A BIZARRE metal ball washed up onto a beach in Japan is leaving officials baffled as people claim it could be a UFO.
The mysterious ball that appears to be made of metal, has a huge diameter of 1.5 metres and is coated with rust.
Police closed off the area in Hamamatsu city, Japan, while they investigated the “suspicious” object.
The strange ball was reported by a local resident on Tuesday morning, after she called the police to report that “a large round object was washed up on the beach”.
The mind-boggling sighting of this unidentified ball has sparked a flurry of speculation on social media about what the sphere could be.
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One person wrote: “Omg must be aliens right?”
Another said: “METAL SPHERE, come on guys this has got to be some type of UFO… right?”
A third tweet read: "They're coming, they've arrived..."
A fourth joked: “This is just a Pokemon Dragonball, next”.
This follows the series of mysterious objects that have been spotted in the sky in the United States.
On Monday, a “large white balloon” was seen by pilots over Honolulu, Hawaii.
It comes after multiple “flying white balloons” have been gunned down by the US military over the last month.
There is no evidence that the bizarre metal sphere on the Japan beach has any connection with these sightings.
Inside the 200 metre cordoned off area on Enshuhama Beach, explosive experts had been working in protective gear as they examined the spherical object.
They have been filmed handling the ball, which is believed to be made of iron, with extreme caution.
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The ball has handle like pieces attached to the sides, suggesting it could be hooked onto something.
Local media in the area has reported that X-ray scans have shown the giant ball to be hollow and therefore there was no danger of explosion.
Restrictions to the beach were then lifted at 4pm after the object was deemed to be safe.
Images of the mysterious metal sphere have been sent to the Japanese armed forces to be examined further as the origins still remain unknown.
It has been reported that Japanese police will ask the local coastal management officials to collect the ball and remove it from the beach.
