The rusty giant yellowish ball, which created panic among authorities and locals, after it washed up on a beach in Japan’s Hamamatsu town on Tuesday, turned out to be a common marine equipment.
When the metal sphere, about the size of a wrecking ball, washed up on the shore, people believed it could be a "Godzilla’s egg" or a spy device like the "spy balloon" that was spotted in the US sky earlier this month. However, after authorities conducted an X-ray test, the police confirmed that it was not explosive, according to a report by New York Times (NYT).
It was just a large, spherical piece of scrap metal-a buoy-used to guide mariners or mark positions in the ocean.
After the buoy washed on the shore, officials in helmets and hazmat suits cordoned off the area, even planting a traffic cone on the sand to ward people off.
The precaution gave wind to rumours that the call might be an old seaborne mine or some sort of instrument of espionage. The unusual discovery came at a time when international media was already on alert in view of several ‘balloons’ sighting in US and Canadian skies.
As per several reports, the iron ball measured about 1.5 metres in diameter, was unpainted.
The Japanese authorities are yet to determine where the ball had come from or who owned it, however, the fact it was not covered by shells or seaweed suggests that it probably hadn’t travelled very far, the NYT report said.
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