EDITORIAL GUIDE
~6 min read
JAL Flight 1628 1986 — Massive UAP Over Alaska
On November 17, 1986, JAL cargo flight 1628 — a Boeing 747-200F — encountered multiple unidentified objects for approximately 50 minutes over Alaska. Captain Kenjyu Terauchi, a veteran pilot with over 10,000 flight hours, described a massive object 'twice the size of an aircraft carrier' appearing ahead of the aircraft. Anchorage FAA center and Elmendorf Air Force Base radar confirmed returns. The FAA launched a formal investigation. The 2026 archive release includes an unredacted CIA briefing summary prepared for Reagan administration officials. The case is indexed as file FAA-003 in the Now Declassified archive.
The Encounter: Three Phases Over 50 Minutes
The JAL 1628 encounter unfolded in three distinct phases over approximately 50 minutes. In the first phase, beginning at roughly 5:09 p.m. Alaska Standard Time, Captain Terauchi observed two small objects with illuminated arrays appearing on his starboard side. The objects matched the 747's speed and altitude at 35,000 feet and maintained a flanking position for approximately 30 minutes. Both the first officer, Takanori Tamefuji, and flight engineer Yoshio Tsukuda independently confirmed the objects visually and noted that the cockpit was lit by their lights despite the darkness of high-altitude Alaska airspace in November.
In the second phase, the flanking objects departed and a single, massive object appeared directly ahead of the aircraft. Terauchi described it as 'two times bigger than an aircraft carrier.' This object matched the aircraft's position and speed from directly in front — a configuration that would be impossible to maintain using conventional aviation profiles. In the third phase, after approximately 10 additional minutes, the large object departed, and the original flanking configuration briefly returned before both objects disappeared. The Anchorage FAA Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) was in continuous contact with the flight crew throughout the encounter.
Radar Confirmation and the FAA Investigation
The FAA's response to JAL 1628 was formal and documented. Anchorage ARTCC controllers noted radar returns in the vicinity of the JAL 747 during the encounter. When the flight crew requested an intercept, the FAA also contacted Elmendorf Air Force Base. A U.S. Air Force Military Airlift Command aircraft was diverted to the area but arrived after the objects had departed; the crew reported no contact.
Following the flight, the FAA opened a formal investigation that ultimately produced a multi-document case file, including transcripts of the crew's radio communications with Anchorage ARTCC, the official radar track data, and the crew's written statements. The FAA investigation documents were released to the public in 1987 — before modern FOIA standards made such releases routine — and subsequently transferred to the NARA archive set. FAA Division Chief John Callahan, who briefed senior government officials on the case, stated publicly after his retirement that he was instructed to keep the investigation confidential and that CIA briefers told attending FAA and government officials 'This never happened.'
The CIA Briefing and Reagan Administration Response
One of the most significant elements of the JAL 1628 case is the documented involvement of CIA and Reagan administration officials. Callahan has testified — in a 2001 National Press Club event and multiple subsequent public appearances — that he personally briefed CIA officials and members of the Reagan science advisory team using the radar data, crew statements, and cockpit recordings from the encounter. Callahan described the briefing as covering the full radar track, the 747's relative position, and the crew's consistent account of object size and behavior.
The unredacted CIA briefing summary, released as part of the 2026 NARA archive, confirms that the briefing took place and that the radar data was reviewed by intelligence community officials. The summary's existence resolves decades of uncertainty about whether the CIA was formally briefed on the JAL 1628 incident. The document does not disclose conclusions drawn by CIA officials at the time of the briefing; the analytical content remains partially redacted. However, its existence confirms that a case involving a commercial airliner, FAA radar confirmation, and a senior military airspace response was treated as a matter requiring direct CIA notification — not merely routine aviation incident handling.
What the Case Shows About Aviation UAP Evidence
The JAL 1628 case is notable for the quality of its evidence across multiple independent dimensions. The primary witness — Captain Terauchi — was a 39-year veteran of JAL with more than 10,000 flight hours and no prior history of anomalous reports. He was accompanied by two other trained crew members who independently corroborated his visual observations. The encounter occurred at cruising altitude in clear conditions, and the crew maintained radio contact with FAA controllers throughout.
The radar confirmation is the most technically significant element. Unlike many historical UAP cases where radar data was disputed or unavailable, the JAL 1628 radar returns were obtained from two independent systems: the FAA's ARTCC surveillance radar and Elmendorf's military air defense radar. Independent confirmation from two separate radar systems in the same sector substantially reduces the probability of equipment artifact or atmospheric ducting as the explanation. For researchers, this dual-radar confirmation places the JAL 1628 case in a small category of encounters — along with the 1952 Washington DC events and the USS Nimitz — where sensor data from multiple independent platforms corroborated the primary witness account. The case is indexed as file FAA-003 at nowdeclassified.com/incidents/jal-1628-1986.