Documents / Hearing transcript
This FAA compilation, released through the National Archives and The Black Vault, covers Japan Airlines Flight 628's sighting over Alaska on January 11, 1987. It includes an FAA incident report dated February 1987, a chronology of the communications between the crew and Anchorage ARTCC, and statements from controllers and a meteorologist. Radar showed no traffic near the aircraft apart from weather clutter. The report says Captain Terauchi later believed the lights were village lights distorted by ice crystals.
FEB 5 1987 The following chronology summarizes the communications and actions of Japan Airli nes Flight 628, (JL628), from 1624 UTC to 1723 UTC, January 11, 1987 All times listed are approximate UTC unless otherwise specified. 1629 - JL628 requested traffic information, advising the ZAN controller that they had " special lights" two miles ahead, two thousand feet below. 1630 - JL628 requested that the following transmission be recorded (spoken in Japanes e ): "Futeikina raito ga mieteiru Choodo ookina kuroi katamari ga mae ni iru Kyorinishite go mairu Dooyara uchuusen no moyoo" English translation as follows: "We see irregular pulsating lights just, there is a black chunk (just) in front (of us) distance is five miles it seems to be a spaceship. 1631 - The ZAN controller advised JL628 that the radar, in JL628's vicinity, was out of service. 1 633 - The ZAN controller advised JL628 that they would check with the military radar. 1 634 - JL628 advised that the traffic was "one mile ahead", "same direction head i ng one eight zero approximate". 1636 - J L6 28 asked ZAN if there wa s a ny town in his vicinity a nd ZAN re s p ond e d that th e closest town would b e For t Yukon. 163 7 - ZAN ask ed JL6 28 to say flight conditions and JL628 reported clear, wind two five two diagonal four six , temperature minus two". "sky five 1 638 - JL628 reques t ed and recei ve d a s e ries of 45 d eg r e e turn s . advised by ZAN tha t the y were r a dar conta ct 220 miles Fairbank s. Th e y were north of 1639 - The Re g ional Ope rations Command Center (ROCC) advi s e d ZAN that JL628 was p a ssing over Art i e Villa ge and what the a ircra ft probably saw was lights from t ha t village . Th ey , t h e ROCC, s t at ed that there was no traffic in t h e vicinity of J L628. I
Hearing transcript, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 14 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.