Authorities have said they will ask local officials responsible for coastal management to collect the object and remove it from the beach.
This is not a scene from “Planet of the Apes,” “Cloverfield,” or “Godzilla,” but images coming out of Japan are baffling experts as a mysterious sphere has washed up on a beach, according to reports.
The five-foot-diameter sphere has been nicknamed “Godzilla Egg” or a “Dragon Ball,” citing the popular anime series, after it washed up ashore Saturday just 115 miles outside Tokyo, according to Insider.
The sphere might be a buoy, according to Insider but has not been confirmed and state media NHK has broadcast the images of the object which went viral Wednesday.
A person walking on the beach of Hamamatsu called police Saturday, prompting an inspection, but one local man told the outlet that the ball had been sitting there for more than a month, NHK reported.
The beach was closed and inspectors wearing bomb protective gear went to examine it, according to the New York Post.
Officials believe the sphere to be made of iron as it has a coating of rust, the New York Post reported.
An X-ray later determined the object was hollow and there was no danger of explosion, according to Fuji News Network.
Authorities have said they will ask local officials responsible for coastal management to collect the object and remove it from the beach.
