UFO enthusiasts have received a lot of encouragement in recent evidence of an ancient UFO sighting reported by Chinese medieval scientist Shen Kuo, as well as an affirming interview with moonwalker Edgar Mitchell that attests to his beliefs in extraterrestrial life.

First discussed on Open Minds, Song Dynasty government official Shen Kuo (or Shen Kua or Shen Gua) recorded an experience with a pearl-like UFO sometime between 1056-1064.

"Shen Kuo (1031-1095), a Song Chinese government scholar-official and prolific polymath inventor and scholar, wrote a vivid passage in his Dream Pool Essays (1088) about an unidentified flying object," writes Open Minds visitor Win Lane.

"He recorded the testimony of eyewitnesses in 11th century Anhui and Jiangsu (especially in the city of Yangzhou ), who stated that a flying object with opening doors would emit a blinding light from its interior (from an object shaped like a pearl) that would cast shadows from trees for ten miles in radius, and was able to take off at tremendous speeds."

Such a testimony of a UFO sighting is shocking evidence. After all, what did Shen Kuo have to gain by lying?

And to this day, the topic of alien life and UFO sightings are on the tip of people's minds, including Edgar Mitchell, who spoke of his convictions in the belief of alien life as well as UFOs, citing the Roswell incident as a prime example.

"After my space flight, I was contacted by descendants of the original Roswell observers, including the person who delivered the child-sized coffins to the Air Force to contain alien bodies. Another was one of the children of the deputy sheriff who was patrolling traffic around the site," said Mitchell during a Bloomberg interview.

"They all seemed credible with their stories that the bodies found were alien."

And what does the Apollo 14 pilot think are the reasons behind a potential cover-up?

"Think of what that could mean in terms of space travel with control of UFO machinery, technology. There's a lot of money involved."