The Japan Coast Guard says it had issued a navigation warning to vessels for Wednesday after being notified by China on Monday of falling “space debris.”
The Coast Guard was told that debris could fall in waters northwest of Luzon island in the Philippines, the Pacific Ocean to the east of Luzon, or the South Pacific northeast of New Zealand between 7:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Wednesday Japan time.
Japan’s Defense Ministry believes the notice referred to the intercontinental ballistic missile China claims to have launched on Wednesday morning.
The ministry says it has not confirmed if the ICBM flew over Japan, but declines to comment on whether the missile was detected by radar or where it fell.