Rumor has it that in 1947, a UFO crashed in Roswell, New Mexico.  By the late 1970’s curiosity and conspiracy theories about the supposed crash had abounded.  Many believe that whatever was discovered was transported to the Walker Air Force Base that was in operation from 1941-1967.  The city of Roswell has used the incident to it’s advantage, capitalizing on the tourism it brings to the area.  Conspiracy theories about what did or did not happen the summer of 1947 are as strong as ever.  And though there has yet to be a confirmed report of a UFO crash in the Area 51 New Mexico desert, soon residents could possibly be seeing drones flying about on a regular basis.

The Roswell International Air Center along with the city of Roswell are thinking of joining forces with local universities and schools to build a drone testing facility.  The area being looked into for the project is around 10 acres in the northwest of Roswell off of West 19th Street that was once a municipal airport.  The drone testing facility would be an aeronautical annex that would serve to help students of all ages, especially youth, learn more about drones and everything involved in the world of drones.

As drones become more popular, drone training facilities are also becoming important.  A study conducted by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International estimated that within the next 10 years 100,000 jobs will be created by commercial drone needs, giving the American economy a $13.7billion boost.  That is just taking into consideration commercial drones like ones used by farmers, Hollywood film crews, military organizations, real estate, drone race teams, research teams, logistical and other infrastructure based industries.  This doesn’t even come close to taking into account all the drones that will be used just as a hobby tool.

Having a place for the up and coming workforce to learn how to design and operate drones just makes sense.  As the new Air Center manager for the Roswell International Air Center, Mark Bleth has been working with Community Development Manager and Planning Director Bill Morris to get the Roswell drone training facility planned out.  Mr. Bleth said, “There are not many drone facilities in the United States.  If you look at the demographics of who’s flying drones and what they are being used for, this is not just a fun thing to do. This is an occupational thing to do. A lot of jobs are tied to this.”  In New Mexico alone it is predicted that drone based carers will open opportunities for close to 800 new jobs and more than $600million to the state’s economy.

As of now Bleth and Morris are still in the conceptual stages of their plan.  They have also been talking with representatives from the local universities and K-12 schools to build something that would influence the educational programs in place and planned for the future.  Bleth said, “This is something that we want to team with those entities and create moving forward, and to the point that actually students are designing the park layout and the course layout. This is something that we could engage our youth on and make this air center a relevant thing for them.”

The hope of this aeronautical park will be to educate people on drones, preparing them for the future.  It will also bring more money into the town, and possibly more tourism.  We may not have proof of extraterrestrial UFOs, but there is proof that drones are making a massive impact on the world and its economy.  Roswell aims to embrace this and prove that they too are ready to embark on a future in drones.