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Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1628

17 Nov 1986 · Alaska, United States

JAL Cargo Boeing 747-246F · Alleged UFO sighting

From Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG) to Narita International Airport (NRT)

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Event

Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Incident
Event fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
3
Survivors
3
InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
Unknown
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
Airline

Boeing 747-246F

Flight
JL1628
Aircraft type
Boeing 747
Category
Airplane · from aircraft type
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
Unknown
Operator
JAL Cargo
Onboard fatalities
0
Route
From Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG)To Narita International Airport (NRT)

Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.

From the Wikipedia article

Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1628 was a Japanese Boeing 747-200 cargo aircraft flying from Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport to Narita International Airport that was involved in an unidentified flying object (UFO) sighting on 17 November 1986. During the flight, Captain Kenji Terauchi reported seeing three objects he described as "two small ships and the mothership". Both the FAA and Air Force confirmed that the unidentified flying objects appeared on their radars. Some astronomers and investigators believe that Terauchi probably mistook the planets Jupiter and Mars as UFOs.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1628” (revision 1371311945, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article

Sources

Wikipedia article: Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1628
Article
Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1628
Revision
1371311945 · 2026-08-25 · retrieved 2026-09-18
Wikidata
Q2891775
Licence
Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
Record
Wikipedia article "Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1628" (page 23559284, revision 1371311945)
Date
Wikipedia infobox: date
Place and country
Wikipedia infobox: site
Map position
none
Aircraft, operator and route
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
Operation
airline flight number in the infobox
Fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
Ground fatalities
not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
Summary
Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
  • Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.