WEBVTT - Season 08 Episode 37: Field of Dreams

0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.400
<v Speaker 1>Hello, it's Richard mccleinsmith here with a quick update before

0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:06.800
<v Speaker 1>we dive into today's episode. Unexplained is very excited to

0:00:06.800 --> 0:00:09.200
<v Speaker 1>be a part of Crime Wave at Sea this November,

0:00:09.440 --> 0:00:12.600
<v Speaker 1>joining forces with some of the eeriest voices in the

0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:15.800
<v Speaker 1>world of true crime and the paranormal four Nights in

0:00:15.840 --> 0:00:19.960
<v Speaker 1>the Caribbean, with amazing podcasts like Last Podcast on the Left,

0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:24.400
<v Speaker 1>Scared to Death and many more live shows Meet and greets,

0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:27.960
<v Speaker 1>Creepy Stories under the Stars and you can be there too,

0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:31.960
<v Speaker 1>but don't wait. Rooms are nearly sold out. Head to

0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:36.360
<v Speaker 1>Crimewave Atsea dot com forward slash Unexplained to grab your

0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:39.400
<v Speaker 1>fan coat and lock in your cabin. We'd love to

0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:54.000
<v Speaker 1>see you on board. Mid Ceo. CEO had nothing in

0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:57.160
<v Speaker 1>particular on his mind as he walked home from school

0:00:57.200 --> 0:01:00.960
<v Speaker 1>in Kerr, on the outskirts of Cossi City on Japan's

0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:06.319
<v Speaker 1>southern island of sik Outside of its main cities, Sikoku

0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:11.000
<v Speaker 1>is largely rural, with farm land, mountains and a picturesque

0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:14.720
<v Speaker 1>coast line. It's known as a place people go to

0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:18.160
<v Speaker 1>to get away from the bustle of city life, and

0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:21.600
<v Speaker 1>it was a very quiet afternoon on August twenty fifth,

0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:25.800
<v Speaker 1>nineteen seventy two, as the thirteen year old Misio walked

0:01:25.800 --> 0:01:30.440
<v Speaker 1>home down the street, surrounded by rice paddies, the stalks

0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:34.640
<v Speaker 1>of the rice wavering languidly in the breeze, as dragonflies

0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:40.120
<v Speaker 1>flitted about. Small clusters of houses and trees were dotted

0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:43.759
<v Speaker 1>all around. Sitting under the watchful eye of the mountains

0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:48.080
<v Speaker 1>to the north, just visible behind a dense summer haze,

0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:51.960
<v Speaker 1>it seemed just like any other day in the teenager's

0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:57.080
<v Speaker 1>daily routine. Just then, the boy, as he would later

0:01:57.160 --> 0:02:00.520
<v Speaker 1>describe it, glimpse something strange out of the corner of

0:02:00.560 --> 0:02:05.240
<v Speaker 1>his eye. It hovered low over the ground, then began

0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:10.520
<v Speaker 1>rapidly zigzagging back and forth across the field. It reminded

0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:15.440
<v Speaker 1>Midzio of a bat, with sudden, sharp, darting changes of direction,

0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:20.720
<v Speaker 1>except that the movements seemed unnatural, al most robotic, and

0:02:20.760 --> 0:02:24.720
<v Speaker 1>the object was most definitely not a bat or a bird.

0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:29.200
<v Speaker 1>It was a small, dull, silver metallic object with a

0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:33.800
<v Speaker 1>bell shaped dome, a flat base, and a narrow rim.

0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:39.239
<v Speaker 1>It looked a little like a miniature metal brimmed hat. Mesmerized,

0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:43.320
<v Speaker 1>Midzio stood frozen in place, not sure whether to feel

0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:48.000
<v Speaker 1>excited or scared. With his curiosity getting the better of him,

0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:51.600
<v Speaker 1>he began making his way into the rice paddy, cautiously

0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:55.280
<v Speaker 1>walking towards the object, picking his way around the muddy

0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:59.840
<v Speaker 1>patches and small puddles of standing water. But just as

0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:04.360
<v Speaker 1>he began to approach it, the object stopped, suddenly hovered

0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:08.120
<v Speaker 1>in mid air, then lit up with a faint blue glow.

0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:14.520
<v Speaker 1>A beam of bright light shot out in Mitzio's direction. Terrified,

0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:18.200
<v Speaker 1>the boy turned on his heels and ran frantically all

0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:22.360
<v Speaker 1>the way home, without stopping for breath or once turning

0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:26.040
<v Speaker 1>to look back. It was the beginning of one of

0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:31.480
<v Speaker 1>the most unusual supposed UFO encounters of all time, because

0:03:31.520 --> 0:03:34.440
<v Speaker 1>not only would the object be seen again and again

0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:39.240
<v Speaker 1>by the schoolboy and his friends. According to them, they

0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:45.480
<v Speaker 1>also captured it. You're listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard

0:03:45.560 --> 0:03:56.760
<v Speaker 1>McLean Smith, as the story goes. By the time Mitzio

0:03:56.880 --> 0:03:59.840
<v Speaker 1>got home, all he wanted to do was tell someone

0:03:59.880 --> 0:04:03.880
<v Speaker 1>else else about his extraordinary experience, but not his parents.

0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:07.760
<v Speaker 1>He knew they wouldn't believe him, so he quickly called

0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:14.360
<v Speaker 1>on his four closest friends, Hirosi, Maury, Katsuoko, Kojima, Yasuo, Fujimoto,

0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:18.120
<v Speaker 1>and Yuji, and invited them all back to his house.

0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:22.839
<v Speaker 1>In an excited huddle in Mitzio's bedroom, the boys leaned

0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:26.719
<v Speaker 1>in expectantly, waiting for Mitzio to tell them his secret.

0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:31.560
<v Speaker 1>From his glowing eyes and slightly disheveled appearance, they could

0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:33.640
<v Speaker 1>tell that what he had to say was going to

0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:37.960
<v Speaker 1>be something worth hearing and maybe a little bit frightening.

0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:42.560
<v Speaker 1>But when Mitzio was done sharing his story, he was

0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:47.000
<v Speaker 1>met only with confused and blank stairs. Was this some

0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:51.080
<v Speaker 1>kind of a joke, his friends asked, No, said Mitzio,

0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:55.640
<v Speaker 1>insisting it was all exactly as he described it, But

0:04:55.720 --> 0:05:00.719
<v Speaker 1>the friends weren't convinced. Nonetheless, they were in read enough

0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:03.760
<v Speaker 1>to take up Mitzio's offer to try and find the

0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:08.479
<v Speaker 1>thing again. The five teens jumped onto their bikes and

0:05:08.640 --> 0:05:11.400
<v Speaker 1>set off for the rice paddy in search of the

0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:17.680
<v Speaker 1>supposed strange object. They arrived sometime around seven pm, during

0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:21.400
<v Speaker 1>the magic hour, when all about was bathed in the warm,

0:05:21.480 --> 0:05:25.640
<v Speaker 1>golden haze of dusk. Together they stood in the quiet

0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:29.600
<v Speaker 1>of the countryside, staring out over the paddy fields as

0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:34.920
<v Speaker 1>insects chirped and chirruped. The boys would later recount how

0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:38.599
<v Speaker 1>they sat down to wait, patiently, passing the time with

0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:44.040
<v Speaker 1>idle chitchat. Then, after almost an hour, they heard a

0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:48.440
<v Speaker 1>faint clicking sound. Looking toward where it was coming from,

0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:52.839
<v Speaker 1>the boys watched, open mouthed as one after another court

0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:56.360
<v Speaker 1>sight of the weird object hovering over the rice field

0:05:56.640 --> 0:06:01.560
<v Speaker 1>twenty yards away. They discos arribed it later as being

0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:05.000
<v Speaker 1>like a little tin hat or a bell shaped dome

0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:09.040
<v Speaker 1>that was flitting about to and fro, just like Mitsio

0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:14.520
<v Speaker 1>had apparently seen earlier. As darkness began to fall, the

0:06:14.560 --> 0:06:18.960
<v Speaker 1>boys continued to watch as the object began emitting a pulsating,

0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:24.400
<v Speaker 1>multi colored array of lights. Wanting to get a closer look,

0:06:24.640 --> 0:06:28.200
<v Speaker 1>the boys ventured out into the rice paddy together, but,

0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:31.840
<v Speaker 1>just like it had apparently done with Mitsio, as they

0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:35.920
<v Speaker 1>edged closer, the object suddenly let out a series of

0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:40.480
<v Speaker 1>loud clicks and then a tremendous bang. Frightened out of

0:06:40.560 --> 0:06:45.400
<v Speaker 1>their wits, the boys turned and ran for their lives. Later,

0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:48.800
<v Speaker 1>when the boys had finally made it back home, like

0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:52.000
<v Speaker 1>a new gang with a big secret, they all agreed

0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:55.920
<v Speaker 1>to a pact of silence more than a bit nervous

0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:58.640
<v Speaker 1>about what the object was or what it might do

0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:01.880
<v Speaker 1>to them. The boys avoided the rice paddy for days,

0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:05.640
<v Speaker 1>but they couldn't stop talking about it. What was it,

0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:09.800
<v Speaker 1>where had it come from? Was it being controlled remotely?

0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:14.000
<v Speaker 1>Or was there something inside it that was flying it?

0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:24.280
<v Speaker 1>One thing was clear. If the boys could just get

0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:27.360
<v Speaker 1>a photo of the weird device, then perhaps they could

0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:30.920
<v Speaker 1>tell their parents what they'd seen, and then they'd be

0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:35.440
<v Speaker 1>believed and so. Having built up their courage. A few

0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:39.440
<v Speaker 1>days after their first encounter, the boys headed back into

0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:44.760
<v Speaker 1>the paddy fields, this time with a camera. Around nine

0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:49.800
<v Speaker 1>thirty pm on September fourth, they spotted the strange object again.

0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:54.760
<v Speaker 1>This time, it was flying lower than before, about three

0:07:54.800 --> 0:07:59.960
<v Speaker 1>feet above the ground. As soon as the boys saw it, unnervingly,

0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:06.160
<v Speaker 1>the object began heading straight for them, glowing brightly. Once again,

0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:10.960
<v Speaker 1>the teenagers got scared and ran off. The following evening

0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:14.360
<v Speaker 1>of September fifth, the boys claimed they returned to the

0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:20.120
<v Speaker 1>fields but saw nothing. Then on September sixth, everything changed.

0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:24.960
<v Speaker 1>That night. The boys emerged from their homes shortly before

0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:30.320
<v Speaker 1>sunset again. As they approached the usual spot, the boys

0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:34.720
<v Speaker 1>were excited to find the object had returned. Hovering extremely

0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:38.520
<v Speaker 1>low to the ground. One of the boys took hold

0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:43.200
<v Speaker 1>of his camera and hurriedly snapped a picture. In a

0:08:43.240 --> 0:08:47.640
<v Speaker 1>seeming response to the flash, the strange object instantly burst

0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:52.320
<v Speaker 1>into motion, spinning rapidly as it ascended straight up several

0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:56.920
<v Speaker 1>feet into the air. Then it flashed brightly too, before

0:08:57.000 --> 0:09:00.480
<v Speaker 1>sinking back onto the ground, where it spun around it place,

0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:06.520
<v Speaker 1>and then it stopped. The boys looked nervously to each other.

0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:11.040
<v Speaker 1>After a few tense minutes, as the others hung back

0:09:11.080 --> 0:09:15.160
<v Speaker 1>to watch, a fourteen year old Hirossi Maury plucked up

0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:19.960
<v Speaker 1>his courage to approach the motionless object. He reached out

0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:24.280
<v Speaker 1>and picked it up. Hirossi would later claim that he

0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:28.160
<v Speaker 1>could feel or see something moving inside it, although he

0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:32.000
<v Speaker 1>could never describe exactly what that was. One of the

0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:36.400
<v Speaker 1>other boys snapped an iconic photograph of Hirosi holding the

0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:40.560
<v Speaker 1>object out at harm's length. Another took some shaky, sinny

0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:45.400
<v Speaker 1>footage of the scene. The boys were ecstatic they had

0:09:45.480 --> 0:10:00.600
<v Speaker 1>captured the object, with the bizarre device seemingly still. The

0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:03.880
<v Speaker 1>boys first wrapped it in a plastic bag before putting

0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:07.200
<v Speaker 1>it in a backpack. Then together they took it to

0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:11.400
<v Speaker 1>one of the boys's homes. Safely inside one of the

0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:16.120
<v Speaker 1>boy's bedrooms, the five teams huddled around the backpack, nervous

0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:20.640
<v Speaker 1>and excited at what they'd found. Cautiously, they removed it

0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:25.600
<v Speaker 1>from the bag. Measuring around eight inches wide and four

0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:30.520
<v Speaker 1>inches high, it weighed just over a kilo. Turning it

0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:34.400
<v Speaker 1>over on the base, they found a series of concentric

0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:39.280
<v Speaker 1>circular ridges and grooves, almost like a vinyl record. In

0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:43.080
<v Speaker 1>the center was a square plate punctured with thirty one

0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:47.440
<v Speaker 1>small circular holes in a grid pattern. In between this

0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:52.480
<v Speaker 1>grid and the ridges were three engraved designs which appeared

0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:57.720
<v Speaker 1>to represent waves, clouds, and two birds or flying craft

0:10:57.800 --> 0:11:00.800
<v Speaker 1>of some kind, one of which was crossed by an

0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:05.959
<v Speaker 1>elongated design the boys took to be a flower in bloom.

0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:09.000
<v Speaker 1>They later said they could hear a faint buzzing sound,

0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:13.079
<v Speaker 1>as if something was running inside, though they couldn't get

0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:17.240
<v Speaker 1>inside it. They could see what looked like electronics behind

0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:21.960
<v Speaker 1>the holes. Then the device went silent. When they shook it,

0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:28.000
<v Speaker 1>something inside rattled. They studied it closely, turning it over

0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:31.320
<v Speaker 1>and over, but it was as if their capturing it

0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:35.960
<v Speaker 1>had somehow deactivated the object. One of the boys is

0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:38.840
<v Speaker 1>said to have tried to scratch the metal to no avail,

0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:44.680
<v Speaker 1>while another, emboldened by the object's apparent deactivation, used a

0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:48.480
<v Speaker 1>hammer to hit it repeatedly, but no matter how hard

0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:53.800
<v Speaker 1>he struck it, the object remained weirdly undamaged. Next, they

0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:56.040
<v Speaker 1>are said to have filled a jug of water and

0:11:56.120 --> 0:11:59.840
<v Speaker 1>poured it through the holes, But after pouring in farm

0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:03.480
<v Speaker 1>more than the device could hold, it never seemed to overflow.

0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:07.840
<v Speaker 1>With no way to open it and no obvious engine

0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:11.480
<v Speaker 1>or propulsion system, they decided it was time to speak

0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:15.280
<v Speaker 1>to someone with real scientific knowledge who could inspect it.

0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:21.800
<v Speaker 1>What about Yasayu Fushimoto, one of the boys suggested. Yasayu's

0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:25.440
<v Speaker 1>father was the director of the Center for Scientific Education

0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:31.480
<v Speaker 1>in Koshi. The boys stood about eagerly as mister Fushimoto

0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:36.040
<v Speaker 1>unwrapped their find and gave it the once over. He

0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:39.200
<v Speaker 1>couldn't be sure what it was made of exactly, saying

0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:42.400
<v Speaker 1>only that it looked like cast iron, but was far

0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:46.200
<v Speaker 1>too light to be made from that. Peering through at

0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:49.719
<v Speaker 1>the electrical looking components inside, he said it looked a

0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:52.600
<v Speaker 1>lot like what you might expect to find in any

0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:58.280
<v Speaker 1>everyday radio. All in all, he was decidedly nonplussed about it,

0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:02.240
<v Speaker 1>telling the boys it was probably nothing stranger than a

0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:08.080
<v Speaker 1>fancy ashtray. Deflated, the boys put the object back into

0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:20.720
<v Speaker 1>Hiroshi's backpack and dejectedly returned home. The following day, the

0:13:20.800 --> 0:13:25.280
<v Speaker 1>young Hiroshi looked into his backpack to inspect the object again,

0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:30.280
<v Speaker 1>only to find it had completely vanished. The boys couldn't

0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:34.840
<v Speaker 1>locate the device anywhere. Devastated to have lost it, the

0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:38.360
<v Speaker 1>boys arranged to meet again in the fields that evening,

0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:41.880
<v Speaker 1>hoping it might have somehow found its way back there.

0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:46.160
<v Speaker 1>When it didn't appear, they returned the following day and

0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:50.640
<v Speaker 1>then the next. After two weeks of hopeful observing, it

0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:57.040
<v Speaker 1>appeared again. As they apparently continued to observe it over

0:13:57.080 --> 0:14:00.319
<v Speaker 1>the next few nights, the boys began to notice a

0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:04.560
<v Speaker 1>curious pattern. They never saw the object on a rainy day.

0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:08.400
<v Speaker 1>It gave them an idea how to catch it for

0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:13.000
<v Speaker 1>a second time. On September nineteenth, they arrived at the

0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:17.920
<v Speaker 1>fields carrying buckets of water and some damp rags. When

0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:21.640
<v Speaker 1>the object appeared again, the boys watched patiently as it

0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:25.320
<v Speaker 1>zipped about until finally it came to a stop on

0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:29.920
<v Speaker 1>the ground. Breaking cover, they rushed forward and quickly threw

0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:33.160
<v Speaker 1>their wet rags at it, then poured water over it.

0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:37.160
<v Speaker 1>Grabbing the thing, they turned it over and poured water

0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:41.840
<v Speaker 1>into the holes on the underside for good measure. Almost instantly,

0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:46.160
<v Speaker 1>the object began to glow. It emitted an ear splitting

0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:51.200
<v Speaker 1>buzz like an amped up cicada. Suddenly nervous again, the

0:14:51.240 --> 0:14:55.160
<v Speaker 1>boys backed away and threw rocks at the object until

0:14:55.240 --> 0:15:00.280
<v Speaker 1>finally it went silent. They returned with the recaptured object

0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:04.560
<v Speaker 1>to Kat's Awoker's home. This time they apparently managed to

0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:08.160
<v Speaker 1>prize the top and bottom apart ever so slightly to

0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:12.280
<v Speaker 1>see what looked like several levers and other items of

0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:17.040
<v Speaker 1>miniaturized mechanical equipment, as well as what they described as

0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:20.560
<v Speaker 1>a strange, mushy substance in what they took to be

0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:25.560
<v Speaker 1>the cockpit area. Again, they hit the object several times

0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:28.360
<v Speaker 1>with a large hammer, but failed to leave as much

0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:32.760
<v Speaker 1>as a scuff. That night, the boys wrapped up the

0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:36.120
<v Speaker 1>strange device in wet rags in the hope that that

0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:39.960
<v Speaker 1>would keep it from disappearing again. They all agreed to

0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:43.800
<v Speaker 1>take it to their school the following morning. Two of

0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:46.880
<v Speaker 1>the boys stayed together to watch over it while the

0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:57.560
<v Speaker 1>others headed to their respective homes for the night. The

0:15:57.600 --> 0:16:00.720
<v Speaker 1>boys would later say that by this day they had

0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:04.280
<v Speaker 1>decided that the object was some kind of surveillance device,

0:16:04.800 --> 0:16:08.960
<v Speaker 1>probably remote controlled, but with no idea where it came from,

0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:14.160
<v Speaker 1>who had made it, and who controlled it. The following morning,

0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:17.480
<v Speaker 1>despite being under the watchful eye of two of the boys,

0:16:18.040 --> 0:16:24.640
<v Speaker 1>the object mysteriously disappeared again. Thankfully, this time, it had

0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:27.960
<v Speaker 1>apparently only made it as far as the neighbour's garden

0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:31.800
<v Speaker 1>before the boys found it again. A few days later,

0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:35.760
<v Speaker 1>the boys decided to cycle it over to mister Fushimoto's

0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:39.320
<v Speaker 1>house again to update him on everything that had happened

0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:43.440
<v Speaker 1>since he last inspected it. This time, they sealed it

0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:47.800
<v Speaker 1>meticulously inside a plastic bag full of water and tied

0:16:47.840 --> 0:16:50.120
<v Speaker 1>a rope from the corner of the bag to the

0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:53.360
<v Speaker 1>wrist of the boy who was carrying it. They then

0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:56.800
<v Speaker 1>put the plastic bag into a canvas bag, which was

0:16:56.880 --> 0:16:59.920
<v Speaker 1>passed from boy to boy as they cycled to share

0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:04.000
<v Speaker 1>the load. As they approached the rice paddy where the

0:17:04.040 --> 0:17:07.800
<v Speaker 1>object had repeatedly appeared, the boy who was carrying it

0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:10.800
<v Speaker 1>at the time said that he felt the rope pulling

0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:14.280
<v Speaker 1>on him with great force, He pulled up the bike

0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:21.280
<v Speaker 1>and hurriedly looked inside the back. The bizarre object was gone.

0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:24.400
<v Speaker 1>Over the next few months, the boys claimed to see

0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:28.000
<v Speaker 1>the device several or more times. They said they made

0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:32.800
<v Speaker 1>further attempts to capture it, but all failed miserably. Then

0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:38.280
<v Speaker 1>the bizarre hat like object supposedly vanished altogether, and the

0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:43.960
<v Speaker 1>boys never saw it again. Four years later, in the

0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:47.320
<v Speaker 1>village of Agawa, not far from where the boys lived,

0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:51.600
<v Speaker 1>a nine year old girl named Sassiki Oyama was out

0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:55.360
<v Speaker 1>on the street looking for her cat. Looking up into

0:17:55.440 --> 0:18:00.320
<v Speaker 1>the sky, she suddenly noticed what she said was a small, yellow,

0:18:00.440 --> 0:18:05.520
<v Speaker 1>luminous object floating in an easterly direction. She walked into

0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:07.560
<v Speaker 1>the middle of the road to get a better view

0:18:07.920 --> 0:18:11.320
<v Speaker 1>and watched as the object hovered over a nearby wood.

0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:18.040
<v Speaker 1>Overcome by curiosity, she followed it. Satsiko claims that when

0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:20.840
<v Speaker 1>she reached the woods, she saw the object hit a

0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:24.760
<v Speaker 1>tree and then fall to the ground. She described how

0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:29.199
<v Speaker 1>it landed silently near her feet, then emitted a hissing sound.

0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:35.440
<v Speaker 1>When questioned years later, Sasiko described the small object as

0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:40.159
<v Speaker 1>resembling a silver dome or hat that was roughly seven

0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:45.000
<v Speaker 1>inches in diameter, remarkably similar to the flying object the

0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:59.880
<v Speaker 1>boys in Terror had apparently encountered. Sashiko or Yama said

0:18:59.880 --> 0:19:03.680
<v Speaker 1>that she touched the object with her finger. She described

0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:07.439
<v Speaker 1>it as being constructed of solid material, but covered in

0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:12.760
<v Speaker 1>a slimy, viscous substance. Suddenly gripped by fear, the girl

0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:16.120
<v Speaker 1>turned and ran, and when she looked back over her shoulder,

0:19:16.520 --> 0:19:20.919
<v Speaker 1>the device had started to glow yellow again. Stopping in

0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:26.199
<v Speaker 1>her tracks, she watched incredulously as the objects spun counterclockwise

0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:30.520
<v Speaker 1>three times, then climbed into the air and shot skyward

0:19:30.600 --> 0:19:35.600
<v Speaker 1>out of sight. Thirty years later, when questioned about the incident,

0:19:36.000 --> 0:19:40.560
<v Speaker 1>Sasseko still maintained all the details of her story were correct.

0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:44.800
<v Speaker 1>Both the events in Kra and the sighting in Agawa

0:19:45.080 --> 0:19:48.679
<v Speaker 1>made surprisingly little news in Japan at the time, and

0:19:48.760 --> 0:19:54.000
<v Speaker 1>the whole episode sank into obscurity three decades later. In

0:19:54.040 --> 0:19:58.880
<v Speaker 1>two thousand and four, a Japanese magazine called UFO Comics

0:19:59.160 --> 0:20:02.520
<v Speaker 1>published and ill illustrated account of the events from back

0:20:02.520 --> 0:20:06.200
<v Speaker 1>in nineteen seventy two, igniting the interest of a whole

0:20:06.240 --> 0:20:11.119
<v Speaker 1>new generation of UFO enthusiasts, so much so that in

0:20:11.200 --> 0:20:15.440
<v Speaker 1>two thousand and seven, the director of the Japan Phenomena Society,

0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:20.879
<v Speaker 1>Shinikira and Amaki, opened an investigation into the case. He

0:20:21.040 --> 0:20:25.440
<v Speaker 1>sent the head of the organizations Osaka chapter, Katsu Hayashi,

0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:30.320
<v Speaker 1>to speak with the Kera witnesses. Even after all that time,

0:20:30.760 --> 0:20:35.000
<v Speaker 1>or five confirmed the details given in their original accounts.

0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:39.639
<v Speaker 1>Other reporters have been more skeptical, pointing out that the

0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:43.719
<v Speaker 1>object does look remarkably similar to a type of cast

0:20:43.760 --> 0:20:49.280
<v Speaker 1>iron ashtray that was common in Japan in the nineteen seventies. Today,

0:20:49.680 --> 0:20:53.440
<v Speaker 1>we might recognize the description of a small autonomous object

0:20:53.680 --> 0:20:58.800
<v Speaker 1>flying in sometimes erratic darting movements as a drone, and

0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:04.960
<v Speaker 1>drones have around longer than you might think. In eighteen

0:21:05.040 --> 0:21:10.359
<v Speaker 1>ninety eight, genius engineer and inventor Nicola Tesla, perhaps best

0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:15.679
<v Speaker 1>known for developing the alternating current electricity supply system, presented

0:21:15.720 --> 0:21:19.840
<v Speaker 1>a new invention at the Electrical Exposition in New York's

0:21:19.880 --> 0:21:25.040
<v Speaker 1>Madison Square Gardens. Known as the Tell Automaton, it was

0:21:25.080 --> 0:21:28.919
<v Speaker 1>a boat about three feet long, propelled by a small

0:21:28.960 --> 0:21:33.040
<v Speaker 1>motor and rudder. What made it groundbreaking was that it

0:21:33.119 --> 0:21:37.200
<v Speaker 1>was controlled by radio waves, demonstrating for the first time

0:21:37.520 --> 0:21:42.720
<v Speaker 1>the possibility of controlling machines remotely. In many ways, The

0:21:42.800 --> 0:21:46.080
<v Speaker 1>tell automaton was well ahead of its time, and it

0:21:46.160 --> 0:21:50.840
<v Speaker 1>sparked the idea of using remote controlled machines for various purposes,

0:21:51.160 --> 0:21:56.840
<v Speaker 1>including military applications. Because of it, many consider Tesla to

0:21:56.920 --> 0:22:01.040
<v Speaker 1>be the father of the drone. These papers of the time,

0:22:01.400 --> 0:22:03.720
<v Speaker 1>Errold did the dawn of a new age with the

0:22:03.760 --> 0:22:07.320
<v Speaker 1>invention of the device which could be controlled from a

0:22:07.359 --> 0:22:18.840
<v Speaker 1>physical distance, as if by magic. The very first flying

0:22:18.920 --> 0:22:22.440
<v Speaker 1>drone is thought to be the Dhavland DH eight two

0:22:22.600 --> 0:22:27.040
<v Speaker 1>B queen Bee. Launched in nineteen thirty five. It was

0:22:27.160 --> 0:22:31.440
<v Speaker 1>used by the British Royal Air Force for aerial target practice.

0:22:31.560 --> 0:22:35.560
<v Speaker 1>The United States began its own drone development program in

0:22:35.680 --> 0:22:40.600
<v Speaker 1>nineteen thirty six, but these early flying drones looked like

0:22:40.720 --> 0:22:46.080
<v Speaker 1>model planes, nothing like the hat shaped object the Keraboys photographed.

0:22:47.359 --> 0:22:50.840
<v Speaker 1>The Japanese military is known to have begun developing drone

0:22:50.880 --> 0:22:54.960
<v Speaker 1>technology in the mid nineteen nineties, when their Technical Research

0:22:55.040 --> 0:22:58.720
<v Speaker 1>and Development Institute is known to have developed an unmanned

0:22:58.800 --> 0:23:04.320
<v Speaker 1>aerial vehicle for Japan's Air Self Defense Force. Is it

0:23:04.359 --> 0:23:08.480
<v Speaker 1>possible that the Japanese government had been experimenting with drone

0:23:08.520 --> 0:23:12.639
<v Speaker 1>technology largely in secret as far back as the early

0:23:12.760 --> 0:23:19.120
<v Speaker 1>nineteen seventies. In recent years, the phenomenon of unidentified aerial

0:23:19.160 --> 0:23:23.240
<v Speaker 1>phenomena or UAPs has apparently begun to be taken more

0:23:23.320 --> 0:23:29.200
<v Speaker 1>seriously by governments in the United States. In twenty twenty two,

0:23:29.400 --> 0:23:33.720
<v Speaker 1>officials at the Pentagon created the All Domain Anomaly Resolution

0:23:33.880 --> 0:23:39.480
<v Speaker 1>Office or ARRO to track and identify UAP sightings with

0:23:39.560 --> 0:23:43.280
<v Speaker 1>a focus on their potential threat to national security and

0:23:43.520 --> 0:23:47.959
<v Speaker 1>air safety, and in November twenty twenty four, they released

0:23:47.960 --> 0:23:51.800
<v Speaker 1>a report revealing the scale of the phenomenon, with seven

0:23:51.920 --> 0:23:56.199
<v Speaker 1>hundred fifty seven cases of UAP sightings in a recent

0:23:56.320 --> 0:24:01.640
<v Speaker 1>twelve month period. On subsequent investment litigation, many of these

0:24:01.680 --> 0:24:07.480
<v Speaker 1>reports have found the objects to be variously misidentified balloons, birds,

0:24:07.600 --> 0:24:12.639
<v Speaker 1>or satellites, but there are still UAPs which continue to

0:24:12.720 --> 0:24:17.479
<v Speaker 1>defy easy explanation, including an incidence of a near miss

0:24:17.520 --> 0:24:21.920
<v Speaker 1>between a commercial airliner and a strange cylindrical object over

0:24:21.960 --> 0:24:25.320
<v Speaker 1>the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of New York

0:24:26.240 --> 0:24:30.200
<v Speaker 1>sometime between May twenty twenty three and June twenty four.

0:24:31.720 --> 0:24:34.960
<v Speaker 1>The specific date of the incident has not been released,

0:24:35.400 --> 0:24:39.159
<v Speaker 1>and to date ro's official position is that there's no

0:24:39.320 --> 0:24:42.879
<v Speaker 1>indication that any of the cases they have investigated have

0:24:43.000 --> 0:24:48.000
<v Speaker 1>an unearthly origin. Their official position is that there is

0:24:48.080 --> 0:24:55.080
<v Speaker 1>no evidence of extraterrestrial beings, activity, or technology. With its

0:24:55.119 --> 0:25:00.760
<v Speaker 1>small size, consistent eyewitness reports, and photographic ag evidence that

0:25:00.840 --> 0:25:04.399
<v Speaker 1>it was captured and handled, the Kera incident is in

0:25:04.440 --> 0:25:07.879
<v Speaker 1>a class all of its own. Was the object a

0:25:08.040 --> 0:25:12.240
<v Speaker 1>UFO in the classic sense of an interstellar vehicle, or

0:25:12.320 --> 0:25:16.480
<v Speaker 1>rather some sort of early prototype drone developed as part

0:25:16.560 --> 0:25:20.320
<v Speaker 1>of a secret program by the Japanese government, its military,

0:25:20.840 --> 0:25:25.280
<v Speaker 1>or an electronics corporation two decades before drone research in

0:25:25.320 --> 0:25:28.600
<v Speaker 1>the country is thought to have started. Or is the

0:25:28.640 --> 0:25:32.880
<v Speaker 1>whole affair simply the fevered imaginings of a group of teenagers,

0:25:33.320 --> 0:25:38.240
<v Speaker 1>a product of youthful imaginations and wish fulfillment, embellished with

0:25:38.320 --> 0:25:42.919
<v Speaker 1>hoaxed photos and primitive, sinny camera footage. But if that

0:25:43.040 --> 0:25:46.840
<v Speaker 1>were the case, why was the incident corroborated by science

0:25:46.960 --> 0:25:51.600
<v Speaker 1>educator mister Fushimoto? And how did a girl in a

0:25:51.640 --> 0:25:55.040
<v Speaker 1>different part of the region, who'd seemingly never met the

0:25:55.040 --> 0:25:59.640
<v Speaker 1>boys from Terror or heard their accounts, apparently describe an

0:25:59.640 --> 0:26:04.280
<v Speaker 1>almost most identical object four years after the nineteen seventy

0:26:04.320 --> 0:26:15.800
<v Speaker 1>two sightings. Several journalists who have interviewed the five Carer

0:26:15.800 --> 0:26:20.320
<v Speaker 1>participants have been impressed by the consistency of the details

0:26:20.359 --> 0:26:24.840
<v Speaker 1>in the story they tell decades after the events. There's

0:26:24.880 --> 0:26:28.840
<v Speaker 1>even been speculation that the incident didn't become more well

0:26:28.880 --> 0:26:33.000
<v Speaker 1>known at the time because local government officials instructed the

0:26:33.080 --> 0:26:38.160
<v Speaker 1>boys to keep quiet about it. The most fanciful speculations

0:26:38.400 --> 0:26:42.280
<v Speaker 1>proposed that the device was an alien drone, either sent

0:26:42.320 --> 0:26:45.120
<v Speaker 1>to Earth on a reconnaissance mission, or one that had

0:26:45.160 --> 0:26:49.280
<v Speaker 1>lost its way temporarily. Some believe it slipped through a

0:26:49.400 --> 0:26:52.960
<v Speaker 1>rift in space time from another dimension, which is how

0:26:53.000 --> 0:26:58.200
<v Speaker 1>the object seemed to vanish on three separate occasions. Either way,

0:26:58.560 --> 0:27:01.720
<v Speaker 1>it seems strange that, despite the five boys from Kerr

0:27:02.080 --> 0:27:07.200
<v Speaker 1>having supposedly captured and examined this alleged UFO, from those

0:27:07.280 --> 0:27:12.840
<v Speaker 1>extraordinary reports are the eyewitness accounts, a few grainy photographs,

0:27:13.440 --> 0:27:18.159
<v Speaker 1>some shaky, sinny footage, and a lot of unanswered questions,

0:27:19.760 --> 0:27:26.160
<v Speaker 1>and so to this day, the kr UFO incident remains unexplained.

0:27:34.960 --> 0:27:38.479
<v Speaker 1>This episode was written by Diane Hope and produced by

0:27:38.600 --> 0:27:43.240
<v Speaker 1>Richard McLain Smith. Diane is an audio producer and sound

0:27:43.280 --> 0:27:46.000
<v Speaker 1>recorded in her own right. You can find out more

0:27:46.000 --> 0:27:50.080
<v Speaker 1>about her work at Dianehope dot com and on Instagram

0:27:50.119 --> 0:27:54.080
<v Speaker 1>at in the sound Field. Thank you as ever for

0:27:54.160 --> 0:27:58.120
<v Speaker 1>listening Unexplained as an Avy Club production. The podcast created

0:27:58.160 --> 0:28:01.760
<v Speaker 1>by Richard McClain Smith. All other elements of the podcast,

0:28:01.840 --> 0:28:07.359
<v Speaker 1>including the music, are also produced by me Richard mclin smith. Unexplained.

0:28:07.400 --> 0:28:11.040
<v Speaker 1>The book and audiobook is now available to buy worldwide.

0:28:11.480 --> 0:28:15.280
<v Speaker 1>You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, and

0:28:15.359 --> 0:28:19.240
<v Speaker 1>other bookstores. Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever

0:28:19.280 --> 0:28:21.879
<v Speaker 1>you get your podcasts, and feel free to get in

0:28:21.960 --> 0:28:25.160
<v Speaker 1>touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've

0:28:25.160 --> 0:28:28.159
<v Speaker 1>heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation or

0:28:28.160 --> 0:28:30.679
<v Speaker 1>a story of your own you'd like to share. You

0:28:30.720 --> 0:28:33.800
<v Speaker 1>can find out more at Unexplained podcast dot com and

0:28:33.920 --> 0:28:37.760
<v Speaker 1>reaches online through x and Blue Sky at Unexplained Pod

0:28:38.160 --> 0:28:43.240
<v Speaker 1>and Facebook at Facebook dot com, Forward Slash, Unexplained Podcast,

0:29:04.000 --> 0:30:07.720
<v Speaker 1>ounper d D, Counter Time, Time t