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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.

R. Gordon Yeah, I got that out of that other one that there was two and
then it went back to the mothership.
K. Terauchi Yeah
s. Mimoto
R. Gordon
s. Mimoto
R. Gordon
s. Mimoto
K. Terauchi
I thought maybe there was more then two.
Oh I see, I'm glad you asked that. There were only two?
Only two.
But one was larger then the other like there was two of 'em were
stuck together, right?
Then both are the same size, possible got (stuck) together later?
Yes, possibly. The one I saw first, it was this long. See if
they were stacked together at the beginning, one must have
returned to the mothership soon after the separtation.
S. Mimoto This (unintelligible)
R. Gordon Oh you saw that, and then they separated like they were together
and then they came apart.
K. Terauchi (Japanese)
R. Gordon Ah uh, okay. Same thing, and make sure that I'm right here, that
ah, ah airplane, first sighting, and say this is over here, then
it would have •••
S. Mimoto (unintelligible)
R. Gordon Okay, fine just so we know if someone asks us that question we
can answer. Very good. Well I have a lot better understanding
of what transpired then what we got out of a bunch of people when
we talked, and I want to thank you folks for your time. I really
appreciate it.
19

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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.