Foia Release Unclassified Complete

733667-001-003-0033

National Archives and Records Administration

Released
Published
Added to archive
Jun 16, 2026
Department
National Archives and Records Administration
Original size
3.8 MB
External ID
3ef9ef45756101c888adea6f3ef94a21dd4c41a330c66a0c7d6df277123c1b2d
Confidence
85%
Credibility
80%

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Intelligence summary

This document discusses a UFO sighting reported by the crew of a Japan Airlines (JAL) 747 while flying over northeastern Alaska. The report includes details about the crew's observations of lights in the sky, the involvement of other aircraft in the area, and a hypothesis suggesting that the lights may have been reflections caused by moonlight on ice crystal clouds.

Tags & topics

Aviation incidentspilot reportsRadar DataUFO sightings AlaskaAviationFAAJapan AirlinesUFO

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Jun 16, 2026

Ingestion Date

Ingestion Date for 733667-001-003-0033

Jun 16, 2026

Document Record Date

Document Record Date for 733667-001-003-0033

Jun 16, 2026

Update Date

Update Date for 733667-001-003-0033

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Full document text

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promptly reported that his radar showed only the JAL airliner. 4. The flight crew's description of the white-amber lights first seen slightly to the left (south) shortly after sunset as the JAL 747 crossed into northeastern Alaska, and the single UFO, further to the left, reported as the aircraft approached Fair- banks, indicate that they looked significantly different. The initial UFO was observed for roughly 10 minutes while the second was in view for about 30 minutes. 5. The recently released FAA data confirm's CSICOP's earlier report on the incident which first revealed that two‘’other aircraft (United Airlines flight #69, and a USAF C-130) that were in the area, searched for a UFO. as they passed near the JAL airliner. The United flight, headed north from Anchorage to Fairbanks while JAL was headed south to Anchorage ona parallel airway, passed within several miles of JAL. Shortly before the two airliners passed, the JAL pilot--looking to the southeast--reported that the UFO was "just ahead of United," but the United crew saw nothing. At the time, the JAL pilot was looking in the direction of a very bright planet Jupiter, then low on the horizon. The United crew would not have noticed Jupiter because it was to their far right while they were looking ahead and to their left for something near the JAL 747. A short time later the USAF C-130, heading west, passed to the south of JAL and also failed to see any bright light. The C-130 .crew would not have seen Jupiter, which was far to its left because they were looking at JAL to their right. 6. The initial "UFO(s)" of Nov. 17 were described by the pilot aS resembling the exhaust of jet/rocket engines, and he later described and sketched a giant UFO shaped like a walnut. But when the FAA later showed the pilot's sketches to the copilot, he responded: "I don't see anything like this." All he reported seeing were "like landing lights" of an aircraft. ds Based on the pilot's report at the time of the Nov. 17 incident, confirmed by flight crew interviews, it is evident that there were thin, spotty clouds at about or slightly below the JAL flight altitude of 31,000 ft.--at roughly the same altitude as that reported for the UFO. On Nov. 17 the moon was almost full and at the time of the initial sighting and almost directly behind the 747, low in the sky... This suggests that the amber-white lights observed by the crew were caused by bright moonlight reflecting off spotty clouds of ice crystals. (Village light reflecting off such clouds on Jan. 11 prompted Capt. Terauchi to report UFOs, and his Jan. 11 description resembled that of Nov. 17.) 8 . If this hypothesis is correct, when the JAL airliner overflew the region of spotty clouds, the initial UFO would