OAP Fu Yiting, 63, was sitting in front of his house watching the storm in the village of Liaocheng City in east China’s Shandong Province, when he saw the Yellow-bellied turtle plunge from the sky and land on a patch of grass.
Thinking at first it was a large rock that had been knocked of his roof, Fu was stunned to find it was a yellow-bellied slider turtle.
Picking it up, he rushed inside to put it in a basin of water.
The Yellow-bellied slider, which can live up to 40 years and frequently basks on shore, on logs, or while floating.
Now confused Fu wants to know how this one landed in his garden.
He told local media: "It makes no sense.
"I’ve heard of frogs falling out of the sky during rain storms but never of a single turtle during a hailstorm.
"I am very curious to know what happened."
He is now waiting for experts to give him an explanation.
One as yet unproven theory is that a waterspout – a column-like vortex – carried the turtle into the air for several miles in a tornado like flight before dropping it down as the storm dispersed.
Turtles are popular food in China where they often appear in soup.
They are also used to make necklaces.
But Fu says he will keep his turtle alive and well.
The turtle, weighing around 250 grams, has now become the talking point of the village with locals crowding into his house to take a look.