Yasukazu Hamada, who led Japan's historic defense overhaul in 2022, now chairs a parliamentary group investigating unidentified aerial phenomena. So one of the most important Defense Ministers in recent history decided to dedicate his retirement to UFOs. He told me that non-human intelligence is "one strong hypothesis" that may explain the rampant UFO sightings in his country. His concern is national security: Japan cannot afford to leave unknown objects unidentified.
One of the incidents he discusses specifically is at the Genkai nuclear plant in 2025. Three unexplained lights reportedly circled one of Japan's nuclear power plants for two hours. On July 26, 2025, guards and a police officer at Genkai, on the southern island of Kyushu, watched lights travel in broad loops before approaching within roughly 150 feet of two reactors. Authorities initially called them drones, later described them simply as lights, and ultimately suggested aircrafts were the best conventional explanation. After Congressmen in the Diet investigated, most remained very unsatisfied with these shifting explanations. Hamada warned that critical facilities could be under surveillance by technology Japan simply cannot identify.
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