Pilot Report
Unclassified Complete
733667-001-011-0041
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 Capt. Kenju Terauchi regarding an encounter with unidentified lights during a flight on November 17, 1986. The lights exhibited unusual movement, prompting the captain to attempt to photograph them, but technical issues with the camera prevented him from capturing the event.
Tags & topics
Linked cases
Extracted timeline
Jun 15, 1986
Document Date (year hint)
Document Date (year hint) for 733667-001-011-0041
Jun 16, 2026
Ingestion Date
Ingestion Date for 733667-001-011-0041
Jun 16, 2026
Document Record Date
Document Record Date for 733667-001-011-0041
Jun 16, 2026
Update Date
Update Date for 733667-001-011-0041
Entities mentioned
Full document text
1,428 characters, transcribed via OCR. Errors reflect the source scan. Compare with the original ↗
-p 5°
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. |]
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]