Pilot Report Unclassified Complete

733667-001-011-0041

National Archives and Records Administration

Released
Published
Added to archive
Jun 16, 2026
Department
National Archives and Records Administration
Original size
2.6 MB
External ID
aca712f072ac36d77e6d07a8d6090b7d600e7440c8bfb9dae7b68e84f5a9587e
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

AviationUFO sightingsUnidentified Aerial Phenomena Aviationcaptain reportSightingUFO

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 ↗

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-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]