Documents / Hearing transcript

Terauchi interview transcript, Dick Gordon, 2 Jan 1987

FAA via National Archives / The Black Vault · 20 pages · text from the file's own layer

This FAA record of interview documents a January 2, 1987 session in Anchorage, Alaska, in which Inspector Richard O. Gordon of FSDO-63 questioned JAL Captain Kenju Terauchi about his crew's November 17, 1986 sighting. Terauchi describes two small craft with exhaust-like lights that flew near his aircraft and a much larger mothership, and says the target appeared green on his onboard radar. He also reports VHF interference and says the objects matched his 360-degree turn and his descent.

Open the PDF at page 19 Original source ↗

“The Times”11 pages

  • p. 2 …Terauchi No, third time . R. Gordon This is the third time that ah that you've…
  • p. 3 …Terauchi Big Ship - yes and the second time ah, the, in my home I saw a…
  • p. 4 …Terauchi I think it was the first time. F . Fujii Who was the first person who…
  • p. 5 …Fujii From the forward you could see the flame and the exhaust and flame were surrounding…
  • p. 6 …This one and this one, the same logic, this point and this point are the same…
  • p. 8 …Fujii When did you pick it up, the radar? K. Terauchi Time? Time? F. Fujii Time…
  • p. 9 …Autopilot stayed on all the time. K. Terauchi Yeah • R. Gordon Okay K. Terauchi Working good…
  • p. 12 …Terauchi See this is the jumbo jet. 1.5, two times this light. R. Gordon Okay…
  • p. 13 …Gordon Yeah, let's see what would you estimate the size of the small ships to…
  • p. 18 …Gordon Yes, yes, you could probably explain that with the thing you have drawn here. Now…
  • p. 20 …See if they were stacked together at the beginning, one must have returned to the mothership…
R. Gordon I get a copy of that Frank? Could we take a picture of that, I
would certainly appreciate it. Yes. Alright. I think that's
all, can you think of anything we need.
K. Terauchi (unintelligible)
R. Gordon Yes, please if I could have one. Oh one thing, this track
K. Terauchi Oh yeah. This one is ah (unintelligible) so after this one is ah
(unintelligible) this point ah •••
R. Gordon Okay, right about the
K. Terauchi This point, so we contact Anchorage Center here, so ah two or
three minutes, proceed right direct to Talkeetna, so we flew this
distance • . •
R. Gordon Okay from that point direct to Talkeetna and ah, and then some so
you went about there you saw this thing.
K. Terauchi Yes, yes, I saw from here . . . so ah .
R. Gordon Okay, and then maybe five minutes later along here saying
Anchorage do you have anything out there?
K. Terauchi Oh yeah, yeah, yeah
R. Gordon Okay I have it. To just about Talkeetna?
K. Terauchi No no, disappear 75 miles north of Talkeetna
R. Gordon Okay 75 miles north of Talkeetna •
K. Terauchi Yeah, yeah
R. Gordon • it went away.
S. Mimoto The small one, not the mothership, were there many light?
K. Terauchi Oh yes, there were numerous lights. The exhausts on the engine
were lined up all the way, but when they were blasting recoil
jets were so strong I could not see it because it was so bright.
Once the recoil blast stopped, the speed was absolutely steady,
not faster or slower, and I could see them very clearly.
S . Mimoto Just one group?
K. Terauchi See there were two, appeared in front of us. Right here and
right here • both exactly the same.
S. Mimoto Only two?
K. Terauchi All I saw was two .
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Hearing transcript, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 20 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.