Unidentified Balloon Spotted off Southwestern Japan in 2022

Tokyo, Feb. 9 (Jiji Press)--Japan detected an unidentified balloon floating above the high seas west of the Kyushu southwestern region in January last year, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Thursday.

The balloon resembled the Chinese spy balloon recently shot down by the United States, Matsuno told a press conference.

The government found the balloon through ordinary information gathering and surveillance activities, he said.

Similar objects were spotted floating above Aomori and Miyagi prefectures, both in northeastern Japan, in 2020 and 2021. The government will explore their possible connections with China.

"We'll continue to cooperate with our allies and make every effort to collect information on and analyze balloons with great interest," Matsuno said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]