Military Report
Unclassified Complete
733667-001-011-0087
National Archives and Records Administration
Confidence
85%
Credibility
90%
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Intelligence summary
This document details an incident involving unidentified air traffic observed by the crew of Japan Airlines flight 1628 while approaching Anchorage on November 17. The crew reported seeing strange lights that changed position and were confirmed on radar by air traffic control.
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Linked cases
Locations referenced
| Location | Context | Confidence | Supporting text |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairbanks | Incident Location | Unresolved | …radar at about 7 miles. The lights were yellow, amber, and green, but no red. The lights were in two seperate sets which changed position relative to one anoth |
| Fairbanks, the crew executed a | Incident Location | Unresolved | …radar at about 7 miles. The lights were yellow, amber, and green, but no red. The lights were in two seperate sets which changed position relative to one anoth |
Extracted timeline
Jun 16, 2026
Ingestion Date
Ingestion Date for 733667-001-011-0087
Jun 16, 2026
Document Record Date
Document Record Date for 733667-001-011-0087
Jun 16, 2026
Update Date
Update Date for 733667-001-011-0087
Entities mentioned
Full document text
2,435 characters, transcribed via OCR. Errors reflect the source scan. Compare with the original ↗
OEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
FEOERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION b
AIR TRANSPORTATION SECURITY
On November 17, I responded to a call from the RO reference an
incident involving unidentified air traffic (UAT) following JAL flight
1628 into Anchorage. I asked Agent Mickle to meet me at Anchorage
Airport.
Upon arriving at ANC, I met Agent Mickle and Inspector Wright
(FSDO-63) who had been at the aircraft. All three of us then Dro-
ceded to JAL operations to interview the crew. At JAL Operations
we met with Captain Terauchi, lst Officer Tamefuji, and 2nd Officer
Tsukuda along with Mr. Shimbashi, the JAL Operations Manager at
Anchorage.
The three crewmen stated that just after passing POTAT inter-
Section inbound to Anchorage on J529 they observed strange lights
ahead of their B-747. These lights changed position after 2 minutes
but remained in front of the A/C for another 10 minutes, then moved
to the left side of the A/C. They stated that all they could see
were the lights and at no time could they see any craft. However,
they did show an object on their WK radar at about 7 miles. The
lights were yellow, amber, and green, but no red. The lights were
in two seperate sets which changed position relative to one another.
The crew said that they contacted ARTCC confirmed that they also had
it on radar. Near Fairbanks, the crew executed a 360° turn and the
lights stayed with them off of their left side. They then proceded
to Anchorage the lights were still visible until around 40 miles
north of they moved away to the east. The crew reported
their speed as 0.84 Mach and their altitude between FL390 and 310 as
asSigned along the route.
The only problem noted with their systems was same static in the
VHF receiver. The Navigational system in use was INS with no apparent
problems.
Upon campletion of my discussion with the crew, I called Captain
Stevens (Duty Officer to NORAD) and asked if he had any question other
than what I had asked. He said he had no other questions, but they
also showed two targets on radar (one was JAL). He stated that they
would give all data to Intelligence in the morning. I then asked
Bobby Lamkin by phone if AF was holding the data and he said yes.
INTERVIEWED/REVIEWED ON ember 17, 1 87 —- —- —-, AT _Anchorage, Alas ee
BY Special Agen James ; FILE NO. _ |
FAA Form 1600-321] (2-73) FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLy.
(Public availobility to be dew
SPO 042-954 termined under 5 U. S. C. 552)