Military Report Unclassified Complete

733667-001-002

National Archives and Records Administration

Released
Published
Added to archive
Jun 16, 2026
Department
National Archives and Records Administration
Original size
2.8 MB
External ID
1354fe3d8db7b58674e269a4758e78f927851a680714aa7302c86b2450de0e88
Confidence
85%
Credibility
90%

View original document ↗ hosted at the official government source

Intelligence summary

On November 17, 1986, Japan Airlines Flight 1628, a Boeing 747 cargo flight, reported an unidentified traffic at its altitude during its flight from Keflavik, Iceland to Anchorage, Alaska. The traffic was visible on the aircraft's weather radar and was tracked by air traffic control. The unidentified object remained in proximity to the aircraft during maneuvers until it was no longer visible.

Tags & topics

Air traffic controlAviation SafetyUAP Boeing 747Flight 1628Japan AirlinesUFO sighting

Linked cases

Locations referenced

LocationContextConfidenceSupporting text
Anchorage, AK Unknown Context Low …- - .., __ . - --· -· - - ·-- - . - -·...., - - . - . . - .. - Keflavik, Iceland j ~YES C ·'' 30.l MC u i Anchorage_ . zTCC N/A - 11/ 17/RF, - :'>JO u.. u.. 2.
Anchorage, AK Unknown Context Low …TA 8. RADAR CONTROL <=: Anchorage, Alaska a: <.::J Q !FR OvFR 0NONE BYES CNo I- 1820 A ST 10. TYPE a: APPROACH <=: 3 . TAKEOFF GROSS WEIGHT/ C.G. 6 . LAST COMM
Anchorage, AK Incident Location Unresolved …1987 c 3 . DATE January 7. NTSB INVESTIGATOR NIA 4 . DISTRIBUTION AVN-120 thru AAL-200 8 . RELATED REPORTS None On November 17, 1986 Japan Airlines Flight 1628
Iceland to Anchorage, Alaska Incident Location Unresolved On November 17, 1986, Japan Airlines Flight 1628, a Boeing 747 cargo flight, reported an unidentified traffic at its altitude during its flight from Keflavik, I

Extracted timeline

Jun 16, 2026

Ingestion Date

Ingestion Date for 733667-001-002

Jun 16, 2026

Document Record Date

Document Record Date for 733667-001-002

Jun 16, 2026

Update Date

Update Date for 733667-001-002

Entities mentioned

Full document text

5,961 characters, transcribed via OCR. Errors reflect the source scan. Compare with the original ↗

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.---.... ------------------------------"'T"'----------~~--------------..,.------------~~~ -------------------. z 0 1- <t u . u:: < 1- 2 LLI c 1- u.. < 1 . CODE 4 . CATEGORY ~AIR CARRIER-TYPE: DAIR TAXI OcoMMUTER 2. DATE 11/17/87 D GENERAL AVIATION D OTHER 3 . 5. 6 . T IME (Local ) 1720 AST AIRCRAI IDENT RECORD DAY OF WEEK 7 . LOCATION (CiryandState) Mnnrl!Ov COORDINATES Fort Yukon. Al"'sv~ 69.00N 141. oow 8 . NEAREST FIX {Radial and Distance) FYU 360/180 1. AIRFRAME MAKE/MODEL Boeing 747 MAKE/MODEL I TOTAL HOU? N/A / MAKE/MODEL I TOTAL HOU'8' NIA / SERIAL NO. (1Walfuncrioning) / ~ 1. 2. / ~ SERIAL NO. (Malfunctioning) / ~ 1. 2. _ _,,.../ ___ _ REGISTRATION N O . AIRCRAFT CLASS N/A AMEL 0:: . u cc1--_______ _._ ______ ~ ~ 3. ~ W T .S.O . (.7alfimcri ing) N ~3. / 0 0:: 0:: < w (.:1 <t ::iE <t c c . zC <t > 0:: :::> .., z - I- 0:: 0 Q. u.i a: < a: LLI :J: I-. < u.. LLI ;: AIRWORTHINESS CLASS Standard Q. HOURS 1. 2._~~~~ T .S.O. ((7Ha/func · ning) C'i 1. 2.~~~~~ T .S. O . TOTAL TIME / 1 . NAME AND ADDRESS Japan Airlines Co. Ltd. FLIGHT N O. 4. MAINT. DESIGNATOR 1628 None UNDER FAR 5. CAB 298C FILED 129 DYES :b!No PERSONS 2. PERSONS 3. MINOR 4 . SERIOUS INVOLVED ABOARD INJURY INJURY PASSENGERS 0 0 0 FLIGHT CREW 3 0 0 CABIN CREW 0 0 0 GROUN D CREW 0 0 0 PUBLIC/OTHER 0 0 0 TOTALS 3 0 0 HANDICAPPED 0 0 0 EVACUATION INJURIES n n 0 9 . PART NAME/NO. 1. NAME N/A 4 . / 4. 6 . AIR CARRIER OPERATING CERTIFI- CATE N O . I ALTHORIZED OPERATIONS UNDER FAR I PARTS: I 7 . 5. N/A I 129 I OPERATING CERTIFI· I AUTHORIZED OPERATIONS UNDER FAR I PARTS: CATE NO. FATAL INJURY 0 0 0 0 0 0 n 0 I I I 6 . D~· ' AGE x °'J<)NE 'v11NOR SUBSTANTIAL DESTROYED FIRE AFTER IMPACT PROPERTY DAMAGE UNKNOWN 7 . PHASE OF OPERATION GROUND TAX I TAKEOFF CLIM B x LEVEL FLIGHT DESCENT APPROACH LANDING 6. REMARKS 8. TYPE OF FLYING PERSONAL BUSINESS EXECUTIVE/CORP INSTRUCTION AERIAL APPLICATION I NDUSTR !AL/SPECIAL FERRY TEST FOREST F IRE PARACHUTE AIR SHOW PASSENGER x CARGO PASSENGER/CARGO MAIL OTHER UNKNOWN D CONTROLLED D UNCONTROLLED 2. RUNWAY 3. FIELD 4 . RUNWAY 5 . SURFACE CONDI- N UMBER ELEVATION LENGTH TION 1 . SOURCE 3 . SKY CON- 5. VISIBILITY 7 . D .P. 8 . WIND 10. REMARKS DITION RESTRICTION D::trkness NIA NIA 2 . TIME 4 . VISIBILITY 6 . TEMP. 9. ALTIMETER 29.92 - FAA Form 8020-5 (4-80) SUPERSEDES PREVIOUS EDITION ___, . . - - .. - .:. :: .J ........ :: - -~:::. .: -'j - - .., __ . - --· -· - - ·-- - . - -·...., - - . - . . - .. - Keflavik, Iceland j ~YES C ·'' 30.l MC u i Anchorage_ . zTCC N/A - 11/ 17/RF, - :'>JO u.. u.. 2. FLIGHT PLAN, CLEARANCE 5 . DESTINATION ETA OR ATA 8. RADAR CONTROL <=: Anchorage, Alaska a: <.::J Q !FR OvFR 0NONE BYES CNo I- 1820 A ST 10. TYPE a: APPROACH <=: 3 . TAKEOFF GROSS WEIGHT/ C.G. 6 . LAST COMMUNICATION (Position , Time, Altitude) N/A Anchorage Tower/Ground Control Anchorage, Alaska Visual 1. PIC 2. SIC 3. FE NAME TloM; 11 'l'o-r!l11rol-d 'l',,Jr_,,.,,..,.,.; 'l'<lm<>f11i i Yn.c:hi n 1'.c:111r•1h.::1 - - DATE OF BIRTH/AGE N I A NI t; N A CERTIFICATE NO. ANO TYPE ! DATE OF LAST MEDICAL > • HOURS THIS MAKE/MODEL a: HOURS LAST 90 DAYS -MAKE/MODEL 0 I- TOTAL HOURS LAST90 DAYS en i :i TOTAL HOURS ~ DUTY TIME !Last :C4 Huur.1J UJ a: RATINGS u PROFICIENCY CHECK DATE ROUTE CHECK DATE l SIMULATOR CHECK \ '/ I \/ iR; oht- v SEAT OCCUPIED IT <>ft- l<'.,o; TIAA-r DOMICILE (City and State) .T.::in.::in -~ .T.::i;;.::in .T,,n~~ ')THE::;-SPECIFY 11. i 2 . ! 3 .ENVIRONMENT 4 . en I PASSENGERS ! EQUIPMENT INVESTIGATION YES a: NO 0 ~TI!; I OBESE IM/ J SEATS I- 1'.T It; SMOKE N TSB NOTIFIED x u I /! .AGED I 71 RESTF'AINTS I <=: I FUMES VOICE RECORDER REVIEW x LL. ...; I : BLIND I I EXITS I : 2 I Fl RE FL --<T RECORDER REVIEW x <=: I ! INFANT I I I SLID::::> I LIGHTS OF :: li'<VESTIGATION :iE v ::i I I I/ I RAFTS I SC!: 'INVESTIGATION x J: I 11 I VESTS ! I 1. REPORT SUBMITTED BY: .TPrrv P.::i 1 t-Pr.c:nn luH _?()1 5. ~ .. c.,RCE OF INFO C:ce:i;v:LATC c. 2 . OFFICE AAL-207 6. F . .>.A COORDINATOR/INVEST:p<>t"<>-r p Rt>rolrn<>-r en . -..., 26, 1987 c 3 . DATE January 7. NTSB INVESTIGATOR NIA 4 . DISTRIBUTION AVN-120 thru AAL-200 8 . RELATED REPORTS None On November 17, 1986 Japan Airlines Flight 1628, an all cargo Boeing 747, was en route from Kef lavik, Iceland to Anchorage, Alaska. At 0219 UTC (November 18, 1986) the captain of Flight 1628 reported traffic at his altitude 1 mile in front of his aircraft. The unidentified traffic was later reported visible on JAL 1628's weather radar and intermittently by Anchorage Center and the Military Regional Operations Center. JAL 1628 reported that the traffic stayed in his vidnity during a descent and turns, including a 360 degree turn. At 0253 UTC UJ JAL 1628 reported that the unidentified traffic was no longer in sight. > I- Refer to attachments for specific information. <=: • a: :.:: a: ~ z -(lU.S. G . _P.O. 1980- 627.235/1447 r TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 . FAA Form 3112; completed by Inspector Jack Wright 2. FAA Form 1600-32-1; completed by Inspector Ronald E. Mickle 3 . FAA Form 1600-32-1; completed by Special Agent James Derry 4 . Transcript of Interview with Captain Terauchi 5 . Written Statement and Drawing by Captain Terauchi 6 . Transcript of Interview with First Oficer Tamefuji 7. Transcript of Interview with Flight Engineer Tsukuba 8 . ATC report of Unidentified Traffic Sighting by Japan Airlines Flight 1628, November 18, 1986, ANC ARTCC 9. Tape of Interview with Captain Terauchi 10. Tape of Interview with First Officer Tamefuji 11. ATC Tape