The Japan Airlines Flight 1628 UFO Encounter

On a cold November evening in 1986, a Japan Airlines cargo flight became the center of one of the most credible and mysterious UFO encounters ever recorded. In this episode, we dive into the strange and chilling story of Japan Airlines Flight 1628, a routine journey that turned into a 30-minute chase across the skies of Alaska.

At the controls that night was Captain Kenju Terauchi, a seasoned pilot and former fighter aviator with nearly three decades of experience. Alongside him were his co-pilot, Takanori Tamefuji, and flight engineer Yoshio Tsukuba. Their mission was simple: fly from Paris to Tokyo, with a stop in Anchorage. Everything was calm until 5:11 p.m., when the captain spotted two bright lights about thirty degrees to the left and slightly below their Boeing 747.

The lights didn’t behave like normal aircraft. They mirrored the plane’s speed and direction perfectly. For several minutes, the crew watched as the lights danced alongside them, until they suddenly darted forward and stopped just outside the cockpit windows. The cabin filled with a warm amber glow. The captain described feeling the “heat of the light” on his face and seeing two square-shaped objects about fifty meters across, each with rows of bright circular lights.

When the co-pilot called Anchorage Air Traffic Control to ask about nearby traffic, controllers reported nothing in the area. Yet the crew insisted they were seeing two objects less than a mile away. Their radio began to fill with static whenever the lights approached, a strange interference that made communication nearly impossible.

Minutes later, the objects disappeare, but radar at Anchorage picked up something unusual trailing the Japanese flight. The military command center at NORAD’s Regional Operations Command also confirmed radar returns that matched what the crew was reporting. At one point, the object appeared on three separate radar systems at once, yet none of them could identify what it was.

As the plane neared Fairbanks, Alaska, Captain Terauchi saw something even large, a massive, dark shape hovering in the distance. He described it as a “gigantic spaceship,” nearly twice the size of an aircraft carrier. Terrified, he requested permission to change course. Air traffic control agreed, and the captain took sharp turns and dropped altitude, trying to get away. But the unidentified object seemed to follow, matching every move.

When Anchorage offered to scramble military jets, the captain refused, fearing an escalation. Moments later, the object vanished from view. A nearby United Airlines flight and a military aircraft were redirected to confirm the sighting, but by the time they arrived, the sky was clear.

The Japan Airlines cargo plane landed safely at 6:20 p.m. The incident became the subject of official FAA and military reports, totaling hundreds of pages of radar data and transcripts. Captain Terauchi was later reassigned to desk duty, though he stood by his account until retirement.

To this day, the JAL1628 incident remains unexplained. Multiple radar detections, visual sightings by three experienced pilots, and maneuvers far beyond known human technolo, all recorded in official document, make it one of aviation’s most enduring mysteries.

https://www.patreon.com/cw/alienufopodcast

https://simonbown.com/

My new book, Aspects of Alien Abduction https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GRRPCT9Y

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.