Beginning October 31 and running through November 6, Kunming will host the 2009 International Astronomy Year and Extraterrestrial Life Forum. The event will feature exhibitions of UFOs and other unexplained phenomena in China and around the world and will also have experts on site to appraise UFO footage brought in by visitors.

This year – the 400th anniversary of Galileo's invention of the telescope in Venice in 1609 – has been named 'World Astronomy Year' by the United Nations. The Kunming forum, which is co-organized by the Kunming UFO Research Association and the Kunming Municipal Science and Technology Association, will highlight some of this year's major astronomical phenomena, including the July 22 total solar eclipse.

According to Zhang Yifang (张一方) who was director of the Kunming UFO Research Association from its founding in 1985 until 2003, Kunming has had more than 400 UFO sightings since 1972, when a large group of people in Gulü Village in Kunming's Xishan district reported to have witnessed a large shiny object in the sky which resembled a brass bowl.

Zhang said photos and video of recent UFO sightings will be on display at the forum, which is free and open to the public. He added that anyone with photos or video of UFOs or other unexplained phenomena are encouraged to bring them to the forum for appraisal.

The 2009 International Astronomy Year and Extraterrestrial Life Forum will be held on the ninth floor of the Workers Cultural Palace (工人文化宫) located on the south side of Dongfeng Plaza. For more information about the event or appraisals call 6733353.