By Kerryn Anker

THERE is something alien in the skies around Toowoomba; the region has become a hot spot for unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and is leading the State in reported sightings.

The most recent sighting was only four months ago.

Coordinator for UFO Research Queensland (Warwick, Southern Downs, Granite Belt and Toowoomba region) Kay McCullock said Toowoomba had been visited by extra-terrestrials with the most recent sighting reported on July 13 this year, when a local resident arrived home a 5.40pm and saw a dark kite-shaped object moving steadily from south-west to north-east.

The direction the object was travelling put it very close to the restricted airspace over Cabarlah army base, causing great confusion to the observer.

Speculation has surrounded claims of UFO sightings across the Darling Downs for years. In the past 30 years, there have been hundreds of reported UFO sightings in Toowoomba and surrounding areas.

Kay McCullock has been researching and investigating sightings of UFOs for years and said she was five when she saw her first UFO.

"It occurred just before my sixth birthday when a UFO landed on our family property. From that very moment when I experienced my first UFO encounter I was intrigued and interested," she said.

Kay, a Killarney resident, travels to properties where UFOs have been sighted and conducts further research, and says Toowoomba and district had "quite a few sightings reported in the mid 1990s". She said one reason for the high incidence of sightings may be that UFOs are drawn to the region's granite.