[/floatr]Kyodo via Japan Today: Japanese government says existence of UFOs unconfirmed
The Japanese government said Tuesday that it has "not confirmed the existence" of the so-called unidentified flying objects believed to have flown from outer space. The statement was made in an official response, adopted at a cabinet meeting Tuesday morning, to a question submitted by Ryuji Yamane, an opposition Democratic Party of Japan member of the House of Councillors. Yamane said in the question, "It is an urgent task to conduct confirmation work, given incessant reports of UFO sightings as well as national concerns and interests." Should the Air Self-Defense Force detect signs of a flying object feared to violate Japan's air space, it will scramble a fighter for visual confirmation, the report explained. But it stressed the government "is not aware of cases where an unidentified flying object, believed to have flown from outside the Earth, was discovered, although there have been cases where birds and other objects beside aircraft were discovered." On UFOs, the government "is not collecting information or conducting research and has not considered any extraordinary steps in response if they ever fly to our country."
