News Mysterious ball washed up on beach baffles Japan

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A local resident contacted police at around 8:45 a.m. on Feb. 21 to report that she had found "a large, round object" on Enshuhama beach in Hamamatsu's Nishi Ward. Shizuoka Prefectural Police officers confirmed an iron ball-like object was on the beach. The force's bomb disposal unit X-rayed the ball, and found that it was hollow and not in danger of exploding. According to Hamamatsu Nishi Police Station, the apparently metal object's surface is brown with rust, and it has two protrusions that look like eyes for hooks, but little more about its nature is known. Part of its bulk is buried beneath the sand.

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Mysterious 1.5-meter metal ball found washed up on Japan beach - The Mainichi

HAMAMATSU, Shizuoka -- A metal ball about 1.5 meters in diameter has been found on a Pacific coast beach here, and as yet no one knows exactly what it

mainichi.jp

'Mysterious ball' washes up on beach sparking investigation by baffled officials

A bizarre ball that appears to be made of metal forced the closing off of a beach in Japan as explosive experts reportedly examined it and still the authorities have no idea what it can be

www.mirror.co.uk

Spy balloon, UFO or Dragon Ball? Japan baffled by iron ball washed up on beach

About 1.5 metres in diameter, the mysterious metal sphere has been the source of intense speculation online

www.theguardian.com

Local officials in Hamamatsu said it would be stored "for a certain period" and then "disposed of". [...] Interest in the object - dubbed "Godzilla egg", "mooring buoy", and "from outer space" - started earlier this week after a local alerted police upon noticing the unusual object on the shore.

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"I can't believe officials from a country surrounded by ocean don't recognise a ball buoy," read one tweet. "OMG! It's a steel mooring buoy, people. I'm embarrassed to be Japanese," said another. Hamamatsu's local civil engineering office said it "considers it a foreign-made buoy".

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Prof Mark Inall, an oceanographer at the Scottish Association for Marine Science, said he knew what it was "instantly". "It's very recognisable," he told the BBC. "We use (them) to keep instruments floating in the ocean." They often wash up on the coast of Scotland, he added. While Professor Inall said he was surprised that the metal sphere was not identified more quickly, he acknowledged that the general public wouldn't necessarily have known what it was.

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Japan’s mystery ball removed from the beach

The ball, dubbed "Godzilla egg", has perplexed locals and set off widespread speculation.

www.bbc.com