紐時賞析／羅斯威爾最新解密令人失望

In Roswell, New UFO Docs Are a Declassified Bummer

羅斯威爾最新解密令人失望

Like so many earthlings, John Darr came to Roswell, New Mexico, looking for answers. Yet he left the city’s annual UFO festival this month with even more questions. “Tell us one way or the other: Is there or is there not aliens?”

在新墨西哥州羅斯威爾，新一批解密的UFO文件讓人大失所望。和許多地球人一樣，達爾來到羅斯威爾尋找答案；但他在本月參加當地一年一度的UFO節後，反而帶著更多疑問離開。「請直接告訴我們：到底有沒有外星人？」

This was supposed to be the summer of revelation. President Donald Trump had promised to unveil all of the government’s secrets about unidentified flying objects and their extraterrestrial passengers. Adding to the hype was Steven Spielberg’s new lore-steeped blockbuster with its own convincing footage of the fabled alien crash at Roswell.

這原本應該是「揭密之夏」。美國總統川普曾承諾，要公開政府所有關於不明飛行物及其外星乘客的機密。再加上史蒂芬史匹柏推出一部充滿傳說色彩的新大片，還附上極具說服力的羅斯威爾外星墜毀畫面，進一步炒熱話題。

But when the Department of Defense began publishing tranches of material on UFOs — or in Pentagon parlance UAPs, unidentified anomalous phenomena — the promise of a real-life “Disclosure Day” frittered into Disappointment Du Jour.

然而，當美國國防部開始分批公布相關資料，也就是五角大廈所稱的「不明異常現象」，原本期待現實版的「揭密日」最後卻耗散成「今日失望特餐」。

Roswell’s UFO festival over the Fourth of July weekend was supposed to be sweet vindication for thousands of ufologists. Instead, they bemoaned the cover-up that they feared would never end.

羅斯威爾在美國國慶連假舉辦的UFO節，原本被視為數千名UFO研究者苦等多年的證明時刻，結果卻讓人感嘆遮掩與隱瞞恐怕永遠不會結束。

“It’s nothing new,” said Donald R. Schmitt, the lead investigator at Roswell’s International UFO Museum and Research Center. “It’s the same game that they have played all these years. Once again, we’re getting the carrot dangled in front of us.”

羅斯威爾國際UFO博物館與研究中心首席調查員施密特表示：「這些內容一點也不新鮮。他們這麼多年來一直在玩同樣的把戲。說穿了，又是在吊大家胃口。」

Even if Roswell was short on answers, a trip to the nation’s UFO capital at least provided some temporary relief. The interstellar festival is now the city’s biggest holiday.

縱使未能看見確切解答，造訪這座自稱全美「UFO之都」的小鎮仍能提供一時的慰藉；這場充滿星際色彩的節慶，如今已變成本地最盛大的節日。

“We heard this was the Mardi Gras of UFOs,” said John Wilson, who traveled from Florida with his wife.

從佛羅里達與妻子遠道而來的威爾森說：「我們聽說這裡是『UFO界的嘉年華』」。

Still, amid the mix of holiday weekend patriotism and interplanetary fervor, there was an undercurrent of frustration.

然而，在國慶氛圍與外星狂熱交織之中，失落情緒仍暗潮洶湧。

The three batches of files, which contain murky photos, grainy videos and heavily redacted documents, may appear impressive at first, UFO experts said, but much of the material has been previously published, has an earthly explanation or does not address the most burning questions about alien life. One report documented a flying potato.

UFO專家指出，三批文件給人第一印象是很有看頭，包含模糊照片、顆粒粗糙的影片及大量塗黑的文件，但其中多數資料早已公開、能以地球上的現象解釋，或根本沒有回應外星生命最核心的疑問。甚至有一份報告記錄了一個「會飛的馬鈴薯」。

“For 70 years, people have been thinking it’s been about to happen, and it really never has,” said Paul Semones, who leads the Roswell UFO Tour. “If they never produce anything, then we’re just going to have to feel like they’ve blown a whole lot of smoke and tried to convince us that there was no fire underneath.”

羅斯威爾UFO導覽負責人塞莫內斯說：「70年來，人們一直以為這件事就快要發生，但它其實從來沒有真的發生過。如果他們始終拿不出任何東西，那我們恐怕只能覺得，他們製造一大堆煙霧，還試圖說服我們相信，煙霧底下其實沒有火。」

文／Reis Thebault，譯／國際中心

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【張佑生】

羅斯威爾是「墜毀傳說」的起點，51區是「政府藏祕密」的象徵；兩者在UFO文化裡常被連在一起，但沒有可靠證據證明羅斯威爾殘骸或外星人被送到51區。在羅斯威爾，新公開解密的UFO文件讓人大失所望。報導的語氣帶一點挖苦，declassified 是「解密的」；bummer是「令人掃興／令人失望的事」。合在一起，就是原本大家期待解密文件會有震撼揭露，結果發現沒什麼料。

動詞片語fritter away (something) or fritter (something) away簡單說，就是將時間、金錢、精力花在雞毛蒜皮、無關緊要的事情上面，有虛耗的意思。the promise … frittered into Disappointment Du Jour裡面的frittered into不是常見搭配，重點在「原本的期待被一點一滴消耗掉」，很適合用在政策、承諾落空的評論。This overspend will anger taxpayers who do not want their money frittered away on politicians' vanity.

Disappointment Du Jour借法文du jour，本意是「本日供應的」，餐廳菜單常見soup du jour（本日濃湯）。期待的Disclosure Day結果公布的資料零碎、乏味、沒爆點，最後變成「今日失望特餐」。