[meteorite-list] Fireball Explodes Over China

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Dec 13 02:35:05 2004
Message-ID: <200412130734.XAA16381_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.news24.com/News24/Backpage/Offbeat/0,,2-1343-1347_1635191,00.html

UFO 'explodes' in China
new24.com (South Africa)
December 13, 2004

Beijing - An unidentified flying object, or UFO, passed across the large
north-western Chinese city of Lanzhou and apparently exploded in the suburbs,
state media said on Monday.

The unusual sighting of two bright trails of light, reported by several
witnesses, took place on Saturday shortly before midnight, the China Times
reported.

Police, working on the theory that it was a meteorite, went to investigate
the matter, but as of early Monday they had found no evidence of what caused
the nightly phenomenon, an officer said by telephone.

A taxi driver told the paper he was in his car when everything suddenly
became "as bright as day."

When he pulled over, he saw a fireball with a tail of about three metres
darting across the sky, he said.

One witness who was on the late shift at his company reported the courtyard
outside his office was suddenly bathed in a ghostly red light as the object
passed overhead, the paper said.

Others said they heard a huge explosion and felt as if an earthquake had
struck.

China has been hit by several waves of UFO sighting in recent years, and the
country has a research association devoted to the study of possible
extraterrestrial visits.
Received on Mon 13 Dec 2004 02:34:55 AM PST