--- title: "Japan Puzzled When Large Metal Orb Appears on Beach" description: "In a post-Chinese balloon world, officials on the other side of the pond were left perplexed when a huge, mysterious orb turned up on a beach in Japan." date: "2023-02-22" modified: "2023-02-22" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/japan-mystery-orb" categories: - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "Japan" - "orb" - "sphere" - "the digest" --- # Japan Puzzled When Large Metal Orb Appears on Beach ![In a post-Chinese balloon world, officials on the other side of the pond were left perplexed when a huge, mysterious orb turned up on a beach in Japan.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Ball So Hard In a [post-Chinese balloon world](), officials on the other side of the pond were left perplexed when a huge, mysterious orb turned up on a beach in Japan. First [reported by Japan's *Asahi News*](), this strange spherical object appeared to have washed up on a beach in the coastal city of Hamamatsu. The ball was X-rayed and investigated by a police bomb squad, and after being unable to figure out what the thing is, the lack of explanation has raised even more questions about this weird beachside apparition. As [the *BBC* ]()and [*The Guardian*]() later reported, runaway speculation about the mysterious orb has circulated since its discovery, with netizens positing that it's everything from a spy balloon to a [Dragon Ball](). One of the most plausible explanations is that the ball, which looks to be made of iron due to its rusty appearance, is a buoy of some sort — and [as *Vice* notes](), mooring buoys do indeed often have metal shells. https://twitter.com/NHKWORLD_News/status/1628008229832720384 ## Sphere Sightings Curiously, the discovery of the Hamamatsu ball comes almost two years ago to the day after another — albeit much shinier — metal sphere was [found washed up on a beach in the Bahamas]() at the end of February 2021. In that case, though, etchings on the object allowed investigators to deduce that the ball was Russian in origin and possibly fallen from a spacecraft. The Bahamian beach ball wasn't the only one to make headlines in recent years, either. In 2019, an escaped mooring buoy was [found at San Diego's Black's Beach]() after it had initially been spotted a few years prior, and in that case, the metallic orb was welcomed back like an old friend. "We haven’t seen it in a few years," a regular beachgoer told the *San Diego Reader*, "so it’s kinda fun to see it now!" Per these spherical tales, it's clear that the reception of these strange orbs depends entirely on context — and given that the one that turned up in Hamamatsu came on the heels of the [balloongate boondoggle](), it's no shock that "spycraft" was an initial conclusion. Here's hoping authorities figure out what this one was! **More on mystery balls:** [*Group of Dudes Fear the Pentagon May Have Shot Down Their Balloon*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()