Research into UFOs, which initially drew puzzled looks and smirks, is now considered an increasingly crucial part of Japan’s defense system and in need of additional support.
The studies are actually focused more on manmade objects, such as drones and espionage tools, than beings from outer space. These mystery aircraft are now called unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP).
Many UAP sightings have been reported near sensitive sites around Japan, prompting Japanese security experts and lawmakers to call for more serious research and monitoring.
Surveillance balloons believed to come from China have stirred attention in the United States and Japan. Drones, meanwhile, have become key weapons for reconnaissance and missile strikes in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Japan has recognized such trends, and it views UAP not as mere superstition but as a matter requiring serious national security consideration.
On Aug. 7, a closed-door meeting was held in the basement floor of the Lower House members’ office building in Tokyo’s Nagatacho district.
The topic was the sighting of three mysterious lights above Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s Genkai Nuclear Power Station in Genkai, Saga Prefecture.
In late July, four security guards near the plant’s main gate spotted three drone-like lights in the night sky.
However, no drone was physically found, and the exact nature of the lights remains unknown.
Concerned lawmakers held hearings with officials from the Nuclear Regulation Authority, the Defense Ministry and the land ministry.
Yasukazu Hamada, a Lower House member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party who is a former defense minister, was one of the concerned lawmakers.
“If we cannot identify what it is, it’s impossible to determine whether the Defense Ministry or the National Police Agency should handle it,” he said.
Hamada leads a parliamentary group that analyzes UAP from a security perspective.
The group, established in June 2024, has held two general meetings and has invited policymakers from the United States involved in UAP measures to provide input online.
In May, the group asked the Defense Ministry to establish a dedicated unit for gathering information on UAP.
Within Japan’s Self-Defense Forces, UFO sightings have been reported for some time.
According to SDF sources, many reports have described “three-colored objects flying in zigzag patterns then vanishing” near nuclear power plants.
Internationally, UFOs are taken seriously as a security issue.
In 2023, the U.S. military shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon, which became a diplomatic incident.
Japan reported similar balloon-like objects three times between 2019 and 2021, and they were strongly suspected to have been used for Chinese reconnaissance.
In response, Japan eased the conditions under which weapons can be used to intercept such objects intruding into national airspace.
In April last year, a video of an apparent drone filming a Maritime SDF escort ship circulated on social media.
“There may still be many unidentified flying objects from other countries that we have not yet been able to detect technologically,” a senior Defense Ministry official said.
In the United States, interest in UAP as a security threat has grown.
In 2022, the Department of Defense formed the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) to investigate potential threats related to UAP.
An AARO report found no evidence of UAP originating from extraterrestrial technology. It concluded that many sightings since the 1940s likely stemmed from misidentified stealth or drone technology, among other things.
However, Japan has yet to conduct comprehensive UAP research.
“If you say you study UAP in academic circles here, you risk being seen as an odd researcher, and funding is unlikely,” said Yuzo Murayama, professor emeritus at Doshisha University who specializes in technological security.
However, Murayama says the importance of UAP research will continue to rise with the increasing use of drones and reconnaissance balloons around the world.
Heigo Sato, who heads the Institute of World Studies at Takushoku University in Tokyo, noted that the United States began studying UAP in the 1940s to guard against potential threats from such adversaries as the Soviet Union, Germany and Japan. The studies were intended to ensure those countries were not gathering intelligence.
“The most feared strategy is a surprise attack,” Sato said. “Gathering information on currently unknown phenomena is important for security.”
He added, “UAP research is neither occult nor frivolous.”
(This article was written by Shoko Mifune and Daisuke Yajima.)
