In 1803, a strange vessel, unlike anything seen before, was found drifting off the coast of Japan. Inside the boat was an enigmatic woman, her features foreign, her language incomprehensible, and her origins unknown.
At the time, Japan was an isolated nation, its shores rarely breached by outsiders. Wars raged within, shoguns and daimyos rose and fell, and dynasties flourished, all while the wider world was largely oblivious. After banning nearly all foreign interactions in the early 1600s, Japan remained largely isolated from the outside world until the 1850s. Japan’s isolation was so strict that any Japanese citizen who left the country and tried to return could face death.
Yet, this curious event, occurring decades before Japan’s doors were opened to the world, continues to puzzle scholars today. Was the vessel a product of some distant culture? Could it have been something more extraordinary, perhaps even otherworldly—a UFO?
YouTube link: https://youtu.be/Cllra9ZoKr4?si=-AZcdqhqJ57CzO1X