Other Unclassified Complete

733667-001-005-0001

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
8bb656a50e3f9ad91f1f1ae201f7d79d4a777dd1ab32e1b5a97f3366a568e716
Confidence
85%
Credibility
90%

View original document ↗ hosted at the official government source

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.

Tags & topics

Aviation incidentsFAA InvestigationsUAP Sightings 1986FAAFlight 1628Japan AirlinesUFO

Linked cases

Locations referenced

LocationContextConfidenceSupporting 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

Ingestion Date

Ingestion Date for 733667-001-005-0001

Jun 16, 2026

Document Record Date

Document Record Date for 733667-001-005-0001

Jun 16, 2026

Update Date

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 ↗

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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)