Japan shows “miniature UFO” to the world
The world’s first spherical flying machine was developed and presented by Japan’s Ministry of Defense. It can fly in all directions, hover like a helicopter and even roll over onto the ground.
The machine weighs 350 grams and is made of off-the-shelf parts. It costs $1,400. Its creators say it was made for rescue and reconnaissance, but it could probably be put to other practical uses as well – from military applications to research.
The aircraft is remotely controlled with a kind of joystick, much like toy airplanes. Its versatility and movement flexibility are, however, remarkable.
“As it can take off and land anywhere, it’s hoped that this machine will be able to reach places that were hard to access by air before,” the narrator of the video says.
The creators of the flying machine say it can stay in the air for eight minutes continuously and its speed can go from zero, when it hovers, to 60 km/hour.
You can watch here a video clip posted on YouTube by Tokyo video news website DigInfo TV from the presentation of the new invention.
