Are aliens pumping up house prices?

IT already has the nation's strongest property market, now UFO enthusiasts believe Darwin's extra terrestrial attractions could create a tourism boom.

IT already has the nation's strongest property market, now UFO enthusiasts believe Darwin's extra terrestrial attractions could create a tourism boom.

If UFO enthusiasts have their way, thousands will soon be flocking to Darwin from around the world seeking close encounters with aliens rather than crocs and other mundane critters.

Tourism numbers have been down lately due to the global financial crisis but Darwin house prices mysteriously jumped 20 per cent this year, while values in other markets flatlined.

While he stops short of claiming Aliens are active in the local property market, Alan Ferguson believes their antics in the skies over the Northern Territory could rival the wonders of Kakadu, Katherine Gorge and Uluru.

For the past year he has claimed publicly to have seen unidentified flying objects circling above his home in Acacia Hills, south of Darwin.

Earlier this week, he made public a video that he says proves his case.

"You wouldn't believe it if you didn't see it for your own eyes,'' he said.

The video has been screened on television and drawn thousands of internet hits.
Mr Ferguson has created a website to entice people Down Under to see for themselves.
``After seeing all these sightings and UFOs for years, I said to myself we're crazy for not promoting this joint as a UFO hotspot,'' he said.
``You get 200,000 people a year who go to Roswell,'' he said, referring to a site in the United States where UFO proponents contend an alien space craft crashed in the 1940s.
``And the only thing there is a museum, you don't see nothing else, whereas here they are flying around the skies, and they're continually flying around the skies all the time.
``So why not come here and see them for real?''
 
Tourism Top End president Sylvia Wolf told AAP on Wednesday that it would be up to Mr Ferguson to secure funding for a possible tourism venture.
``There is a lot of interest in it, especially from overseas, and I think he's certainly onto something,'' she said, adding that Tourism Top End had a link on its website to direct people to Mr Ferguson.
``People are coming out of the woodwork. They didn't want to say anything before, but now they are speaking up (about sightings).
``It's certainly a great area for it.''
 
Speaking to the Seven Network, ufologist Doug Moffett on Wednesday said there was a history of unexplained sightings in the NT.
``Certainly in the last 18 months it has been an area of unusually high activity,'' he said.
``So we don't know why this is the case, but certainly some areas seem to get hit...
``I think the important thing is try and get things together that is going to create scientific interest as far as research, because then we are going to move forward...
``This is the last frontier that we're at.''
 
In July last year, independent Northern Territory MP Gerry Wood told a local paper he had seen UFOs flying around in Darwin's rural area.
``There wasn't a sound, not even a whisper,'' he said at the time.
``There was no trail of sparks like you see with a shooting star, it was just a white glow at the front and underneath...
``I'm also a sceptic, but I saw this thing, clear as day.''