Han Shu — Imperial 'Flying Light' Over Chang'an

The Han Shu, the official imperial history of the Former Han Dynasty compiled by court historian Ban Gu from state archives in the first century AD, records that in the summer of 139 BC a bright object described as 'looking like a man dressed in blue' or in some translations 'a flying light resembling a man in blue robes' appeared in the sky over Chang'an, the Han imperial capital. The object was witnessed by multiple court officials and reported to Emperor Wu, who ordered it formally recorded in the imperial historical register — a process reserved for events of genuine significance to the state. The Han Shu is one of the twenty-four official Chinese histories — texts compiled from official government archives, court records, and administrative documents with the authority of the imperial state. Inclusion in the Han Shu required editorial review by court historians and imperial sanction; mythological or informal accounts were excluded in favor of verified official records. The fact that this aerial observation was deemed significant enough for the official imperial history gives it a level of archival credibility that distinguishes it from popular folklore. The description 'looking like a man dressed in blue' is consistent with a luminous aerial object perceived through a cultural lens that anthropomorphized unusual phenomena, a pattern seen across multiple ancient cultures. The color blue in the Han context carried specific cosmological significance, and the object's description in those terms suggests the witnesses were making a deliberate analogical reference rather than a literal claim that a person was visible in the sky. Emperor Wu's reign was a period of substantial Chinese expansion and cultural achievement, and the imperial court maintained rigorous record-keeping of unusual natural and celestial events as part of a tradition of omen interpretation that held political and cosmological significance. Astronomical records from the Han period are detailed enough to be cross-referenced with modern astronomical data, lending unusual confidence to the dating of events that appear in official Han records. This account is one of a series of similar official Chinese historical records from multiple dynasties that document structured aerial objects, and its inclusion in the Han Shu makes it one of the most formally documented ancient UAP accounts from any civilization.