Chinese state media report a UFO over Lanzhou and an apparent explosion in the suburbs

An unidentified flying object streaked over Lanzhou, a large city in northwestern China, and appeared to explode in the outskirts, according to Chinese state media.

The China Times reported that several residents saw two bright trails of light in the sky shortly before midnight on Saturday. One taxi driver said the night briefly turned "as bright as day," describing a fireball trailing roughly three meters (about 10 feet) of light. Another witness said the courtyard outside his office glowed a ghostly red as the object passed. Some people reported a loud blast and a shaking sensation similar to an earthquake.

Police treated the sighting as a possible meteorite and searched the suburbs, but an officer said by telephone that investigators had found no trace of a cause by early Monday.

The report noted that China had recorded repeated waves of UFO sightings in recent years and maintained a research body dedicated to studying possible extraterrestrial visits.

TurkishPress summary of a January 2005 wire report.