Kenju Terauchi was the Japan Air Lines captain whose report from Flight 1628 became the cockpit origin point for the 1986 Alaska unidentified-air-traffic case. FAA records often render his name as Kenjyu Terauchi and identify him as captain of a Boeing 747 cargo flight with First Officer Takanori Tamefuji and Flight Engineer Yoshio Tsukuda.12
Origin Of The Report
The case began as an operational air-traffic exchange, not as a later press story. At 0219 UTC on 18 November 1986, corresponding to the evening of 17 November in Alaska, JAL 1628 asked Anchorage Center whether controllers had traffic ahead; the controller initially reported none, and the crew then reported traffic at about its altitude.34
FAA notes from the post-flight crew interview say Terauchi placed the first visual contact near the POTAT intersection and the Alaska ADIZ while flying at FL390 and Mach 0.84. He described the unknown traffic as seven to eight nautical miles ahead on the onboard Bendix color radar, with yellow, amber, and green lights, no red lights, and two light clusters that appeared connected.2
The same notes say Terauchi judged the object to be Boeing 747-sized or larger, reported that it moved from ahead of the aircraft to the port side, and said it stayed there during a 360-degree turn near Fairbanks. The crew also reported VHF static, instrument navigation by onboard INS, and no apparent intoxication or impairment; FAA interviewers described the crew as normal, professional, and rational.25
Terauchi's Account
Terauchi's own written statement, translated by FAA employee Sayoko Mimoto and received by FAA on 2 January 1987, framed the encounter in explicitly extraordinary terms. He wrote that the B747 cargo flight encountered two smaller craft and a larger mother ship for about 50 minutes over Alaska, while also saying the episode created questions rather than an immediate danger.6
In the 2 January 1987 FAA interview, Terauchi repeated the larger-and-smaller-object structure, discussed an onboard radar return at roughly seven to eight miles, and said he darkened the cockpit while trying to observe and photograph the lights. The transcript also records that he considered this his third unusual sighting, a detail that later became part of skeptical and official caution around his interpretation.75
His account evolved from a safety report into a symbolic aviation case because he supplied both real-time radio calls and a vivid personal narrative. The strongest documentary core remains narrow: a captain reported unknown traffic, the crew and controllers discussed it during flight, FAA staff interviewed the crew afterward, and the agency preserved the record as an aviation-safety inquiry.1234
Radar And Controller Record
The Anchorage ARTCC chronology says the crew reported traffic in sight, then reported a target on its own radar at the 11 o'clock position and eight miles. It also records that the Elmendorf Regional Operations Command Center briefly advised a primary radar return near JAL 1628 before later losing or qualifying the return.3
The controller transcript shows the uncertainty in real time. Controllers approved deviations, requested the 360-degree turn, relayed intermittent military-radar information, offered military assistance, and vectored United Airlines Flight 69 toward the Japan Air Lines aircraft; United reported seeing JAL 1628 but no other aircraft around it.4
That mixed record is why Terauchi remains more important as a trained witness than as proof of a resolved object. FAA personnel saw enough to preserve radar data, interviews, and controller statements, but the released file also contains repeated limits: intermittent returns, uncertain tracks, and another flight crew unable to confirm anything near the 747.345
Official Interpretation
On 5 March 1987, FAA's Alaskan Region released the JAL 1628 materials and said the agency was unable to confirm the reported UFO event. FAA public affairs said Technical Center experts interpreted the second target near the aircraft as an uncorrelated primary and beacon return, effectively a split radar return from JAL's Boeing 747 rather than another aircraft.5
The same release said FAA normally did not investigate UFO sightings, but had reviewed JAL 1628 because a possible unreported aircraft could have been an air-traffic safety issue. It concluded that the safety of the air traffic control system had not been compromised and that FAA planned no further investigation.5
Terauchi's later visibility was also shaped by a second report. FAA public affairs noted that on 11 January 1987 he reported unusual lights in the same general area, then accepted a likely ice-crystal explanation for that later sighting after interview; this separate episode complicated public readings of the November case without erasing the original FAA record.5
Archival Evolution
The National Archives now lists the JAL 1628 file as Record Group 237, "Information Releases Relating to Unidentified Flying Object, 1986," National Archives Identifier 733667, tying Terauchi's case to official FAA custody rather than rumor alone.8 The Black Vault later located and published the scanned FAA packet after earlier FAA correspondence had indicated that related records would be destroyed, making more than 1,500 pages publicly accessible for review.9
The CIA source lead is contextual rather than decisive for Terauchi. Gerald K. Haines's CIA historical review says Agency concern with UFOs was substantial in the early 1950s but later became limited and peripheral, so the verifiable Terauchi record rests chiefly on FAA, NARA, cockpit, and controller documents rather than a proven CIA case file about JAL 1628.10
Assessment
Terauchi is best understood as a high-credibility aviation witness whose interpretation outran what the official record could confirm. His report generated one of the richest civil-aviation UFO files in the U.S. archive, but the FAA record supports a bounded conclusion: a real JAL captain and crew reported unusual traffic, controllers and radar systems produced enough ambiguity to investigate, and the agency ultimately closed the case without confirming an unknown craft.8135