 The name " Foo Fighters " was taken from the description World War II aircraft pilots would use to describe various UFOs . This science fiction theme is further continued with the name of Grohl 's Capitol Records imprint , Roswell Records , a reference to the city of Roswell , New Mexico , known for the Roswell UFO incident of 1947 ; and the album cover done by Grohl 's then @-@ wife , photographer Jennifer Youngblood , featuring a Buck Rogers XZ @-@ 38 Disintegrator Pistol . Some reviewers considered the gun on the cover as insensitive , given Kurt Cobain died by shooting himself , but Grohl dutifully disregarded it as just a coincidence . Goldsmith later explained , " It was all pretty much based on the whole Foo Fighters thing — Roswell , the space stuff , an antique Buck Rogers raygun . It 's really a completely separate thing . Dave wasn 't even conscious of that . " Despite Grohl being the album 's only contributor , at Capitol 's insistence the liner notes included a picture of the full band that Grohl had recruited . 
