Case file · Close encounter
The Kera 'UFO capture'
In August 1972 schoolboys in Kera, near Kōchi city, said they caught a small hat-shaped object in a rice field several times, but it kept vanishing and returning.
1972 CE · 33.57, 133.60 · status: claim
The account
The boys, about 13 years old, described a glowing grey 'hat' some 20 cm across that buzzed and leaked water. They said they took a photo that came out blurred, and that the object finally disappeared for good. It is often called 'Japan's Roswell'.
The sceptical view
Only the boys handled it and no object survives; in 2020 a researcher showed an ashtray of near-identical shape for sale online, suggesting a misread household item or a prank that grew.