Introduction
On November 17, 1986, a Captain and 2 Crew members of Japanese Air Line Cargo Flight 1628 would allege to see something truly bizarre in the sky. While flying over Alaska, Captain Kenji Terauchi, first officer Takanori Tamefuji and flight engineer Yoshie Tsukuba would spot strange lights in the sky. What the men experienced next would truly astound them though. In this post, we will examine the events surrounding Japanese Flight 1628 on that evening as well as the ensuing investigation.
The Sighting
On November 17, 1986, Flight 1628 was in transit in Alaska. The Cargo plane carrying French Wine had departed from France and was flying to Tokyo with a planned stop in Anchorage to refuel.
Around 5:10 pm during the flight, the Anchorage Air Traffic Control Center contacted flight 1628, and the flight controller asked the captain to turn left about 15 degrees. Sitting on the left side of the cockpit, Captain Terauchi and the crew saw two strange, white lights to the left and below. At first, they ignored them as he believed they were military planes. After a few minutes though, the men came to the surprising realization, the lights were something else and instead of moving further away or closer, they appeared the same. In other words, they appeared to be tracking with the plane.
At this time, first Officer Tamefuji radioed the Anchorage Control center and asked if there were any other aircrafts in the vicinity. They responded that no other was there, and the ground radar didn’t show any other aircraft near them.
The lights then began moving at incredible speeds and moving in ways no aircraft could.
After 7-10 minutes the two lights began moving in and remarkably settled in front of Flight 1628, only around 1000 feet in front of it. Amazing the craft was staying right in front of flight 1628 and keeping a safe distance. As for the two lights, they appeared square, and each object had parallel, rectangular bars that ran horizontal. The bars, had what Captain Terauchi described as exhaust flames, lit up randomly and Terauchi believed the white and amber lights allowed the craft to balance.
As the lights flashed, it lit up the inside of the cockpit and Captain Terauchi would later report that he felt the warmth of the lights on his face. After some time, the two small crafts would ascend upward and fly away.
Around 15 minutes later, the crew saw a white horizontal light in the distance. Inside the cockpit, the men would see a large object appear around 7-8 miles on Satellite. The object was located in the same location that the men saw the light.
As 1628 as they were flying over Fairbanks, the crew then realized that a large walnut shaped object was now trailing them. It had two white lights on the edges of the craft. There were several white lights flashing on the top. Perhaps most astonishing though was the size of the craft. Captain Terauchi reported that the UFO, was around the size of two aircraft carriers. In addition, the ship moved easily and quietly.
Described by Captain Terauchi as the mothership, the massive ship was tracking flight 1628. In order to try and lose the mothership, The flight gained permission from Air Traffic control to change direction. The plane did a full circle, but the massive craft kept following the aircraft with ease.
During this time, air traffic control offered to send a fighter pilot jet, but Terauchi refused as he believd the jet might inadvertently tempt the UFO to become aggressive.
As the men continued into Anchorage, air traffic control asked a United Airlines flight to get a visual confirmation of Flight 1628. This was done since none of the radars in Air Traffic control saw the huge craft. As the planes flew by another, they flashed their landing lights. At this time though, the craft had vanished, and the United Crew didn’t spot the UFO.
The Aftermath
Flight 1628 would soon land and begin their debrief.
All three men would verify that they saw something on the flight, although their accounts and opinions of what it was were different.
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Captain Terauchi was the most outspoken and adamant that they witnessed a UFO. He provided the most details and seemed to be the one who saw the most based on his seat on the plane. It’s important to point out, Captain Terauchi was an experienced pilot with more than 10,000 hours flight experience. In his debrief, The Senior pilot would discuss his thoughts how no manmade machine could do what he witnessed. However, skeptics point out that Terauchi was a UFO aficionado and had made prior reports of UFOs, which seemed to annoy his employer. In the ensuing months after he made his claims, Terauchi was assigned a desk job for several years as the company believed he had embarrassed them.
One controversial aspect of this case is the manner in which the investigation was conducted with Tamefuji and Tsukuba.
The debrief of first officer Tamefuji was done in English, not Japanese, leading many to believe key details were lost in translation. Using an interpreter, the details of what he witnessed exactly and when are difficult to decipher. Tamefuji did note that he had difficulty seeing much of it because where he was sitting. He went on to say he definitely saw the lights but wasn’t entirely sure it was a craft.
The interview of flight engineer Tsukuba was a more accurate interview being done in Japanese. He agrees with Terauchi’s assessment that there were lights in the sky but doesn’t state that a craft or crafts were visible.
Over the years many have disputed these interviews and believed that the men’s words were twisted. Some believe the men were asked leading questions and some of the key information was omitted. Others state the men have kept quiet for fear of repercussion from the Airline.
Radar Data
One of the big questions surrounding this case involves the radar data.
Officially, it wasn’t captured by any radar.
There was a total of four radars that were monitoring the skies flight 1628 was flying in. Some appear to have produced false positives or blips during the time. Still, it’s very reasonable to assume that avoiding radar technology wouldn’t be difficult for an advanced civilization.
While officially the results show none of the radars tracked the object, an interview by John Callahan in 2000, then an FAA high ranking official, sheds some light on what the military tracked.
According to Callahan, he recalled a frantic phone call from the FAA in Alaska a week after the event. The FAA told him they confirmed a UFO was causing a media stir.
In addition, The FAA said a UFO chased a 747 across the skies up here for about 30 minutes or so.
Callahan requested all the data be sent to DC.
Calahan was able to analyze the data and realize that Anchorage Air Traffic Control didn’t see the UFOs on their radar, but the NORAD Regional Operations Control Center clearly was tracking the UFO. The center had more sophisticated tracking such as height-finding radar, long-range radar and short-range radar, so if they don’t catch it on one of their systems, they catch it on the other.
Their reports show that the UFOs were traveling thousands of miles per hour as in the area around flight 1628. Even more surprising, when the United flight began approaching flight 1628, the UFO circled around behind the United Flight and began following it.
Callahan alleges he went to multiple meetings about the event and was told to stay quiet about the event. When he inquired why don’t they tell the general public, the high-ranking official stated it would cause mass panic.
So, did this sighting occur?
There continues to be much debate on the sighting. It’s important to remember though this happened at a time when UFO sightings were typically met with ridicule. There appears to only be three witnesses, but it’s very possible that the other two crew members didn’t elaborate on the details out for fear of retaliation. Some believe that the pilot saw Jupiter or Mars and thought they were UFOs. This explanation seems illogical as the pilot was experienced. This case has garnered much controversy, but with more people becoming believers in the UFO phenomenon than 40 years ago, it seems more and more people are starting to believe Captain Terauchi
