World Art Utopia

Wycliffe Well UFO Roadhouse — Wycliffe Well

A small blue painted flying-saucer model with an antenna sits in dry grass behind a barbed-wire fence at Wycliffe Well in the Northern Territory
Artwork FileWycliffe Well, Australia

Wycliffe Well UFO Roadhouse

SeenJun 2025

Lew Farkas (roadhouse owner from 1985) · Stuart Highway, Northern Territory

Photo: Wycliffewellvisitor / Wikimedia Commons (CC0), as published in Street Art Utopia; full photo.

Wycliffe Well is a former roadhouse on the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory, about 130 km south of Tennant Creek, that called itself the UFO capital of Australia. Lew Farkas bought it in 1985, and after a Tennant Times story about sightings in the late 1980s he made everything alien-themed; he told Vice that a mural of a UFO from a local sighting led them to convert every wall. A flood in 2022 forced the operators out, and reports from 2024 and 2025 describe an abandoned site with decapitated alien statues and a partly smashed landing pad. Source Source Source Checked

Seen Jun 2025: Australian Geographic (19 June 2025) describes the abandoned roadhouse with decapitated alien statues and a partly smashed landing pad, as ABC News did in July 2024. Source Source Checked

More photos

Two green alien figures inside a black fence in front of a dark wall painted with a grey alien face and flying saucers, with a silver pyramid shape at left
2005 Alien figures and muralsPhoto: Pavel Špindler / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
Three bright green alien figures, one large and two smaller, stand on red gravel beside a black fence on the roadhouse grounds
2007 Green alien figuresPhoto: Nicolai Bangsgaard / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
A dark roadhouse wall painted with a grey alien face, planets and flying saucers, with small alien figures lined up along the roof
2008 Roadhouse alien muralPhoto: AwOiSoAk KaOsIoWa / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

💡 4 things to know

  1. The first muralLew Farkas told Vice that after a UFO sighting in the area they painted a mural of it; people photographed it, so they went on converting every wall. Source Reported
  2. From pit stop to UFO capitalFarkas bought the run-down roadhouse in 1985 and turned it into the 'UFO Capital of Australia', with a landing pad outside and UFO clippings on the walls inside. Source Checked
  3. Sightings came firstAfter a Tennant Times story about possible sightings in the late 1980s, calls came from all over the world, and Farkas said 'every aspect of Wycliffe Well had to become alien-orientated or space-orientated'. Source Checked
  4. Flood and declineA major flood in 2022 forced the operators to evacuate; the site was left abandoned and vandalised, with alien statues decapitated. By 2025 the landing pad was partly smashed. Source Checked

📍 Where it is

Stuart Highway, about 130 km south of Tennant Creek and 375 km north of Alice Springs Source Source Checked

Open in Maps

Opens a map at -20.8, 134.233, the approximate position of the roadhouse.

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 200211 Oct

    Fuel forecourt with UFO murals behind the pumps · Wikimedia Commons

  2. 200531 Mar

    Green alien figures and 'UFO Centre' wall murals · Wikimedia Commons

  3. 200728 Oct

    Green alien figures on the grounds · Wikimedia Commons

  4. 20083 Feb

    Alien mural on the roadhouse wall, aliens on the roof · Wikimedia Commons

  5. 201721 Sep

    Visit and Lew Farkas interview; décor 'broken, faded, unloved' · Vice

  6. 202322 Jun

    Painted flying-saucer sculpture and alien murals photographed · Wikimedia Commons

  7. 202422 Jul

    Abandoned and vandalised; decapitated alien statue pictured · ABC News

  8. 202519 Jun

    Roadhouse abandoned; landing pad partly smashed, aliens decapitated · Australian Geographic

Green stamps mark dated photographs (the date given on the photo’s page); amber stamps mark records, events and reports. Publication dates are not photo dates.

🗞️ In the sources

Vice21 September 2017

The Strange Story of Australia's Outback UFO Capital

“Dozens of rusting alien-shaped mannequins and ruined sculptures.”

Read the source →

ABC News22 July 2024

How a tiny outback NT roadhouse went from Australia's UFO capital to abandoned motel

“Alien statues decapitated, glasses broken and walls stripped.”

Read the source →

Australian Geographic19 June 2025

Wycliffe Well: Australia's outback UFO hotspot

“In late December 2022 a catastrophic flash flood swept through the area, destroying the roadhouse”

Read the source →

✅ The facts

Nickname
UFO capital of Australia Source Checked
Created by
Lew Farkas, owner from 1985; he sold in 2010 to Anthony Vanderzalm, who later sold to United Petroleum Source Checked
Owner bought the roadhouse
1985 Source Checked
First artwork
A mural of a UFO based on a local sighting (Farkas, speaking to Vice) Source Reported
Features
Space-painted facade, alien-shaped mannequins, sculptures, walls of UFO clippings, murals Source Checked
Year Farkas sold
2010 (ABC News); 2009 or 2010 (Wikipedia, citing SBS) Source Conflicting
Flood
Flood in 2022 (late December, per Australian Geographic) destroyed the roadhouse; operators evacuated Source Source Checked
Closed
Closed indefinitely in 2023; no fuel, no camping Source Reported
Location
Stuart Highway, about 130 km south of Tennant Creek, NT Source Source Checked

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Last checked: 11 November 2026 · How we verify art