What was the Kera incident?
The Kera incident is a UFO incident said to have occurred from August to September 1972 in the Kera district in eastern Kochi City, Kochi Prefecture. Local junior high school students said they saw a small object flying around over the rice fields and glowing, and later caught it when it had landed on the ground. As a rare case of “catching a UFO,” it is counted with the Kofu incident and others among Japan’s three great UFO incidents.
A UFO that kept vanishing
According to the boys, the object was silver and shaped like a wide-brimmed bowler hat, about 18 cm across and weighing about 1.3–1.5 kg. Its underside had patterns and tiny holes, and something like radio parts could be seen inside, they said. The boys took it home, but it vanished while they were keeping it, then turned up nearby again and was caught again, over and over. After it vanished the last time, it was never found again.
Why no photos survived
Only a few junior high students and some adults actually saw the object, and only one photo, taken from a distance, survives. Whenever they tried to take detailed photos, it is said, the pictures somehow failed. An amateur astronomer interviewed those involved and published the story in an astronomy magazine, and it later became known nationwide through TV programs.
How it is viewed
One adult who saw the actual object said it “looked like an ashtray (tobacco tray) painted silver,” and it has been confirmed that metal ashtrays very similar in shape to the description exist. The astronomer who later interviewed them also said that the boy at the center of the story admitted in later years that “it was made up.” It has been suggested that a boys’ prank may have unexpectedly grown into a big story.
