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Roswell 'UFO' Anniversary Gets a Google Doodle

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The "Google Doodle" of July 8, 2013 nods to the 66th anniversary of an unidentified object crash landing on a ranch near Roswell, N.M.
The "Google Doodle" of July 8, 2013 nods to the 66th anniversary of an unidentified object crash landing on a ranch near Roswell, N.M. (Image credit: Google)

Any space fan should visit Google.com today. The search engine is commemorating the 66th anniversary of the "UFO" incident in Roswell, N.M., with a quirky alien doodle game.

The game is a tongue-in-cheek nod to what may be the most famous "UFO" sighting in history, when an unidentified object crash-landed on a ranch near Roswell on July 7, 1947, sparking rumors of an alien visitation. Conspiracy theories have never been fully extinguished by the U.S. government's claim that the object was a military surveillance balloon.

Google's doodle is an entertaining black-and-white animated game that puts you in the shoes of a stranded extraterrestrial whose flying saucer has crashed. If you can gather the spread-out pieces of your spaceship from around the ranch landscape, you can leave Roswell and lift off again toward your home planet.

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Clara Moskowitz
Clara Moskowitz
Assistant Managing Editor

Clara Moskowitz is a science and space writer who joined the Space.com team in 2008 and served as Assistant Managing Editor from 2011 to 2013. Clara has a bachelor's degree in astronomy and physics from Wesleyan University, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She covers everything from astronomy to human spaceflight and once aced a NASTAR suborbital spaceflight training program for space missions. Clara is currently Associate Editor of Scientific American. To see her latest project is, follow Clara on Twitter.