Brief

Asahi TV

The claims the writer was given for Asahi TV, in the order they were given.

1. 1

   A Japanese TV crew reportedly conducted a ground-penetrating radar study at the Merivälja object site, documented in a surviving 1991 documentary available on YouTube.

   “there was allegedly a Japanese TV crew. And there is, in fact, a documentary that survives that you can find on YouTube where the Japanese TV crew is shown actually doing a ground penetrating radar study on the site.”

   Secret Soviet UFOs: What happened when two scientists knocked on a door in Estonia? | Reality Check 00:19:37.8-00:19:53.6 observation

2. 2

   There is some question over whether the 1991 Japanese investigation team that examined the Merivälja object were genuinely all from Asahi TV.

   “Some question marks about whether that Japanese team were indeed all genuinely from Asahi TV.”

   Secret Soviet UFOs: What happened when two scientists knocked on a door in Estonia? | Reality Check 00:29:47.8-00:29:53.4 opinion first hand

3. 3

   Asahi TV, the biggest television network in Japan, reportedly turned up and paid an enormous amount of money for access to the Merivalja garden.

   “Japanese TV, Asahi TV, the biggest TV network in Japan, apparently turned up. They paid an enormous amount of money, apparently, to get access to the garden.”

   Object M: The buried Estonian mystery the KGB spent years trying to reach | Reality Check 2026-08-11 00:55:50.2-00:56:00.6 hearsay second hand

4. 4

   Ross Coulthart made inquiries with Asahi TV in Japan and found that nobody at Asahi TV could find any record of the story about the 1991 investigation of the Merivalja object in their files.

   “I've actually made inquiries in Japan with Asahi TV because that's who it was reported to be. And nobody at Asahi TV could find anything about this UFO story in their files.”

   Object M: The buried Estonian mystery the KGB spent years trying to reach | Reality Check 2026-08-11 00:56:53.7-00:57:06.6 testimony first hand