November 17, 1986.

November 17, 1986. Japan Airlines cargo flight 1628 is crossing Alaska at 35,000 feet. Captain Kenju Terauchi, a former fighter pilot with 29 years of experience, reports lights pacing his 747, then a massive object he described as “two times bigger than an aircraft carrier.” The encounter lasts nearly 50 minutes, witnessed by all three crew. An Air Force radar briefly showed a target near the jet. The FAA later blamed radar anomalies, and Terauchi was pulled from flying for speaking to the p...