A CHINESE airport was dramatically shut down after baffled air traffic controllers spotted an incoming UFO on their radar systems.

Planes were grounded and flights were diverted away from Xiaoshan airport in Hangzhou City, in the country's east, after the mysterious glowing object appeared on monitoring instruments late Wednesday night, the Shanghai Daily reported.

In a further twist, the closure followed several supposed sightings of a strange airborne object across the city, with locals reportedly seeing a comet-like fireball in the sky.

Airport authorities immediately notified passengers to stop boarding and grounded all planes about to take off as flights were rerouted to neighboring airports in the cities of Ningbo and Wuxi, Xinhua news agency said.

The unexplained object soon vanished from radar screens but flights were delayed from taking off for a further four hours.

An airport spokesman said an investigation was underway, but refused to elaborate.

A local bus driver, giving his name only as Yu, told Xinhua he had seen a strange glowing object in the sky late Wednesday afternoon.

"The thing suddenly ran westwards fast, like it was escaping from something," he said.

However meteorological experts poured cold water on the supposed sightings, suggesting that people had seen nothing more sinister than sunlight reflecting off conventional aircraft.


Source theaustralian.com.au