Japan is no stranger to purported UFO sightings, early cases date all the way back to the Middle Ages. The city of Hakui in western Japan has turned to this history of sightings to revitalize its tourism industry. Local texts from the Heian period (794-1185 CE) mention frequent sightings of sōhachibon, unidentified flying objects named after Buddhist cymbals. The city’s tourism committee promoted this legend nationwide to attract visitors at the height of Japan’s UFO fad in the 1980s, and it proved highly successful. From restaurants to pachinko parlors, many local establishments…
