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733667-001-003-0028
National Archives and Records Administration
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85%
Credibility
80%
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Intelligence summary
This document is a correspondence from Philip J. Klass addressing questions related to a flight path and a potential UFO sighting by a pilot. It discusses the timing of a flight maneuver and the accuracy of the pilot's memory regarding his flight route.
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Jun 15, 1987
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Document Date (year hint) for 733667-001-003-0028
Jun 16, 2026
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Ingestion Date for 733667-001-003-0028
Jun 16, 2026
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Document Record Date for 733667-001-003-0028
Jun 16, 2026
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1,431 characters, transcribed via OCR. Errors reflect the source scan. Compare with the original ↗
Mr. Paul Steucke: -2- Apr. 8, 1987
Dis The 360 turn should have required roughly two minutes (using
standard 180 deg./min. turn rate) and been completed at approxi-
mately 0238:57 Approximately one minute later, at 0240:10, JAL
then was cleared direct to Talkeetna.
6. QUESTION: At 0231:40, Controller R15 reported JAL is "one
two miles southeast of the Alpha (unintelligible)..." Where/what
is the Alpha f£1x?? (I have an aero chart for the region but
cannot find an Alpha.) And did controller mean "one to two
miles" or did he mean "12 miles"?
7 . If your original flight path is correct, then Capt. Ter-
auchi's memory was flawed when he claimed in his detailed account
(submitted to FAA on Jan. 2) that immediately after his first
contact with Anchorage he was cleared "to fly direct to Talk-
eetna." He refers to making a "left rotation" (turn) which would
be required to fly the direct route to Talkeetna from his Alaska
entry location.
I have numbered the paragraphs above for your convenience
in replying.
Sincerely,
SS LEO
Philip J. Klass
P.os I can appreciate your official position on the question of
UFOs. Hopefully, controllers in the Alaskan Region have learned,
the hard way, that even experienced pilots can sometimes mistake
prosaic objects for UFOs. Recently heard from a Northwest
Airlines pilot who flew into Anchorage on Nov. 22 who told me
"Jupiter was positively brilliant--like a beacon in the sky."