Fort Yukon

Fort Yukon and JAL Flight 1628

On 17 November 1986 a Japan Airlines cargo 747 was over Alaska when the crew saw two small objects alongside and then — in the description of Captain Kenju Terauchi — something far larger, "the size of two aircraft carriers". The escort lasted about fifty minutes. The controller at Anchorage saw an extra return beside the aircraft on radar; military radar did not confirm it. The Federal Aviation Administration investigated and concluded that the return was an artefact and that what was seen was probably Jupiter and Mars, both low on the horizon that night. Terauchi rejected the explanation and was moved to a ground job.