UFO RESEARCH ORGANIZATION TO HOLD CONFERENCE IN BEIJING

This document is an intelligence cable dated April 16, 1992, summarizing a report from the Beijing Xinhua news agency. The report announces that the China UFO Research Organization (CURO) is scheduled to hold a national conference in Beijing the following month. Wang Changting, the acting chairman of the CURO, stated that a primary theme of the conference would be the search for creatures living in other solar systems, coinciding with the 1992 International Space Year. The document notes that the conference is expected to host over 100 researchers, both domestic and international. The text provides historical context regarding the subject in China, noting that interest in unidentified flying objects, or flying saucers, became a significant topic in the country during the late 1970s, with over 5,000 reported sightings of unexplained aerial phenomena in China. Furthermore, the document mentions that there have been 400,000 reports of sightings worldwide. It highlights that in 1978, the United Nations called upon governments to establish UFO investigation bodies. In response, China established the CURO in 1978, which is described as a member of the China Association for Science and Technology and is largely supported by the Chinese government.