Japan’s Strange 1972 UFO Case: What Really Happened in Kera

In late August 1972 in Kera, a rural district of Kochi City on Shikoku Island in Japan, a group of junior high school boys encountered something that is still debated by UFO researchers today. On August 25th, 13-year-old Michio Seo was walking home through rice fields when he saw a strange flying object low over the crops.

It was small, hat-shaped, and dull silvery in appearance. Its flight pattern was erratic, zig-zagging like a bat chasing insects. As he got closer, the object glowed blue and emitted a loud pop, frightening him away. This was the beginning of what became known as the Kera UFO Incident.

Michio told four friends about what he had seen and that evening they went back to the rice field together. Around 8 p.m. the object reappeared, this time pulsating with silver or multicolored light. One of the boys approached and the object made a loud popping noise and blue glow again, causing all of them to retreat. Over the next days they continued to encounter the object multiple times.

On September 4th they saw it hovering about a meter above the ground glowing blue and yellow and moving toward them. On September 6th they found it resting on the ground. The boys photographed it and then one of them picked it up. According to their measurements it was about 7 cm tall with a diameter of 15–18 cm, weighed around 1.3–1.5 kg, had a smooth cold metallic surface, and made a rattling sound when shaken.

The underside had strange etched patterns including wave-like lines and a bird-like shape that they could not explain. Through small holes they saw internal components that looked like circuitry. They repeatedly tried to handle and examine it.

The boys believed the object reacted to water because it never appeared on rainy days, so they poured water into its vents. This caused loud buzzing and a bright internal glow as if energized, and the boys could briefly see what looked like mechanical parts inside. They tried to trap the object in backpacks and sealed bags but each time it vanished without any damage or openings in the containers. On September 22nd it disappeared from a sealed container while being carried on a bicycle. It was never seen again.

There were other related sightings in the area. A mother of one of the boys saw a small flying saucer-shaped object at low altitude that flashed red and blue lights and flew slowly off toward a nearby mountain. This was interpreted by some as possibly connected to the original Kera sightings.

Because of the media attention the incident received in Japan, radio hosts, television programs, and UFO books covered it in the 1970s. It became one of the better known UFO cases in the country. In the early 2000s, renewed interest brought the original witnesses, now adults, back into the spotlight. Investigators re-interviewed them and reported that their accounts remained detailed and consistent with what they had said decades earlier.

The sketches and measurements the boys made in 1972 matched their memories. Investigators even retraced the geography of the sightings. Many concluded that the original witnesses were sincere and that the case deserved serious consideration. Some researchers proposed unconventional explanations such as an interdimensional probe or anomaly to account for the object’s bizarre behavior, material interactions, and apparent ability to vanish.

Skeptics have also weighed in. Some argue that objects with similar size, shape, and markings have been found as civilian manufactured ashtrays, suggesting a possible misidentification and later embellishment. However, the physical behavior the boys described — levitation, light and sound emission, reactions to water, and disappearing from sealed containers — remains unexplained.

To this day there is no universally accepted explanation for what the boys experienced in Kera. Some UFO researchers consider it one of the most compelling close-range encounters with physical interaction and repeated sightings by multiple witnesses. Others argue that natural misinterpretation, fabrication, or cultural factors may have influenced the story over time. Regardless of the interpretation, the Kera UFO Incident remains a fascinating chapter in UFO history with follow-ups, investigations, and decades of discussion among believers and skeptics alike.