Iron, hollow and apparently safe. Very little is known about the mysterious bullet that washed up on Enshuhama Beach in the city of Hamamatsu, Japan.
Normally such a discovery would not arouse much suspicion. However, it comes amid tensions caused after the United States shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon, in addition to shooting down UFOs (unidentified flying objects).
What is known so far about the sphere created in Japan?
- It washed up on Enshuhama Beach in the city of Hamamatsu on the country’s Pacific coast.
- It measures about 1.5 meters in diameter.
- It is orangebrown in color and also appears to have rust spots.
- It has two loops on its surface a feature that could indicate that the object was hooked to another structure.
Police have temporarily cordoned off the site and have yet to say what the object is, although after assessment it is believed to be safe.
Hypotheses put forward include that the sphere could just be a mooring buoy that simply detached and floated.
After confirming that there was no risk of explosion, the local government decided to remove the bullet this Thursday (23). According to NHK, Japan’s publicservice media organization, Masaki Matsukawa, head of the coastal development department of the Shizuoka Hamamatsu Prefectural Civil Engineering Bureau, said the property will be scrapped.
We have not been able to determine what it is but it has been confirmed to be safe so we will dispose of it in the same manner as regular wreckage.
Masaki Matsukawa
Fears that the bullet could be a stray underwater mine were dismissed. According to The Guardian, the possibility was ruled out after experts used Xray technology to examine the object’s interior which is hollow.
Also according to the British newspaper, there is no evidence that the sphere is involved in espionage by neighboring North Korea or China.
Unidentified objects are a cause for concern. Although it is still unknown what the object is, there is no evidence that it is linked in any way to recent sightings in the United States.