On Thursday, December 19, 1996, a Boeing 757-200 operated by China's Southern Airlines took off from Beijing on a routine flight south to Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province.
As the jetliner reached an altitude of 9,600 meters (31,500 feet), the copilot spotted a bright flash in the sky just ahead of them. A silver-gray metallic UFO struck the top of the 757's cockpit, cracking the outer windshield. The pilot immediately declared an in-flight emergency and radioed Beijing's Capital International Airport, requesting permission to land. The plane landed safely ten minutes later.
The incident was briefly reported in the Yangcheng Evening News, picked up by Reuters and included in their report for December 26, 1996.
