Local residents and social media users have been commenting in their thousands while trying to work out the origin of the lights, which some believed to be LED bulbs on a kite or sky lanterns.

An image of the orbs which have been seen over China (Photo: Asiawire)
Footage taken at different times across China show the same sort of lights appearing around dusk and continuing into the night.

The glowing orbs follow one another across the sky while seemingly making no sound and leaving no other evidence of their destination or where they came from.

Given the widespread nature of the sightings, members of the public have surmised that it is a nationwide event.

The goverment has not yet explained the origin of the objects (Photo: Asiawire)
And because the Chinese government has so far been mute about the UFOs, netizens have not ruled out the possibility of it being an alien invasion.

Social media user E-248 wrote: ‘Being the world’s second largest economy pays off! The aliens are finally giving us the recognition we deserve. They only ever visited the United States in the past.’

A person called Chenghui added: ‘The government hasn’t thought of how they’re going to explain this one yet.’