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    He keeps seeing them

    Twenty-nine-year-old Yang Zheng is one of the youngest members of the Kunming UFO Research Association and also one of the most frequent witnesses of a UFO.

    "Altogether six times, once in Beijing and five times in Yunnan," he said. "But I don't know why I keep seeing them."

    His first encounter dates back to 20 years ago when he was at his aunt's home. He spotted a strange red object in the sky through the window.

    He immediately checked the popular Chinese children's book 100,000 Whys, but found no answer.

    His father told him "it was just a plane". Tired of disappointments, he decided to find out himself and started posting his eyewitness reports online and doing research on UFO cases.

    "The more I study, the more I feel like my belief is changing," he said.

    The most dramatic case he has investigated was in November 2006 when thousands of villagers in Zhenyuan Yi, Hani and Lahu Autonomous County of Yunnan Province claimed to have witnessed seven flickering white hemispherical-shaped objects hovering right over one cadre's yard for nearly two hours.

    It was said the objects' shapes kept changing. Small village, big mouth. Word soon spread that something was stirring in the cadre's backyard and more and more villagers came to see. They started pursuing the circling objects.

    Then, suddenly, the lights disappeared.

    Yang conducted an on-the-spot investigation, talking to villagers and cadres and asking them to draw pictures of what they had seen.

    "Even though I cannot prove it was real, I tend to believe they weren't lying," Yang said. "Because only well-trained actors could lie so naturally."

    After he finished the investigation, he headed back to Beijing. It was there that a UFO showed up right in front of him -- again.

    One evening when he was playing an online game at home he suddenly felt excited, like something was going to happen. He turned off his computer, walked out of his home into the courtyard and looked at the sky. He saw a huge cloud in the sky, nothing more.

    "Then I said ‘Stop toying with me! Please come out. I swear I won't tell anyone else!' and the moment I finished the sentence, I saw a red spark coming from the cloud. It was like they heard what I said."

    No experts from the association could say why Yang keeps seeing all these UFOs, but he believes it must mean something.

    "All the research and investigations I have done are not to prove the existence of aliens," he said. "Quite the opposite. It helps us to understand more about ourselves and the world around us.

    "I think that is the message they want to send to me."

    Saucer for sale: 20,000 yuan

    Cheng Weiguo, 40, came to the UFO forum with many questions and a mission to sell his design concept for a flying saucer.

    Soon after the opening of the forum, he could not wait to display his efforts and kept raising his hand during the speech of Wang Sichao, astronomer and ufologist.

    "Yes, that gentleman who keeps raising his hand for a long time," Wang said.

    "Dear professor, I was wondering if there is any way we could get rid of gravity?" Cheng said.

    "Then we need to discuss why you want to get rid of gravity," Wang replied.

    Cheng introduced his energy-saving, anti-gravity flying saucer, or "the future of human transportation," as he put it.

    "Unlike the plane, it can fly in all directions and stop wherever you want," he said. "I believe it will become the most popular personal transportation for a family-of-three in the future."

    "And a small one only costs 20,000 yuan," he said loudly.

    The audience began muttering, one professor saying in a low voice: "Anti-gravity? He must be kidding."

    Asked how much for the design, Cheng said it had taken him "years of studying flying saucers". He'd only sell for a "good price".

    Cheng told the professor he was a real UFO lover. Wherever a UFO shows up, he's there in a Kunming minute.

    "I waited half a month once in the summer of 1995 in Guizhou Province to see a UFO," he said.

    The cool audience response did not dampen Cheng's passion. He turned on his PC and displayed his three-dimensional design to the crowd.

    "Everyone come look! See? It can fly in all directions. Isn't my idea amazing?" he said.

    "Please bring us a small model next time, then we will talk about it," said Zhang Yifang.