According to AFP, an unidentified flying object (UFO) was first discovered on Wednesday morning (June 17) in the sky over the city of Sendai, northern Japan. Sendai city residents quickly recorded images of UFOs and posted them on the Internet. These photos and videos then quickly spread rapidly on social networks, sparking debate among Japanese netizens about the ‘identity’ of the UFO.

“This white object doesn’t move at all. What is it? Can someone tell me?”, a Japanese netizen posted an image on Twitter and attached the hashtag “UFO” in Japanese.

Not only attracting the attention of netizens, UFO images and videos also received special attention from the Japanese government.

“This object looks like a balloon used for weather monitoring and forecasting, but it is not ours,” an official at the Japan Meteorological Agency office said.

Notably, immediately after receiving reports from the people, Sendai city police dispatched a helicopter to confirm the presence of the object. However, Japanese authorities are currently unable to clearly determine what this UFO is.

Some netizens have said that Kyushu University’s Department of Aeronautics is the ‘owner’ of this unidentified object. However, representatives of the Faculty of Aviation denied it.

According to analysis by Mr. Shinichiro Higashino, professor of Kyushu University’s Department of Aeronautics, close-up images show that this object is equipped with solar panels.

“It cannot be ruled out that this object is conducting scientific observation or tracking something,” Mr. Higashino said.

Mr. Yoshihide Suga, spokesman for the Japanese government, said that the country’s senior leaders were informed about the mysterious flying object that appeared on June 16. However, Mr. Suga also rejected theories that this flying object was deployed by other governments to cause damage to Japan. Meanwhile, according to AFP, this mysterious UFO flew out to the Pacific Ocean and Japanese authorities lost track of it.