Utsuro-bune, the Hollow Ship
In 1803, fishermen on the Japanese coast found a round vessel washed ashore, with a young woman inside who spoke no known language.
What was reported
Several Japanese texts from the early 19th century describe how, in 1803, fishermen in Hitachi Province pulled a strange vessel from the sea. It was round, like an incense burner, with glass windows and an iron base. Inside was a young woman with unfamiliar clothes and hair, who spoke a language no one understood and held a small box she would not let go of.
In the story, the fishermen pushed the vessel and its passenger back out to sea. Some of the texts include drawings of the vessel and strange writing found inside it.
Explanations offered
Historians see it as a folk tale, related to older Japanese stories of hollow boats carrying exiled princesses. The place named in the accounts has never been found in the records. Some UFO writers have read it as an early encounter, and others suggest it was a foreign ship's passenger.
- When
- 1803
- Where
- Pacific coast of Hitachi Province (Ibaraki), Japan
- Witnesses
- Fishermen, as told in later accounts
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.