TOKYO — Every January more than two million people crowd the grounds of Harajuku's Meiji Jingu to celebrate the New Year, but these revelers aren't the only beings checking out the shrine. On Oct 11, 1999, roughly 60 transparent rings appeared in the sky over the shrine and were witnessed and photographed by Junichi Kato and his OUR-J UFO group. On other occasions, unidentified shapes and lights have been spotted in the area with remarkable frequency, leading to its reputation as one of Japan's alien hotspots.

"I'd seen groups of six or seven objects several times before, but nothing like that," says Kato, leader of the UFO research group, describing the October 1999 sighting.

The sense of excitement Kato felt on witnessing the scene is evident in the smile that spreads across his normally serious face as he lays out pictures of the unusual aqueous-looking rings in the small office the group rents in Suidobashi.

"It was the first time I'd seen anything like it and everyone just gasped. There were so many we couldn't count," says Toshie Nakagawa, one of "several hundred" members of the OUR-J group that was founded in January 2000. "We were speechless — all we could think was ‘UFOs really do exist,'" adds Kato. The group's pictures of the rings were later published in UFO Magazine and the sighting remains one of their most impressive.

Meiji Shrine popular with UFOs
Kato, who's a regular salaryman by day, notes that his group has a high success rate with their field trips to Meiji Shrine, but is quick to point out that "UFOs fly everywhere" and he dismisses the idea that they are attracted only to specific spots.

"Meiji Jingu definitely has a mysterious aspect and for some reason UFOs do appear there frequently. The most common at the shrine are the ones that look like pachinko balls," he concedes.

Kato's remarkable record in witnessing unidentified objects has led to him being credited with some kind of alien telepathy. "I often get asked by TV shows or reporters to do a ‘UFO call' and summon them up, but I wouldn't exactly call it telepathy," he says. "That implies two-way communication and really involves the separate question of whether UFOs are alien in origin or not. The American military came up with the definition of UFO and there are many cases where an object can be disqualified based on various factors. It doesn't necessarily follow that a UFO is alien in origin, from another planet, or piloted by extraterrestrials, and it's important to make that distinction."

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