A New Mexico school district just might have flying saucers on its curriculum this year, thanks to an affiliation with a massive UFO archive. The National UFO Historical Records Center (NUFOHRC) opened its doors last autumn on the grounds of the Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in Rio Rancho. The archive's unusual location came about after executive director David Marler formed a partnership with the city's school district, wherein they provided two portable classrooms to house the enormous collection of UFO materials he has amassed over the last several decades.

One benefit from the collaboration is that, with the new school year set to start soon, teachers and staff are reportedly being afforded the opportunity to take advantage of the one-of-a-kind and decidedly out-of-this-world resource. While some skeptical individuals may question the educational value of a UFO archive, district officials believe the fantastic topic will provide interested kids with the chance to learn hands-on research and study science in a manner they might otherwise eschew.

Additionally, Rio Rancho Public Schools chief operator officer Michael Baker mused that "today on the internet, students are exposed to all kinds of information – true and untrue – and we want to give them the tools to be able to dissect the evidence that’s presented to them and to make a good, informed decision" about the veracity of such material. "In the UFO realm," he observed, "it's just a really good subject matter to springboard into that critical thinking piece."