Aliens are living in Yunnan, Heilongjiang and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to a professor of physics at Yunnan University.

    "The complicated terrain of these places makes them perfect for observation of us earthlings," said Zhang Yifang, director of the Kunming UFO Research Association.

A flying object is seen on Vancouver Island, British Columbia in this October 8, 1981 photo.

    The Yunnan capital city accounts for one-tenth of all sightings in the province – more than 400 since 1972 when a large group of people in Xishan district reported a shiny brass bowl-like object, he said.

    Zhang, 62, was just one of hundreds of sky watchers who convened to discuss unexplained phenomena at the October 31-November 16 Kunming UFO Forum, perhaps the only place in China where "have you seen the saucers?" is a preferred greeting.

    The only reason why Yunnan has so many UFO sightings is there are so many UFO enthusi-asts, the critics argue.

    They are wrong, Zhang insists. The aliens are living right here among us and he knows it.

    "Yunnan is a mysterious place, full of oddities," he said. "The aliens' intelligence is beyond us. They must have a good reason to choose to stay in Yunnan."

    No solid evidence proves they are in Yunnan, he concedes.

    "But I believe they are nice and they have no intention of attacking us," he said. "Perhaps they are shape-shifters camouflaged as human beings or they have manufactured human-like robots to watch us."

    How many aliens or robots, or when they first came to settle, he could not say.

    UFOs are an "old" topic in China: the elderly took up about half the seats at the forum hosted by Zhang on Saturday, a half-empty hall with capacity for about 200. Zhang joined the Kunming UFO Research Association in 1980 and has shared sightings with associations from other provinces.

    "Many people in China believe aliens exist," he said, "but only a few UFO lovers devote themselves to doing the research."

    Zhang's son, Zhang Shu, 29, is one of the youngest members of the UFO association. His passion for research has been deeply influenced by his father.

    "Young people don't really like to spend time researching something when you don't even know if it exists," he said. "It feels like you are researching the air."

    "What's more, if they tell their friends they are doing UFO research, they would be mocked incessantly."

    Astronomer: I saw it coming

    Zhang Zhousheng, 52, a former astronomer at the Yunnan Observatory, is famous for his prediction in June 1981 that "We shall all see a UFO in late July."

    On July 24, 1981, millions of people in Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan Province witnessed a flying luminous spiral-shaped body appear in the sky, according to Zhang.

    "For many, the UFO is an unidentified flying object," Zhang said, "but for me, it is identified because I can calculate when they are coming."

    As an astronomer, Zhang can frequently be found spending his evenings peering into the night sky from his backyard telescope. He first got involved in UFOs in the early '70s when he saw something flying across the skies of Sichuan Province.

    "I can still remember how shocked I was when I saw the spiral object moving across the sky for about five minutes," he said.

    Since then, he has been drawn deeper and deeper into the study of UFOs. His initial prediction was covered by dozens of newspapers and magazines and he later published articles explaining his theories of prediction.

    But now Zhang asserts that was the first and last time he will make a public prediction as people won't stop asking him about it.

    "UFO prediction is different from meteor shower," Zhang said. "I can predict when a UFO comes, but I cannot be sure they are in the right location where we can see them."

    Still, he confided he remains quite confident. "I know more than anyone else in the world about prediction," he said.

    "Sometimes witnesses call me and tell me that they saw a flying object," Zhang said. "I always stop them right in the middle of the sentence as I know exactly what they are going to say because I predicted it," he said.

    He left the Yunnan Observatory in 2005 and started up his own lucrative industrial crane business.

    "What I have seen is maybe a UFO or some phenomenon in astronomy that we have not figured out yet," he said. "Anyway, no matter what it is, I will continue to study it after retirement."

    "After all, it's different here from western UFO lovers who can get money from the govern-ment to do research.

    "We have to spend our own money on it."