UFO incident in Inner Mongolia blamed on a black flight incident

Conflicting reports out of China continue related to UFO incidents that caused the shut down of airports in China.

On July 7th, airport officials in China were forced to shut down the Xiaoshan airport in Hangzhou. Almost two months later, on Sept.11th, airport officials shut down an airport in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, for more than one hour.

Airport officials at both airports cited UFOs as the reason for the airport shut downs. The sighting in Baotou was called a “near collision” between a UFO and a commercial passenger flight.

The Xiaoshan incident was explained away by an illegally flying private plane by China Daily on Aug. 5th. The only explanation regarding the Bataou incident, until now, was a denial that the incident ever happened. ABC News said,“The Chinese government had said on previous occasions that the lights claimed to be UFOs were military exercises, but the government denied the Sept. 11 incident happened at all.”

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) in Hong Kong has released an alternate explanation for the Baotou incident that never mentions that government denial. The explanation now matches the initial Xiaoshan airport explanation: “black flights” (illegally flying private planes and helicopters).

Time wrote about the “black flight” problem in mid-August to explain away the Hangzhou incident. It was stated that China’s billionaires fly off-the grid, making short-hop flights, because China’s airspace is tightly controlled by the government. The process to fly legally would take much too long for the billionaires to take off “on the fly” to match their schedules.

According to Time, “Would-be flyers need to apply to several different local and national ministries and departments to get the appropriate licenses and must submit detailed flight plans to the local air-traffic-control department at least seven working days in advance.”

Therefore, the billionaires bypass the legalities. If they are caught, the fees are just pocket change for these billionaires, it was reported. The fine ranges from 10,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan (1.7 million won to 17 million won).

None of these articles, however, have offered an explanation as to why experienced airport officials would identify planes as ‘UFOs” as the reason for shutting down airports.

The Baotou incident was the 9th report of a UFO in China since June, with the others reporting from Hunan, Sichuan, Shandong, Shanxi, Yunnan and Zhejiang provinces and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

But wait, in another now conflicting piece of information, the SCMP now reports that the Xiaoshan Airport shut down in July was due to a military test at a nearby air force base. This conflicts with the China Daily explanation from August 5th that blamed the incident on a “black flight.” The news source also reports: “In late April, flights to Shanghai’s Pudong and Hongqiao airports were delayed or forced to be diverted after an illegal flight by a helicopter.”

SCMP does not elaborate as to why those incidents did not prompt airport officials to dub the helicopters with the UFO label in April. SCMP is regarded as a “serious” newspaper and is considered as neutral towards the government. It is also considered to be a more “establishment-leaning” publication, according to Wikipedia.

中 ‘UFO 소동’은 무허가 비행기 탓

중국에서 항공 당국의 허가를 받지 않은 채 비행을 하는 자가용 항공기 소유자들이 증가, 항공 안전을 위협하는 것으로 밝혀졌다.

14일 홍콩의 사우스차이나 모닝포스트(SCMP)에 따르면 네이멍구 자치구 바오터우 공항의 경우, 지난 9월 11일 미확인 비행물체(UFO)가 공항 주변을 비행함에 따라 1시간 이상 여객기의 이착륙이 금지됐다.

6월 이후 후난, 쓰촨, 산둥, 산시 등 7개 성에서는 모두 9건의 미확인 비행물체로 관련 공항이 일시 폐쇄됐다는 보도가 나왔다.

공항 당국은 미확인비행물체가 인근 공군 기지에서 이륙해 훈련중이던 군용기라고 밝혔지만 주민들은 당국 허가를 받지 않은채 비행하던 자가용 비행기일 가능성이 높다고 전했다.

자가용 비행기의 운항은 중국에서 법으로 제한된다. 그런데도 무허가 비행이 느는 이유는 불법 비행에 대한 벌금이 1만∼10만 위안(170만∼1700만원)으로 비행기 소유주인 부유층에게는 미미한 액수기 때문이라는 지적이다.