Japan Launches Investigation Into UFOs After Being Dubbed a ‘Hotspot’ for Sightings

Japan has formed a task force to investigate UFOs after the country was dubbed a “hotspot” for strange aerial sightings by a Pentagon report published last year.

CBS reports that the group in question, which is known officially as the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Clarification League for Security-Oriented National Security, recently began its work. It was announced back in May, and is composed of numerous high-ranking parliamentary officials, including former Japanese defense officials. The group doesn’t seem terribly preoccupied with finding evidence of aliens, however. CBS reports that officials tied to the group have said UFOs may, in fact, be “surveillance drones or weapons.”

One prominent member of the group, Yoshiharu Asakawa, said that while UFOs have typically been viewed as “an occult matter,” there was the possibility that they were, in fact, “cutting-edge secret weapons or spying drones in disguise” that could “pose a significant threat to our nation’s security,” CBS reports.

Japan was identified as a hub for unexplained aerial activity in a report issued last year by the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), a little-known office of the U.S. Defense Department. Since then, the country has become increasingly interested in investigating the phenomenon.

Japan’s efforts mirror similar efforts made by the U.S. and other Western countries in recent years. Last summer, the U.S. Congress notably held a public hearing on UFOs, during which multiple former government officials made claims of a government cover-up. A newly passed law, meanwhile will force the U.S. National Archives to collect any and all government documents related to UFOs and publish them for public inspection.

I wish the Japanese luck, though it’s worth noting that the UFO topic has been around for ages and people have been trying to get to the bottom of it for just as long. It’s hard to believe that anyone’s going to make any serious headway now.