Pilot Report
Unclassified Complete
733667-001-007-0005
National Archives and Records Administration
Confidence
85%
Credibility
90%
View original document ↗ hosted at the official government source
Intelligence summary
This document details the personal account of Captain Kenju Terauchi regarding a UFO sighting during JAL Flight 1628 on November 17, 1986. The captain describes observing unusual lights that moved in a non-standard manner and attempted to capture photographic evidence, but encountered technical difficulties with his camera.
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Extracted timeline
Jun 15, 1986
Document Date (year hint)
Document Date (year hint) for 733667-001-007-0005
Jun 16, 2026
Ingestion Date
Ingestion Date for 733667-001-007-0005
Jun 16, 2026
Document Record Date
Document Record Date for 733667-001-007-0005
Jun 16, 2026
Update Date
Update Date for 733667-001-007-0005
Entities mentioned
Full document text
1,428 characters, transcribed via OCR. Errors reflect the source scan. Compare with the original ↗
“p 8-
We kept observing the lights below us in left front, thinking it
was ridiculous to have lazer beam testing at the end of a tundra
area. Then the two lights began to move in a manner different
from ordinary aircraft maneuvers, like two bear cubs Playing with
each other. We continued the flight South along a straight
course since the distance from the lights was far enough from us
and their movement was not extreme and we felt no immediate
danger. I thought perhaps it is one of those things called UFO
and taking a photo might help to identify the object later. JI
asked to bring forward my camera bag that was placed in the rear
of the cockpit and began to take a Picture. The area in which
the plane was flying was unchanged but the lights were still
moving strangely. I had ASA 100 film in my camera, mainly to
take scenery and had auto-focus on, aimed at the object but the
lens kept adjusting and never could set a focus. I changed auto-
focus to manual-focus and pressed the shutter but this time the
Shutter would not close. Then our aircraft started to vibrate
and I gave up taking a photo. I placed my camera back in the
Camera bag and concentrated on observing the lights.
[Personal statement concerning JAL Flight 1628 sighting of
unidentified air traffic, Nov. 17, 1986. Written by Capt.
Kenju Terauchi; translated by Sayoko Mimoto, FAA Alaskan
Region, Airway Facilities Division. Received ‘by FAA 1/2/87]