Pilot Report Unclassified Complete

733667-001-018-0013

National Archives and Records Administration

Released
Published
Added to archive
Jun 16, 2026
Department
National Archives and Records Administration
Original size
2.5 MB
External ID
7950ed701228dab9b8436fa39114a63ae087c21aa6041031ca2037269306b195
Confidence
85%
Credibility
90%

View original document ↗ hosted at the official government source

Intelligence summary

This document is a personnel statement from Joseph Rollins, an Air Traffic Control Specialist at the Anchorage ARTCC, detailing the incident involving Japan Airlines Flight 1628 on November 18, 1986. The report outlines the communication between the flight and air traffic control regarding unidentified traffic.

Tags & topics

Air traffic controlAviation incidentsUAP air traffic controlFlight 1628Incident ReportJapan AirlinesUFO

Locations referenced

LocationContextConfidenceSupporting text
Anchorage, AK Unknown Context Low …L1628) North of Fairbanks, Alaska on November 18, 1986 at 0218 UTC. My name is Joseph Rollins (JR). I am employed as an Air Traffic Control Specialist by the F
North of Fairbanks, Alaska Incident Location Unresolved PERSONNEL STATEMENT FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINSTRATION Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center January 9, 1987 The following is a report concerning the incident

Extracted timeline

Jun 15, 1987

Document Date (year hint)

Document Date (year hint) for 733667-001-018-0013

Jun 16, 2026

Ingestion Date

Ingestion Date for 733667-001-018-0013

Jun 16, 2026

Document Record Date

Document Record Date for 733667-001-018-0013

Jun 16, 2026

Update Date

Update Date for 733667-001-018-0013

Entities mentioned

Full document text

1,784 characters, transcribed via OCR. Errors reflect the source scan. Compare with the original ↗

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PERSONNEL STATEMENT FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINSTRATION Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center January 9, 1987 The following is a report concerning the incident involving Japan Airlines Flight 1628 (JL1628) North of Fairbanks, Alaska on November 18, 1986 at 0218 UTC. My name is Joseph Rollins (JR). I am employed as an Air Traffic Control Specialist by the Federal Aviation Administration at the Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC), Anchorage, Alaska. During the period of 2340 UTC, November 17, 1986 to 1850 UTC, November 18, 1986 I was on duty in the Anchorage ARTCC. I was working the El position from 0006 UTC, November 18, 1986 to 0425 UTC, November 18, 1986. | During the time period prior to this incident all operations were normal. I had assigned Mr. Henley to the combined R15, D15 position to work by himself. The traffic was light and lunch breaks were in progress. At approximately 0220 UTC Mr. Henley informed me that JL1628 had indicated that he had traffic and wanted information. I then advised the Area Manager that JL1628 was requesting information on traffic that we were not aware of. Mr. Rich returned from lunch and was assigned the D15 position and Mr. Henley was moved to the R15 position. I understood that Mr Aarnink had plugged into the C15 position only to observe. During the time following my being notified, I was involved in operational supervision and coordinatation between the controllers and the Area Manager. I intermittently monitored the radar but at no time observed any radar data that in my opinion, conclusively indicated traffic for the JL1628 flight. At 0254 UTC I informed the Area Manager that the pilot of JL1628 had lost visual contact with his traffic. \ esl Eling Joseph Rollins Area Supervisor Anchorage ARTCC