JAL 1628

A 747 captain over Alaska, shadowed by something twice his size. The FAA confiscated, then confirmed, the tapes.

November 17, 1986: Japan Air Lines flight 1628, a 747 freighter over Alaska, reported two lights and a third object its captain described as twice the size of an aircraft carrier, tracked intermittently by Anchorage ARTCC and military radar for over thirty minutes. FAA division chief John Callahan later stated he was told by CIA attendees at the debrief that the event 'never happened' and retained the data, which he presented publicly in 2001 (Disclosure Project). Captain Terauchi was grounded for speaking to press. The documented radar/CVR record plus the institutional response make it the aviation file's strongest single case.