Footage Shows Missile Striking Unidentified Object Over Shandong; No Official Confirmation

Stunning videos from eastern China appear to show a missile intercepting an unidentified flying object over Shandong Province on the evening of Sept. 12, but Chinese authorities have not confirmed what was struck.

Multiple clips shared on Chinese social media show a bright, slow-moving object near the horizon over the area between Weifang and Rizhao shortly before a red fireball, appearing to be a surface-to-air missile, rises from the ground, speeds across the sky and collides with the object in a large midair explosion. Two loud detonations are audible in some of the recordings, and debris is shown falling to the ground after the blast.

The incident occurred at about 9 p.m. local time (9 a.m. Eastern) and quickly spread to international social platforms, where users offered competing explanations. Some observers suggested the target was part of a military exercise or a towed target used in weapons testing. Chinese military authorities had announced scheduled exercises in the nearby Bohai Sea and said they would include live weapons, but they have not publicly addressed the footage or identified the object seen in the videos.

Other social media commenters proposed that the object was a natural phenomenon such as a meteor, or an extraterrestrial craft. Scientists caution that meteors typically enter the atmosphere at extremely high speeds — generally tens of thousands of miles per hour — and produce a glowing tail as air ionizes around the object. The clips from Shandong show a luminous object moving relatively slowly and roughly parallel to the ground without a pronounced fiery tail, observations that prompted some analysts to question a meteor explanation.

Intercepting a true meteoroid traveling at typical meteor speeds would represent a significant advance in missile- or air-defense capability, experts say, and there is no independent verification that such an interception took place. Without an official statement from Chinese military or government authorities, the object's nature and whether it was intentionally targeted remain unconfirmed.

The Shandong footage has prompted comparison to previously released imagery involving U.S. military operations. During a congressional hearing last year, Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., presented footage said to show a U.S. military drone firing a Hellfire missile at a glowing orb off the coast of Yemen; in that instance, the orb reportedly continued in flight after the weapon struck. A military whistleblower, Jeffrey Nuccetelli, described that footage as notable evidence in debates about unidentified aerial phenomena.

Analysts and commentators have also raised the possibility that the Shandong object was a designated target used in local drills or a telemetry target for weapons practice. In live-fire exercises it is common for militaries to launch expendable aerial targets to test tracking and interception capabilities. Video perspectives make it difficult to gauge scale, velocity and the precise trajectories of objects seen in short social-media clips, and those limitations complicate efforts to reach firm conclusions.

Regional military activity has increased in 2025, with both the United States and China conducting a series of exercises across the Pacific and East China Sea. Chinese authorities have reported live-fire drills in areas of the East China Sea in recent months; the proximity of announced maneuvers to the Shandong coast has fueled speculation that the object might have been linked to such operations.

Investigators and independent observers caution that visual evidence alone, particularly short cellphone videos posted online, is often insufficient to determine whether an engagement occurred or to identify a struck object. No debris recovery reports, radar tracks, or official communications have been made public that would corroborate an interception or explain the origin of the object seen in the videos.

Until Chinese officials provide a formal account or independent verification emerges, the incident remains unresolved. The spread of the footage has renewed public interest in how modern air-defense systems perform against small or unconventional aerial objects and intensified debate over how governments disclose and investigate unexplained aerial incidents.