Japan Air Lines Flight 1628

A JAL Boeing 747 freighter on the Reykjavík–Anchorage leg reported three objects pacing it at 35,000 ft, including one Terauchi described as enormous. Anchorage controllers reported returns near the aircraft; the objects stayed with the plane through turns and descents until near Talkeetna.

Explanation

The FAA’s radar returns were later dismissed as clutter / a split image; Philip Klass argued the crew saw Jupiter and Mars. The FAA found the crew professional and rational.

What was seen

Shape: Two small lights and a huge "mothership"
Witnesses: Capt. Kenji Terauchi and crew
Duration: ~50 minutes, ~400 miles

Browse

• United States
• 1980s
• Disputed
• Aviation encounters
• Official government documents
• Pilot and aircrew witnesses
• Radar tracking
• Lights and fireballs

Similar cases

• Manises — airliner diversion & Mirage intercept 11 November 1979
• Aeroflot Tu-134 over Minsk — the light that became a cloud 7 September 1984
• VASP flight 169 — the light that paced a Boeing 727 8 February 1982
• America West Flight 564 over the Texas Panhandle 25 May 1995