On July 7th, airport officials in China were forced to shut down the Xiaoshan airport in Hangzhou. Almost two months later, on September 11th, airport officials shut down an airport in Baotou, Inner Mongolia.

Airport officials at both airports cited UFOs as the reason for the airport shut downs. The sighting in Baotou was called a “near collision” between a UFO and a commercial passenger flight.

The Xiaoshan incident was explained away by an illegally flying private plane by China Daily on August 5th. The only explanation regarding the Bataou incident, until now, was a denial that the incident ever happened. According to ABC News,“The Chinese government had said on previous occasions that the lights claimed to be UFOs were military exercises, but the government denied the Sept. 11 incident happened at all.”

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) in Hong Kong has released an alternate explanation for the Baotou incident that never mentions that government denial. The explanation now matches the initial Xiaoshan airport explanation: “black flights” (illegally flying private planes and helicopters).

Time wrote about the “black flight” problem in mid-August to explain away the Hangzhou incident. It was stated that China’s billionaires fly off-the grid, making short-hop flights, because China’s airspace is tightly controlled by the government. The process to fly legally would take much too long for the billionaires to take off “on the fly” to match their schedules. According to Time, “Would-be flyers need to apply to several different local and national ministries and departments to get the appropriate licenses and must submit detailed flight plans to the local air-traffic-control
department at least seven working days in advance.” Therefore, the billionaires bypass the legalities. If they are caught, the fees are just pocket change for these billionaires, it was reported.

None of these articles, however, have offered an explanation as to why experienced airport officials would identify planes as ‘UFOs” as the reason for shutting down airports.

The Baotou incident was the 9th report of a UFO in China since June, with the others reporting from Hunan, Sichuan, Shandong, Shanxi, Yunnan and Zhejiang provinces and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

But wait, in another now conflicting piece of information, the SCMP now reports that the Xiaoshan Airport shut down in July was due to a military test at a nearby air force base. This conflicts with the China Daily explanation from August 5th that blamed the incident on a “black flight”. The news source also reports: “In late April, flights to Shanghai’s Pudong and Hongqiao airports were delayed or forced to be diverted after an illegal flight by a helicopter.”

SCMP does not elaborate as to why those incidents did not prompt airport officials to dub the helicopters with the UFO label in April. SCMP is regarded as a “serious” newspaper and is considered as neutral towards the government. It is also considered to be a more “establishment-leaning” publication, according to Wikipedia.

Copyright © 2010 Cherlyn Gardner Strong

Read more of Cherlyn’s posts as a contributor for Paranormal Utopia, or at Cherlyn’s Paranormal Old Pueblo website

Shortly after New York’s sightings, a rumored UFO abduction of a village was reported to have occurred in China’s Shaanxi Province. We all know that this Shaanxi Province UFO abduction was only a rumor. The Shanxi Province UFO was not. The neighboring provinces can be viewed on the map below.

So, while we are on the subject, I thought it would be helpful  to provide the names of provinces in which other UFO sightings took place since June 30th of this year:

• Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu
  
• Hunan
• Zhejiang (2 Hangzhou, Haiyan County)
  
• Sichuan (2: Municipality of Chongqing, Yibin)
  
• Guangdong
• Inner Mongolia
  
• Shanxi

Of these, only three sightings had official explanations released to news agencies.

The sighting in Yibin of Sichuan Province was declared to be a lit kite.

The sighting in Dongguan of Guandong Province was determined to be plane exhaust.

The sighting in Hangzhou (Zhejiang Province), that shut down the Xiaoshan Airport on July 7th, was given the official explanation of “likely a private plane”.

According to ABC News, officials in China have refused to comment about the September 11th sighting which took place in Inner Mongolia and shut down another airport.

I stumbled across a UFODigest post that piqued my interest. It states that an entire village disappeared in China yesterday after a reported UFO sighting. The partial post below shows the headline.

I did do a quick search about the source for this post: Sohu News. I found a few sources that state that Sohu News out of China is considered to be a tabloid-level news source with no credibility.  If not, could the meaning of the article have been lost in translation?

Since this is sure to spread like wildfire, with hundreds of other websites reporting this alleged incident, you can make the judgment for yourself. I vote for a tabloid news source wanting page views.

***UPDATE: 10/18/10 PEOPLE’S DAILY ONLINE SAYS STORY IS FALSE***

Qinling event: “inexplicable disappearance of a village in the Qinling Mountains,” the truth has been blocked by the military

At 4:00 on October 13 Qinling event, reportedly, four in the morning today, a village in the Qinling mountain inexplicably disappeared. Now the military has cordoned off the area. According to eyewitnesses, a UFO flying around.

[Continue to read at UFODigest]

First, I’ll talk about the UFO report close to home in New York City yesterday. Various news broadcasts on the internet featured eyewitnesses accounts. The eyewitnesses were insistent that the objects in the sky that mesmerized them were not balloons. Less than 24 hours later, New York Daily News posted a contradictory, but believable article, accompanied by a video with convincing evidence. The object was identified as white balloons adorned with silver designs for a teacher’s engagement party.

Earlier this morning, I caught a segment on the morning news, in which a cute little moppet stated quite vehemently that it was not a UFO. “Those were our balloons.”, she said.  The selected video presented a child trying to convince grown-ups that, well, they need to grow up.

Amid the frenzy of the New York UFO articles flying through cyberspace, an incident occurred at TRACON, unrelated to the balloon sighting. TRACON controls the airspace above John F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. Flights were temporarily grounded, with others not allowed to land, due to smoke and odors at the air traffic facility. Some might say that this should have been the big news out of New York, not the UFO sighting. Some conspiracy theorists might speculate that the two incidents are somehow related, but it’s just a coincidence.

Then, there’s the other top story. Earlier this week, originating from a galaxy far, far away from Earth, the notion that an astronomer may have received an alien signal dominated the news. The astronomer who claims to have received the signal two years ago was painted in a rather unflattering manner. He hasn’t produced any evidence for the signal, but the mere thought of the signal was intriguing. The very next day, it was revealed that Gliese 581g may not even exist for a signal to originate from.

So, in my mind, I am considering the possibilities of these two events. As far as UFO sightings are concerned, I don’t jump to conclusions that UFOs are from space. Although I do write blog posts with breaking news, my regular readers understand that they shouldn’t panic until they get confirmed facts. They also understand what my beliefs are related to UFOs.

It is my belief that we have to try to identify the object, first and foremost. Once we do that, then we can consider where the object came from, then we can consider who was piloting the object. It seems to be reversed for many others, with the assumption of aliens, first and foremost.

These unidentified objects in question are routinely explained away as weather balloons, military planes, planets, missiles, rockets, or swamp gas.

The identification of the objects as “escaped balloons” by a child in New York is quite convincing. The objects were identified. We know what they were, where they came from, and know that the wind piloted them across the sky. Not to mention another group that claimed that celebratory balloons had also been released from Times Square. However, some eyewitnesses to the event are vehemently standing by their firsthand accounts. They speculate that the escaped balloon incidents were just a coincidence, insisting that the events are unrelated.

Last night, I watched UFO videos from Moscow, San Francisco and Seattle that seemed to be similar. These sightings did not get picked up by the media since the focus was on New York.  This raises the question of whether the people in these other cities were hoping to see something unusual, as a result of the event in New York.

Videos of objects in the night sky make it really hard to examine and identify objects that could easily be planes or helicopters. Some people do jump the gun when deliberately looking for UFOs. The sightings in major cities on the same day appear to be just a coincidence.

As far as the alien signal in question is concerned, did astronomers jump the gun in announcing the unconfirmed extrasolar planet? Even the Wikipedia entry that I referenced prior to posting the story stated that the existence of Gliese 581g is currently unconfirmed. Although my post was the first post after Space.com’s post, I did make sure to include that word, but it was not used in the slew of articles that I saw after mine.

So, in this case, the investigation method still applies. The object must be identified and confirmed, first, before aliens or other life forms are taken under consideration. I am very hopeful that the existence of Gliese 581g is proven. We have to have proof, first, that it exists.

Are we too anxious to make contact with possible life outside our planet? Are the explanations for the sightings finally getting better?

Reporters immediately traveled to the scene. On the way, they continued to receive UFO reports.

When reporters arrived at the scene, they did observe a “big milky-white luminous spot” circling above the clouds. The object disappeared around 9:10 pm.

This is not the first UFO sighting in Shanxi Province. According to People’s Daily Online, UFO sightings are frequent in Shanxi Province. The caption of an accompanying UFO photo on the website cites a date of September 23rd.

Visit People’s Daily Online to view the article, which also includes a short interview with a UFO expert.

After all, in July, China gained worldwide attention resulting from highly publicized UFO sightings – one of which gave cause to shut down a busy airport in Hangzhou. Additionally, the release of Kean’s book, UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go On the Record, was sitting on the New York Times Bestseller List when another UFO caused the shut down of another airport in Batou, Inner Mongolia.

I spoke with Kean on the phone in September and came to some conclusions about the speculation of those few critics.

Considering Kean’s book was the result of a ten-year research project, the critics made no sense. Paranormal topics and ufology weren’t as widely popular with the general public when she was writing the book.  In fact, the release date of the book was scheduled by Random House far in advance of the “UFO craze of 2010″, as some have called it.

Another speculation I read was that Kean must be some sort of “UFO fanatic”. As someone with a lifelong interest in UFOs, I quickly found that Leslie Kean was not a kindred spirit. Although Kean had picked up and read a couple books on the UFO subject in the 1980′s, she said she was somewhat intrigued by the subject. She wasn’t deeply interested in it and had no desire to write about it.

As an independent investigative journalist, Kean contributed a feature story to the Boston Globe about UFOs in 2000. The research for this article did further pique her interest. It also raised questions in her mind. As a result, that article led to her contribution of more mainstream media articles about UFOs.

Responsible coverage, based on a rational and credible approach, is what Kean has always brought to her readers. She went further than simply reporting on the topic to bring information to the general public. By 2002, she co-founded the Coalition for Freedom of Information.

“Coalition for Freedom of Information (CFi), [is] an independent alliance advocating for greater government openness on information about UFOs, and for responsible coverage by the media based on a rational and credible approach.” – Leslie Kean’s ufosontherecord.com

In 2007, Kean co-organized a Washington DC international press conference on official UFO investigations. The conference was held three years prior to the September 27th National Press Club conference, where retired military men went on the record about UFOs and nuclear weapons.

During our conversation that took place prior to the September conference, Kean expressed her optimism that members of the media would attend the conference. Although few journalists actually ended up attending in person, the conference was widely viewed via CNN live streaming Internet coverage. It was widely reported after the conference by the mainstream media to the general public.

While on the subject of the general public, when I spoke with Kean, she spoke of what she had in mind when she started writing her book. First, the book was not geared toward UFO enthusiasts. Secondly, she said, “I wanted to present a book to a new audience that presented them with just the facts, written in a language that the new audience would understand.” The topic of UFOs is one that Kean feels that people in the general public need to know about.

Kean’s book has been received positively, but it hasn’t been well-received by everyone. MSNBC’s James Oberg wrote a highly critical article in September about it. MSNBC offered Kean space on their website for a rebuttal, which she took advantage of, and expressed much appreciation for the opportunity to do so. LiveScience quickly called the two articles the beginning of a “UFO Battle“.  The speculation from LiveScience left readers waiting for a rebuttal from Oberg to Kean.

A rebuttal never came. The battle was over, just like that.

Due to Kean’s book, the UFOs in China, and the surge of interest in the UFO topic, the mainstream media have noticed the popularity of the topic. They have jumped into the topic, though in a tardy manner, thus far. The Inner Mongolia airport shutdown was covered by ABC News three weeks after bloggers originally reported the September 11th incident to their readers.

This more than three-week lag time for the Mongolia incident, was much worse than the mainstream media’s week-late reporting of the Hangzou Xiaoshan airport incident in July. The late reporting of the Xiaoshan incident in July caused other media outlets to report the date of the incident a week later than it actually occurred. The Mongolia incident in September, reported by ABC News in October, caused even more confusion for readers.

Due to the late reporting, bloggers, like myself, had to explain to our readers that the late news of the Mongolia incident was not new news, nor was it even “fresh” news, as ABC News reported it. No reason was offered about why the mainstream media took that long to report it. The only new item reported was that the Chinese government refused to comment on the incident.

That response from China is no surprise to the rest of us. There isn’t a clear answer for most of the incidents out of China. The “it was likely a plane” theory offered by Chinese UFO experts for the Xiaoshan airport incident in July is not good enough.

Airport officials should be able to identify planes, even illegally flying private planes when they order the shut down of an airport. Until the plane or the pilot are positively identified, it is still a UFO. There has been no concrete conclusion from that investigation. No explanation was ever offered for the mass sighting in Chongqing, either.

Now, we are revisiting the Inner Mongolia airport shut down as “fresh” news, nearly a month after it happened. This is not timely reporting by the mainstream media.

Additionally, reporting has not always been based on a credible and rational approach, like Leslie Kean has been fighting for. Most bloggers I know, aim every day to live up to those standards. However, some members of the mainstream media just aren’t getting it.

A Washington Post article resulting from the National Press Club Conference in September was presented in a satirical and rather bizarre manner. A Time article recently speculated that aliens might be interested in Peking duck or Chanel knock-offs, referring to a possible reason for the China UFO wave.

Did anyone say anything about aliens?

First, we have to determine what the objects were, then we can speculate where they came from and who was flying them.

Though some members of the mainstream media have followed Kean’s lead to report responsibly on the subject of UFOs, others really need to learn a few things from Leslie Kean.

From a reader’s viewpoint, there are three things that readers have expressed that they desire from mainstream media reporting:

• Just present the facts.
• Report on incidents in a timely manner.
• Spare us the lame UFO jokes.

——————-

On a related note:

Anyone who is confused about the time line or reported information about the China UFO incidents are welcome to refer to my related articles about China, starting on July 8, 2010.

From Roswell to China: UFO disrupts air traffic in east China UPDATE (JULY 8, 2010)

Source in China cites ‘military connection’ for UFO sighting (JULY 8, 2010)

Was it a ‘UFO’? ‘IDK’ is the latest response from China (JULY 10, 2010)

Experts join in on the investigation of the UFO in China (JULY 14, 2010)

Media in China report second UFO sighting in Chongqing (JULY 15, 2010)

Commentary on the China UFO, Roswell, Bloggers and the Mainstream Media (JULY 16, 2010)

OPINION: Why the idea of a China UFO conspiracy is inappropriate (JULY 19, 2010)

Misleading mainstream media article regarding UFO in China (JULY 20, 2010)

CNN, ABC, UFOs and other unexplained phenomena (JULY 21, 2010)

Team of experts in China release ‘China UFO’ findings (JULY 26, 2010)

UFOs: China researcher sees a pattern, predicts more sightings (AUGUST 2, 2010)

China offers explanation about UFO experts’ conclusion: ‘it was just a plane’ (AUGUST 5, 2010)

UFO in China was not ‘just a plane’, it was likely ‘a special plane’ (AUGUST 12, 2010)

Expert in China blames media and lack of ‘rational reasoning’ for mass UFO sighting (AUGUST 13, 2010)

Time Magazine reinforces China UFO theory: “it was just a plane” (AUGUST 18, 2010)

Expert in China weighs in on aliens, UFOs and Voyager (SEPTEMBER 1, 2010)

Another UFO spotted in Zhejiang Province in Eastern China (SEPTEMBER 2, 2010)

Video of reported UFO in Zhejiang province in China (SEPTEMBER 5, 2010)

Another UFO shuts down another airport, this time in Mongolia (SEPTEMBER 13, 2010)

UFO wave on ‘Earthquake night’ in Chile raises questions about China’s UFO wave (SEPTEMBER 14, 2010)

Frequent UFO sightings reported in China’s Shanxi province (October 13, 2010)

The mainstream media reports have mostly been citing the People’s Daily Online as the source, as they should. People’s Daily Online was the first publication to filter the news to the U.S. on September 13th. The incident happened on Saturday, September 11th.

Tim Brosnan at Technorati covered the incident on September 21st. Both Tim and I are confused over the “late” reporting, as well as some awkward reporting by the mainstream media. This applies, as well, to both the July Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport incident and the sighting in Chongqing a week later.

Another publication has been mentioned by the mainstream media related to the Inner Mongolia UFO incident: The Sun, the notorious British tabloid.

ABC News and other mainstream media outlets took interest in the report, it is said in some sources, when The Sun reported it. Since then, it has been a media frenzy of “fresh” UFO news. Not timely, but “fresh”. My readers actually thought that this was a brand new incident, since I had reported it over three weeks ago. I reassured those who were confused that it was not.

It’s the same one, only picked up late by mainstream media sources.

I’m not seeking credit for breaking UFO news. There is usually Internet chatter before I formally post.

Instead, I am wondering when a tabloid became a source that is more trusted than UFO/paranormal bloggers. I am also wondering why my articles have been lifted and barely re-written to avoid plagiarism. Right now, I am wondering about a lot of things.

My goal is to bring interesting stories to my readers. I hope that my readers don’t take offense at my venting at something that doesn’t concern them.

Rather, I am just putting it out there for anyone who is skimming my blog for news. It is happening way too much lately.

Another thing that I have to say is that anyone who reposts my articles with barely changed words, or simply removes my name, will certainly face legal action.

Reports from People’s Daily Online and Shanghai Daily confirm these reports from the news outlet Dbw.cn. The airport in Baotou in Inner Mongolia was forced to delay the landing of three planes originating from Shanghai and Beijing. The airport was shutdown for nearly an hour, due to the appearance of an unidentified flying object.

According to reports, the object was seen hovering about four kilometers east of the Baotou airport at around 8:00 pm, with the three planes delayed for safety reasons.

China’s Xiaoshan Airport was also shutdown for about an hour earlier this year, on July 7th, due to a UFO.

As previously reported on September 2nd, the object sighted on Tuesday night in China was very bright, according to eyewitnesses. It was visible for at least three hours. It drew the attention of two reporters from Haiyan’s local television station. The reporters who followed the object by car were said to have taken relatively clear pictures of it.

The reporters stated that the pictures they took show: “a round object that had shining blue lights, and several other flickering objects around it.”

The object’s appearance seemed to change at one point, according to eyewitnesses. The round object seemingly became rectangular before eventually flying higher and disappearing.

Other witnesses said that the object constantly twinkled and was not flying at a high altitude. One of them noted: “It looked quite big and it seemed that it was moving.”

The object sighted on Tuesday night was very bright, according to eyewitnesses. It was visible for at least three hours. It drew the attention of two reporters from Haiyan’s local television station. The reporters who followed the object by car were said to have taken relatively clear pictures of it.

The reporters stated that the pictures they took show: “a round object that had shining blue lights, and several other flickering objects around it.”

The object’s appearance seemed to change at one point, according to eyewitnesses. The round object seemingly became rectangular before eventually flying higher and disappearing.

Other witnesses said that the object constantly twinkled and was not flying at a high altitude. One of them noted: “It looked quite big and it seemed that it was moving.”

This is the latest in a string of UFO sightings in Eastern China. Two of those sightings made international news, reported by ABC News, Fox News, CNN and others.

Earlier this year, on July 7th, a UFO sighting caused the Hangzou Xiaoshan Airport to be shut down, also in Zhejiang Province. Twenty flights were diverted to neighboring airports. A team of experts from Shanghai and Beijing joined in on the resulting investigation into the incident. The experts concluded that the object was likely an illegally flying private plane, but have not identified the plane or the pilot.

A week later, a UFO was spotted in Chongqing in Sichuan Province. This object also remains unidentified.