Japan's Defense Ministry Reveals Protocol for UFO Encounters

Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono declared in a statement last Monday that members of the nation’s Self-Defense Forces (SDF) will attempt to record and photograph any UFOs in Japanese airspace, while taking steps for the "necessary analysis" of the sightings. This analysis is to include any information provided separately by the public.

The order came after a meeting in Guam last month with U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, where the two men discussed the issue as a potential new area of Japan-U.S. security cooperation.

It also followed an announcement by the Pentagon in early August of the creation of a task force whose mission is to “detect, analyze and catalog [unidentified aerial phenomena] that could potentially pose a threat to U.S. national security."

"Unidentified aerial phenomena” is the current U.S. government nomenclature for UFOs.

Prior to that, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) issued a statement in April authorizing the release of three unclassified UFO videos shot by Navy fighter pilots.

The release of those videos prompted Kono to announce at an April 28th news conference that the SDF would be establishing the protocols later declared in his statement this week.

“We would like to establish procedures in the event an encounter is made with a UFO,” he said at the news conference in April.

Kono went on to say that, although pilots with the SDF had never encountered a UFO, his ministry would still develop protocols for the possibility.

“If video can be taken [of a UFO encounter] and if a report is possible, then a report will be made," he said. "Discussions will be held with the Air SDF about just what can be done.”

The Japanese government’s previously held official position on UFOs, declared in 2018, was that "no confirmation has been made of their existence,” and that they had "not considered in any specific manner what will be done should a UFO be sighted flying toward Japan.”

That position appears to have shifted in light of the U.S. government’s interest in the UFO phenomenon.

“To be honest, I don’t believe in UFOs,” Kono said back in April. “But because the [U.S.] Defense Department released such a video, I would like to hear from the U.S. side about its intention and analysis.”

Currently, Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) fighter jets can be scrambled from seven bases, ranging from Hokkaido to Okinawa, to intercept aircraft of unknown nationality.

According to the Defense Ministry, any unknown aircraft that appear as though they might enter Japanese airspace are met by fighters who call on it in English to change course, and once the aircraft's nationality has been identified, the request is repeated in that country's language.

The ASDF is authorized to fire at any aircraft entering Japanese airspace in an effort to force it to land, but it is unclear if this strategy will be implemented against UFOs.

There is concern that UFOs might not be able to be detected by land-based radar systems, and because of this could be encountered by SDF planes on training or surveillance missions.

“If (UFOs) are encountered, training will be canceled immediately,” an ASDF source told The Japan Times earlier this year. “We will seek to identify it from a safe distance, including whether it is a drone, and report it to the Air Defense Direction Center for orders.”

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