TOKYO (JAPAN) – The presence of a mysterious white object in the sky over north Japan set social media platforms ablaze with speculation ranging from UFOs to North Korea propaganda.
Television footage from the northeastern city of Sendai showed a balloon-like object above a cross, on which propellers seemed to be turning. Officials in the Sendai Weather Bureau said it appeared near dawn and hung in the sky for hours, largely unmoving, until it was blocked from view by clouds.
By afternoon it was the third-most trending topic on Japanese Twitter, with theories including the possibility of UFOs and North Korean balloons that drop leaflets. One user said it could be spreading novel coronavirus, adding, “This gives me a very bad feeling, as if Godzilla might suddenly appear.”
“PopcornParty010” created a tongue-in-cheek mockup of a London Times front page with the banner headline “Sendai Annihilated: A Nightmare come True.”
Police could not be immediately reached for comment and a Sendai government official said inquiries were still proceeding. No move had been made to retrieve it as of late afternoon.
“We have absolutely no idea what it is,” said a weather bureau spokesman, declining to give his name. “It may be some kind of weather monitoring equipment, but it definitely isn’t ours.”
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field