'UFO' collision threat shuts down Chinese airport

London, Oct 5 (ANI): An airport in China was forced to shut down to prevent packed passenger jets crashing into a UFO.

The 'flat and tubular' object hovered two miles from Bootee in Inner Mongolia, a part of China.

Astonished officials said it then zoomed in to circle the airport before suddenly vanishing.

Air traffic controllers in Inner Mongolia's capital Hoot on radar screens spotted the UFO.

But they could not make radio contact with it and immediately warned Bootee.

"To guarantee security, aircraft had to land at secondary airports. Otherwise, it may have led to collision," the Sun quoted a spokeswoman as saying.

Three flights from Beijing and Shanghai were diverted to nearby airports.

It is the third mysterious UFO sighting this year to have resulted in Chinese airfields being closed.

Xiaoshan, in Zhejiang province, shut for a few days in July after an "oddly-shaped, twinkling bright light" was seen nearby.

Another scare was reported earlier in the summer at Hong Kong.

Some experts also believe the three sightings could be evidence of a new Chinese military aircraft.

Nick Pope, a former Ministry of Defence UFO investigator, said: "Whatever you think about UFOs there are serious national security and air safety issues involved." (ANI)