UFO sightings were reported in November, 1996 near National Security Agency facilities at Pine Gap in Australia and Merwith Hill in Great Britain. These are two of the largest NSA listening facilities in the world.
North Yorkshire Police received two independent reports of a formation of luminous objects hovering directly over the Merwith Hill facility. These sightings were not extensively documented in the British press, but the similar Australian sightings received more notice.
On Monday night, November 25, 1996, outlying residents of Alice Springs in central Australia reported seeing "strange orange lights" hovering over the stony ridge south of the city, about 15 miles (25 kilometers) west of the Stuart Highway.
The following night, Tuesday, November 26, the UFOs returned. Several flew over the city, heading northeast toward Mount Blassey (3,990 feet or 1,216 meters high).
On Wednesday night, November 27, Australia's ASC Radio reported "six orange lights moved very slowly over Alice Springs" before shooting away to the southeast. UFOs were also reported in nearby Santa Teresa. Witnesses saw the objects speeding over the mulga and spinifex-covered plain, heading for the Simpson Desert.
Alice Springs is located near the center of the Australian continent, just north of the boundary line between the Northern Territory and South Australia. Not far away is the sacred aboriginal site of Uluru, also known as Ayer's Rock.