing. This was a matter of great consternation. Perhaps she returned to her home planet. Perhaps some little kid saw her on the map and grabbed her while no one was looking. It’s hard to say what happened, but she was gone and we had no idea where she had gone off to.
Alvino the Alien
Luckily, however, we had a spare alien. One of my coworkers had gotten a little white plastic alien in a gumball machine a while back and gave it to me. When I went in yesterday for my goodbye party (I’m leaving at the end of this week), I brought in the alien and donated it to the front desk as a replacement for the dear departed Alvina. This one seems to be male, as it’s wearing a blazer, so we dubbed it Alvino and placed it on the map. He’s hiking the South Mesa Trail. Note that he is on the trail, setting a good example for the visitors.
Alvino Hiking the South Mesa Trail
Looks like Alvino is at the base of the mesa with the hardest part of the trail ahead of him — and the great reward of the view across the canyon of Downtown Chaco plus Alto.
He’s actually past the hardest part, near the beginning of that long, rather tedious stretch of mostly level shrubland just before Tsin Kletzin.
Thank you for this entry. I believe our first conversation ever was about the aliens.
You’re welcome. And yes, I believe it was.