“Because Americans suddenly came back to this topic, it is difficult to say for sure. But every now and then this topic always comes up. About a year ago, Trump announced that they were considering such unidentified phenomena and should systematize them. Now, perhaps, this is due to some political events, which it would be good to draw the attention of our citizens and the world community, and at the same time receive some dividends …”

“This topic” is UFO investigations and the alleged speaker is said to be Brigadier General Vladimir Popov, the head of the Federal Aerospace Search and Rescue Directorate of the Russian Federation’s Ministry of Defense. A long statement apparently about the most recent announcement that the Pentagon has officially set up a new task force to investigate UFOs and UAPs is given as the reason for this alleged statement that appears to have started at the Soulask.com website. , although Ovnihoje.com has a longer quote. The numerous qualifications on this explanation are necessary because, although Brigadier General Vladimir Popov is a real person and appears to hold that title, no other source was found for this quote, so we don’t know if it’s real, where it was given, who the audience was, etc. However, its content warrants a look and some speculation anyway.

“I do not exclude the possibility that the topic of UFOs will give the American military the opportunity to expand secret intelligence. Hidden behind the study of UFOs, already in the post-war years and especially in the 60-70 years of the last century, the Americans carried out active intelligence activities.”

The quote proposes that the rennet announcement was politically driven by both the current presidential campaign and the desire to generate a smoke screen to cover up possible ulterior motives by the U.S. military, specifically …

“It is quite possible that the Pentagon, under the guise of “UFO research”, will place secret intelligence facilities somewhere in Norway, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia. In short, closer to our borders. I don’t know what to say about UFOs, but the Pentagon probably wouldn’t mind watching our new hypersonic missiles.”

The general seems to be boasting about Russia’s new missiles and alleges the Pentagon hide intelligence operations inside UFO investigations. That’s certainly plausible. In fact, so far the alleged statement makes sense as a cynical, propaganda-ish response to the Pentagon announcement. However, this section which seems to refer to the Roswell incident is … well, read it for yourself.

“That is why we have always been cautious about UFO claims. As a rule, it was later discovered that the “alien apparatus” was a huge balloon probe with all kinds of spy equipment. We weren’t even ready to talk about it at that time, and the Americans had already launched these devices. We used to slaughter them and get information about them.”

“Slaughter them” sounds like a Soviet-era boast, but the Roswell incident was during that regime so a boast that the USSR “slaughtered” US balloons to get information about them seems plausible as well. At the end, the statement sounds like it was made in response to demands by the Russian people to reveal what the Russian military is doing, now that the Pentagon revealed it’s investigating UFOs (again).

We don’t need a UFO task force.

“I don’t think that today we would need to create a UFO structure like the one Americans claim. We designed the scheme to study incomprehensible objects in principle. All information of this type is taken into account by our command posts and on-call services. It is fixed and transmitted upwards. But as it is studied further, it is no longer so much about the military, but about scientists.”

Oooh, a response to the Russian public plus a dig at the Americans that the Russian government is more concerned about scientists than the military. If this is indeed a response to a Russian public request for UFO disclosure, then it sounds real. It would help if there was a Russian press release or media site to confirm it, but that may pop up soon. In the meantime, it’s interesting to ponder their viewpoint that the Pentagon announcement is both a political ploy and a military smokescreen to cover up spy operations.

Should we trust the Russian view? Do we trust the Pentagon? The current administration’s comments on UFOs?

Is the UFO field becoming too political to get anything done?

Russia? Popov? Vladimir? Bueller? Anyone?

Lying off the southern tip of Japan’s Ryukyu archipelago, which includes Okinawa Island, is a small 11.5 square mile speck of land called Yonaguni Island. It is the westernmost inhabited island in Japan, lying just 75 miles off the coast of Taiwan, and its azure waters, rich biodiversity, and large populations of hammerhead sharks that gather in great numbers off the coast every year have made this place a haven for daring scuba divers from around the world. Indeed, it was the sharks that brought here a diver in the 1980s who would make a spectacular discovery in that inviting blue water, for down there in the depths he discovered a strange set of ancient ruins that have gone on to be discussed and debated to this day.

In 1986, a diving instructor by the name of Kihachiro Aratake, who was also the director of Yonaguni-Cho Tourism Association, was at Yonagumi looking to photograph and study the many hammerhead sharks that congregate here every winter. While scouting out a good spot from which to observe the sharks, he came across something very unusual. There on the bottom was what at first looked like an enormous cliff face, only here there were obvious geometrical terraces, nearly perfectly flat horizontal surfaces with sharp edges, walls, platforms, columns, vertical stone blocks, a road, and even a star-shaped platform. One of the structures was a massive, rectangular formation measuring 500 feet long, 130 feet wide and 90 feet tall, with closely placed pillars which rise nearly to the surface, as well as a ledge that circles the whole thing. For all appearances it seemed to be some sort of vast, manmade structure, evidently crafted out of the sand and mud stones of the area and in some cases seemingly directly merged with the bottom itself, but what was it doing out there under the water in the first place? What did this all mean?

It was not long at all before the word got out on this mysterious place, and one of the first scientists to arrive to seriously study it was marine seismologist Masaaki Kimura, who came to what is now called the “Yonaguni Monument” in 1990 with his team from the University of the Ryūkyūs, and he would spend the next two decades studying them. According to Kimura, the structures are most definitely and clearly manmade, likely carved thousands of years ago at a time when the site sat above water. He has claimed to have found a mysterious script carved into some of the stones, as well as quarry marks, various monuments, rudimentary sculptures, a triumphal arch, five temples, and even a pyramid and a stadium within the complex, in addition to various pottery, stone tools and fireplaces scattered throughout. Kimura has said of this place:

I think it’s very difficult to explain away their origin as being purely natural, because of the vast amount of evidence of man’s influence on the structures. The characters and animal monuments in the water, which I have been able to partially recover in my laboratory, suggest the culture comes from the Asian continent. One example I have described as an underwater sphinx resembles a Chinese or ancient Okinawan king. The largest structure looks like a complicated, monolithic, stepped pyramid that rises from a depth of 25 meters [82 feet].

He has said in the past that he believes the structures to be possibly remnants of the legendary ancient lost Pacific continent of Mu, or perhaps the remains of the lost 1^st century Japanese city of Yamagai. Adding to Kimura’s assertion that the ruins are artificial in origin are the sheer number of perfect 90-degree corners and sharp, straight edges to be found, as well as the sheer number of these structures in such a small area. Not everyone is so convinced that this is evidence of a lost civilization, though, and there are others who believe this is nothing more than anomalous looking natural formations caused by earthquakes, natural erosion from the strong currents of the area, and fracturing. One Robert Schoch, a professor of science and mathematics at Boston University, has personally seen the site up close, and has said of it:

I’m not convinced that any of the major features or structures are manmade steps or terraces, but that they’re all natural. It’s basic geology and classic stratigraphy for sandstones, which tend to break along planes and give you these very straight edges, particularly in an area with lots of faults and tectonic activity.

In the end there has been no conclusive answer to just what the mysterious Yonagumi Monument actually is, but it has certainly become a popular diving destination for curiosity seekers. Interestingly, the ruins are not designated as important cultural artifacts and are not under any sort of protection. They might as well be just rocks lying on the bottom for all the government seems to care, which seems to be strange considering more research could definitely be done here. Whatever their origins, largely the formations have remained just forgotten curiosities and a cool dive site. What is the meaning and purpose of this place, if any? Was this crafted by some lost civilization for inscrutable reasons or is it just a neat geological formation? The mystery remains.

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