HEAVENS above . . . Dr Martin Gottschall has been studying UFOs for more than 30 years. Picture: Annette Dew

ALIENS are visiting Queensland, attracted by its natural wonders like the Great Barrier Reef, according to a local UFO watchers' association.

Scientists have long speculated about the possibility of life on Mars, and US space agency NASA has spent years and many billions of dollars in the search.

But a group of dedicated Queenslanders believe extraterrestrial life can be found much closer to home.

Queensland is a hotbed of UFO activity, according to local experts who have dedicated their lives to studying the phenomenon.

UFO Research Queensland is a voluntary, non-profit association established in 1956 to receive, record and research UFO sightings.

They claim the existence of a large body of well-attested sightings that proves extraterrestrial vehicles are flying through our atmosphere, landing on the ground and entering our oceans.

The Brisbane-based group also provides support to individuals whose alleged encounters with UFOs have left them distraught, confused, and searching for answers.

Sightings officer Dr Martin Gottschall has been studying UFOs for more than 30 years after an encounter in Adelaide in the late 1960s.

The consultant mechanical engineer, whose wife Sheryl is chairwoman of the UFO group, said they received hundreds of reports each year.

"We have collected thousands of sighting reports in Queensland," he said. "I remember years when I had over 40 calls a day. Plus, there are several groups collecting information. Ours is not the only one."

Dr Gottschall says Queensland's natural wonders could be the drawcard.

"The occupants of these craft appear to be interested in the vegetation and one of the objects of study is the Great Barrier Reef," he said.

"There are other areas in Queensland that seem to be so-called hotspots. One that has lasted for a long time is up around Tully. I think there's reason to suspect there might be one or more alien bases in that locality, probably underground or underwater."

Kay McCullock, who says she has had encounters with extraterrestrials, is an independent UFO researcher and co-ordinator for UFORQ's Warwick, Southern Downs and Granite Belt regions.

The ex-private investigator has begun a program aimed at making contact with alien life forms.

"A group of us go out into the field and do real-time research," she said. "We're out there measuring frequencies, looking at the landscape and detailing everything. We're specifically using frequency, colour and sound and also very advanced meditation and thought processes."

But, for every believer, there is a sceptic. Associate Professor Michael Drinkwater, Head of Physics at UQ, firmly believes there is no credible evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial craft.

"There are a lot of crazy things in the sky which we don't understand, but I personally think anything we've seen so far we'll eventually find natural explanations for," he said.

"The eye and brain do incredibly complex analysis when you see something, particularly at night.

"When you see something that is unusual, the brain interprets it as something more physical and more real than it actually is. I've seen something called a fireball which is a very large meteorite, so large it lights up the whole landscape at nighttime.

"My eyes told me it was something so low, it crashed over the next hill, but I know from science that it's more than 20km up in the atmosphere and my eyes are giving me the wrong message."