Fate of JAL1628 . THE conclusion that the object may have trailed behind during the turn is consistent with a radar report made at the time. While the plane was turning the ROCC confirmed an anomalous radar target in the vicinity of the plane. (Note: some of the times given below do not agree with the times in the FAA transcript. This is because some of the transcript times are in error. The times given below agree with the FAA-supplied tape recording of the conversations between the FAA controllers, ROCC and the aircraft.) 5:38:57 AARTCC Anchorage Center. 5:38:58 ROCC Ya, this is one dash two again. On some other equipment here we have confirmed there is a flight size of two around. One primary return only. 5:39:05 AARTCC OK. Where is, is he following him? 5:39:07 ROCC It looks like he is, yes. 5:39:10 AARTCC OK. Standby. THE use of the phrase flight of two indicated that, on the radar screen, the JAL 1628 had a companion. That companion appeared as a primary return only (no transponder). Moreover, it appeared to the ROCC that the companion was following that is, it was behind the plane. SOON after the ROCC confirmed a flight of two, the AARTCC resumed communication with the plane: 5:39:10 AARTCC JAL1628 heavy, roger, at your discretion proceed direct to Talkeetna J125, Anchorage. (Note: J125 is a flight route.) 5:39:15 JAL1628 (unintelligible) 5:39:35 AARTCC JAL1628 heavy, roger sir. The military radar advises they do have a primary target in trail of you at this time. 5:39:32 JAL1628 Ah, say again? 5:39:35 AARTCC JAl1628 heavy. Military radar advises they are picking up intermittent primary target behind you in trail, in trail I say again. 5:39:47 JAL1628 I think so. WHILE one of the AARTCC air traffic controllers was conversing with the plane another one was continuing to converse with the ROCC: 5:39:24 AARTCC OK. Do you want to, do you have anybody you can scramble up there or do you want to do that? 5:39:30 ROCC I’ll tell you what. We’re going to talk to the liaison officer about that. 5:39:33 AARTCC OK. Uh, it’s starting to concern Japan Airline 1628, a 747. He’s making a 360 now and it’s still following.... 5:39:46 ROCC Where is this search (radar) return at, right behind him or where? 5:39:50 AARTCC Say again? 5:38:51 ROCC Ah, I’m gonna talk to my other radar man here has gotta, he’s got some other equipment watching this aircraft. 5:39:54 AARTCC OK. 5:39:55 ROCC OK. We’re going to call the military desk on this. AT this point the conversation with the ROCC ended and the plane was contacted again. 5:40:10 AARTCC JAL1628, Anchorage Center. 5:40:12 JAL1628 Go ahead. 5:40:13 AARTCC Roger Sir. Would you like our military to scramble on the traffic? 5:40:17 JAL1628 Negative. Negative. CAPTAIN Terauchi’s immediate reaction to the offer of military assistance was to decline it. In his testimony he recalled the event and explained his reaction: “ ‘JAL1628, This is Anchorage center. Would you like to request scramble for confirmation?’ ‘The Anchorage Center, this is JAL1628. We would not request scramble.’ We turned down the offer quickly. I knew that in the past there was a U.S. military fighter called the Mustang that had flown up high for a confirmation and a tragedy had happened to it. Even the F-15 with the newest technology had no guarantee of safety against the creature with an unknown degree of scientific technology.” (Note: his reference to a Mustang flying high and a “tragedy” may be a reference to the Mantell case of January, 1948 when Mantell flew his F-51 to such a high altitude that he, apparently, blacked out while chasing some huge shiny object that was very high in the sky. This was subsquently explained, with a high degree of probability of being correct, as a high altitude balloon.) DESPITE the immediate negative reply the AARTCC was persistent: 5:40:26 AARTCC Jal1628 heavy, sir, we do have military ah, at Eielson, 40 miles away. I can put them up and let them check the traffic for you. 5:40:34 JAL1628 Roger. 5:40:35 AARTCC JAL1628, roger. Would you like us to do that? AT this time a military aircraft referred to as TOTEM, which was not a fighter aircraft but was already in the air, offered to check out the traffic. The transmission was somewhat garbled, however, and the AARTCC controller thought he was hearing JAL1628. JAL1628 was also confused momentarily: 5:40:44 TOTEM Anchorage Center, you have TOTEM 71 up here. We might be able to get close to him. 5:40:48 AARTCC JAL1628, you were broken. Say again. 5:40:55 JAL1628 Ah, say again? 5:40:59 AARTCC JAL1628 Your transmission was broken, sir. We do have military aircraft in your vicinity that we can, ah, check on the , ah, traffic with you. 5:41:07 JAL1628 Ah, JAL1628. No radar traffic above. (This last statement seems to make no sense in the context of the conversation. Perhaps Mr. Tamefuji did not correctly understand what the AARTCC had said.) It was now one minute since the AARTCC had been directed the plane to fly directly to Talkeetna. At that time, 5:39:10, the plane was about 1/3 of the way around the circle (see Figure 7). Finally at 5:42:04 the plane responded. By this time it was 3/4 of the way around the circle. 5:42:04 JAL1628 Anchorage Center, JAL1628. Confirm direct to Talkeetna three one zero. 5:42:09 AARTCC JAL1628 heavy. Affirmative. Direct to Talkeetna and descend at pilot’s discretion. Maintain flight level two five zero. 5:42:16 JAL1628 Ah, pilot’s discretion. Two five zero. WHILE the plane was being directed to Talkeetna the AARTCC and the ROCC continued discussing the radar targets. 5:41:51 AARTCC Where’s that, ah, are you still painting a primary, ah, by that JAL flight? 5:41:56 ROCC OK. Let me look at my other.... 5:41:59 AARTCC If so, where’s the position of it? 5:42:00 ROCC OK. Standby. 5:42:24 ROCC It looks like, ah, offset left and then possibility fell back in trail. However, I can’t see him now. I can’t pick him out. WHILE this conversation was going on Capt. Terauchi was looking to his left and backwards. It was there again! 5:42:35 JAL1628 Ah, we have...Anchorage Center, JAL1628. We have in sight same position, over. 5:42:42 AARTCC JAL1628, understand. In sight, same position. THIS statement, made as the plane was just coming out of the turn to head southward from near Fairbanks toward Anchorage (see Figure 7), indicates, as described previously that the “mothership” may have followed behind the plane. The captain remembered the events this way: “The consumption of fuel during this flight was almost as expected but there was only 3,800 pounds left and as such was not enough for extra flying for running around. We have got to arrive at Anchorage.” At this point from in his testimony the captain recalled the direction from the AARTCC to proceed directly to Talkeetna. But he thought that the plane had initiated the request. He continued, “We checked behind us again. The ship was in formation and ascending with us. We wondered and feared as to their purpose.” The word ascending should have been descending ( the plane never ascended during the sighting according to the tracking data) and furthermore, it is in the wrong temporal location in the testimony because the descent occurred before, not after the turn. (The captain incorrectly recalled the descent as occurring after the turn.) HIS testimony continues at this point with his recollection of the query about a scramble of a military jet. But according to the transcript, the discussion of a scramble came before the plane completed the turn rather than after, as the captain recalled. ABOUT a minute and a half later the AARTCC decided to find out whether or not the traffic was still with the plane. 5:44:07 AARTCC JAL1628, sir, do you still have the traffic? 5:44:12 JAL1628 Ah, say again pease. 5:44:13 ARTCC JAL1628 heavy.. Do you still have the traffic? 5:44:17 JAL1628 Ah, affirmative, ah, nine o’clock. CAPTAIN Terauchi recalled the reappearance of the “mothership.” “We flew toward Talkeetna at an altitude of 31,000 ft. The spaceship was still following us, not leaving us at all.” BY this time the plane was completely out of the turn and headed southward toward Talkeetna. At about 5:40 a United Airlines passenger jet took off from Anchorage and headed north to Fairbanks. Several minutes later it reported being at 29,000 feet and on a 350 degree (magnetic) heading. The AARTCC controller decided to ask the UA pilot if he could see anything behind the JAL flight. At 5:44:43 he called the UA pilot to say that the JAL flight was in his 11 o’clock position and 110 nm north “and he has traffic following him, sir. It’s unknown traffic... I want you to see if you see anything with him.” The UA pilot said he would look when he got closer. The controller asked the JAL flight to stay at 31,000 ft and the UA flight to stay at 29,000 ft. He then directed the UA flight to turn some more so that the planes would pass within five miles of one another. 5:46:48 AARTCC JAL1628 heavy. Maintain flight level three one zero. 5:46:54 JAL1628 maintain three one zero. 5:46:59 AARTCC JAL1628, roger. I’m gonna have a United aircraft get close to you and take a look, ah, to see if he can identify your traffic. 5:47:06 JAL1628 Thank you. SEVERAL minutes later the planes were much closer together and closing on one another rapidly (the separation was decreasing at rate between 15 an 20 nm per minute). 5:48:16 UNITED 69. Can you please point the traffic out again please? 5:48:19 AARTCC United 69 heavy, affirmative. The, ah, Japan Air is in your eleven o’clock position and five zero (50) miles (away), southbound. 5:48:28 UNITED 69 Ah, roger. Thank you. 5:48:31 AARTCC JAL1628 heavy, sir, Say the position of your traffic. 5:48:34 JAL1628 Ah, now, ah, ah, moving to, ah, around 10 miles now, ah, ah, position, ah seven, ah, eight o’clock, 10 miles. 5:48:36 AARTCC JAL1628 heavy, roger. AS the planes approached each other in the dark sky the “mothership” apparently dropped back, allowing the JAL plane to get far ahead. Of course the 10 miles distance was only the pilot’s guess. The object was too far back to be detected on the airplane radar, which would give an accurate distance. The United pilot asked the AARTCC to have the JAL pilot flash the headlights on the JAL aircraft so he could locate the plane. At 5:49:45 the JAL pilot did that. At this time the planes were about 25 miles apart. TERAUCHI says that at about the time that his plane headed toward Talkeetna after the 360 turn, “a United Airline passenger jet which left Anchorage to Fairbanks flew into the same air zone and began communicating with Anchorage center. We heard them transmitting that there was an object near JAL1628 and requesting for confirmation. We heard the Anchorage Center was saying to the United Airline aircraft that JAL1628 was at an altitude of 31,000 ft and therefore the United aircraft should maintain 33,000 ft.” (Actually the transcript shows that the UA altitude wa 29,000 ft.) “It sounded as if Anchorage Center had the United Airline aircraft fly above the spaceship. We were flying the east side of Mt. McKinley. The United Airline aircraft came close to us. The United Airline aircraft requested us to flash our landing lights for visual confirmation and we both confirmed our positions visually. The United Airlines aircraft was coming close to us. We knew that they were watching us. When the United plane came by our side the spaceship disappeared suddenly and there was nothing left but the light of the moon.” WHEN the planes were about 12 miles apart and still approaching one another, the UA plane reported seeing the JAL plane and nothing else. By this time the “mothership” had apparently disappeared: 5:50:35 UA69 UA69 heavy. We’ve got the Japan Airliner in sight. I don’t see anybody around him. He’s (referring to the “spaceship”) at his seven o’clock position, huh? 5:50:46 AARTCC UA69, that’s what he says. JAL1628 heavy, say the position of your traffic now. 5:50:52 JAL1628 Ah, now, distinguishing (he meant to say “extinguishing”), but, ah, ah, your, I guess, ah, 12 o’clock below you. 5:51:02 AARTCC JAL1628 heavy, say again. You’re broken. 5:51:06 JAL1628 Just ahead of United, ah..(unintelligible) THE above conversation appears to confirm Terauchi’s later recollection that the object disappeared when the two planes got close to one another. The copilot used the word “distinguishing” and followed this with “I guess 12 o’clock below you.” Previously he had used the word “distinguished” when he meant “extinguished,” or no longer visible, because the object had disappeared shortly after the 360 turn began (see 5:38:57 and 5::39:04 above). Apparently he meant “extinguishing” or “extinguished” at this time as well. Furthermore, if the object had been still visible he would not have said “I guess 12 o’clock below you.” because the captain would have been able to see where the object was relative to the UA jet. Thus it appears that the object/light had disappeared by 5:51 when the planes were still about 12 miles apart. IT is also interesting to note that the copilot used the words “below” you which suggests that at that time the JAL flight crew thought that the UA plane was above their altitude. This is as the captain remembered it. Perhaps they did not hear the controller tell the UA plane to maintain 29,000 ft. AT 5:51:32, after the planes had passed one another, the UA plane reported being able to see the JAL plane silhouetted against the sky. The UA captain could see the contrail as well as the jet but nothing else. The controller responded, “We got just a few primary hits on the target and then, ah, we really haven’t got a good track on him, ever, “ meaning that the radar never showed a continuous track (a continuous series of “blips”) of primary-only radar targets associated with the unusual “traffic.” AFTER the UA plane had passed the JAL flight at a point about 60 nm south of Fairbanks at about 5:51, the AARTCC requested that TOTEM also fly toward the JAL plane for a look. AARTCC then directed the JAL plane to descend. The plane made its final report on the “traffic”, which was “long gone” by this time. 5:53:10 AARTCC JAL1628 heavy, descend at pilot discretion. Maintain flight level two five zero (25,000 ft). 5:53:13 JAL1628 JAL1628, ah, pilot’s discretion maintain, ah, two five zero, so , ah, ah, I cannot, I couldn’t see, ah, UFO, over. 5:53:27 AARTCC JAL1628 heavy, understand. You do not see the traffic any longer. 5:53:31 JAL1628 Affirmative. DURING the next several minutes TOTEM viewed the JAL plane but couldn’t see any other traffic. JAL1628 proceeded to Anchorage and landed at 6:20 PM. The FANTASTIC FLIGHT was over, but the seeds of controversy had been sown. They would bear sometimes bitter fruit about a month and a half later.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 01:41:09 +0000
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