Mysterious Metal Sphere Causes Confusion After Washing Ashore in Japan

The list of descriptions being offered in response to an admittedly mysterious object found washed ashore in Japan is endless.

To be clear, the object—widely referred to as an “iron ball” of some sort—is not believed to pose a threat. However, that hasn’t stopped the general public from theorizing on its origins while several facets discovered in an initial hands-on investigation of the object potentially point to a far less headlineable explanation.

In short, as reported by the Guardian and others this week, the sphere was seen in NHK World News-shared footage on Tuesday being inspected by police and bomb squad officials after it showed up on a beach in the Hamamatsu area.

Per local reports, someone walking on the beach spotted the object in the sand, at which point police were contacted. Officials temporarily blocked off access to the beach and called in a bomb squad team, with an x-ray scan showing the object was hollow (i.e. not a threat to those nearby).

NHK added that local police, for now at least, “still don’t know what [the object] is or where it came from.”

Meanwhile, a separate beachgoer was said in the report to have questioned the sudden hoopla. He claimed the mystery sphere had actually been on the beach for as long as a month, further claiming that he tried to move it himself by pushing it. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this did not work.

Observers around the world were quick to offer their own theories, ranging from a downed UAP to a comically large kidney stone. As hinted at above, however, the ball’s raised handles have been pointed to a a sign that this is quite likely a mere buoy.