Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura of Japan said he believed in UFOs.

Japan's top government spokesman said Tuesday that he believes in UFOs.

"Personally, I absolutely believe they exist," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura after an official statemet was released, saying that the government had not confirmed the existence of UFOs.

He said there was no other explanation for how the Nazca Lines were drawn in the Peruvian desert. The vast, ancient drawings can really only be properly appreciated from the air, which has led some to claim they are the work of extraterrestrials.

In a written response issued Tuesday to a question from an opposition lawmaker, who argued Tokyo should try to confirm what UFOs are as many people have said they have witnessed them, the government said the air force had often spotted "birds and other objects beside aircraft," but no UFOs.

"The government has not confirmed the existence of 'unidentified flying objects believed to have flown from outside the Earth'," it said.

"The government is not collecting information on them, exchanging information with other countries or conducting a particular study," the government said in its first official comment on UFOs.

"We are not considering what measures to take in case 'unidentified flying objects' fly over our country," it said.

The statement was formally endorsed at Tuesday's cabinet meeting.

Sceptics say UFO sightings are merely aircraft or meteors re-entering the Earth's atmosphere, rather than visitors from another planet.

(Agencies)