It was a must-see for families in the 1970s and 80s during the long, winding road between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Predating the region's enormous theme parks, no-one questioned the large flying saucer perched behind a small BP service station in the scrubby bushland.
It offered families chance to refuel, grab a snack and for the kids to stretch their legs as hideously shaped faces peered down from their craft.
Gold Coast residents Karen Wright and Matt Keys have fond memories of the site, which also hosted Tramburger, a fast-food joint made from two old Brisbane trams, and Fantasyland, a small amusement park that included the UFO, a large slide, carousel, swimming pool and aquatic activities on an artificial lake.
"The thing was completely off the wall," Mr Keys said.
"It was a crazy dream by a guy who opened it in 1971.
"It was literally in the middle of nowhere, and it was pretty cool because on the old Brisbane to Gold Coast Highway, which wasn't really a highway — there weren't really any lights south of Beenleigh — this place would light up like a Christmas tree in the pitch black."
The site became a meeting place for Mr Keys and fellow hot rod and custom car culture fans in their early 20s before it was demolished in the 1980s.
A descendent of the original settlers of the Gold Coast, Karen Wright said Fantasyland was "just great" and despite its oddities, Sea World developer Keith Williams and his wife Thea married at the site in 1963.
In fact, the offbeat attraction's ceremonial suitability also appealed to Fantasyland's founder, the late Canadian Clifford Moore, who married his wife Janice there almost a decade later in 1972.
The bride arrived by helicopter dressed in a silver, spacesuit-inspired gown for the nuptials and reception with 700 guests.
That quirky fact was one of the more unusual Passing Time Facebook page coordinator John Prpic uncovered about Fantasyland.
As part of his research, the postie rode his bicycle on an 88-kilometre-long round trip to Yatala to check out the site.
Mr Prpic said Mr Moore purchased the site in 1968 and later had 18 wooden Brisbane trams delivered before likely leasing the property, which was bound by the Pacific Highway, Burnside Road and the disused South Coast Railway, from the Transport and Main Roads Department for 20 years.
In 1971, Moore's BP Space Station opened as well as the Tramburger Diner, a fruit shop called Fruitarama and a grocery store.
Then work started on Fantasyland, which eventually consisted of two large amusement park slides, a teacup ride, carousel, a children's tractor train, horse drawn trams, pony rides, picnic grounds with fibreglass, space ship-shaped shelters, swimming pools, a tree house, swings, trampolines, mini golf, pedal boats, geese, ducks and a magic show, said Mr Prpic.
"There was also a rope suspension bridge linking to the islands in the lakes on the property, while a tie dye shop was located in a former tram," he said..
"The space station could also be entered and inside guests were greeted with a space show and fibreglass aliens."
By the 1970s, Fantasyland was attracting crowds of 2,000 people on weekends.
Highway upgrades resulted in resumption of land
But tragedy struck in 1978, when a child was allegedly killed after falling from one of the slides at the park, according to Mr Prpic.
Fantasyland was closed and Mr Moore sold the lease to the front portion of the site to Gordon "Jock" Harkness and his sister Maureen Taylor.
"Together they created Pacific Highway Fuels, with the space station being their first site," Mr Prpic said.
"Mr Harkness resided in the two-storey house at the rear of the property and his son recalls that it had four trams connected that were used as cabins.
"The space station was reportedly very popular and allowed Jock Harkness and Maureen Taylor to grow their Pacific Highway Fuels business over the years, during which they added 17 garages in the southern Queensland region and in northern New South Wales."
Plans to construct a highway off-ramp and the Computer Road overpass meant TMR resumed the land and the spacecraft was removed.
Newspaper reports from the time described how three cranes had to be used to move the heavy flying saucer.
While it is so far unconfirmed, some on social media have indicated the UFO is in pieces on a property in Wide Bay.
Site now home to pub
Now, housing the Burnside Tavern and sitting beside the busy M1, there's no erasing the "UFO service station" as it's known from the memories of many south-east Queenslanders of a certain age.
Ian Burchill said he remembered being relieved at Fantasyland's existence in case the family car broke down in the relatively uninhabited area.
"Cars weren't very reliable back then," he said.
David Underwood said he used to "love going here as a kid, usually after coming out of the lion park at Beenleigh".
