Japan Air Lines Flight 1628 encounter

Record summary

What happened A Japan Air Lines cargo Boeing 747 flying from Paris to Tokyo via Anchorage was north of Fairbanks when captain Kenju Terauchi reported lights and objects near the aircraft. The other two crew members confirmed unusual lights but did not endorse every detail in Terauchi's later descriptions. Terauchi reported two smaller objects and then a much larger dark form; controllers approved course changes and asked a United Airlines flight and a military aircraft to look, but those crews did not see the reported objects. FAA radar operators discussed intermittent returns, while the agency's review found no reliable radar target that clearly corroborated a large craft. The case became prominent after FAA records and communications were released. Evidence Three flight-crew witnesses, recorded air-traffic-control communications, FAA radar and administrative records, and testimony from controllers and officials. Explanations considered Bright planets and stars seen through ice-crystal clouds, reflections on the cockpit windows, and ambiguous radar clutter have been proposed. These may account for the lights without establishing the very large object described by Terauchi. What remains uncertain The crew did not describe the event identically, outside aircraft failed to confirm it visually, and the radar returns were intermittent and disputed. Later retellings often merge Terauchi's strongest claims with the more limited observations of the other crew members. Primary source Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1628 incident — Wikipedia