Post by hi224 on Dec 15, 2020 21:55:10 GMT
Background
This incident, along with the Huang Yanqiu incident of 1977 and the Meng Zhaoguo incident of the same year, are regarded as the 3 biggest UFO incidents in China in recent history, yet, asides from Meng Zhaoguo, few English articles were written regarding the other two incidents (One of the many side effects of a country isolating themselves for so long, I guess). Unlike the other two incidents, Guiyang's "flying train" was witnessed by many, with aftermath images of the damages it did. All aspects considered, this event resembles the Phoenix Lights, occurring just 3 years later.
So, as a Chinese dude who's morbid curiosity just can't be squashed by firewalls and censorship, I'll tell the tales to the best of my ability based upon Chinese sources.
Choo choo, it's a UFO
Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province, is a quiet city tucked into the mountains of southwestern China. The city and the province which it administers over has seen hardships due to their ruralness. However, as China expanded its railway system, traveling and commuting has never been easier, with tourists flocking the province for its breathtaking waterfalls and beautiful mountains. However, a very different "train" graced the city a little over 26 years ago, and instead of bringing in ecstatic passengers, it brought terror and puzzlement to the residents.
Around 3 AM on December 1, 1994, Chen Lianyou and his buddy returned to their dorm for a tea break after a night patrol in the Duxi Forest Farm, located in northern Guiyang. The weather outside deteriorated as thunderstorms and hail descended upon the city. However, Guiyang is no stranger to foul weather and has seen its fair share of thunderstorms and floods.
As the two tried to sleep, they heard the roar of a coal train outside. A puzzled Chen tried to make sense of it as there are no train tracks on the farm at that time. Then came the lights, so strong that it appeared like daytime. Chen was one of the thousands of Guiyang residents that witnessed the strange "train" that night. They all eventually described the same thing: blinding lights (some recalling fireballs), gushing winds, and deafening, train-like noises, moving generally from southwest towards the northeast. When the awoken residents tried to head outside out of curiosity, their door seems to be glued shut.
The next morning, ranchers and locals were greeted with an astonishing scene: over 400 acres, or around 227 football fields, of the forest, was destroyed. The trees were cut in half, some even uprooted. The nearby Dulaying Railway Station was also hit: the facility was deroofed, some brick buildings collapsed, steel tubes either bent or snapped, and train cars, weighing over 50 tons and situated on an upward slope, were moved by 20 meters (66 ft). No person or livestock was affected, asides from a night patrol of the station who was picked up by the strong winds, but he survived unscathed. Local infrastructures, like electricity and communications, were also untouched.
Investigation
Journalists and investigators who flocked the farm and surrounding areas were also taken aback. Strange things started to happen to their equipment, as one photographer for the local Guiyang Nightly recalled that the pictures he took of the destroyed farm failed to develop, yet the ones he took on the journey to and from the site developed normally. It was only a few days later did the cameras finally started working properly when recording the farm.
Experts in China at that time was split into two fractions regarding this event, one believes it's a natural phenomenon, with the other party believing a UFO is the culprit. Ouyang Ziyuan, one of China's top cosmochemists and geochemists, took the natural approach. He explained that, based on meteorological records that day, a downburst or a tornado was to blame for the damage. A downburst is a damaging wind emanated from a severe storm above that blows radially, in straight-line of every direction, once reaching the ground. This would align with Chen's witness of a hail storm, the damages the "train" left behind, and how the residents weren't able to open their doors that night. However, according to Guizhou Meteorological Agency, there was no tornado in Duxi Forest Farm that day, nor did the province ever experienced a tornado before. Although Guiyang is located in south China, the conditions for downbursts to occur will still have diminished in December, plus, the damages were actually noncontinuous, being 4 distinctive blotches. No straight-line winds will leave a damage pattern like that, so the theory isn't on solid grounds.
On the other hand, Ma Rui'an, an engineering professor at the Guizhou Academy of Sciences, was a supporter of the various UFO theories. Through the images of the aftermath and his own experiments, Professor Ma estimated that the "train" was about 200 meters (656 ft) in diameter and possibly powered by jets or a booster. To demonstrate, he made his own mini flying saucers, powered by jets, to simulate how such a vehicle would leave the marks seeing from the incident: as the saucer flew into the lousy weather conditions like what Guiyang experienced that day, its jets lose power due to heavy rain and hail, which causes it to fall and causing damage on the ground. As it reaches the ground, though, the engines get less affected by rain and hail, and the saucer is once again airborne. Repeat this process, and he arrives at the damage patterns observed that day. However, his theory isn't perfect either, as the fallen leaves weren't scorched in the damaged forest. Though, strange phenomena were observed in the Duxi Forest Farm later on, such as stronger gravity and the growth of the trees in the forest getting severely stunned.
Conclusion
This is one of the few UFO cases where mass hysteria or a hoax seems unlikely, with ample evidence backing up the event. Then again, we have to factor in the extra grain of salt when it comes to stories from modern China. One theory the experts haven't dug into is a possible bolide impact. A bolide streaking from the sky would match the residents' accounts of fireballs and blinding lights that brightened the night sky, however, the damage patterns of the farm do come off quite weird. So, with that said, what's y'all's take on this?
Sources:
Thatsmags (English)
This incident, along with the Huang Yanqiu incident of 1977 and the Meng Zhaoguo incident of the same year, are regarded as the 3 biggest UFO incidents in China in recent history, yet, asides from Meng Zhaoguo, few English articles were written regarding the other two incidents (One of the many side effects of a country isolating themselves for so long, I guess). Unlike the other two incidents, Guiyang's "flying train" was witnessed by many, with aftermath images of the damages it did. All aspects considered, this event resembles the Phoenix Lights, occurring just 3 years later.
So, as a Chinese dude who's morbid curiosity just can't be squashed by firewalls and censorship, I'll tell the tales to the best of my ability based upon Chinese sources.
Choo choo, it's a UFO
Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province, is a quiet city tucked into the mountains of southwestern China. The city and the province which it administers over has seen hardships due to their ruralness. However, as China expanded its railway system, traveling and commuting has never been easier, with tourists flocking the province for its breathtaking waterfalls and beautiful mountains. However, a very different "train" graced the city a little over 26 years ago, and instead of bringing in ecstatic passengers, it brought terror and puzzlement to the residents.
Around 3 AM on December 1, 1994, Chen Lianyou and his buddy returned to their dorm for a tea break after a night patrol in the Duxi Forest Farm, located in northern Guiyang. The weather outside deteriorated as thunderstorms and hail descended upon the city. However, Guiyang is no stranger to foul weather and has seen its fair share of thunderstorms and floods.
As the two tried to sleep, they heard the roar of a coal train outside. A puzzled Chen tried to make sense of it as there are no train tracks on the farm at that time. Then came the lights, so strong that it appeared like daytime. Chen was one of the thousands of Guiyang residents that witnessed the strange "train" that night. They all eventually described the same thing: blinding lights (some recalling fireballs), gushing winds, and deafening, train-like noises, moving generally from southwest towards the northeast. When the awoken residents tried to head outside out of curiosity, their door seems to be glued shut.
The next morning, ranchers and locals were greeted with an astonishing scene: over 400 acres, or around 227 football fields, of the forest, was destroyed. The trees were cut in half, some even uprooted. The nearby Dulaying Railway Station was also hit: the facility was deroofed, some brick buildings collapsed, steel tubes either bent or snapped, and train cars, weighing over 50 tons and situated on an upward slope, were moved by 20 meters (66 ft). No person or livestock was affected, asides from a night patrol of the station who was picked up by the strong winds, but he survived unscathed. Local infrastructures, like electricity and communications, were also untouched.
Investigation
Journalists and investigators who flocked the farm and surrounding areas were also taken aback. Strange things started to happen to their equipment, as one photographer for the local Guiyang Nightly recalled that the pictures he took of the destroyed farm failed to develop, yet the ones he took on the journey to and from the site developed normally. It was only a few days later did the cameras finally started working properly when recording the farm.
Experts in China at that time was split into two fractions regarding this event, one believes it's a natural phenomenon, with the other party believing a UFO is the culprit. Ouyang Ziyuan, one of China's top cosmochemists and geochemists, took the natural approach. He explained that, based on meteorological records that day, a downburst or a tornado was to blame for the damage. A downburst is a damaging wind emanated from a severe storm above that blows radially, in straight-line of every direction, once reaching the ground. This would align with Chen's witness of a hail storm, the damages the "train" left behind, and how the residents weren't able to open their doors that night. However, according to Guizhou Meteorological Agency, there was no tornado in Duxi Forest Farm that day, nor did the province ever experienced a tornado before. Although Guiyang is located in south China, the conditions for downbursts to occur will still have diminished in December, plus, the damages were actually noncontinuous, being 4 distinctive blotches. No straight-line winds will leave a damage pattern like that, so the theory isn't on solid grounds.
On the other hand, Ma Rui'an, an engineering professor at the Guizhou Academy of Sciences, was a supporter of the various UFO theories. Through the images of the aftermath and his own experiments, Professor Ma estimated that the "train" was about 200 meters (656 ft) in diameter and possibly powered by jets or a booster. To demonstrate, he made his own mini flying saucers, powered by jets, to simulate how such a vehicle would leave the marks seeing from the incident: as the saucer flew into the lousy weather conditions like what Guiyang experienced that day, its jets lose power due to heavy rain and hail, which causes it to fall and causing damage on the ground. As it reaches the ground, though, the engines get less affected by rain and hail, and the saucer is once again airborne. Repeat this process, and he arrives at the damage patterns observed that day. However, his theory isn't perfect either, as the fallen leaves weren't scorched in the damaged forest. Though, strange phenomena were observed in the Duxi Forest Farm later on, such as stronger gravity and the growth of the trees in the forest getting severely stunned.
Conclusion
This is one of the few UFO cases where mass hysteria or a hoax seems unlikely, with ample evidence backing up the event. Then again, we have to factor in the extra grain of salt when it comes to stories from modern China. One theory the experts haven't dug into is a possible bolide impact. A bolide streaking from the sky would match the residents' accounts of fireballs and blinding lights that brightened the night sky, however, the damage patterns of the farm do come off quite weird. So, with that said, what's y'all's take on this?
Sources:
Thatsmags (English)