Japan's Defence Ministry urged to launch office on UFOs, anomalies

A proposal was handed to the current defence chief, describing such sightings formally referred to as unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP as realistic and serious national security concerns.

16 May 2025 09:17pm
Japan's former defence minister Yasukazu Hamada. - (Photo by ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)
Japan's former defence minister Yasukazu Hamada. - (Photo by ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)

TOKYO - Japan's Defence Ministry was urged to set up an office tasked with tackling UFOs at a meeting with a cross-party group of lawmakers on Friday, Kyodo News Agency reported.

The group, chaired by former Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, handed a proposal to the current defence chief, describing such sightings - formally referred to as unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP - as realistic and serious national security concerns.

"Our country has fallen behind in responding to UAP, while securing safety in territorial airspace and waters is an urgent matter," the group said, calling for the establishment of a Japanese version of the US All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office.

The Pentagon office was founded in 2022 to lead US efforts to address UAP through a rigorous scientific framework and a data-driven approach.

The lawmakers also proposed that a new office regularly report the progress of UAP investigations to parliament and disclose information to the public, in addition to conducting scientific analysis of collected data and identifying potential threats.

Defence Minister Gen Nakatani said, "We will make efforts to meet the expectations" of the group, which was formed last year. - BERNAMA

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