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Mystery orb washes up on Japanese beach and no one can work out what it is
Police and residents in a Japanese coastal town have been left baffled by the appearance of a giant metallic ball which has washed up onshore.
The mysterious object was discovered by a local woman on Tuesday, who found it washed up on Enshu Beach in Hamamatsu City and contacted the police.
The area was soon cordoned off and explosive experts wearing protective clothing were called in to investigate further, but aside from concluding that the object was not explosive, authorities still have no idea what the sphere is or where it came from.
According to local media, the object is around 1.5 meters in diameter and appears to be rusted, which suggests it may be made out of iron.
It is also equipped with a series of metallic handles which would allow it to be hooked onto something else, and following a series of X-ray scans was confirmed to be completely hollow.
Photographs have since been sent to the Japanese self-defense forces and coast guard for further examination.
But despite attracting significant public attention amid a wave of renewed interest in UFOs, not everyone has been impressed by the appearance of the sphere.
Speaking to public broadcaster NHK, one local man who regularly runs on the beach said he did not understand why the ball had suddenly become the centre of attention.
‘It’s been there for a month,’ he told the outlet. ‘I tried to push it, but it wouldn’t budge.’
But although the object’s origins have prompted plenty of speculation given the recent emergence of spy balloons from China, the object the ball most closely resembles is a mooring buoy, which are typically used as an alternative to anchors.
The news comes after American fighter jets shot down a number of ‘unidentified objects’ spotted in US and Canadian airspace over the past month.
President Biden revealed earlier last week that the objects shot down were in fact most likely humdrum research balloons.
‘We don’t yet know exactly what these three objects were but nothing right now suggests they were related to China’s spy balloon program or that they were surveillance vehicles from any other country,’ Mr Biden said.
China has also claimed that the alleged spy balloon was merely meant for civilian research.
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