Japan's SDF UFO-encounter orders
After the Pentagon released its Navy UAP videos, Japan's Defence Minister ordered the Self-Defence Forces to record, photograph and report any unidentified objects they meet.
2020 CE · 35.69, 139.73 · status: official
The account
Taro Kono said in April 2020 that SDF pilots had never reported a UFO but that procedures were needed; in September 2020 he issued standing orders to record any such objects and pass them on for analysis, noting 'to be honest, I don't really believe in UFOs.' In June 2020 a white balloon hovered over Sendai for hours; in 2023 Japan said that and similar balloons were strongly presumed to be Chinese surveillance balloons.
The sceptical view
The orders were framed as an air-defence measure against unknown aircraft and drones, not as a claim about aliens.