On November 17, 1986, Japan Airlines cargo flight 1628, piloted by veteran Captain Kenji Terauchi, encountered unidentified objects over Alaska for 50 minutes. Terauchi described two smaller craft and a massive 'mothership' the size of an aircraft carrier. FAA radar intermittently confirmed an object near the aircraft. FAA Division Chief John Callahan later revealed the CIA ordered all radar data and recordings to be turned over and told staff the event 'never happened.' Terauchi was grounded by JAL after speaking publicly. Skeptics attributed the sighting to Jupiter and Mars, though this fails to explain the radar returns and the multiple crew members who saw the objects.
“It was a very big one — two to three times bigger than an aircraft carrier. I am certain it was not any kind of aircraft I have ever seen. The FAA confirmed something was on their radar.”
What they said vs. what the evidence shows
“The radar returns were likely caused by weather phenomena. Captain Terauchi probably mistook the planets Jupiter and Mars for unidentified objects.”
— FAA / Philip Klass (skeptic) · Mar 1987
SourceFrom “crazy” to confirmed
The Claim Is Made
This is the moment they called it crazy.
On November 17, 1986, Captain Kenji Terauchi, a veteran Japan Airlines pilot with over 10,000 flight hours, reported something that should have made international headlines. While flying cargo flight 1628 from Paris to Tokyo over Alaska, Terauchi and his crew encountered unidentified objects that tracked their aircraft for 50 minutes. He described two smaller craft and a massive object he estimated to be the size of an aircraft carrier hovering near his Boeing 747.
What happened next reveals why many consider this case a textbook example of official suppression.
Terauchi reported the sighting to air traffic control while it was happening. Ground radar at Elmendorf Air Force Base and civilian facilities picked up corroborating returns, intermittently tracking an object near the aircraft's position. Multiple trained observers — not just the pilot — witnessed the phenomena. The FAA took the report seriously enough to file an official investigation. Everything appeared to be moving toward transparency and public acknowledgment of a legitimate mystery.
Then the official machinery shifted into reverse.
FAA Division Chief John Callahan, who oversaw the investigation, later testified that the CIA demanded all radar data and recordings be turned over and explicitly instructed FAA staff that the incident "never happened." The implication was clear: this event was to be classified and buried. Terauchi, who had acted as a professional observer and reported what he saw through proper channels, faced consequences. Japan Airlines grounded him after he spoke publicly about the encounter, effectively ending his career.
The dismissal of the sighting rested primarily on one explanation: Jupiter and Mars were visible that night, and Terauchi had simply mistaken planets for objects. This theory carries significant problems. Planets do not produce radar returns. Multiple crew members did not simultaneously hallucinate the same objects in the same locations. Radar operators independently tracking the object had no knowledge of what the pilots were seeing, yet their data aligned with the pilot's account.
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The Washington Post reported on the sighting in 1987, giving the case substantial credibility in the mainstream press. Yet the official response remained dismissive, and the incident largely vanished from public discussion. The contradiction between the initial FAA investigation and the subsequent suppression order suggests institutional actors made deliberate decisions to control the narrative.
What makes this case significant is not whether the objects were extraterrestrial, classified military technology, or something else entirely. What matters is the documented pattern: credible observers report an anomaly, official agencies investigate and confirm physical evidence, then higher authorities order a cover-up and deny the incident occurred.
This dynamic erodes public trust in institutions. Citizens are left asking why agencies would suppress radar data and testimony from trained professionals if nothing unusual actually happened. The official story — that nothing occurred — contradicts the FAA's own investigation and the agency's own radar records.
The Japan Airlines case remains categorized as disputed because authorities have never provided a satisfactory public explanation for the radar returns or why the CIA would need to suppress data about planets. For anyone interested in how official channels respond to unexplained phenomena, this case offers uncomfortable lessons about what "transparency" sometimes means in practice.
Unlikely leak
Only 7.6% chance this would come out. It did.
Conspirators
~500Large op
Secret kept
39.5 years
Time to 95% exposure
500+ years
