The Kera Incident: Japan’s Most Compelling “Close Encounter” You’ve Never Heard Of

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In the summer of 1972, in a quiet rural district of Japan, a group of teenage boys stumbled upon something extraordinary—an event so strange and well-documented it would become one of the most significant UFO cases in the country’s history. This is the story of the Kera UFO Incident, a case involving multiple witnesses, physical evidence, expert analysis, and a tiny, indestructible “flying saucer” that a group of children managed to capture.

A Bizarre Discovery in a Rice Paddy

The strange saga began on the afternoon of August 25, 1972, in the Kera district of Kōchi City. A 13-year-old junior high student named Michio Mita was walking home when he spotted a small, silvery, hat-shaped object hovering silently over a rice paddy. It moved erratically, darting through the air “like a bat chasing insects.” As he approached, the object began to glow with a blue light and emitted a beam, terrifying the boy and sending him fleeing home.

Intrigued and frightened, Mita returned with his friends—a group that would eventually grow to include up to nine boys. Over the next few weeks, they would repeatedly encounter the mysterious object. They didn’t just see it; they chased it, photographed it, and, on September 4, managed to do the unthinkable: they caught it.

The Captured “UFO”: An Indestructible Enigma

The object the boys captured was small, measuring about 20 cm (8 inches) in diameter and weighing around 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs). It resembled a silver, cast-iron ashtray or a small hat, with a smooth surface and a series of circular grooves on its base. The bottom plate was perforated with 31 to 37 small holes and etched with three strange symbols, one of which resembled a traditional Japanese design of waves and plovers (chidori).

The boys’ “experiments” on the object revealed its truly bizarre properties:

Indestructible: It could not be scratched or dented, even when struck with a hammer.Mysterious Interior: When they peered inside through the holes, they saw what looked like radio components and heard a rattling sound.
Unusual Physics: When they filled it with water, the water vanished without spilling.
Active Behavior: At times, it would emit a loud, cicada-like buzzing sound, glow brightly, and discharge a sticky, paste-like substance from its base.

The boys managed to capture the object on multiple occasions, but it would often vanish mysteriously from their possession—once disappearing from a plastic bag, another time from a backpack, only to reappear later in the same rice paddy.

Photographic Evidence and Expert Investigation

Crucially, the boys took several photographs on September 5 and 6, which serve as key evidence in the case. The images show the object on the ground, in flight, and being held by one of the boys, Hiroshi Mori. One photo even captures the complex electronic-like components inside when the boys tried to pry it open with a wire. Although the original negatives have been lost, copies of these photos continue to fuel analysis and debate.

The incident was not merely a children’s tale. Several adults became involved, including the father of one of the boys, who was the director of a local science education center. More significantly, respected astronomers Tsutomu Seki and Kōichi Ike investigated the case. While Seki was initially skeptical, attributing the sightings to reflections from city lights, Ike published an article in an astronomy magazine concluding that the object was “highly likely to be a UFO.” Seki himself was intrigued by the detailed sketches the boys made, noting that he felt a sense of familiarity with the strange symbols on the object’s base.

Media Frenzy, Lasting Legacy, and Unanswered Questions

The Kera Incident exploded into the national spotlight on October 10, 1974, when it was featured on a prime-time UFO special on Nippon TV. The boys, once dismissed by some as “liars,” were interviewed by respected journalists and became local heroes, sparking a nationwide UFO boom among children.

Decades have passed, but the Kera Incident remains one of Japan’s most compelling and well-documented UFO encounters. Skeptics point to the possibility of a prank, suggesting the object was a modified ashtray. However, its reported ability to fly, glow, disappear, and withstand damage makes this explanation difficult to accept for many.

Was it an extraterrestrial drone, a secret piece of technology, or something stranger still? The physical object is long gone, and the original photos are lost, but the consistent, detailed testimonies of multiple witnesses and the involvement of credible experts ensure that the Kera UFO Incident will continue to mystify and fascinate researchers for years to come. It stands as a powerful symbol of human curiosity in the face of the truly unknown.

References

• Lowth, Marcus. (2019). The 1972 Kera UFO Incident. UFO Insight. Retrieved from https://www.ufoinsight.com/ufos/close-encounters/1972-kera-ufo
• Infinity Explorers. (2023). The KERA UFO Incident. Retrieved from https://www.infinityexplorers.com/kera-ufo-incident/
• Paranormal Strange Wiki. (2025). Kera UFO. Retrieved from https://paranormal-strange.fandom.com/wiki/Kera_UFO
• My Dad Is an OTAKU. (2021). Kera Incident Part 3. Retrieved from https://otakupapa.net/en/kera-incident-3/
• Astonishing Legends. (2020). Ep 176: The Kera Object Part 1 [Podcast]. Retrieved from https://astonishinglegends.com/al-podcasts/2020/5/9/ep-176-the-kera-object-part-1

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