Time Magazine Debunks China UFOs, Ignores Obvious Questions
Last month, Technorati relayed reports of two mass UFO sightings that took place in China. On July 7, Xiaoshan Airport in Hangzhou rerouted traffic for several hours after detecting a UFO. Then, on July 15, "four lantern-like objects forming a diamond shape" hovered over Chongqing's Shaping park for over an hour.
Proposed explanations for the sightings have ranged from helicopters to errant military missiles but, to date, no official explanation has been advanced. Now Time magazine's Chengcheng Jiang has weighed in with a new theory: private planes.
In an article dated August 16, Jiang observes that China's airspace, though tightly controlled by the government, is routinely violated by wealthy pilots who prefer to fly "off the grid," not filing flight plans. These unauthorized flights are known as hei fei, or black flights.
This month, China hosted its first Jet Expo, catering to China's burgeoning wealthy class (1,900 billionaires last year).
Fines for flying illegally in China start at 10,000 renminbi (approx. $1,500 US), while flight path application fees start at 50,000 renminbi. These figures, coupled with the complicated and time-consuming application process and the perception that the Chinese government is trying to loosen its control over airspace, have taken a toll on compliance.
According to Jiang, "experts quickly determined that ... the (Hangzhou UFO) was identified as most likely being (a private plane)."
Unanswered questions
- Since it's certain that credentials would be demanded of anyone expressing an opposing opinion on the matter, why aren't Jiang's experts identified?
- If it's now common in China for private pilots to fly without filing flight plans, why would a major airport reroute traffic for three hours in response to a suspected hei fei? (And just how slowly do Chinese pilots move through the air?)
- Why would a private pilot violating "tightly controlled" airspace tempt fate by remaining airborne for between one (Chongqing) and three (Hangzhou) hours over heavily populated areas?
- Why hasn't the Chinese government offered an official explanation for the sightings, especially considering how "quickly determined" the cause of the sightings was by "experts?"
- What kind of private plane looks to people on the ground like "four lantern-like objects" (Chongqing) that hover, forming a diamond shape, for an hour over a public park?
- What kind of missile (one proposed explanation for the Chongqing sighting), military or otherwise, hovers in the air for an hour?
- What kind of drugs are the people of China doing these days?
- Are those drugs available in the United States?
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