Media contacts to the FAA

U.S.Department
of Transportation
Federal Aviation
Administration
FOR RE LEASE ON
MA RCH 5 , 1987
#87-09
News:Office of Public Affairs
Alaskan Region
701 C Street. Box 14
Anchorage, Alaska 995 13
(907) 271-5296
CONTACT: PAUL STEUCKE
FAA RELEASES DOCUMENTS ON
REPORTED UFO SIGHfING LAST NOVEMBER
The Federal Aviation Administration today released documents relating to the
reported sighting of an unidentified flying object (UFO) over Alaska by a Japan
Air Lines flight crew on November 17, 1986, saying it was unable to confirm the
event.
The material was issued by FAA's Regional Office in Anchorage, Alaska, and
included transcripts of pilot-controller communications, interviews with
controllers and the fli ght crew, radar plots and other data.
FAA's Regional Public Affairs Officer Paul Steucke pointed out that FAA
normally does not investigate UFO sightings but pursued the JAL incident in its
r ole as the operator of the air traffic control system. He said the agency's
objective was to determine if t here was an unreported aircraft in the vicinity
of t he JAL fli ght that could present a safety hazard.
As part of the inquiry, Steucke said, radar data of the JAL fli ght track was
reviewed by FAA experts at the agency's Technical Center in Atlantic City,
N.J., using identical equipment . They determined that a second radar target
near the JAL flight at the time of the reported sighting was not another
air craft but rather a split radar return from the JAL Boeing 747.
Technically, this is known as an "uncorrelated primary and beacon target
r eturn." It means that the primary radar signal reflected off the aircraft 's
su r face did not correlate exactly with the pulse emitted by the aircraft's
r adar beacon transponder. This phenomenon is not unusual and gives the
impression of two separate radar targets.
Steucke also noted that FAA controllers who monitored the JAL aircraft said
i n t heir statements that they thought there might have been another aircraft
because of t he dual radar targets. However, a northbound United Air Lines jet
that was diverted by controllers to intercept the JAL fli ght path did establish
vi sual contact with t hat aircraft but the pilots saw nothing else.
The Nov. 17 UFO sighting was reported by JAL Captain Kenjyu Terauchi on a
cargo fli ght over the polar cap from Iceland to Japan via Anchorage . Captain
Ter auchi said he had visual contact from approximately the U.S.-Canadian border
to south of Fairbanks. On Jan. 11, 1987, Captain Terauchi also reported
another s i ghtin g in the s ame gene ral area as the first.
Steucke sa id FAA is satisfied that the safety of the air traffic control
system was not compromised by the Nov. 17 incident and plans no further
i nvestigat ion of the circumstances.
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