Document · 18 December 2007
Japanese Cabinet written answer on unidentified flying objects (House of Councillors, 18 December 2007)
Also known as 内閣参質一六八第八四号, 未確認飛行物体に関する質問主意書, Japan 2007 UFO answer
The Cabinet's written answer (内閣参質一六八第八四号) to a question submitted under Article 74 of the Diet Act by Ryuji Yamane, a Democratic Party member of the House of Councillors. The answer denies that the government has confirmed any UFO “from outside the Earth”, says the Air Self-Defense Force knows of no scramble that found one, and states that the government had done no study of the subject.
The answer concerns objects from beyond Earth, the wording of the question; it does not address unidentified objects in general, which the Defense Ministry began recording in 2020. Our copy is a PDF capture of the question and the answer as published on the House of Councillors website.
Sources: House of Councillors of Japan (2007)
Facts and claims
- documented Upper-house member Ryuji Yamane asked the government, in a written question of 10 December 2007, what it thinks of UFOs, what information it has gathered or research it has done, how it would respond if one came to Japan, whether the Air Self-Defense Force had ever scrambled against one, whether it exchanges information on them with the United States and other friendly countries, and which body analyses reports from the public. Source: doc-japan-cabinet-ufo-answer-2007.pdf
- documented The Cabinet's answer of 18 December 2007, sent under Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, says the government has not confirmed the existence of “unidentified flying objects thought to have come from outside the Earth”, and so has done no particular information gathering, information exchange with other countries or research on them, and has made no particular study of how to respond if one came to Japan. Source: doc-japan-cabinet-ufo-answer-2007.pdf
- documented On scrambles, the answer says the Air Self-Defense Force sends up fighters when needed to identify by sight unknown tracks that may enter Japanese airspace, and that although it sometimes finds objects other than aircraft, such as birds, it knows of no case of finding an unidentified flying object thought to have come from outside the Earth. Source: doc-japan-cabinet-ufo-answer-2007.pdf
- documented Reports from the public would be sorted, analysed and checked by whichever agency is responsible for the subject matter of the information. Source: doc-japan-cabinet-ufo-answer-2007.pdf
Connected files
Documents
- Japanese Cabinet written answer on the government's view of unidentified flying objects (House of Representatives, 27 February 2018) (followed by) — The question quotes the 2007 answer that the government has not confirmed UFOs from outside the Earth
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Links
- House of Councillors — question no. 84 (168th Diet), Ryuji Yamane, 10 December 2007 (Japanese)
- House of Councillors — Cabinet written answer, 18 December 2007 (Japanese)
- The Japan Times (weekly) — Government denies UFO existence (2007)