A Japan Airlines Boeing 747 freighter aircraft had an encounter with one or more UFOs on November 17, 1986, as it flew over Alaska at 35,000 feet (11 km), in the vicinity of Fort Yukon, on a southwest-ward course en route from Iceland to Anchorage. Capt. Kenju Terauchi and First Officer Takanori Tamefuji, along with Flight Engineer Yoshio Tsukuda, said that two small objects and one huge Saturn-shaped object were in sight and on radar for more than 30 minutes, starting at about 6:15 P.M. The objects followed the airplane as they flew 350 miles (560 km). The pilot changed course and altitude several times, with FAA permission, in an effort to identify the objects.

Two rectangular-appearing objects sparkling with arrays of lights suddenly loomed directly in front of the airplane, one above the other. After a few minutes they abruptly changed position and appeared side by side. Terauchi said they moved quickly and stopped suddenly. They were also swinging from side to side in unison, as if linked together. VHP radio communications were garbled at this time, and ceased when the two objects moved away to the left of the aircraft.

Two flat white lights continued to pace the airplane, then dropped back and were lost from view both visually and on radar.

About 5:30 P.M., while in the vicinity of Fairbanks, AK, Capt. Terauchi checked a white light behind the plane and saw "a silhouette of a gigantic spaceship." It was walnut-shaped, symmetrical above and below, with a central flange. Capt. Terauchi said, "It was a very big one—two times bigger than an aircraft carrier." At its closest point, the large object cast such a bright light that it illuminated the cockpit, and Terauchi could feel heat on his face. Radio communications again became garbled during the close approach.

The veteran crew became frightened by the large object and requested permission to change course. After the course change they looked back and saw the object still following them. Increasingly fearful, they requested a descent to get away from the UFO ("We had to get away from that object.") After they descended and turned again, the object disappeared.

The FAA at first confirmed that several of its radar traffic controllers had tracked the B-747 and the large object, and that U.S. Air Force radar had also done so. Later official statements backed away from this and tried to ascribe the radar targets to weather effects. On December 29,1986, the FAA issued a report stating, "We are accepting the descriptions of the crew, but are unable to support what they saw."76

Source: The UFO Evidence: A Thirty Year Report (Section: Pilot and Aircrew Sightings), pages 142-143, Hall