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sf i : nee —_ ' There’s no ! : | ere ee ere qian ose lights -, JAL crew reports ‘strange’ sighting = — Associated Press The Federal Aviation Admin- istration today said it couldn’t ex- plain strange flashing lights that spooked the crew of a Japan Air Lines 747 cargo plane as it flew over northern Alaska last month. “We are not investigating as there is nothing to investigate,” said Paul Steucke, FAA spokes- man in Anchorage. He said the military has been ynable — or unwilling — to pro- vide any information. “They're saying nothing,” Steucke said. The incident began at 6:19 p.m. Nov. 17 as the JAL plane was headed for Anchorage on 4 flight from Europe via Iceland raft entered U.S. ai pilot reported seeing unusual white and yellow flashing lights. The lights were approxi- prer mately 8 miles away, at the altitude fae fesvand travel: 22 0 ing at the and in the same direction as the JAL plane, the pilotreported. Steucke said the pilot called the air traffic contro! center and asked if there was any reported traffic in the vicinity. A contro!- ler replied that there was nO known traffic in the area, but . ‘that he had an unidentified blip on his radar. Steucke said a subsequent re- view of the radar tapes did not reveal any such object, but that the controller insisted it was there. As the lights continued to pace the 747, the pilot requested per- mission to change altitude. As he. descended to 31,000 feet, the lights followed “in formation,” Steucke said. The pilot then requested per- mission to make a 360-degree SOU AOHOWVH — - its way to Tokyo. As the ajr- Ay ee 7S " TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 39, 1956 eee Sekar Sighting: Nothing Continued from page A-1 Keep ums ee if the lights would fol- ow.fUpon completing the ma- neuver, the pilot reported losing contact with the lights. —Steucke said radar operators _in Fairbanks picked up nothing ~‘on their screens in the vicinity of _ the JAL flight. And he said a United Airlines flight headed to-: ward Fairbanks spotted the JAL plane but saw nothing else in the sky nearby. _ Military authorities were noti- fied of the sighting within a few minutes of the initial report; but it’s not known what — if anything usr 8 a —they did about it, Steucke said. _ The JAL crew members were interviewed by the FAA upon ar- rival in Anchorage. Steucke said they all appeared to be “well- trained, professional, rational —_s not affected by drugs or al- cohol.”” He said all three reported that the blinking lights accompanied their plane for about 50 miles across the northern Alaska sky. The entire incident lasted about 30 minutes, Steucke said. __ As for the time lag since the incident, Steucke said: “We didn’t exactly broadcast it until the news media dug it up.” Iel cae RSRSS 3