The group doesn’t seem terribly preoccupied with finding evidence of aliens, however.

One prominent member of the group, Yoshiharu Asakawa, said that while UFOs have typically been viewed as “an occult matter,” there was the possibility that they were, in fact, “cutting-edge secret weapons or spying drones in disguise” that could “pose a significant threat to our nation’s security,”

Japan was identified as a hub for unexplained aerial activity in a report issued last year by the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), a little-known office of the U.S. Defense Department. Since then, the country has become increasingly interested in investigating the phenomenon.

Japan’s efforts mirror similar efforts made by the U.S. and other Western countries in recent years.