Roswell’s National UFO Historic Records Center Undergoes Major Expansion Special Contribution by Toby Martinez Roswell Daily Record
Rio Rancho, NM, August, 2025 – (Editor’s Note: The story below, which ran in the July 27, 2025, issue of The Roswell Daily Record Newspaper, is being rerun with permission from journalist Toby Martinez.) The original article can be found by CLICKING HERE
NOTE: Seen in Above Photo, standing outside the National UFO Historic Records Center, are, from left to right, team members and volunteers Barry Roth, Chris Brotherton, Diego Diaz, Nicole Barnard, David Marler and Linda Leigh. Photo courtesy of Toby Martinez.
The National UFO Historic Records Center (NUFOHRC) in Rio Rancho has recently undergone significant facility upgrades and acquired substantial new collections, while also pursuing an ambitious international expansion aimed at global data sharing and leveraging artificial intelligence for research.
Since November, the center has completely redone the surrounding grounds of its buildings in cooperation with the Rio Rancho public school system. This involved replacing old asphalt and dirt with new concrete, sidewalks, curbs and a new asphalt private parking lot. Security was also enhanced, with old chain link fences replaced by new security fencing around the entire perimeter, featuring badge-access only sidewalk and vehicle gates. These improvements are viewed as enhancing the center's role as an educational tool.
The center's archives have seen a significant increase in materials with two major acquisitions. A large collection was received from Mike Christol, who recorded thousands of hours of audio and video from television, radio and podcasts. Following Christol's death, individuals in Indiana and Kentucky seeking a home for the collection sent numerous boxes of his material, leading to the creation of a whole new wing specifically for audio and video. This collection includes VHS tapes from the late 1980s, local, national and international TV shows as well as interviews with UFO witnesses.
More recently, the center received over 150 boxes and a number of file cabinets of historical data from Jan Aldridge, a center team member and one of the country's leading UFO historians. Aldridge compiled this data from various archives and collections nationwide over 40 years, and it is currently being organized and sorted. Among the recent discoveries within Aldridge's collection were Canadian files from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), which will be integrated into the center's master case file collection.
To manage its expanding holdings, the center has a dedicated team of pro bono volunteers. Executive Director David Marler told the Roswell Daily Record during a recent visit, “In addition to collections we've acquired, we've also acquired a very dedicated, diligent team of volunteers who are coming in almost every weekend, like clockwork, and helping us sort these collections. As you can see firsthand and you can appreciate, there's a lot of work that goes in behind the scenes, just sorting these collections, processing, getting them organized.”
Marler described the center’s collection as "not a static collection" but one that is "constantly growing" and "developing a life of its own." The center receives numerous national and international inquiries, such as a recent one about a 1976 Kentucky abduction case, for which they hold the original case file and audio recordings.
Looking ahead, NUFOHRC is actively seeking state funding. Sandoval County has also discussed providing financial assistance. The ultimate goal is to not only expand the current facility but eventually establish a freestanding, state-of-the-art facility. They seek to expand their archive while adding interpretive, educational and historical museum components as well.
A key strategic initiative involves establishing an international network of archivists and researchers, led by international liaison Diego Diaz. Diaz has been communicating with numerous countries in South America and plans to connect with colleagues in Europe. The center aims to encourage other countries to create their own national record centers to foster a global data-sharing network.
“We really are trying to establish an international network of not only archivists, but researchers with the ultimate goal of sharing the data,” Marler explained. “The reason we created the archives was to make the data available to serious researchers, academics, the general public, but they're also sitting on vast treasure troves of case files and history, and it just makes sense to not operate in a silo but create an international network.”
The objective of this global network is to make all data points accessible on the internet for research. Diaz emphasized the importance of this, stating, "It's not just an American phenomena. It's a worldwide phenomena."
He added that once everything is digitized, artificial intelligence will be able to connect dots that researchers would not have the means to do in a lifetime, marking an exciting technological advancement. The data will be available to serious researchers, academics and the general public.
The center welcomes donations of materials and items, as well as volunteers. To learn more visit nufohrc.org
CONTACT:
Toby Martinez
Roswell Daily Record
