Disclosed

Kaifeng fireball and fragment

Date
23 Jun 1990
Place
Kaifeng and neighbouring counties, Henan, China
Record
Curated case
Assessment
Contested
Evidence strength
467 case pages by decade; this one falls in 1990s with 20 othersAll cases

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

Sensors1 of 9
  • Yes: Visual
  • No: Infrared
  • No: Radar
  • No: Video
  • No: Photo
  • No: Film
  • No: Audio
  • No: Night vision
  • No: Other sensor
Witnessescount not stated
  • 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
ShapeOrb or sphere
  • No: Light only
  • Yes: Orb or sphere
  • No: Disc
  • No: Triangle
  • No: Cylinder
  • No: Cube
  • No: Other shape
Effects1 reported
  • No: Physiological
  • Yes: Physical trace
  • No: Electromagnetic
  • No: Sound
  • No: Silent

Outside sources

On the map

34.80° N, 114.31° E, plotted at the town or city

Show on the map