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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.
FAA to send report to Washington UFO inquiry records to be forwarded.... .... V.A oaur fVtA aIa tn COA if ll (Thts U/nlllH fn1 ANCHORAGE (AP)—Federal The pilot said the large unidenti- Terauchi said he then saw^e Aviation Administration officials fied flying object on his *®vemg^^ eight milesmfrontsaytheywillsendontoWashington cockpit weather radar. But imagM of hjs aircraft, their radar tapes and records from on mihtary rato we^^ the - • ' - time were dismissed as **clutter,' cle to see if the lights would follow. Ihey did, and moved to the left side of the jet, Steucke said. The FAA and the military in Alaska use the same long-range radar in Fairbanks, Steucke said. The FAA also uses sophisticated computer systems to remove clut ter from radar images, but the military does not, he said. "The milit^ decided about a minute into this exercise that what it was seeing was clutter," he said. The Air Force did not send up an interceptor and is not investigating the matter, Steucke said. At the FAA center in Anchorage, controllers following the flight noted occasional second blips, or "split targets," on the screen near FU^t 1638, Steucke said. fe it ' • an inquiry into a Japan Air Lines pilot's reportthat a UFO followed his pla^ over Alaska. of public interest in the case, the agency interviewed the pilot, Kenji Terauchi, a second time Friday, said FAAspokesman Paul Steucke. Terauchi told inve^igators three lights start^ following his Boeing *747 cargo jet Nqv. 17 just after it crossed into Alaska from Canada, and stayedwithHim for55minutes. Hesaidtwo oftheligl^ were ab- (Hitei^tfeetacross,while thethird appeared to be part of a darkened ^be with a diameter of perhaps twoairvaft carriers placed end-to- Steuclpe said. and a blip that showed up on FAA screens was considered a coin- cidental "split image" of the air craft, Steu(^ said. A JAL spokeswoman said Terauchi was on a flight to Europe and was unavailable for further comment. Flight 1628, with a crew of three, left Iceland on Nov. 17with a load of wine bound for Tokyo from Paris. Terauchi and his crew picked up the plane in Iceland for the PoUf leg ofthe fli^ toAnchorage. The sky was clear as the jet, cruising at 525 knots, crossed into Alaska from Canada just northeast of Fort Ynkop at 35,000 feet. The pilot reported the lights were yellow, amber and green, Steucke said, butnot^red, the international color for aircraft beacons. "His main concern was trying to determinewhether he was overtak ing another aircraft," Steucke said. He said the pilot reported he dimmedcockpitlights to ensure he was notseeing a reiection. After about six minutes, Terauchi reported the lights and air traffic controllers' told him to take any evasive action needed. Terauchi decreased altitude to 31,000 feet, but said the lights went down with him "in formation," Steucke said. South of Fairbanks, Terauchi turned the plane in a complete cir c (/» m pa o
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