Japan Airlines Flight 1628 encounter

Record summary

Japan Airlines Cargo Flight 1628, commanded by Kenju Terauchi, reported several lights and a much larger illuminated object while flying over Alaska. The event generated FAA and media investigations, radar-related questions, and later controversy over how controllers interpreted the available data. Although geographically outside East Asia, it is a significant Japanese-crew maritime-adjacent aviation case for comparing witness testimony, air-traffic records, radar ambiguity, and institutional response. The extraordinary interpretation remains disputed, and the object descriptions changed across reporting stages.