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This FAA file, released through The Black Vault, collects correspondence and memos about the Japan Air Lines flight 1628 UFO report over Alaska on November 17, 1986. It includes Philip J. Klass's 1987 Skeptical Inquirer article, which attributes the sighting to Jupiter, Mars and moonlit ice clouds, and FAA Alaskan Region public affairs memos on the premature release of investigation material. It also contains Richard F. Haines's request for the case file and Paul Steucke's reply explaining the radar returns as uncorrelated targets.
“Japan Air Lines Flight 1628”2 pages
Mr. Paul Steucke: -2- Apr. 8, 19 8 7 5. The standard mately then was 360 turn should have required roughly two minutes (using 180 deg./min. turn rate) and been completed at approxi- 0238:57 Approximately one minute later, at 0240:10, JAL cleared direct to Talkeetna. 6. QUESTION: At 0231:40, Controller Rl5 reported JAL is "one two miles southeast of the Alpha (unintelligible) ... " Where/what is the Alpha fix?? (I have an aero chart for the r e gion but cannot find an Alpha.) And did controller mean "one to two miles" or did he mean "12 miles"? 7. If your original flight path is correct, then Capt. Ter- auchi 's memory was flawed when he claimed in his detailed account (submitted to FAA on Jan. 2) that immediately after his first contact with Anchorage he was cleared "to fly direct to Talk- eetna." He refers to making a "left rotation" (turn) which would be required to fly the direct route to Talkeetna from his Alaska entry location. I have numbered the paragraphs above for your convenience in replying. Sincerely, ~~\~Philip J. Klass P.S. I can appreciate your official position on the question of UFOs. Hopefully, controllers in the Alaskan Region have learned, the hard way, that even experienced pilots can sometimes mistake prosai c objects for UFOs. Recently heard from a Northwest Airline s pilot who flew into Anchorage on Nov. 22 who told me "Jupiter was positively brilliant--like a beacon in the sky."
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