Town Near Mt. Fuji Counts On UFO Tourism

Above, a Shinkansen view of Mount Fuji. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Roswell, New Mexico has the distinction of having a UFO crash in 1947. But Roswell doesn't have any monopoly of UFO sightings or close encounters.

There was an encounter in Japan at the foot of Mount Fuji that took place in 1975 and the town of Kofu is capitalizing on it as a tourism draw.

According to Kyodo News:

 Local residents in Yamanashi Prefecture, at the foot of Mt. Fuji, are striving to make their city Kofu a tourist magnet with extraterrestrial help from an alien.

Next year marks the 50th anniversary of an incident in which two elementary school children claimed to have encountered unidentified flying objects and an alien. It is dubbed one of "three major UFO incidents" reported in Japan.

Radio personality Kiichi Tokutake is among a group of people organizing events to celebrate the anniversary and boost the city's appeal. "I want to make Kofu a mecca for UFO enthusiasts," he said.

Tokutake's passion grew after he was told by a guest during his show that the UFO sighting in Kofu had recently grabbed attention among some overseas enthusiasts.

The alleged incident dates back to Feb. 23, 1975, when two boys playing near a vineyard in Kofu saw what they described as two saucer-shaped UFOs flashing in orange at around 6:30 p.m. They said a 120- to 130-centimeter tall alien with a big head, long ears and three fangs then descended, according to Tokutake. The alien reportedly had a brown face with no eyes or nose.

The boys left the scene to call their family. When they returned, the objects started blinking and glared briefly before disappearing. Their family and local residents provided similar descriptions.

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