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Alien nation

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CLAIMS OF ALIEN abductions have yet to surface in Hong Kong, although there's no shortage of UFO sightings. Despite its hard-nosed, money-obsessed image, the city has its share of starship troopers - and it's a growing band.

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Among the newest members is Ayu Ip Yan-yan, a 25-year-old computer programmer who recently launched a website, www.unknown-hk.com, to host discussions on reports of unidentified flying objects worldwide. At the Chinese University Tung Wah College, a community school, student Don Mak Ho-ting has set up a UFO society which now boasts 200 members. The most established group, however, is the Hong Kong UFO Club, which marks its 10th anniversary this year.

The club's co-founder and chairwoman, Moon Fong Chung-moon, says she's been fascinated by the idea of flying saucers and alien life-forms since attending a talk by a visiting Hungarian academic in the early 1990s.

'There's an energy that drives me to learn more about the subject. Even now, I still can't explain why all this happens,' she says.

An English-language teacher, Fong spent three years travelling with the Hungarian scholar to visit various supposed alien-contact sites. On her return, she set up the club with newspaper columnist Henry Chen Yun-hai (better known by his pen name Wan Hoi) to bring together fellow enthusiasts. Both help fund club activities from their own pockets. 'I even sold a flat 10 years ago just to pay for my trips to meet UFO experts around the world,' Fong says.

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The Hong Kong UFO Club hosts film screenings and talks on topics such as similarities between the mind and the solar system, intelligent aliens and the mechanics of space travel. Central to its activities is gathering news and statistics on local UFO sightings. Most have apparently been spotted heading north, presumably towards the mainland, with the latest report from two people, in Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po, who claim to have glimpsed a spherical, glowing object speeding towards Stonecutters Island.

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