What happened
Several Japanese texts from the first half of the 19th century – including the 1825 “Tōen shōsetsu,” a collection of tales compiled in the circle of the writer Kyokutei Bakin, and the 1835 “Hyōryū kishū” – tell of a remarkable event in 1803. Fishermen from Harayadori beach in Hitachi Province reportedly hauled ashore a round vessel resembling an incense burner or a rice-cooking pot, with windows of glass or crystal and metal plates on its lower part. Inside was a young, richly dressed woman with red hair who spoke an unknown language and clutched a box she would let no one touch. The interior was decorated with unknown symbols. According to the story, the fishermen, fearing trouble with the authorities, pushed the vessel with the woman back out to sea. Illustrations from these texts are now compared to flying saucers.
Witnesses
According to the story, fishermen from the Hitachi coast; their names are unknown, and the accounts were written down years later.
Explanations and hypotheses
Japanese historians and folklorists regard utsuro-bune as a legend that combines old folk motifs of “hollow boats” with the curiosity about foreigners in the era of isolated Japan. The location of Harayadori beach has never been identified, and the various versions differ in detail. Some see the story as a distorted account of a foreign castaway, others as literary fiction. Ufologists compare the drawings of the “ship” to discs.
Disputed A likely explanation exists, but some of the facts are still disputed.
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