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Terauchi interview transcript, Dick Gordon, 2 Jan 1987

FAA via National Archives / The Black Vault · 20 pages · text from the file's own layer

This FAA record of interview documents a January 2, 1987 session in Anchorage, Alaska, in which Inspector Richard O. Gordon of FSDO-63 questioned JAL Captain Kenju Terauchi about his crew's November 17, 1986 sighting. Terauchi describes two small craft with exhaust-like lights that flew near his aircraft and a much larger mothership, and says the target appeared green on his onboard radar. He also reports VHF interference and says the objects matched his 360-degree turn and his descent.

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K. Terauchi Yeah. • •
R. Gordon The little one huh?
K. Terauchi (Japanese)
F. Fujii That flight level right there does not leave any evidence, also
if it on the same level, it would give this aircraft a little
turbulence cause of this air.
R. Gordon You got no turbulence?
K. Terauchi No turbulence.
R. Gordon So it's just suspended there, really.
K. Terauchi (Japanese) Right
F. Fujii (unintelligible) leave the evidence •••
R. Gordon Yeah, well that's what I'm saying, it's so moving, it's either so
areodynamic that it's not causing, so you're saying when he was
right in front of you there was not turbulence and if you had
been that close to another object that large you should have got
some buffetting?
K. Terauchi Yeah
R. Gordon Okay, I understand
K. Terauchi The turbulance would assure their existance, therefore, they
positioned themselves to here from the beginning.
R. Gordon Yes
K. Terauchi Certainly, ah approaching Fort Yukon, west side, this side east
side, so ah (unintelligible)(Japanese) big mothership (Japanese),
horizon, sunset, we caught up the sunset, two - three millimeters
strip of it. Then there was the mothership. They never came to
this side. Because of the sunset (if they came to the other
side) they would be seen, their shape by us. They positioned
themselves at the darkest side, difficult place for us to see.
But see, our aircraft was in front of the sunset and visible for
any movement we make. They took the trouble to position
themselves to be in the darkest place. I think they did not want
to be seen.
F. Fujii He thinks that they don't want, of course they don't want the
ship to see it, so they go to the place where it's dark •
R. Gordon Yeah
F. Fujii and because there's a sunset over here, and about one
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Hearing transcript, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 20 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.