Officials inspecting a large ball of unknown origin on a beach in Hamamatsu on Wednesday. - Reuters
TOKYO (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): Residents and the authorities in Japan are baffled after a mysterious, large metal sphere was found ashore earlier this week.
The sphere, which is about 1.5m wide, was spotted on a beach in Hamamatsu, a coastal city in Japan’s main island of Honshu.
It was seen by an unidentified local man, who alerted the police after noticing the unusual object on Enshuhama beach.
The authorities arrived at the beach, and the bomb squad was called in to investigate the sphere.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK released footage showing two officials on the beach looking at the russet sphere, which appears to be rusty and made of metal.
The authorities have cordoned off the area and took X-rays of the sphere. They have said that it is not a bomb and does not pose a threat. However, its origins remain unknown, and it will be removed from the beach soon.
The Guardian reported that photographs of the object have been sent to the Self-Defence Forces and Japan Coast Guard for further examination.
An unidentified runner told NHK that he was surprised by the commotion as the sphere had been on the beach for quite some time.
“That ball has been there for a month. I tried to push it, but it wouldn’t budge,” said the man.
The sphere has been dubbed “Godzilla egg”, “mooring buoy” and “from outer space” by local residents in Hamamatsu. Others said it resembled something from the popular Japanese manga series Dragon Ball and believed it was an unidentified flying object that had fallen from the sky.
The TV footage of the sphere also prompted speculation on social media after Japan said it “strongly suspected” several Chinese spy balloons had been spotted over its territory in recent years.
On Wednesday, Japan expressed its concerns to China about suspected surveillance balloons spotted over its skies at least three times since 2019 – an allegation it first made last week. Beijing denies claims of espionage.
Both countries’ defence ministers met on Wednesday, in the first senior bilateral security dialogue in four years. Both sides agreed to work towards launching a communications hotline this spring.
The discovery of the sphere also comes amid the spotting of objects in various locations since the US shot down what it said was a spy balloon earlier in February.
The balloon was seen over Montana and raised concerns as the US government tracked its path over the country. It was shot down off the coast of South Carolina and recovered in the Atlantic Ocean.
