A tiny town has dubbed itself the world's "home of aliens" as it reports hundreds of UFO sightings and even has a lab that claims to have fragments from crashed spaceships.

Japanese community Iino-machi leans into its love of all things extra-terrestrial - with alien statues, a UFO studies lab and even a viewing tower for watching the skies.

With a population of fewer than 5,000, the seemingly eerie town is surprisingly full of life - especially the intergalactic kind.

And it was reported by local researchers that some 450 UFOs were spotted near the town and the nearby Senganmori mountain in 2022.

Eerie pictures appear to show saucer-like objects hovering the near the town that has embraced its status as a beacon for all things alien.

Legends of alien sightings and landings of mysterious spaceships have emerged in the town since the 1970s.

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