A large round object has been washed up on a Japanese beach. Photo / Twitter / @PopMovieTv

Japanese officials sealed off a beach to investigate a large, mysterious metal sphere of unknown origin.

The “suspicious” ball was reported by a local resident in Hamamatsu, a southern coastal city about 250km from Tokyo, who called police just before 9am saying “a large round object was washed up on the beach”, Asahi News reported.

The woman said her husband first noticed the object while taking a walk on the weekend.

According to police, the object is a sphere with a diameter of around 1.5 metres and is believed to be made of iron as it has a coating of rust.

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Officials restricted access within a 200-metre radius around the object for most of the day, with bomb disposal crews seen inspecting the ball.

【動画】海岸に謎の鉄球？

静岡県浜松市の遠州浜海岸に
直径１点５メートルほどの
金属製の球体が
打ち上げられているのが
見つかりました

警察が調べたところ
爆発の危険性はありませんが
どのような物かは詳しく
わかっていないということです

— NHK静岡放送局 (@nhk_shizuoka_) February 21, 2023

Some on social media joked that the mystery object was one of the orbs from popular anime series Dragon Ball, while others claimed it was a ‘Godzilla egg’.

Boule Mystérieuse ?! … 😏😂
C’est donc juste Dragon Ball live et non des Aliens 😂#Enshuhama #Hamamatsu #Shizuoka #Japan #Mysterious #DBZ #DRAGONBALL #ovni #alien #japon

— TvPopTv (@PopMovieTv) February 21, 2023

An X-ray later determined the object was hollow and there was no danger of explosion, with the restrictions lifted at around 4pm, according to Fuji News Network.

The object, which has a protrusion that would allow it to be hooked onto something, closely resembles a mooring buoy, Vice News noted.

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A suspicious object resembling an "iron ball about 1.5 m in diameter" was found on Enshuhama Beach in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture

Japanese 🇯🇵 police have declared a 200-meter area off-limits due to the possibility of an explosion.

— Saad Abedine (@SaadAbedine) February 21, 2023

But the strange sighting sparked a brief flurry of TV attention and frenzied social media speculation, coming in the wake of the US shooting down a Chinese spy balloon followed by multiple unidentified objects.

Japanese police say they will ask local officials responsible for coastal management to collect the ball.