Japan's UFO Unit & Colombia's STRANGE Find: From Parliament to Laboratory

Show Transcript

Hello and welcome to everyone catching this live. Happy Friday! We've got some interesting news this week and honestly, I just heard about this yesterday that Japan's Defense Ministry is now taking significant steps to address UFOs following a proposal from the Parliamentary League for UFO clarification from a security perspective that just recently took place.

Japan's UFO Defense Initiative

This parliamentary group, led by former Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, presented recommendations to current Defense Minister Kihara. The proposal calls for a specialized division within the ministry to collect and analyze UAP data, to disclose findings to the public, and provide regular updates to the National Diet. That's interesting.

These measures come amid increasing concerns over airspace incursions, particularly from Chinese surveillance drones and balloons. So Hamada emphasized the critical need to enhance Japan's readiness for any potential scenarios, stating: "It is crucially important that we close any gaps in our response to these unexplained aerial events."

This is interesting because over the last really just over the last few years, Japan has been hitting the news a little bit more with their UFO information. There have been some private groups, there was just a new museum that focuses on UFOs in Japan, and there's only a handful in the world - fun fact for you, which we'll cover in just a little bit.

But I'm really enjoying that more countries are willing to talk about this publicly now. Behind the scenes, we can guess, we can imagine that they've always shown an interest, but now that AARO has taken a spotlight since 2022, or just kind of like these UFO offices in the United States have made public claims, it seems like it's giving courage to other countries to start also making public claims as well.

Minister of Defense Kihara, a founding member of the parliamentary league, really enhanced and specified the importance of taking a comprehensive approach to these phenomena, stating: "We are maintaining a broad, high-level focus on all phenomena that may impact Japan's national security, including those involving UFOs."

Now this move signals a significant shift towards a more systemized approach to addressing these airborne threats and aligns with very similar initiatives in the US, which I had mentioned just a little bit earlier, where military and intelligence agencies have started openly acknowledging and reporting on UAP sightings. So Japan's efforts reflect this commitment to improve airspace security and transparency during a time of rising regional tensions and increasing focus on UFOs.

You might be rolling your eyes, you're like "Ugh, a national security issue narrative - how lame, how boring." And I get it, I do. But if it was all rainbows and unicorns, there would be no tax dollars looking into the subject. When you classify it as a threat narrative, there's this level of seriousness, there's this level of credibility as well, and then now it's worth putting in the manpower, putting in the technology, putting in all of the money in order to investigate this.

Japan's UFO Research History

When it comes to Japan, amongst the citizens, they've always shown an interest - that's not new. But this government standpoint is new.

In 2023, the International UFO Lab, a Fukushima City-based organization devoted to investigating UFOs, unveiled in June of 2023 six photographs and videos that they classified as highly likely to depict genuine UFOs. This news came and went so quickly - it touched the news and then we kind of forgot about it, which is disappointing. But because it's not this government hearing or a government briefing, it's just people interested in the topic covering this, people don't take it as seriously.

This announcement came during World UFO Day celebrations back on June 24th of 2023, and they looked at hundreds of videos and photos, but they came across six that they said "Okay, these ones we deem that they are legitimate - like they are actual unidentified flying objects, potentially extraterrestrial, potentially alien of some kind."

The Utsuro-bune Historical Case

During that same time frame was when we also got the Japanese museum, which is really cool. What's really cool about Japan actually is that they have little islands or little towns completely dedicated to something very specific. There's Cat Island - actually there's several Cat Islands - there's Rabbit Island, there's a whole town dedicated to onions (yeah, look that one up, it's really funny), and then there's even a town here dedicated to ET, to aliens.

So in this museum that just opened up again very recently, it really focused on the encounter that took place February 22nd, 1803, during Japan's Edo period, and this is the Utsuro-bune case - one that Japan is most known for when it comes to UFOs.

If you're not familiar with it, I'll just give you a brief rundown: there was this rice pot-shaped craft coming through the water, it hits the shore, these Japanese fishermen are very confused - they're like "What is this?" And then exits this very pale, red-headed woman with red eyebrows and this type of fabric on her skin that these Japanese fishermen had never seen before. They kind of try to peek in through the craft, they see very strange hieroglyphs, and this woman - that's how they defined her - she was holding this box in her hand.

Now the legends have grown since then as to what was in this box. Some say the head of her lover, some say a key, some say some form of transcripts, but obviously we don't know. This took place in 1803, and then writings didn't come until about several decades later where it was written into very prominent books. So between 1803 and then a few decades after that, there is this kind of confusion period of "okay, what really happened and why did it take so long for these stories to be written about?" It should have been right after the incident, right? It should have been, but times are very different in 1803.

And then that first document came out - it was actually an essay that came out back in 1825. Ever since then, the Japanese people have held this story, this case, very close to their heart. They have focused a museum on it because in recent years, researchers led by a professor of Gifu University have uncovered historical documents shedding new light to this Utsuro-bune incident. These discoveries suggest that the vessel may have landed just off the coast which is now Kamisu. Some researchers even link the story to a local legend about a "golden princess" who is said to have drifted from India to introduce silk farming techniques to the region, which is interesting.

But the exhibition in the museum focuses on the historical and cultural aspects of the Utsuro-bune, and the vessel's saucer-like appearance - which again, at that time when the essay was written in 1825, they classified the shape as a rice pot.

We have seen that throughout history - we can look at Christopher Columbus when he saw strange lights in the sky, he had mentioned that they were candle lights. We have heard the description from Gösta Carlsson, a Swedish person who saw a UFO and classified it as mushroom-shaped. We've heard all these different descriptions based on the vocabulary during that time frame and the technology during that time frame as well.

So this right here, while it's over 220 years old, people are still fascinated with it. I'm still fascinated with it - I love this case, it's so interesting. But these new details that it might be the golden princess, this woman coming from India to Japan, is strange.

Let me give you a little more details based on that essay written in 1825. Another one was written just a few years after that. They said that she had red hair, spoke a language that they didn't understand, and had these very strange hieroglyphs inside of the craft.

Now there have been these speculations and these connections that the hieroglyphs seen in the craft were the same ones that were seen at Roswell. I'm putting that out there now - how did they get that explanation? I don't know, I have no idea, but people have mentioned that there have been papers written about it. I said "Okay, you know what? Let's go ahead and share it with you. I provide the data and then you make up your own mind if you believe it or not." But that little connection is very strange, very, very strange.

The Colombian Sphere Discovery

Getting into our next case - this one is strange, very strange. There's a lot of speculation on it and I completely get it, but this isn't the first time something like this has happened.

In South America, a more recent UFO-related mystery has captivated researchers and the public alike - they're like "What the heck is going on?" In March, not too long ago, in Buga, Colombia, witnesses reported seeing a metallic sphere flying erratically over the area. The object produced strange sounds which were described as "metallic humming" and this "mechanical whirring" sound.

Think about that for a second - what does that sound like to you? Because we all think differently on how noises sound. For instance, if you look at different countries and you ask them "okay, what sound does a cow make or a dog make?" they're slightly different. Play that with your friends - it is a lot of fun.

But in this case, this object, according to witnesses, abruptly landed, and a local resident by the name of David Vélez el Potro recovered the sphere and noted that it was unusually cold to the touch despite its metallic exterior.

He brings in his team and they're doing the investigations on this - they're like "What's going on?" They bring it over to a lab. X-ray analysis revealed, according to the team, an intricate internal structure consisting of three distinct metallic layers and a core containing 18 smaller spheres arranged around a central chip.

Then you had a radiologist by the name of Dr. José Luis Velázquez who led the investigation and remarked that the object lacked any visible welding or seams, suggesting a manufacturing process beyond our current technology.

That's interesting because when we're looking at any kind of tech, really anything, we always first like to admire how it was made, and then we look for the seams, we look for the weldings - "okay, how can we take this apart?" That's our engineering mind. According to the scientists and the researchers, they're like "okay, there's nothing that I can explain as to how this was made the way that it was."

Now there's been a lot of speculation that these etchings that we're seeing look like they were done with a knife, that a human probably did it. I can get that, but as I continue, maybe you might think otherwise.

So the sphere's outer layer exhibited a density similar to titanium or steel, while the inner materials were less dense, appearing to serve a functional design purpose, but that is unknown. And then there are these strange markings that resemble ancient runes, Mesopotamian symbols, and it was said by Jaime Maussan that they used AI to analyze what these inscriptions say, or what's kind of like what's going on, and according to the AI, they were themes of "transformation cycles" and "expanding consciousness."

Take it or leave it - that part's very strange, and yet it's not, because there have been a lot of reports and cases and witness testimony of people that have come across alien tech or with an extraterrestrial of some kind that they really want to expand consciousness. Like "you can do better" is what they're telling humanity - "you can do better, there's so much more that you can do with your consciousness." So maybe it's not so strange that that's a possible message on here, but also it is a little bit.

Now witnesses also reported that pouring water over the object caused it to vaporize instantly while the exterior remained very cold. That's strange. And then also, the individual who initially retrieved the sphere experienced unexplained illness for several days, just adding to this - "okay, like what's going on? Is this radiation poisoning?" We also don't know that.

But despite speculation about it being ET origin or advanced technology, the Colombian government has not issued an official statement, and the object remains under study. That's all we know so far, which sounds strange, maybe even as an outlier. You might think "ah, here we go again, another weird story that doesn't mean much."

The 1974 Betz Sphere Connection

Well, not entirely. If you know anything about this show, you know I love giving you background information, giving you a pattern. What does this case remind us of? Have we seen this before? And the answer is sort of.

There was another famous case involving a mysterious sphere that dates back to 1974, when the Betz family discovered a metallic orb on their property near Jacksonville, Florida. Are you familiar with this case?

This object was measuring 8 inches in diameter and weighing about 22 pounds, and this polished sphere exhibited very interesting properties. When it was placed on a flat surface, it would just roll on its own, reverse direction, and then even climb inclined surfaces. So if you put a little hill in front of it, it would just go up the hill. That's wild.

Now the object also emitted a bell-like sound when it was hit and vibrated in response to certain musical notes. Not only was it athletic, it was also a musician.

This was examined by US Navy officials - like this was a really big deal in 1974. And even J. Allen Hynek went to investigate it. He came across the story, it was hit in the newspapers, it was just covered all over the US. So these Navy officials try to take it from the Betz family - they were like "Oh, it's ours now, we own it." And then J. Allen Hynek looks at it and says "Okay, now this is strange."

But it didn't matter who looked at this object - there was no explanation for the sphere's origin or capabilities that it was able to do: going uphill, vibrating to certain musical tones, making weird sounds when you hit it. There was no explanation.

Now some theorized it was a piece of military equipment, though this theory has not been confirmed, and the Betz sphere remains one of the most intriguing artifacts in UFO history, really bridging the gap between unexplained phenomena and advanced technology.

Are we seeing that same thing, that same object, in Colombia? They have somewhat similar properties, they're decently the same shape, but they are over 50 years apart. What's going on? Do we take this with a grain of salt, or can we say maybe there's something more to this?

Analysis and Conclusions

Whenever we come across any type of tech that we simply can't explain, we're like "Oh no, it's fake," "ah no, it's just seagulls in the reflection," "oh no guys, it's just Venus" - "I mean, are you thick? Come on, it's Venus, swamp gas." We're so quick to explain things away without doing the investigations, and a lot of these people that are making these very mundane claims have never looked at it. We have seen that across history time and time again.

Luckily, we are able to hear from the scientists, from the researchers investigating this new Buga sphere - that's how it's been dubbed right now. They're taking it to a lab, they're looking at it, they're running tests on it. That's a great start.

Now is this whole story just completely fabricated just for some giggles? Gosh, I hope not. That'd be terrible, it'd be so sad. But the etchings on this - people are saying "No, no, no, no, that looks like a knife, it looks kind of handmade by humans." I want to ask you that question: what do you think? Do you think it looks like we could have made that, you and I, or something a little more advanced?

What is interesting is that right after the witness found this object, he got sick very soon. We have seen that a lot with a lot of different cases where people accidentally touch an unknown craft or they deliberately touch an unknown craft, like the Falcon Lake incident - that is one of those examples. Same with the Rendlesham Forest incident, which I feel like this case resembles a little bit, where you had Jim Penniston and John Burroughs - they both got sick after encountering this strange craft, got radiation poisoning. But Jim Penniston had mentioned, decades later, that there were etchings on the craft, and when he touched it, not only did he get a little sick, but he also got binary code with these messages of like "yeah, you need to protect your planet and look at this - look at this latitude and longitude, what's going on over there?"

Very strange. This reminds me a little bit of that. Maybe you see it as well, maybe you think I'm crazy, and that's okay if you do.

The details are still limited, they're still doing investigations, and when I get more information on it, I will let you know, because that's what UFO News Updates is all about.

We're in interesting times. At this point, I just need to have that phrase on a t-shirt - I say it every single show: "we're in interesting times." It's because it's true, and I just want to tattoo it on my forehead, put it on a t-shirt so that everyone knows what I'm about to say - we're living in interesting times.

What I thought was really cool to see is that Japan is having this conversation about UFOs again, and it's very interesting to see this possible strange sphere being seen in Colombia. We're in interesting times.