Wycliffe Well

Wycliffe Well in Australia's Northern Territory claims to be the UFO capital of Australia. And if you listen to the Sun Herald newspaper and Time Magazine, they are ranked in the top UFO spots of the world. Located in the middle of the desert, this tiny settlement is mostly visited as a stop-over between the towns of Alice Springs and Tennant Creek. There isn’t much in this part of Australia, so maybe it is just the right place for an alien or two to drop in now and then.

Small outback settlements like Wycliffe Well are known as roadhouses – a gas-food-lodging catch-all kind of place where there are almost no other accommodations for miles to get gas, food, or lodging. But that doesn’t mean visitors haven’t made a point of seeking out this particular roadhouse. Visitors to Wycliffe Well go back to the mid-19th century when this little oasis (the spot is located on top of a high water table) was a stop for telegraph linemen. Fast-forward to World War II and Wycliffe Well continued its run as a way-station, this time for servicemen. It was with the World War II soldiers that the sightings started – so many sightings that the folks who ran the roadhouse started to keep a log of visitors streaking through the night sky, a practice still kept up today.

It may be the clear horizon, this area of Northern Territory being almost totally flat, or it may just be the beer (the roadhouse boasts one of the largest beer selections around), but this remote café/tavern/grocery/lodge/campground deep in the Australian outback is determined for you to see a UFO. And if you don’t, well then, they say you’re just unlucky.