The unusual sighting of two bright trails of light, reported by several witnesses, took place Saturday shortly before midnight, the China Times reported.

Police, working on the theory that it was a meteorite, went to investigate the matter, but as of early Monday they had found no evidence of what caused the nightly phenomenon, an officer told AFP by telephone.

A taxi driver told the paper he was in his car when everything suddenly became "as bright as day."

When he pulled over, he saw a fireball with a tail of about three meters (10 feet) darting across the sky, he said.

One witness who was on the late shift at his company reported the courtyard outside his office was suddenly bathed in a ghostly red light as the object passed overhead, the paper said.

Others said they heard a huge explosion and felt as if an earthquake had struck.

China has been hit by several waves of UFO sighting in recent years, and the country has a research association devoted to the study of possible extraterrestrial visits.