JAL 1628 — Japan Airlines Crew Tracks Craft Alaska 1986

On November 17, 1986, Japan Airlines cargo Boeing 747 flight 1628 was en route from Paris to Tokyo via Anchorage, Alaska when Captain Kenjyu Terauchi and his crew observed three unidentified objects pacing their aircraft at 35,000 feet over Alaska. The objects first appeared as two smaller craft that flew in formation with the 747, then a much larger object — which Terauchi estimated as larger than two aircraft carriers combined — appeared and paced the airliner. The encounter lasted approximately 50 minutes. Critically, FAA air traffic control radar in Alaska confirmed anomalous contacts in the 747's vicinity during portions of the event. The FAA conducted an official investigation — the transcript of the ATC communications and the FAA investigation file were later released under FOIA. Captain Terauchi, a highly experienced pilot with 29 years of flying, was so convinced of what he had seen that he held a press conference — an extraordinarily rare step for a commercial airline pilot. The FAA investigation ultimately concluded that the crew had seen something but could not determine what. The confirmed radar correlation, the 50-minute duration, the extraordinary length and detail of the crew's accounts, and the FAA's unusual decision to conduct a formal investigation made JAL 1628 one of the landmark aviation UAP cases of the Cold War era.