At about 9 a.m. local time on February 21, an unnamed woman in Hamamatsu City was walking on Enju Beach when she found a huge spherical object trapped in sediment. Out of fear, the woman immediately contacted the local police.
Subsequently, the photo of this mysterious round ball began to go viral on major social media, and netizens talked about it. Some people think it could be Godzilla's Egg or Dragon Ball, others think it could be a new type of "stray balloon", others think it could be a UFO from outer space, and some even think it could be an exploding mine.
However, according to the British media "Metro News" reported on February 23, experts believe that the object may just be an ordinary marine device, similar to a mooring buoy used to guide ships or mark locations in the ocean, and it drifted to the beach because the rope tied to it broke.
Previously, according to local media "Asahi Shimbun", the ball is about 1.5 meters in diameter, the whole ball is orange-brown, but the surface is not flat, there are some raised handles, probably used to hang items such as rope.
From the large and small brown rust spots on the ball, it can be judged that its composition is steel. According to reports, the local police immediately conducted an in-depth study of the ball after arriving and set up a cordon within 200 meters.
After a series of X-ray scans, blasting experts determined that the ball was completely hollow inside, not dangerous of explosion and posed no threat, and lifted the blockade around 4 p.m. that day.
But at press time, local police were still unsure of what the sphere was, where it came from and what it was used for.
Masaki Matsukawa, head of the coastal maintenance department at the Hamamatsu Civil Engineering Office in Shizuoka Prefecture, told local news outlets that it was unclear what the metal object was.
"We have not yet been able to determine what type of debris it is, but it has been confirmed that it is safe, so we will handle it in the same way as normal floating debris," the official said. ”
The object has now been removed by local officials in charge of coastal management and is awaiting further inspections by Japan's Self-Defense Forces and the Coast Guard, but it is unclear when the results will be known.
However, according to the Australian News Network, many netizens supported the statement of experts, who insisted that the object was a mooring buoy, and the protrusion on the ball was obviously used to hook things.
A foreign netizen named Jeremiah Garcia explained on Twitter that "this is a steel mooring buoy. They are specifically designed for ships to moor in the most economical way, while protecting coastlines, natural habitats and other vessels, as well as providing alternative anchors for all types of ships to sail or station. ”
It is worth mentioning that according to local media reports, there are many mooring buoys used to mark positions in the waters of Enzhou, but their color looks brighter than this iron ball, bright yellow. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that this iron ball rusted due to seawater erosion after the patent skin of the original buoy was peeled off, after all, its size is very close to other buoys in the waters of Enzhou.
A local man who used to walk on the beach in Enju told NHK that he thought it was just a very ordinary iron ball that had been sitting there for a month, and that he had tried to push it, but it was too heavy to push.
And for the iron ball suddenly became popular and was reported by major media, this man expressed incredulity. But regardless, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation news channel has confirmed that the spherical object "does not pose a threat" and is also relieved.
And thinking of the recent "stray balloon" incident, it is understandable that netizens have opened their brains. It is reported that the three UFOs shot down by US authorities were later investigated and considered to be "most likely balloons used by private companies, entertainment or weather research or other scientific research."
Source: Metro, Bing