Spaceship or butterfly? New UFO center causing a stir | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

FUKUSHIMA–The central government remains tight-lipped about photos and videos of possible flying saucers in Japan that were “authenticated” by an authority on the subject.

“We are aware of the findings, but we decline to comment,” Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihiko Isozaki said at a news conference on June 27.

The two photos and two video clips of mysterious objects floating in the sky in Japan were uploaded to the website of the International UFO Lab based in Fukushima two days earlier.

The images have raised speculation that alien beings have visited Japan.

But the same images have also brought out skeptics, many of whom say that one of the unidentified flying objects is probably just an out-of-focus butterfly.

The International UFO Lab was set up inside the UFO Fureaikan museum in Fukushima city’s Iinomachi district in June 2021.

The center, whose purpose is to promote the community, collects, analyzes and publishes information on UFO sightings around the world.

The lab judges the authenticity of UFO sightings based on its own standards. It reviews the clarity of the images and footage, and whether the mystery objects can be explained by science or natural phenomena.

It has received 452 reported sightings from around Japan and abroad in the past year.

The lab confirmed that in 149 of the cases, the images or videos were not altered.

It determined an “extremely high probability” that the two photos and two video clips uploaded on the website showed UFOs.

One of the photos was taken in the vicinity of the lab by an elementary school first-grader in August 2021.

The photo shows a fuzzy disk-shaped object at Senganmori, a cone-shaped mountain. A number of UFO sightings had previously been reported in the area.

Some viewers of the photo said online that the object could be a swallowtail butterfly.

“It certainly looks like the shape of a great Mormon (butterfly) turned upside down,” said Karin Shigemura, an employee in charge of butterflies at the Adachi Park of Living Things in Tokyo.

The large butterfly, a member of the swallowtail family, has a wingspan of about 12 centimeters, and the male has black wings.

It mainly inhabits southern Japan, including Okinawa Prefecture and the Kyushu region.

But its range has expanded north in recent years, and some have been found in Fukushima Prefecture, Shigemura said.

However, she effectively ruled out a butterfly as the black object seen in the second photo, which was taken in September 2018.

The picture was shot on a mountain at an altitude of about 2,450 meters in Tateyama, Toyama Prefecture.

“I can’t think of any butterfly this big that lives in a high mountain area like this,” Shigemura said.

Takeharu Mikami, editor-in-chief of monthly occult magazine Mu who also serves as director of the lab, said at a June 25 news conference that the objects in the photos and clips were not “ghosts” caused by light reflecting inside the lens of the camera.

He also said that there were no flashing lights of airplanes or helicopters in these images, emphasizing their authenticity.

In September 2020, Taro Kono, then defense minister, ordered the Self-Defense Forces to report, record and take other necessary steps if they encounter unidentifiable aerial objects that could affect Japan’s defense and security.

Isozaki said at the news conference on June 27 that there have been no peculiar cases that need to be disclosed.

“Regarding unidentifiable aerial objects, we will continue to respond accordingly,” he said.

Ryuichi Aso, a member of a residents group founded to promote the Iinomachi district as a hub for UFOs, said: “We are pleased that the lab’s findings have attracted attention. We hope we can receive more sightings that are more authentic and enliven the community.”