Kaifeng fireball and fragment
- Date
- 23 Jun 1990
- Place
- Kaifeng and neighbouring counties, Henan, China
- Record
- Curated case
- Assessment
- Contested
- Evidence strength
What was reported
Residents and officials in Kaifeng and nearby counties saw a large fireball cross the night sky, and the next day the press reported an unidentified flying object. A fragment reportedly fell into a residential compound, damaging a tree and a bicycle; it was shown publicly, and government analysis found it to be an aluminium-magnesium alloy and ruled out an extraterrestrial origin, without identifying what aircraft or spacecraft it came from. Later stories of a household illness and an alien cure are part of the local lore, not of the record.
What officials concluded
Tentative explanation
Government analysis: aluminium-magnesium alloy, not extraterrestrial
Strongest ordinary reading
Re-entering artificial debris or a bolide; the fragment's source was never identified
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- Yes: Civilian
- No: Military aircrew
- No: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- No: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- Yes: Other
- No: Light only
- Yes: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- Yes: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Outside sources
- Wikipedia (zh): UFO sightings in Chinazh.wikipedia.org
On the map
34.80° N, 114.31° E, plotted at the town or city
Show on the map