Unlike in the USA where secret government cover-ups are responsible for creating hit TV shows, UFO conspiracies aren't popular in China. And yet, when UFOs do suddenly appear in the Celestial Kingdom as they did Friday night, a distinct lack of official information has made the unlikely existence of "little green men" to be the most comforting possibility to hope for.

The unidentified flying object appeared over Western Beijing and throughout parts of northeastern China Friday night and was witnessed by multiple residents. 

Photos and videos (1, 2) of the UFO show a bright cone-shaped funnel leading a cork-screw "tail" behind it. The light was seen shining downward, then sharply altered course, and then finally disappeared.

Although it was widely seen, not much is actually known about it. With no official reports explaining the phenomenon, we're left with just a few facts that we can be sure of.

According to Yu Jun, editor-in-chief of the Guokr science website, we know the object was located high up in the atmosphere since it was seen across a wide area below. Because of its high altitude, the object was illuminated by sunlight that reached beyond the Earth's shadow.

And yet, further facts only serve to obfuscate the UFO's true nature.

With no launches made from the Taiyuan rocket center in Shanxi last night, it's not likely that the UFO was a satellite launch especially when considering its acute change in trajectory, said Yu. Additionally, online conjecture that this was a Beidou satellite can be ruled out since they are exclusively launched from the Xichang satellite launch center located in Western Sichuan province, reported the Beijing News.

With no official word from Chinese state media to explain last night's UFO, it wouldn't be right to make any baseless speculations. And yet, with China's airspace so highly restricted, it's not likely for this thing to be there unless it was authorized.

What does it all mean? We don't know, but if it turns out to be aliens who have come to Earth to perform their annual anal probe tests, then we can relax. After all, flying saucers are the least of Beijinger's worries when it comes to the city's list of airborne threats that include air pollution, sandstorms, flying catkins, and killer bees.