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Unclassified Complete
733667-001-005-0001
National Archives and Records Administration
Confidence
85%
Credibility
90%
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Intelligence summary
This document details an interview conducted by the FAA with the crew of Japan Airlines Flight 1628 regarding their sighting of unidentified air traffic on November 17, 1986. The captain reported visual and radar observations of an unidentified object with distinct lights and movements.
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Locations referenced
| Location | Context | Confidence | Supporting text |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairbanks, AK | Incident Location | Medium | …yed on the port side for approximmately 35 minutes. Captain Terauchi said he was communicating with ARICC personnel during the sighting. The captain stated he |
Extracted timeline
Jun 15, 1986
Document Date (year hint)
Document Date (year hint) for 733667-001-005-0001
Jun 16, 2026
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Ingestion Date for 733667-001-005-0001
Jun 16, 2026
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Document Record Date for 733667-001-005-0001
Jun 16, 2026
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Update Date for 733667-001-005-0001
Entities mentioned
Full document text
2,807 characters, transcribed via OCR. Errors reflect the source scan. Compare with the original ↗
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
AIR TRANSPORTATION SECURITY
As per telephonic request from FSDO-63, the following are the events
which took place on November 17, 1986 and were taken from my personal
notes during the interview: Responded to Japan Airlines station
office as instructed by Manager (James S. Derry), AAL-700. Myself
and Jim Derry interviewed the crew of JAL Flight 1628, which reported
the sighting of unidentified air traffic. The flight crew consisted
of the Captain, Kenju Terauchi, First Officer Takanori Tamefuji;. and
Flight Engineer Yoshio Tsukuda. Captain Terauchi stated the cargo
only flight had departed Reykjavik, Iceland. Captain Terauchi stated
he first sited (visually) the unidentified air traffic (UAT) in the
vacinity of Potat intersection and the ADIZ. The aircraft he was
piloting (B747) was at flight level 390, airspeed 0.84 Mach. Captain
Terauchi indicated the UAT was in front of his aircraft at a distance
of approximately seven to eight nautical miles for approximately 12
minutes. The Captain stated the distance was indicated by the onboard
Bendix color radar. Captain Terauchi stated that while he hada
visual on the UAT, he spotted yellow, amber and green lights, and a
rotating beacon, but no red lights. The Captain said there were two
distinct sets of lights, but appeared to be joined together (as fixed
to one object). Captian Terauchi ascertained through visual sighting
and radar, that the UAT was equal in size to a B747, possibly larger.
Captain Terauchi stated that during the visual sighting, the lights of
the UAT changed from a horizontal position to a vertical position and
had positioned itself from in front of the B747 to port side. The
UAT stayed on the port side for approximmately 35 minutes.
Captain Terauchi said he was communicating with ARICC personnel during
the sighting. The captain stated he requested, and received, permission
to perform a 360 degree turn while in the vacinity of Fairbanks, Alaska,
which he had a visual on. Captain Terauchi stated the UAT maintained
its position on the port side during the turn. Captain Terauchi stated
visual sight of the UAT was lost approximately 40 nautical miles north
of Talkeetna, while continuing on to Anchorage.
Additional information regarding the flight:
Captain Terauchi stated there was static during VHF communications with
the ARTCC.
Captain Terauchi indicated there was erratic movement with lights of the
UAT during the visual contact.
Navigation was being performed by coupling of the onboard IS's.
INTERVIEWED/REViEweD on November 17, 198600 , AT _Anchorage Alaska cot oe me
BY Ronald E. Mickle, FAA S/A FILE NO. LL
FAA Form 1600-32e1 (2-73) FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY -
(Public availability to be de—
GPO 942-984 termined under 5 U. S. C. 552)