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This FAA file, released through the National Archives and The Black Vault, collects 1987 newspaper clippings about Japan Air Lines Flight 1628. Capt. Kenju Terauchi reported that lights and a huge walnut-shaped object followed his 747 cargo jet over Alaska on November 17, 1986. The articles quote FAA spokesman Paul Steucke saying the radar returns were a split image and military clutter, and report Philip Klass's explanation that Terauchi saw Jupiter and Mars. Terauchi's second sighting in January was attributed to village lights reflecting off ice crystals.
vestigators give November UFOAaodttedPfW The Federal Aviation Administration has stepi^ up its investigation of wa vering ligihs that dogged a Japan Air Lines cargo^jet across Alaska's night sky for nearly an hour in November, an official said Sunday. "We're looking.at it to ensure that somebody ^dn't violate airspace we control," said FAA spokesman Paul Steucke. "We looked at it about six weeks ago, but since then we've gotten a lot of public interest, so we went back and re-interviewed the pilot." The veteran pilot, Kenji Terauchi, told investigators two of the lights were small, peitops no larger than eight feet across. He said the third light was on an aircraft, a huge darkened globe with a diameter of peihaps two aircraft car riers placed end-to-end, Steucke said. Terauchi said the large UFO ^owed. up on his cockpit weather radar. But im ages on military radar screens at the' time were dismissed as "clutter," and a blip that^owedup on FAA scre^ was analyzed as a coincidental "split image" of the aircraft, Steuckesaid. Radar tapes, transcribed interviews and radio messages are to be sent to the FAA in Washington, D.C., later this week for review, Steucke said. A JAL spokeswoman Sunday said Terauchi was on a flight to Europe and was unavailable. Flight 1628, with a three-man crew, left Iceland oh Nov. 17 with a load of wine bound for Tokyo from Paris. Ter auchi and his crew boarded the Boeing 747 in Iceland for the Anchorage leg of the trip. The evening sky was clear as the jet, cruising at 525 knots, crossed into Alaska from Canada, just northeast of Fort Yukon. As the plane flew at 35,000 sighting a Second look determine whether he was overtaking another aircraft." Steucke said the pilot reported he dimmed cockpit lights to ensure he was not seeing a reflection. "He flew for about six minutes be fore he decided to report anything," Steucke said. "I can't say I blame him for that." Terauchi radioed Anchorage FAA air controllers, who direct all aircraft traf fic in the state, except for planes near airports, Steucke said. Fairbanks con trollers checked their screens but saw only Flight 1628, Stuecke said. feet, Terauchi said he saw three lights eight miles in front of his aircraft. The pilot reported the lights were yellow, ember and green, Steucke said, but not red, the international color for aircraft beacons. "The two smaller ones moved a little bit, ch^ed their angle. The smaller ones did not show up on the weather radar onboard" Steucke said. "The larger one did. "It appeared to him it might be possi ble that the lights might be exhaust pipes, they kind of wavered but did not blink. His main concern was trying to a
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