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{{Short description|Reported UFO sighting}}
{{Short description|Alleged UFO encounter}}
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{{Unreliable sources|date=May 2017}}
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{{Location map+|Alaska|relief=1|width=370|right|caption={{center|'''Locations of the Flight 1628 and subsequent incidents'''}} The first sighting occurred from point '''A''' to '''B''', where Flight 1628 was escorted by two objects.<ref>From flight plot by Bruce Maccabee{{full citation needed|date=September 2018}}</ref> A third object would have paced the cargo plane as it approached Eielson AFB, mirroring the evasive maneuvers initiated by its pilots. It would have disappeared near Denali, as they approached Talkeetna for a landing in Anchorage. Two and a half months later, Flight AS-53 recorded an unidentified object near McGrath, and a military plane observed an object between Elmendorf and Eielson air force bases.|places=
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'''Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1628''' was a Japanese [[Boeing 747|Boeing 747-200F]] [[cargo aircraft]] flying from [[Paris]] to [[Narita International Airport]] that was involved in an [[unidentified flying object]] (UFO) sighting on November 17, 1986. During the flight, Captain Kenji Terauchi reported seeing three objects he described as "two small ships and the mothership". The FAA in Anchorage only saw Flight 1628 on their radar. Two other nearby planes only saw Flight 1628 and no other objects. An FAA investigation of the incident characterized Terauchi as a "UFO repeater". Astronomers and investigators have determined that Terauchi probably mistook the planets Jupiter and Mars as UFOs. Contradictions among the accounts of the crew from the three aircraft as well as contradictions between the transcripts and later interviews with Terauchi have cast doubt that anything unusual happened.
lon_dir=W|lon_deg=145|lon_min=23|lon_sec=2.9|label='''A'''|position=left }}
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lon_dir=W|lon_deg=146|lon_min=34|lon_sec=32|label='''B'''|jposition=left }}
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lat_dir=N|lat_deg=62|lat_min=18|lat_sec=41|marksize = 6| mark = Redpoint.svg |
lon_dir=W|lon_deg=150|lon_min=05|lon_sec=13|label='''[[Talkeetna, Alaska|Talkeetna]]'''|position=right}}
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lat_dir=N|lat_deg=63|lat_min=04|lat_sec=10|marksize = 12| mark = BlackMountain.svg|
lon_dir=W|lon_deg=151|lon_min=00|lon_sec=27|label='''Denali'''|position=top}}
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lat_dir=N|lat_deg=61|lat_min=10|lat_sec=27|marksize = 6| mark = Redpoint.svg |
lon_dir=W|lon_deg=149|lon_min=59|lon_sec=54|label='''[[Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport|T. Stevens Anchorage]]'''|position=left}}
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lat_dir=N|lat_deg=62|lat_min=55|lat_sec=31| mark = Blue dot with stroke.svg |
lon_dir=W|lon_deg=157|lon_min=48|lon_sec=27|label=AS-53 sighting|label_size = 70|position=left}}
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lat_dir=N|lat_deg=61|lat_min=15|lat_sec=05|mark=Airplane silhouette blue.svg|
lon_dir=W|lon_deg=149|lon_min=48|lon_sec=23|label='''[[Elmendorf Air Force Base|Elmendorf AFB]]'''|position=right}}
{{Location map~|Alaska|label_size = 75|
lat_dir=N|lat_deg=64|lat_min=39|lat_sec=56|mark=Airplane silhouette blue.svg|
lon_dir=W|lon_deg=147|lon_min=06|lon_sec=05|label='''[[Eielson Air Force Base|Eielson AFB]]'''|position=right}} }}
[[File:MyPhotoJal-AC01.jpg|thumb|238x238px|A Japan Air Lines Cargo Boeing 747-200F similar to the one involved in the incident]]
'''Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1628''' was a [[UFO]] incident that occurred on November 17, 1986, involving a [[Japan]]ese [[Boeing 747|Boeing 747-200F]] [[cargo aircraft]]. The aircraft was en route from [[Paris]] to [[Narita International Airport]], near [[Tokyo]],<ref name="JapanToday">{{Cite web | last = Shincho | first = Shukan | title = Terauchi's London interview of December 1986 | work = JAL Pilot's UFO Story Surfaces after 20 Years | publisher = JapanToday, ufocasebook | url = http://www.ufocasebook.com/jal1628surfaces.html | access-date = 2011-05-08 }}</ref> with a cargo of [[Beaujolais (wine)|Beaujolais]] wine.<ref name="Herald">{{Citation | title =Airline Crew Sees UFO Mother Ship – Controller, radar confirm object; smaller ships also followed 747 | pages = 1 | newspaper = Telegraph Herald | location = Iowa & Illinois | date = 1986-12-31 | url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KpRdAAAAIBAJ&pg=4907,5565770&hl=en }}</ref> On the [[Reykjavík]] to [[Anchorage]] section of the flight, at 17:11 over eastern [[Alaska]], the crew first witnessed two unidentified objects to their left. These abruptly rose from below and closed in to escort their aircraft. Each had two rectangular arrays of what appeared to be glowing [[nozzles]] or [[Aircraft propulsion|thrusters]], though their bodies remained obscured by darkness. When closest, the aircraft's cabin was lit up and the captain could feel their heat on his face. These two craft departed before a third, much larger disk-shaped object started trailing them.<ref name="Lawhon">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ufoevidence.org/cases/case287.htm |title=Japan Air Lines Flight 1628, Loy Lawhon |access-date=2011-05-05 |archive-date=2011-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629160228/http://ufoevidence.org/cases/case287.htm }}</ref> Anchorage [[Air Traffic Control]] requested an oncoming [[United Airlines]] flight to confirm the unidentified traffic, but when it and a military craft sighted JAL 1628 at about 17:51, no other craft could be distinguished.<ref name="Lawhon" /> The sighting lasted 50 minutes<ref name="future">Capt. Kenju Terauchi, "Meeting the Future". Translated by Sayoko Mimoto, FAA Alaskan Region, Airway Facilities Division. Received by FAA Jan. 2, 1988</ref> and ended in the vicinity of [[Denali]].<ref name="Harper">Harper, J. Glen., MUFON Section Director, Anchorage, Alaska: "Alaska UFO Mothership Revisited", April 3, 1995.</ref><ref name="haines">{{Cite journal | last = Haines | first = Richard F. | title = Aviation Safety in America – A Previously Neglected Factor | journal = NARCAP Report | volume = 01-2000 | page = 76 | url = http://ufo.the-foundation.fr/Dossier_HTML_PDF/Aviation_Safety_In_America_A_Previously_Neglected_Factor.pdf | date = October 15, 2000 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090219083652/http://ufo.the-foundation.fr/Dossier_HTML_PDF/Aviation_Safety_In_America_A_Previously_Neglected_Factor.pdf | archive-date = February 19, 2009 }}</ref>

==Observation==
==Observation==
On the [[Reykjavík]] to [[Anchorage]] section of the flight, flying at {{convert|35,000|feet|m}}, at 17:11 over eastern [[Alaska]], the pilot, Captain Kenji Terauchi reported seeing three unidentified objects, "flying parallel and then ... very close". News media of the time reported that Terauchi referred to the objects as "the two small ships and the mother ship",{{R|Ellensburg}} and as "two small ones and one twice the size of an aircraft carrier".{{R|Telegraph}} After six minutes, Terauchi radioed the Anchorage [[Federal Aviation Administration]] who advised him to take "evasive action". Terauchi decreased altitude and turned the plane in a circle, but reported that the lights were still with the plane after the turns.{{R|NYT}}
On November 17, 1986, the Japanese crew of a [[Japan Airlines|JAL]] [[Boeing 747]] cargo freighter witnessed three unidentified objects after sunset while flying over eastern [[Alaska]]. The objects seemed to prefer the cover of darkness to their left, and to avoid the brighter skies to their right.<ref name=Terauchi/> At least the first two of the objects were observed by all three crew members: Captain {{Nihongo|Kenju Terauchi|寺内謙寿|Terauchi Kenju}}, in the cockpit's left-hand seat; [[First Officer (civil aviation)|co-pilot]] {{Nihongo|Takanori Tamefuji|為藤隆憲|Tamefuji Takanori}} in the right-hand seat; and [[flight engineer]] {{Nihongo|Yoshio Tsukuda|佃善雄|Tsukuda Yoshio}}.<ref>{{cite web|title=アラスカ上空日航機ＵＦＯ遭遇事件|url=http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/to7002/7587805.html|access-date=25 January 2016}}</ref>


At the time, news media stated that the FAA reported seeing objects near the plane even after the evasive maneuvers,{{R|Ellensburg}}{{R|Telegraph}} but upon later review, the military radar images were "dismissed as clutter, and an object that showed up on the aviation agency's screens was thought to be a coincidental split image of the aircraft". Fairbanks FAA air controllers saw only Flight 1628 on their radar screens.{{R|NYT}}
===Two objects===
[[file:Terauchi se twee tuie sy aan sy, a.jpg|thumb|right|260px|Illustration of the first two objects, based on Captain Terauchi's drawings and descriptions. They were "shooting off lights", were square in shape and some 500 to 1,000 feet in front of the cockpit, but somewhat higher in altitude.]]
After the routine cargo flight entered Alaska, the [[Anchorage]] [[Air traffic controller|ATC]] advised a new heading towards [[Talkeetna, Alaska|Talkeetna]], Alaska. As soon as JAL 1628 straightened out of its turn, at 17:11, Captain Terauchi noticed two craft to his far left, and some {{convert|2000|ft|m|abbr=on}} below his altitude, which he assumed to be [[military aircraft]]. These were pacing his flight path and speed.<ref name = Terauchi/> At 17:18 or 17:19 the two objects abruptly veered to a position about {{convert|500|ft|m|abbr=on}} or {{convert|1000|ft|m|abbr=on}} in front of the aircraft, assuming a stacked configuration.


Terauchi reported that the objects followed the plane for {{convert|400|mile|km|order=flip}}.{{R|Ellensburg}} Two planes that were near Flight 1628, a [[United Airlines]] and an [[United States Air Force|Air Force]] [[C-130]] [[cargo plane]] reported that they did not see any objects either visually or on radar.{{R|AP}}
In doing so they activated "a kind of reverse thrust, and [their] lights became dazzlingly bright".<ref name = JapanToday/> To match the speed of the aircraft from their sideways approach, the objects displayed what Terauchi described as a disregard for [[inertia]]: "The thing was flying as if there was no such thing as gravity. It sped up, then stopped, then flew at our speed, in our direction, so that to us it [appeared to be] standing still. The next instant it changed course. ... In other words, the flying object had overcome gravity."<ref name = JapanToday/> The "reverse thrust" caused a bright flare for three to seven seconds,<ref name = Terauchi>{{Cite web | last = Terauchi | first = Kenju | title = JAL Pilot's UFO Story Surfaces after 20 Years (Statement of Captain Terauchi, Pilot of JAL Flight 1628) | work = Sightings of Unidentified Air Traffic by JAL Flight 1628 on November 17, 1986 | publisher = FAA official document | url = http://www.ufocasebook.com/jal1628surfaces.html | access-date = 2011-05-08 }}</ref> to the extent that Terauchi could feel the warmth of their glows.


Flight 1628 landed in Anchorage, the crew were debriefed and FAA investigators determined "they were 'normal, professional, rational, (and had) no drug or alcohol involvement{{'"}}.{{R|Ellensburg}}
At 17:19:15 the pilots notified air-traffic control, which could not confirm any traffic in the indicated position. After three to five minutes the objects assumed a side-to-side configuration, which they maintained for another 10 minutes. They accompanied the aircraft with an undulating motion, and some back and forth rotation of the jet nozzles, which seemed to be under automatic control,<ref name=Terauchi/> causing them to flare with brighter or duller luminosity.


==Explanation==
Each object had a square shape, consisting of two rectangular arrays of what appeared to be glowing nozzles or thrusters, separated by a dark central section. Captain Terauchi speculated in his drawings, that the objects would appear cylindrical<ref name = Harper/> if viewed from another angle, and that the observed movement of the nozzles could be ascribed to the cylinders' rotation. The objects left abruptly at about 17:23:13, moving to a point below the horizon to the east.<ref name=Terauchi/>
Editor of ''[[Aviation Week and Space Technology]]'' magazine and UFO investigator [[Phillip J. Klass]] reported that the planets [[Jupiter]] and [[Mars]] were in the area that Teruchi said he saw two lights, and although they would have been quite visible, he did not mention seeing them. Klass states that it is not unusual for an experienced pilot to "mistake[n] a bright celestial body for a UFO, nor will it be the last. ... Jupiter was only 10 degrees above the horizon, making it appear to the pilot to be roughly at his own 35,000-foot altitude".{{R|AP}} Klass noted that when the crew was interviewed separately in 1988, their remembrance of the event differed significantly.{{R|SI Klass}}
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" width=62% style="background: #fffaef; border: 1px dotted gray;"
|-
!style="background:#ffdead;" colspan="3"|Excerpt of communication with Anchorage ARTC Center<ref>{{Citation | last = Maccabee | first = Bruce | title = The Fantastic Flight Of JAL 1628
| journal = International UFO Reporter | volume = 12 | issue = 2 | date = Mar–Apr 1987 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | last = Maccabee | first = Bruce | publisher = UFO Evidence | title = The Fantastic Flight Of JAL 1628 | url=http://www.ufoevidence.org/Cases/CaseSubarticle.asp?ID=288 | access-date = 7 May 2011}}</ref>
|-
! Time
! Speaker
! Dialog
|-
|17:18 or 17:19 [[Alaska Time Zone|AKST]]
|[[Air Traffic Control|AARTCC]]<ref group = note>AARTCC refers to the Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center</ref> audiotape
|[Two craft, first noticed at a distance at 17:11, approach to within 500–1,000 ft from the cockpit.]
|-
|17:19:15
|JAL-1628, [[First Officer (civil aviation)|First officer]]<ref name=Terauchi/>
|Anchorage Center, Japan Air 1628, ah, do you have any traffic, ah, seven [i.e., eleven] o'clock above?
|-
|17:19:24
|AARTCC, Carl Henley<ref name = haines/>
|JAL1628 heavy, say again...
|-
|17:19:28
|JAL-1628
|Ah, do you have any traffic in front of us?
|-
|17:19:32
|AARTCC
|JAL1628 heavy, roger.
|-
|17:19:36
|JAL-1628
|Ah, roger and, ah, we in sight, ah, two traffic, ah, in front of us one mile about.
|-
|17:19:49
|AARTCC
|JAL1628, roger, do you have.., ah, can you identify the aircraft?
|-
|17:19:58
|JAL-1628
|Ah, we are not sure, but we have traffic in sight now.
|-
|17:20:04
|AARTCC
|JAL1628 heavy, roger. Maintain visual contact with your traffic and, ah, can you say the altitude of the traffic?
|-
|17:20:14
|JAL-1628
|Uh, almost the same altitude.
|-
|17:20:21
|AARTCC
|JAL1628 roger. Would you like a higher or lower altitude?
|-
|17:20:27
|JAL-1628
|Ah, no, negative. JAL1628.
|-
|17:21:19
|AARTCC
|JAL1628 heavy, see if you are able to identify the type of aircraft, ah, and see if you can tell whether it's military or civilian.
|-
|17:21:35
|JAL-1628
|JAL1628. We cannot identify the type, ah, but we can see, ah, navigation lights and ah, strobe lights.
|-
|17:21:48
|AARTCC
|Roger, sir. Say the color of the strobe and beacon lights.
|-
|17:21:56
|JAL-1628
|The color is, ah, white and yellow, I think.
|-
|17:22:03
|AARTCC
|White and yellow. Thank you.
|-
|17:21
|AARTCC, Watch supervisor's entry
|Daily Record of Facility Operation<br />5:21 PM. JL1628, H[[Boeing 747|B747]], [[Keflavík International Airport|BIKF]]–[[Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport|ANC]] reported traffic at his altitude (FL350) one mile with a white and yellow strobe. AAL ROC<ref group = note>AAL refers to the Alaska Regional Operations Center, ''cf.'' FAA personnel statement by Erland D. Stephens</ref> and [[Elmendorf Air Force Base|EDF]] ROCC notified.<ref group = note>Notifications due to military implications, actual contact at 17:23 PM</ref> No known traffic identified.
|-
|
|AARTCC
|OK. We have no, we have confirmed we have no military aircraft working up there.
|-
|
|
|After three to five minutes the two craft change their relative position, which is not reported to AARTCC,<ref name=Terauchi/> and the captain unsuccessfully attempts to photograph them.
|-
|17:22:11
|AARTCC
|[Requests information about weather and clouds]
|-
|17:22:41
|AARTCC
|[Informs JAL-1628 that transmissions are garbled and asks them to change transmitting frequencies.]
|-
|17:23:05
|JAL-1628
|[Reports clouds below them].
|-
|17:23:13
|JAL-1628
|And now the target, ah, traffic is extinguished [i.e., disappeared]. We cannot see it now.
|-
|
|
|[[Very high-frequency|VHF]] transmissions have returned to normal after 10 to 15 minutes of heavy interference.<ref name=Terauchi/>
|-
|17:23:19
|AARTCC
|JAL1628 roger. And I'm not receiving any radar replies.
|}


According to Klass, the pilot later contradicted what he told flight controllers at the time of the incident. After reviewing transcripts of the radio communications, an FAA spokesperson stated that the pilot told the ground controllers that he lost "sight of the object after completing his turn". But in a later interview, the spokesperson said that Terauchi said the "object stayed with him as he turned". {{R|AP}}
===Third object===
[[file:Terauchi-moederskip van 17 November 1986, b.jpg|thumb|right|310px|Illustration of the third object described by Captain Terauchi, sometimes referred to as the "mothership", trailing the port side of the Boeing 747 cargo freighter of Japan Air Lines.]]
Where the first objects disappeared, Captain Terauchi now noticed a pale band of light that mirrored their altitude, speed and direction.<ref name = Lawhon/> Setting their onboard radar scope to a {{convert|25|nmi|km}} range, he confirmed an object in the expected 10 o'clock direction at about {{convert|7.5|nmi|km|abbr=on}} distance,<ref name = future/> and informed ATC of its presence. Anchorage found nothing on their radar, but [[Elmendorf Air Force Base|Elmendorf]]'s NORAD Regional Operations Control Center (ROCC), directly in his flight path, reported a "surge primary return" after some minutes.<ref name = Lawhon/>


The FAA released a data package of the incident characterizing Terauchi as a {{"'}}UFO repeater', having reported two other UFO sightings prior to November 17th, and two more this past January". In a January 11, 1987 UFO sighting reported by Terauchi in the same general area as Flight 1628, he stated he saw "irregular pulsating lights ... [and] a large black chunk just in front of us". The FAA radar did not confirm an object, and the event was later determined to have been "lights from small villages being diffused by thin clouds of ice crystals". Klass notes that Terauchi used the words "spaceship or mothership" in his reports and claimed that the "mothership ... did not want to be seen". Teruchi also claimed that "we humans will meet them in the near future".{{R|SI Klass}}
As the city lights of [[Fairbanks, Alaska|Fairbanks]] began to illuminate the object, Terauchi believed to perceive the outline of a gigantic spaceship on his [[port side]] that was "twice the size of an aircraft carrier". It was, however, outside first officer Tamefuji's field of view.<ref name =ADNews/> The object followed "in formation", or in the same relative position throughout the 45 degree turn, a descent from {{convert|35,000|to|31,000|ft|m}}, and a 360 degree turn.{{Inconsistent|date=July 2018|reason=The transcript of the radio exchange makes it clear that the pilots did not request an altitude or course change.}}<ref name = evening>{{Cite news | last = Berliner | first = Jeff | title = Air Controller Confirms UFO Had Been Trailing Jumbo Jet | newspaper = Evening Observer | location = Dunkirk-Fredonia, NY | date = December 30, 1986 }}</ref> The short-range radar at [[Fairbanks International Airport|Fairbanks airport]] did not register any objects.<ref name = Lawhon/>


According to astronomer and UFO investigator [[Robert Sheaffer]], despite Flight 1628 becoming one of "the most celebrated cases in recent UFO literature, it turns out there wasn't much to read". About Terauchi's report, Sheaffer states that the pilot is not "an unbiased or objective observer".{{R|Sheaffer}} Science writer [[Brian Dunning (author)|Brian Dunning]] writes that there was "nothing extraordinary or unusual on that evening" calling Terauchi "a fine and competent pilot, but was hardly unbiased when it came to alien spaceships" and Flight 1628 "just another unevidenced aerial anecdote".{{R|Dunning}}
Anchorage ATC offered military intervention, which was declined by the pilot, due to his knowledge of the [[Mantell UFO incident|Mantell incident]].<ref name = future/> The object was not noted by either of two planes which approached JAL 1628 to confirm its presence, by which time JAL 1628 had also lost sight of it. JAL 1628 arrived safely in Anchorage at 18:20.


==Aftermath==
==References==
Captain Terauchi cited in the official [[Federal Aviation Administration]] report that the object was a UFO. In December 1986, Terauchi gave an interview to two [[Kyodo News]] journalists. JAL soon grounded him for talking to the press and moved him to a desk job. He was reinstated as a pilot several years later, and retired eventually in northern [[Kantō region|Kanto]], Japan.<ref name = JapanToday/>


{{Reflist|refs=
Kyodo News contacted Paul Steucke, the FAA public information officer in Anchorage on December 24, and received confirmation of the incident, followed by [[United Press International|UPI]] on the 29th.<ref name = evening/><ref name=MaccabeeFSP>{{Cite web | last = Maccabee | first = Bruce | title = The Fantastic Flight of JAL1628 | publisher = Fsplanet | url = http://www.fsplanet.com/ditano4.htm | access-date = 23 May 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111004134127/http://www.fsplanet.com/ditano4.htm | archive-date = 2011-10-04 }}</ref> The FAA's Alaskan Region consulted John Callahan,<ref group = note>John J. Callahan was employed for over 30 years in the FAA, specializing in air traffic control and its software applications. He was Division Chief for Accidents, Evaluations, and Investigations (1981–88), and pursued a consulting career after his FAA retirement. See Kean, 2010, p. 297</ref> the FAA Division Chief of the Accidents and Investigations branch, as they wanted to know what to tell the media about the UFO.<ref name = Callahan>John Callahan address to National Press Club Conference, The disclosure project, May 9, 2001, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_90qFS4AuRs youtube]</ref> John Callahan was unaware of any such incident, considering it a likely early flight of a [[Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit|stealth bomber]], then in development. He asked the Alaskan Region to forward the relevant data to their technical center in [[Atlantic City, New Jersey|Atlantic City]], New Jersey, where he and his superior played back the radar data and tied it in with the voice tapes by videotaping the concurrent playbacks.<ref name = Callahan/>


<ref name="Ellensburg">{{cite news |title=UFO dwarfed jet, pilot says |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3ItUAAAAIBAJ&pg=6997,11171845&dq=japan+airlines+1628&hl=en |access-date=23 September 2023 |agency=news.google.com/newspapers |publisher=The Daily Record |date=December 31, 1986 |location=Ellensburg, Washington |page=20}}</ref>
An Author popular with UFO enthusiasts, Timothy Good, claimed in his book that, a day later at FAA headquarters, they briefed Vice Admiral [[Donald D. Engen]], who watched the whole video of over half an hour, and asked them not to talk to anybody until they were given the OK, and to prepare an encompassing presentation of the data for a group of government officials the next day.<ref name = Good>{{Cite book | last = Good | first = Timothy | title = Need to Know: UFOs, the Military, and Intelligence | publisher = Pegasus Books | year = 2007 | pages = 400–401 }}</ref> The meeting was attended by representatives of the FBI, CIA and President Reagan's Scientific Study Team, among others. Upon completion of the presentation, the author claimed, all present were told that the incident was secret and that their meeting "never took place". According to Callahan, the officials considered the data to represent the first instance of recorded radar data on a UFO, and they took possession of all the presented data.<ref name = Callahan/> John Callahan however managed to retain the original video, the pilot's report and the FAA's first report in his office.<ref name = Good/> The forgotten target print-outs of the computer data were also rediscovered, from which all targets can be reproduced that were in the sky at the time.<ref name = Callahan/>


<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |title=F.A.A. Presses Investigation of Lights Seen Over Alaska |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/05/us/faa-presses-investigation-of-lights-seen-over-alaska.html |access-date=23 September 2023 |agency=nytimes.com |newspaper=New York Times |date=January 5, 1987 |page=10}}</ref>
After a three-month investigation, the FAA formally released their results at a press conference held on March 5, 1987. Here Paul Steucke retracted earlier FAA suggestions that their controllers confirmed a UFO,<ref name = evening/> and ascribed it to a "split radar image" which appeared with unfortunate timing. He clarified that "the FAA [did] not have enough material to confirm that something was there", and though they were "accepting the descriptions by the crew" they were "unable to support what they saw".<ref name =ADNews>{{Cite news | last = Bernton | first = Hal | title = FAA has no conclusion about UFO | page = 1 | newspaper = Anchorage Daily News | location = Anchorage | date = March 6, 1987 }}</ref> The McGrath incident was revealed here amongst the ample set of documents supplied to the journalists.


<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news |title=Airline crew sees UFO mother ship |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KpRdAAAAIBAJ&pg=4907,5565770&hl=en |access-date=23 September 2023 |agency=news.google.com/newspapers |newspaper=The Telegraph-Herald |date=December 31, 1986 |page=1}}</ref>
The sighting received special attention from the media,<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/05/us/faa-presses-investigation-of-lights-seen-over-alaska.html "F.A.A. Presses Investigation of Lights Seen Over Alaska"]. ''The New York Times''. January 5, 1987 (Retrieved on July 11, 2009)</ref> as a supposed instance of the tracking of UFOs on both ground<ref name = evening/> and airborne radar, while being observed by experienced airline pilots, with subsequent confirmation by an FAA Division Chief.


<ref name="AP">{{cite news |last1=Raeburn |first1=Paul |title=Scientists Explain Alleged UFO Sighting by Japanese Pilot over Alaska |url=https://apnews.com/article/275967ae96c4e21dad2fb5eda04bcb37 |access-date=23 September 2023 |agency=apnews.com |publisher=Associated Press |date=January 27, 1987 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122233407/https://apnews.com/article/275967ae96c4e21dad2fb5eda04bcb37 |archive-date=November 22, 2022}}</ref>
==Scientific evaluation==


<ref name="SI Klass">{{cite journal |last1=Klass |first1=Philip J. |authorlink= Philip J. Klass|title=FAA Data Sheds New Light on JAL Pilot's UFO Report |journal=Skeptical Inquirer |date=1987 |volume=11 |issue=Summer |pages=322–326 |url=https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/ufos/jal1628/733667-001-003.pdf}}</ref>
UFO skeptic researcher [[Philip J. Klass]] investigated the incident and wrote in his book ''The UFO Invasion'' that:
{{Quote
|text=The FAA [information] reveals Terauchi to be a "UFO repeater," with two other UFO sightings prior to November 17, and two more this past January, which normally raises a "caution flag" for experienced UFO investigators. The JAL pilot is convinced that UFOs are extraterrestrial and when describing the light(s) Terauchi often used the term spaceship or mothership.
|author=Philip J. Klass
|source=''The UFO Invasion'' (1997)<ref name = PsychicVibrations>{{cite magazine |last= Sheaffer |first= Robert |date= November 2014 |title= Psychic Vibrations |url= https://skepticalinquirer.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2014/11/p19.pdf|magazine= Skeptical Inquirer |location= Amherst, New York |publisher= Committee for Skeptical Inquiry}} </ref>
}}


<ref name="Sheaffer">{{cite journal |last1=Sheaffer |first1=Robert|authorlink = Robert Sheaffer |title=JAL 1628: Capt. Terauchi's Marvelous 'Spaceship' |journal=Skeptical Inquirer |date=2014 |volume=38 |issue=6 |pages=19–21 |url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2014/11/p19.pdf |access-date=23 September 2023}}</ref>
A simple scientific explanation is that the UFO sightings were actually the presence of a bright Jupiter and Mars in the positions reported by the captain. Interpreting celestial bodies as UFOs is fairly common. The radar return reported by the Captain were not UFOs, but rather the mountainous terrain just ahead of the aircraft. The second UFO sighting on January 11 was the result of village lights bouncing off ice crystals in the atmosphere.<ref>{{cite news |author=Paul Raeburn |date=January 27, 1987 |title=Scientists Explain Alleged UFO Sighting by Japanese Pilot over Alaska |work=AP News |url=https://apnews.com/article/275967ae96c4e21dad2fb5eda04bcb37}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |author=Philip J. Klass |date=Summer 1987 |title=FAA Data Sheds New Light On JAL Pilot's UFO Report |magazine=Skeptical Inquirer Volume=11 |url=https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/ufos/jal1628/733667-001-003.pdf |via=The Black Vault}}</ref>


<ref name="Dunning">{{cite web |last1=Dunning |first1=Brian |authorlink= Brian Dunning (author)|title=The Japan Air Lines Alaska UFO |url=https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4753 |website=Skeptoid.com |publisher=Skeptoid Media |access-date=23 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230524025304/https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4753 |archive-date=24 May 2023}}</ref>
According to UFO skeptic [[Robert Sheaffer]], "[t]he bottom line is, Terauchi's own flight crew saw only 'lights,' and other aircraft checking out the situation saw nothing unusual."<ref name = PsychicVibrations/>


}}
==Subsequent Alaskan sightings==

===Alaska Airlines Flight 53 incident===
On 29 January 1987<ref name =ADNews/><ref group = note>Also reported as 30 January due to time zone differences. [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]] is nine hours ahead of [[Alaska Time Zone|Alaska Standard Time]].</ref> at 18:40,<ref name = FAA290187/> [[Alaska Airlines]] Flight 53 observed a fast moving object on their onboard weather radar. While at {{convert|35000|ft|m|abbr=on}}, some {{convert|60|miles|km}} west of [[McGrath, Alaska|McGrath]], on a flight from [[Nome, Alaska|Nome]] to [[Anchorage]], the radar registered a strong target in their 12 o'clock position, at {{convert|25|miles|km}} range.

While they could not distinguish any object or light visually, they noticed that the radar object was increasing its distance at a very high rate. With every sweep of their radar, about 1 second apart, the object added five miles to its distance, translating to a speed of {{convert|18000|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}.<ref name = FAA290187>FAA, Statement of Interview with Alaska Airlines Crew, January 29, 1987 at 1930 AST, Richard O. Gordon, Manager, AAL FSDO-63</ref><ref name = FAA060287>FAA, Personal Statement, Briggs N. Willoughby, FAA Assistant Manager of Automation at Anchorage ATC, February 3, 1987 (Attached: FAA News: For Immediate Release, February 6, 1987 (Revised Feb. 21, 1987) * Unknown Traffic Sighted by Alaska Airlines Crew on Onboard Weather Radar, Contact: Paul Steucke)</ref> The pilot however relayed a speed of 'a mile a second' to the control tower, or a speed of {{convert|3600|mph|km/h|abbr=on}},<ref name = FAA090287/> but confirmed that the target exceeded both the {{convert|50|miles|km|abbr=on}} and {{convert|100|miles|km|abbr=on}} ranges of their radar scope in a matter of seconds.<ref name = FAA290187/><ref name = FAA060287/> The object was outside the radar range of the Anchorage ARTCC,<ref name = FAA290187/> and additional radar data covering the specified time and location failed to substantiate the pilots' claim.<ref name = FAA060287/>

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" width=62% style="background: #fffaef; border: 1px dotted gray;"
|-
!style="background:#ffdead;" colspan="3"|Excerpt from communication with Anchorage ATC (ZAN)<ref name = FAA090287>FAA Memorandum, Transcription concerning the incident involving Alaska Airlines 53 on January 30, 1987, Bobby J. Lamkin, Air Traffic Service Evaluator, Alaskan region</ref><ref name = HC/>
|-
! Time
! Speaker
! Dialog
|-
|18:39:29
|AS-53
|Center, fifty-three.
|-
|18:39:30
|ZAN
|Alaska fifty-three, go ahead.
|-
|18:39:33
|AS-53
|Any traffic in this, ah, area do you? Headed towards Anchorage.
|-
|18:39:36
|ZAN
|Ah, I have one coming outbound from Anchorage towards McGrath at this time. It's a [[Piper PA-31 Navajo|Piper Navajo]] at twelve thousand and, ah, I have a same direction [[Ryan Air Services|Ryan Air]] Beech zero two estimating over McGrath zero four zero eight at two five zero. Other than that I don't have any other airplanes.
|-
|18:39:52
|AS-53
|Okay we're just curious up at about our altitude, ah, headed that direction, thanks. You haven't had any UFO reports lately, huh?
|-
|18:40:10
|ZAN
|Well, I was just getting ready to ask you about that, ah, could you tell me, ah, the position of that aircraft?
|-
|18:40:15
|AS-53
|Yea, it's just underneath our radar. Picked up a blip. Moving about a mile a second. Just pulled out straight ahead of us, and disappeared. (garbled) shot at him but ah ... Then he was there, then he was gone.
|-
|18:40:26
|ZAN
|Alaska fifty-three, Roger. And, ah, ah, did you have any visual sighting with that aircraft or anything like that?
|-
|18:40:32
|AS-53
|Negative. We just picked up on radar the, ah, traffic and, ah, just watched it, just pulled out straight ahead of us and just disappeared in a matter of seconds.
|-
|18:40:41
|ZAN
|Alaska fifty-three, Roger. Standby, please.
|-
|18:44:31
|AS-53
|Anchorage. Alaska fifty-three, McGrath.
|-
|18:44:34
|ZAN
|Alaska fifty-three go ahead.
|-
|18:44:36
|AS-53
|Fifty-three McGrath at zero three four four level three five zero. Anchorage zero four one four landing.
|-
|18:44:45
|ZAN
|Alaska fifty-three, Roger. Contact Anchorage Center one one eight point two six zero [[Distance measuring equipment|DME]] southeast of McGrath. And I just checked on this, we don't have military as active. There shouldn't be any military aircraft. Over, we're, ah, not talking too at this time operating in your vicinity. Ah, have you shown any else on radar since that last, ah, contact?
|-
|18:45:03
|AS-53
|Ah, no sir.
|-
|18:45:06
|ZAN
|Alaska fifty-three. Will see you next time. Good day.
|-
|18:45:08
|AS-53
|(garbled transmission)
|}

===KC-135 observation===
A [[US Air Force]] [[Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker|KC-135]] jet flying from Anchorage to Fairbanks once again observed a very large, disk-shaped object on January 30, 1987. The pilot reported that the object was {{nowrap|12 m}} (40 ft) from the aircraft. The object then disappeared out of sight.
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" width=62% style="background: #fffaef; border: 1px dotted gray;"
|-
!style="background:#ffdead;" colspan="2"|Excerpts of communication with Anchorage ATC Center<ref name = HC>History Channel, UFO Files – Black box secrets, on youtube</ref>
|-
! Speaker
! Dialog
|-
|[[Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker|KC-135]]
|Do you have traffic for us around one o'clock? Can't really tell the distance. Seems to be about low altitude.
|-
|[[Air Traffic Control|AATCC]]
|Actor two nine. Negative. I have no traffic in your one o'clock.
|-
|
|...
|-
|KC-135
|We're from California. Just visiting up here. People see this sort of thing a lot? Apart from the Japan Airline types?
|-
|AATCC
|Actor two nine. Very rare seeing the lights up there.
|-
|
|...
|-
|AATCC
|Actor two nine. The [[Flight operations quality assurance|quality assurance]] [[Federal Aviation Administration|staff]] at [[Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport|Anchorage Center]] here request that you give them a call after you land at [[Eielson Air Force Base|Eielson]].
|-
|KC-135
|That is concerning the object we were looking at?
|-
|AATCC
|Affirmative sir.
|}

==In popular culture==
The incident was described on an episode of the documentary series ''[[The Unexplained Files]]'', broadcast on [[Science Channel]] on 23 September 2014.<ref name=UnexplainedFiles>{{Cite episode|title=Mysteries at 30,000 Feet|series=''[[The Unexplained Files]]''|network=[[The Science Channel]]|season = 2|number = 9|air-date=23 September 2014}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}


==Further reading==
==Further reading==
*Correspondence between [[Philip J. Klass]] and the [[US Department of Transportation]] [[Federal Aviation Administration]] with credit to astronomers Nick Sanduleak and C.B. Stephenson - per [[Freedom of Information Act]] (FOIA) plus reprint of "FAA data sheds new light on JAL pilot's report" by Philip J. Klass in ''Skeptical Inquirer'' 11 (4): 322–326. 1987.
* Leslie Kean, 2010, UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go On the Record {{ISBN|0-307-71708-9}}
* Kendrick Frazier et al., 1997, The UFO Invasion {{ISBN|1-57392-131-9}} – includes a reprint of "FAA data sheds new light on JAL pilot's report" by Philip J. Klass in ''Skeptical Inquirer'' 11 (4): 322–326. 1987.

== External links ==
* {{cite news|author=Berliner, Jeff|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_XgLAAAAIBAJ&pg=6556,6438688&dq=japan+airlines+1628|title=Pilot certain of UFO sightings|agency=[[United Press International]]|newspaper=[[Mohave Daily Miner]]|date=1986-12-31|page=2}}{{deadlink|date=November 2020}}
* {{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3ItUAAAAIBAJ&pg=6997,11171845&dq=japan+airlines+1628&hl=en|title=UFO dwarfed jet, pilot says|agency=[[United Press International]]|newspaper=[[Ellensburg Daily Record]]|date=1986-12-31|page=20}}

{{Portal bar|Japan|Alaska|1980s|Aviation}}

{{coord|65|29|02|N|145|58|30|W|type:event_region:US-AK|display=title}}


{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1986}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1986}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in the 1980s}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in the 1980s}}
{{UFOs}}{{JAL Group}}
{{UFOs}}{{JAL Group}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Japan Air Lines Flight 1628 Incident}}
[[Category:1986 in Alaska]]
[[Category:1986 in Alaska]]
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 747]]
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 747]]

Latest revision as of 06:02, 27 August 2024

Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1628 was a Japanese Boeing 747-200F cargo aircraft flying from Paris to Narita International Airport that was involved in an unidentified flying object (UFO) sighting on November 17, 1986. During the flight, Captain Kenji Terauchi reported seeing three objects he described as "two small ships and the mothership". The FAA in Anchorage only saw Flight 1628 on their radar. Two other nearby planes only saw Flight 1628 and no other objects. An FAA investigation of the incident characterized Terauchi as a "UFO repeater". Astronomers and investigators have determined that Terauchi probably mistook the planets Jupiter and Mars as UFOs. Contradictions among the accounts of the crew from the three aircraft as well as contradictions between the transcripts and later interviews with Terauchi have cast doubt that anything unusual happened.

Observation

[edit]

On the Reykjavík to Anchorage section of the flight, flying at 35,000 feet (11,000 m), at 17:11 over eastern Alaska, the pilot, Captain Kenji Terauchi reported seeing three unidentified objects, "flying parallel and then ... very close". News media of the time reported that Terauchi referred to the objects as "the two small ships and the mother ship",[1] and as "two small ones and one twice the size of an aircraft carrier".[2] After six minutes, Terauchi radioed the Anchorage Federal Aviation Administration who advised him to take "evasive action". Terauchi decreased altitude and turned the plane in a circle, but reported that the lights were still with the plane after the turns.[3]

At the time, news media stated that the FAA reported seeing objects near the plane even after the evasive maneuvers,[1][2] but upon later review, the military radar images were "dismissed as clutter, and an object that showed up on the aviation agency's screens was thought to be a coincidental split image of the aircraft". Fairbanks FAA air controllers saw only Flight 1628 on their radar screens.[3]

Terauchi reported that the objects followed the plane for 640 kilometres (400 mi).[1] Two planes that were near Flight 1628, a United Airlines and an Air Force C-130 cargo plane reported that they did not see any objects either visually or on radar.[4]

Flight 1628 landed in Anchorage, the crew were debriefed and FAA investigators determined "they were 'normal, professional, rational, (and had) no drug or alcohol involvement'".[1]

Explanation

[edit]

Editor of Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine and UFO investigator Phillip J. Klass reported that the planets Jupiter and Mars were in the area that Teruchi said he saw two lights, and although they would have been quite visible, he did not mention seeing them. Klass states that it is not unusual for an experienced pilot to "mistake[n] a bright celestial body for a UFO, nor will it be the last. ... Jupiter was only 10 degrees above the horizon, making it appear to the pilot to be roughly at his own 35,000-foot altitude".[4] Klass noted that when the crew was interviewed separately in 1988, their remembrance of the event differed significantly.[5]

According to Klass, the pilot later contradicted what he told flight controllers at the time of the incident. After reviewing transcripts of the radio communications, an FAA spokesperson stated that the pilot told the ground controllers that he lost "sight of the object after completing his turn". But in a later interview, the spokesperson said that Terauchi said the "object stayed with him as he turned". [4]

The FAA released a data package of the incident characterizing Terauchi as a "'UFO repeater', having reported two other UFO sightings prior to November 17th, and two more this past January". In a January 11, 1987 UFO sighting reported by Terauchi in the same general area as Flight 1628, he stated he saw "irregular pulsating lights ... [and] a large black chunk just in front of us". The FAA radar did not confirm an object, and the event was later determined to have been "lights from small villages being diffused by thin clouds of ice crystals". Klass notes that Terauchi used the words "spaceship or mothership" in his reports and claimed that the "mothership ... did not want to be seen". Teruchi also claimed that "we humans will meet them in the near future".[5]

According to astronomer and UFO investigator Robert Sheaffer, despite Flight 1628 becoming one of "the most celebrated cases in recent UFO literature, it turns out there wasn't much to read". About Terauchi's report, Sheaffer states that the pilot is not "an unbiased or objective observer".[6] Science writer Brian Dunning writes that there was "nothing extraordinary or unusual on that evening" calling Terauchi "a fine and competent pilot, but was hardly unbiased when it came to alien spaceships" and Flight 1628 "just another unevidenced aerial anecdote".[7]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d "UFO dwarfed jet, pilot says". Ellensburg, Washington: The Daily Record. news.google.com/newspapers. December 31, 1986. p. 20. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Airline crew sees UFO mother ship". The Telegraph-Herald. news.google.com/newspapers. December 31, 1986. p. 1. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  3. ^ a b "F.A.A. Presses Investigation of Lights Seen Over Alaska". New York Times. nytimes.com. January 5, 1987. p. 10. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Raeburn, Paul (January 27, 1987). "Scientists Explain Alleged UFO Sighting by Japanese Pilot over Alaska". Associated Press. apnews.com. Archived from the original on November 22, 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  5. ^ a b Klass, Philip J. (1987). "FAA Data Sheds New Light on JAL Pilot's UFO Report" (PDF). Skeptical Inquirer. 11 (Summer): 322–326.
  6. ^ Sheaffer, Robert (2014). "JAL 1628: Capt. Terauchi's Marvelous 'Spaceship'" (PDF). Skeptical Inquirer. 38 (6): 19–21. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  7. ^ Dunning, Brian. "The Japan Air Lines Alaska UFO". Skeptoid.com. Skeptoid Media. Archived from the original on 24 May 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023.

Further reading

[edit]
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