MUFONET-BBS GROUP - MUTUAL UFO NETWORK
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UFOLOGY NEWS - WIRE
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:=START= XMT: 06:54 Mon May 11 EXP: 07:00 Tue May 12 :
: :
:CHINESE SCIENTISTS MEET TO EXPLORE UNIDENTIFIED FLYING :
:OBJECTS :
: :
:BEIJING (MAY 11) UPI - Chinese scientists are huddling this :
:week to explore the latest mysteries of unidentified flying :
:objects, from reports of sightings and abductions to claims :
:that Chinese mystics are in contact with life on other :
:planets. :
: :
:The nearly 200 researchers from around the country are :
:meeting in Beijing at a conference sponsored by the China :
:UFO Research Society, the national organization that :
:coordinates studies in China of ''fei die,'' which in :
:Chinese means ''flying saucer.'' :
: :
:The society, known by its English acronym CURO, is engaged :
:in research that spans the gamut from cold science to the :
:weird and wacky, including efforts to speak to outer space :
:without all the high-tech gadgetry employed by Western :
:researchers. :
: :
:''One of our important missions is to establish a way for :
:people on Earth to communicate with other planets without :
:resorting to modern communications methods,'' said Wang :
:Changting, the research society's affable director. :
: :
:Nearly 5,000 UFO-type sightings have been reported in China :
:since the late 1970s, with all but around 200 later :
:discounted as natural or man- made objects such as weather :
:phenonema and aircraft. :
: :
:The unsolved cases include sightings of floating :
:basketballs, orange-lit washbasins and flying straw hats. :
:Around 40 of those are the ''close encounters'' variety, :
:with reports of contact or kidnappings by vaguely :
:described extraterrestrials. :
: :
:In one case, a teacher in eastern Tianjin reported seeing a :
:shimmering ball overhead as he bicycled around a park at :
:night. He lost consciousness and awoke the next morning at :
:the park gate to find the time on his watch an hour behind :
:the actual time. :
: :
:A month later, he suddenly recalled having been abducted :
:onto a strange craft by two short beings in unidentifiable :
:space suits. :
: :
:Along with those reports, and research into related topics :
:like atmospheric phenomena, some of the 3,500 CURO members :
:nationwide are studying claims by Chinese mystics that they :
:can locate UFOs or communicate with aliens. :
: :
:Some claim to use ''qigong,'' a practice that marshals the :
:Chinese concept of life energy, to make contact. Although :
:qigong is an accepted exercise discipline, adherents also :
:make fantastic claims of supernatural powers or faith :
:healing ability. :
: :
:''Sometimes we cannot mix Western reality and Oriental :
:belief,'' shrugged Wang. ''Of course there are some :
:illogical things involved, but the line between science and :
:mysticism cannot be separated only as illogic.'' :
: :
:Among other areas of research are theoretical and practical :
:studies of space flight, the possibility of life on other :
:planets and the potential impact of UFOs on the Earth's :
:environment. :
: :
:UFO research is taken seriously in China. Several years ago,:
:a UFO sighting over an open air film show in rural south :
:China sparked a stampede by panicked villagers that left two:
:people dead and 300 injured. :
: :
:The Chinese military, which sometimes scrambles air force :
:jets to try to catch a glimpse of UFOs, conducts its own UFO:
:studies and maintains contact with CURO researchers, Wang :
:said. :
: :
:But not even scientists are immune to the more outlandish :
:aspects of UFOs, he added, noting a report by a CURO :
:researcher who claimed he had been ''invited'' aboard a :
:space craft and taken to a planet thousands of light years :
:away. :
: :
:''This man was a scientist, so we don't believe that what he:
:told us is altogether nonsense,'' Wang said. ''But we can't :
:explain it.'' :
: :
:=END= :
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