The UFO-like building was a favourite for people to visit in the 1990s

There are thousands of McDonald’s restaurants across the world, but Cambridgeshire was once home to a very unusual one. McDonald’s has been on the scene for around 86 years, with at least one restaurant guaranteed in every UK town and city.

There are many across Cambridgeshire, and there was one in Alconbury that people actually mistook for something else. A former McDonald’s in Alconbury used to be mistaken for a UFO due to its space-inspired architecture.

Officially built in 1990, this was initially going to be known as the Megatron restaurant. It was going to be the first of a chain of restaurants.

However, the restaurants didn’t work out and in 1993, this UFO-themed building was turned into a McDonald’s. Sadly, the building’s purpose as a McDonald’s was short-lived as well as it closed in 2000.

The building remained empty for several years and then it was demolished in 2008. Although the building no longer exists in bricks and mortar, people can still see a glimpse inside the building.

The video shows its futuristic exterior, and then it heads inside. People shared their memories of the unusual building on the video.

One person said they “loved” to go there as a child, while another said the “UFO was a constant in my life”. The person added: “Started my 21st birthday night in there, broke down in the car park several times (in my car, not mentally on the same night…), ended up having lunch there quite a lot because I worked just down the road.”

In 2021, former worker David Meridith revealed things he remembered from his time at the UFO-inspired restaurant. He said there were “futuristic ordering systems”, which would probably seem quite old-fashioned to us today.

He said: “You ordered on a computer at your table and waited for your food to come.” David also said the restaurant had a “dark and gloomy” atmosphere, but it was popular with people in the military.

David also revealed the reason the restaurant closed. He said it was due to rising maintenance costs. He added: “There was a downturn in sales and maintaining it was costing more than sales in the last year. The outside was just a plastic shell and it started getting leaks. It was impossible to keep it in working order.”