Moore was on Colbert's couch on 10th November to chat about her new series Landman, when the conversation took an unexpected turn. The host, clearly delighted by the discovery, admitted he hadn't realised Moore grew up in Roswell—the Roswell, ground zero for America's most famous alleged UFO incident. What followed was a surprisingly candid discussion about what may or may not have happened in that desert town back in 1947.
"Something definitely happened," Moore stated plainly, though she was quick to add context to her claim. Growing up in Roswell, she explained, the famous incident was never discussed. Not at dinner tables, not in passing conversations, not anywhere. "When I was a kid, it was never spoken about. Never. It just was not ever talked about, not even in passing," she told Colbert.
"It was as if it was a secret. And then when the documentary came out and then the show, now there was a museum, and now there's actually a somewhat comprehensive museum discussing how they shut all communication down about it."
That's the bit that gets you thinking, isn't it? The silence. For a town whose entire modern identity is now wrapped up in little green men and flying saucers—there's quite literally a UFO-themed economy that's sprung up around the phenomenon—the fact that locals simply didn't discuss the incident for decades is rather telling. Whether that silence was born from genuine disinterest, social pressure, or something more orchestrated is anyone's guess.
When Colbert pressed her on what she personally thinks occurred, Moore navigated the question with the care of someone who knows they're treading on sensitive ground. "Well, you know, it's the largest landing strip in America is in Roswell. Outside, so there's a lot of testing that goes on," she offered. Colbert joked that she probably couldn't say more without getting into trouble. Moore's response? A laugh and an enigmatic "It's possible."
It's worth noting that Moore's connection to the UAP phenomenon doesn't end with her birthplace. She's set to star alongside Colman Domingo in Strange Arrivals, a film about Betty and Barney Hill—the New Hampshire couple who claimed they were abducted by aliens in 1961. The project represents yet another example of Hollywood's increasing willingness to engage seriously with UFO subject matter, moving beyond the realm of campy B-movies into more considered, dramatic territory.
And Moore isn't the only celebrity dipping their toes into these waters lately. The phenomenon of mainstream figures discussing UAPs has become noticeably more frequent. Just recently, Kim Kardashian received a rather cheeky invitation from Harvard astronomers to discuss the topic, highlighting how the conversation has shifted from the fringes into more respectable discourse. Whether this is ultimately helpful or harmful to serious research remains a point of contention amongst researchers.
What's particularly interesting about Moore's comments is their measured quality. She's not claiming she saw alien bodies or recovered spacecraft. She's not peddling conspiracy theories. She's simply noting that something occurred—something significant enough that an entire town was instructed, whether officially or socially, to keep schtum about it. That's a rather different beast from wild-eyed speculation.
The timing of her comments is fascinating as well. We're living through what many researchers are calling a new era of UAP discourse. Government acknowledgment of unexplained aerial phenomena, serious scientific inquiry, and yes, celebrity involvement, have all converged to make this a genuinely mainstream topic. The question is whether this mainstreaming helps or hinders. Does it bring necessary attention and resources to the study of these phenomena? Or does it risk trivialising genuine research?
Moore's children, incidentally, have apparently suggested she might be "part alien" herself—though she suspects that's more to do with being born in Roswell than any actual extraterrestrial heritage. One has to admire the family's sense of humour about the whole thing.
The Roswell incident remains, nearly eight decades later, the touchstone for UFO belief in popular culture. The story—of crashed debris, recovered bodies, and a swift military cover-up—has been picked apart, analysed, debunked, and defended countless times over. Yet it persists in the public imagination, perhaps because, as Moore's comments suggest, there's a lingering sense that something happened, even if we can't quite agree on what.
Whether Moore's assessment that "something definitely happened" will satisfy true believers or sceptics is doubtful. But coming from someone who actually grew up there, who witnessed the curious silence surrounding the incident firsthand, it carries a certain weight. She's not sensationalising. She's not selling books or launching a podcast. She's simply reflecting on the strange atmosphere of secrecy that hung over her childhood hometown.
And in an era where UAP discussion has gone from fringe conspiracy to serious government inquiry, perhaps that measured perspective is exactly what we need more of. Not wild claims or dismissive ridicule, but acknowledgment that yes, something peculiar occurred—and it's perfectly reasonable to want to know what.
