File 045 · 17 November 1986
Japan Air Lines 1628
Over Alaska, United States
Opened 9/4/2026
Ledger illustration of the file — not a photograph of the object. Ledger illustration of the report. Alaskan interior from the air at night. — Night Ledger illustration of the file
Standing
Unidentified
On the public record, and still open. A claim, paper, or film — not a finding that it was ours, and not a finding that it was not.
What was claimed
A JAL cargo 747 over Alaska reported a gigantic craft. FAA radar confirmed an unknown near the aircraft. The captain drew it for investigators.
What is on the record
This file is a working record — a report, not a verdict. Official paper, if any, is linked where we have it.
Captain Kenju Terauchi, flying a 747 cargo from Paris to Anchorage, reported two small objects and then a much larger one — “twice the size of an aircraft carrier” — with dark square ports, pacing the jet over the Alaskan interior. The crew watched for more than 30 minutes. Anchorage Center asked an FAA radar controller to look; a primary target appeared near the 747 on at least some sweeps.
The FAA interviewed the crew. John Callahan, then FAA division chief of accidents and investigations, later said the data was taken to a closed meeting with CIA and scientific staff who told the FAA to treat it as weather. Terauchi was grounded for a time, then quietly returned to flight status.
The captain’s drawings, the FAA interview tapes, and the radar question — did the second blip exist — are the file. Terauchi never recanted.
Could this have been ours?
The known sky, that night.
Satellites were already up. The station was not. Starlink was not.
Always
Aircraft, balloons, meteors
Landing lights, flares, lanterns, reentries, fireballs. They are on the known sky. They do not close a file by themselves — they are what a serious look has to hold the claim against.
Orbit · Space — the desks for lights that are already named.
Sources
Related files
Same craft, same place, same years. A neighbor in the catalogue — not a conclusion.
Nearby · Same year · November 17, 1986
Japan Airlines Flight 1628 Encounter
Eastern Alaska · United States
Unidentified
Captain Kenji Terauchi and crew of a JAL Boeing 747 cargo flight observed three unidentified objects, including two smaller craft and a massive 'mothership' the size of an aircraft carrier. Objects were tracked on onboard weather radar and by Anchorage ARTCC and military radar for nearly 50 minutes. FAA investigated and held a press conference.
Same craft · Same country · 18 October 1973
Coyne helicopter encounter
Mansfield, Ohio · United States
Unidentified
An Army Reserve helicopter crew reported a gray craft with a green beam that seemed to lift their aircraft against the controls.
Same craft · August 2026
Glowing cigar-shaped object, Crispano
Crispano · Italy
Unidentified
A small-town report near Naples described a large glowing cigar hanging low over the rooftops.
Same craft · 23 April 2007
Alderney, Channel Islands
Alderney · United Kingdom
Unidentified
Two airline captains on separate Aurigny flights reported a large, stationary, yellow-orange object near Alderney in daylight.
Same craft · 11 December 1996
Yukon giant
Fox Lake to Carmacks, Yukon · Canada
Unidentified
Dozens of people along the Klondike Highway reported a silent, kilometers-long craft with rows of lights, low over the snow.
Same craft · 21 October 1978
Frederick Valentich, Bass Strait
Bass Strait, Victoria · Australia
Unidentified
A 20-year-old flying a Cessna 182 to King Island radioed that a long metallic object was orbiting him. Then a scraping sound. The aircraft was never found.