Bill Benson, UFO Daze founder, has passed away

Benson’s Hide-a-Way, the world-famous UFO bar in the heart of Wisconsin’s Kettle Moraine, announced on their Facebook page that owner and UFO Daze founder Bill Benson passed away today at the age of 79.

Bill Benson was the proprietor of Benson’s Hide-A-Way, the world-famous UFO-themed bar on the shore of Long Lake. Bill witnessed a UFO in his youth, and dedicated the rest of his life to gathering and sharing stories of alien encounters and other bizarre phenomena happening around the Dundee area.

In 1988, Bill co-founded UFO Daze, which was originally convened as a forum for locals to discuss their experiences in a safe environment free from judgement. In the decades since, the annual gathering has drawn multitudes of extraterrestrial enthusiasts from around the country to the Kettle Moraine to revel in the weird and unexplained.

Every year, alien contactees, abductees, UFO eyewitnesses and researchers came to speak at Bill’s alien-themed bar.

They brought with them fantastic alien artifacts like a time machine, or an “inter-space communicator” disguised as a rock.

Some of them believed they were from Venus.

Benson’s Hide-a-Way UFO Headquarters

Dundee has earned the reputation as one of several UFO Capitals of Wisconsin, and even, depending on who you ask, the whole world. Bill always believed the nearby Dundee Mountain had something to do with it.

“Something’s under there,” he said of the massive glacial formation.

Bill Benson at the 33rd annual UFO Daze, July 17th, 2021

Bill will always be remembered as a true Wisconsin legend. See his obituary here. A public celebration of his life will be held this summer at UFO Daze (his favorite day of the year) on July 16th, 2022.

RIP Bill Benson (1942-2021)

Keep looking up!

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