The US has long laid claim to being the world's UFO superpower — now China is giving it a run for its money.

A major Chinese airport was closed for an hour after an unidentified flying object was spotted overhead on September 11, according to ABC America.

Now footage of the alleged UFO has been posted online and received more than 200,000 hits on YouTube.

It shows a bright light darting across the night sky for around 30 seconds, before disappearing.

Authorities cancelled three flights from Beijing and Shanghai, and two more had to be diverted to other airports.

The incident at Baotou in the north-eastern Chinese region of Inner Mongolia is the eighth UFO sighting in just three months.

The first came at the end of June, now believed to have been a missile test.

Another incident on July 7 in the eastern Hangzhou region caused a media frenzy.

The crew on board a plane coming into land at the region's Xiaoshan airport reported seeing a UFO.

Authorities immediately closed the airport and 18 flights were cancelled.

An hour earlier residents nearby had spotted a UFO overhead — they took photos of the incident that were published in the local media.

Authorities later confirmed it was a test at a nearby military base.

The Chinese government has denied the September 11 incident took place at all.

The other sightings were in the eastern Hunan, Shandong and Jiangsu regions, and the north-western Xinjiang region.