Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s Gutsy Talk “If I Fight UFOs” Concerned about the Increasing Number of Unidentified Flying Objects Invading Airspace

As previously reported by Friday Digital, following the May 28 initiator meeting, a general meeting was held in the Diet on June 6 to establish the Diet Members Caucus for the Elucidation of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena from a Security Perspective.

The purpose of the meeting was to establish a department to collect information on UFOs and UAPs in Japan in response to the recent establishment of the “All-Area Anomalies Response Office (AARO),” an agency within the U.S. Department of Defense to investigate unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), including unidentified flying objects (UFOs).

However, UFOs and UAPs are not “extraterrestrial vehicles” as seen in science fiction movies. It mainly means flying objects, including new weapons from other countries. In fact, the main purpose of the AARO is to investigate the latest weapons of U.S. virtual enemies such as China and Russia. The AARO has been derided as the “UFO Diet,” and its chairman is Yasukazu Hamada, 68, the former Minister of Defense. Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, 67, the most popular candidate for the next prime minister among the public in opinion polls, is also a member.

In 2007, Mr. Ishiba said at a press conference, “There is no evidence to conclude that UFOs or life forms controlling UFOs do not exist. We asked him again.

Airspace invasion or security operation: …… is more difficult to deal with UFOs than Godzilla

The late Nobutaka Machimura, who was a member of the UFO Society of Japan in 2007, said, “From the perspective of the universe, human history is as short as the blink of an eye, and it would be arrogant to think that there is no life outside of the Earth. In 2007, the late former Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said, ‘UFOs definitely exist. On February 27, 2006, the government decided in a cabinet meeting that ‘we have never confirmed the existence of unidentified flying objects sent from outside the earth,’ but we have not ruled out that ‘they do not exist.'”

Although Mr. Ishiba does not deny the existence of such objects, he himself says that he has no experience in witnessing UFOs or UAPs.

As a former Minister of Defense, how would the Self-Defense Forces respond if an unknown flying object violated Japan’s airspace?

If an aircraft of a foreign nationality that has not submitted a notification is approaching closer and closer toward our airspace, we will take measures to deal with it by invading our airspace. We will instruct the Air Self-Defense Force to change course (to avoid entering our airspace). If it enters our airspace, we will order it to leave, and if it does not comply, we will force it to land. At this point, weapons may be used, but only as a warning shot.

If, in the process of urging them to change course, evacuate, or land, the other party attacks with some weapon, the use of weapons as self-defense or emergency evacuation becomes possible. （It is permissible even if harm is inflicted on the other party (by counterattack). Of course, depending on the manner of the attack, there may be cases in which the attacker is dealt with by mobilization for defense under Article 76 of the Self-Defense Forces Law as an exercise of our country’s right to self-defense.”

What kind of instructions would you give to the SDF if, for example, an unknown beam of light is fired and it cannot be determined whether or not it is a weapons attack?

There is no police in the sky, so the Air Self-Defense Force would first respond with airspace invasion measures, but the response would depend on the behavior of the unknown flying object, wouldn’t it? If it does not leave the airspace by airspace invasion measures, we can order the Air Self-Defense Force to mobilize security and deal with it as a police operation with a little more intensity. As for the textual basis, legal authority, and type of weapons, we can only make a judgment based on the circumstances of the situation. It may be more complicated than an attack by Gojira. If it is Gojira, we can deal with it through disaster dispatch as vermin extermination.”

If it is a disaster relief mission, there is no legal problem with sending out fighter jets or tanks, Ishiba said.

Mr. Ishiba questions the establishment of a specialized organization like AARO, saying, “Why bother to establish a new organization when we have the Ministry of Defense? As for the UAP Diet Members Caucus’ exchange of information and cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense’s AARO, he is of the opinion that “this should be left to the discretion of each member of the Diet. Mr. Ishiba added, “It is important to develop shelters to protect the lives of the public because we do not know what kind of threat it is.

Until now, UFOs have been a kind of occult or urban legend, and that has been true in the United States as well. However, with the rapid advancement of military technology, flying objects that governments do not know about are now actually entering their airspace. The balloon scandal in the U.S. is still fresh in our minds, and with the development of countless drones in a variety of forms, the threat is no stranger to Japan, which neighbors countries such as China, Russia, and North Korea. Perhaps we should rethink the threat of unknown life forms as an extension of such realistic security threats.

As an example, Mr. Ishiba cited Yukio Mishima’s science fiction novel “A Beautiful Star. A Beautiful Planet” is a story about the possibility of human extinction by nuclear weapons during the Cold War, as seen from the perspective of extraterrestrial life.

The story is told from the perspective of an extraterrestrial life form, which was created during the Cold War. We need to face the reality that there is more we don’t know than we do know, and remove our preconceived notions about threats.

Ishiba said that it would be beneficial for Japan to have a defense system that can respond flexibly to all possibilities, not just those related to UFOs.