Other Unclassified Complete

733667-001-011-0093

National Archives and Records Administration

Released
Published
Added to archive
Jun 16, 2026
Department
National Archives and Records Administration
Original size
4 MB
External ID
2c20a60af9f52c255fe9228ee2c2fd54629ccc682bb6c423ab9c92cff10007cd
Confidence
85%
Credibility
90%

View original document ↗ hosted at the official government source

Intelligence summary

This document details an interview conducted 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 object with distinct lights and movements, which maintained proximity to the aircraft for an extended period.

Tags & topics

Aviation incidentsFlight crew reportsUAP Sightings 1986FAAFlight 1628Japan AirlinesUAP

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 ARTCC personnel during the sighting. The captain stated he

Extracted timeline

Jun 15, 1986

Document Date (year hint)

Document Date (year hint) for 733667-001-011-0093

Jun 16, 2026

Ingestion Date

Ingestion Date for 733667-001-011-0093

Jun 16, 2026

Document Record Date

Document Record Date for 733667-001-011-0093

Jun 16, 2026

Update Date

Update Date for 733667-001-011-0093

Entities mentioned

Full document text

2,812 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, anda 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 ARTCC 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 ARICC. 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 INS's. INTERVIEWED/REVIEWED ON November 17, 1986 __ _ ——-H, AT _Anchorage, Alaska _ ___, - . Ronald E. Mickle, FAA S/A FILE NO. _ FAA Form 1600-32+1 (2-73 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY- (Publie availability to be de— ho Celanese termined under 5 U. S. C. 552)