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The China Syndrome

Chinese airmen and scientists have also spotted strange craft in the sky. Though the government imposes a news blackout on such incidents, reports of two sightings in recent years have reached the West.

In July 1977, astronomer Zhang Zhousheng and several colleagues at the Yunnan Observatory watched a glowing object pass overhead, from north to west. 'It was yellow at the core with a giant spiral extension,' Zhang was reported saying, 'It was very bright even in the moonlight, and its colour was greenish-blue.'

Ten months later, Air Force pilot Zhou Quington and other pilots were watching films outside their barracks in north-west China when a huge glowing object crossed the sky.

'It passed over our heads at 21,000 feet and disappeared behind some houses,' Zhou said, 'It seemed to have two large searching lights at the front and a bright tail-light. The lengths of the columns of light kept changing, creating a misty haze around the object.'

Chinese history also records curious sightings. Shen Kua was a famous scientist and scholar who lived at Yangzhou, beside the Yangtz river, more than 900 years ago. He wrote of 'a big pearl' that rose from marshes near the town, and hovered over a nearby lake. It had a round double shell and several people had seen it open. Inside was a bright, silvery light, the size of a fist, which dazzled anyone who looked at it. 'All the trees around had their shadows cast to the ground,' the scientist wrote. 'The shell would leave suddenly, as though flying through the waves. It seemed to be surrounded by flame.'