civilian-claim2023· Japan
In August 2023, the U.S. Defense Department's new UAP transparency website formally designated Japan as a global hotspot for unidentified aerial phenomena, based on trend analysis of sightings logged between 1996 and 2023. Japan's parliament responded by forming an 80-member bipartisan research group in 2024, including former defense ministers, to lead the country's first systematic institutional investigation.
The DoD designation came alongside Japan's own record of 53 JASDF scrambles against UAP in FY2022–23. South China Morning Post and CBS News both reported the Japanese parliamentary response. Japan's proximity to contested airspace over the East China Sea and Sea of Japan has made the hotspot designation a dual-use national-security issue for the government.
Citations
- UFO investigation launched in Japan after US report designates region as hotspot· CBS News, 2023
- Japan sets up parliamentary group to probe UFO sightings· South China Morning Post, 2024
- Japan Says Aircraft Scrambles Are Down. But Responses to Drones and UFOs Are Up· The Diplomat, 2023
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