JAL Flight 1628 over Alaska
- Date
- 17 Nov 1986
- Place
- Over eastern Alaska, between Fort Yukon and Anchorage, United States
- Record
- Curated case
- Assessment
- Contested
- Evidence strength
What was reported
The three-man crew of a Japan Air Lines 747 cargo flight reported lights pacing them for about 50 minutes, which Capt. Kenju Terauchi described as two small ships and one 'twice the size of an aircraft carrier'; Anchorage controllers and military radar reported intermittent returns near the aircraft. The FAA interviewed the crew and found them professional and sober, then judged the military returns clutter and its own return a split image of the 747; a United airliner and a C-130 nearby saw nothing. Philip Klass noted Jupiter and Mars were in the direction of the lights. The FAA also released that Terauchi had reported other UFOs before and after.
What officials concluded
Tentative explanation
FAA: radar returns were clutter and a split image of the aircraft; lights not identified
Strongest ordinary reading
Jupiter and Mars seen through high cloud, with unrelated radar artifacts
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- Yes: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- No: Civilian
- No: Military aircrew
- No: Military ground
- Yes: Airline crew
- Yes: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- Yes: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Outside sources
- Wikipedia: Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1628en.wikipedia.org
On the map
64.84° N, 147.72° W, plotted at the centre of the region named in the record
Show on the map