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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.

  • 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 First time for t he other crew me mbers, okay that's fine.
K. Terauchi I think it was the first time.
F . Fujii Who was the first person who saw it?
K. Terauchi It was me. I saw it in - inside.
F. Fujii What did you notice at first?
K. Terauchi During first time we saw light, I think a navigation light.
R. Gordon Ah ha, but you saw it visually first you didn't pick it up on
r a dar or anything you just saw some light out there, okay and
that really coinsides with the air traffic statement, you called
and said do you have any traffic in my area
K. Terauchi Yeah, yeah before, before, about six minutes before I saw this
one so ah •.•
R. Gordon
K. Terauchi
R. Gordon
F . Fujii
R. Gordon
K. Terauchi
F . Fujii
R. Gordon
?
R. Gordon
K. Terauchi
& F . Fujii
You were watching him for about five or six minutes before you
called •
Before I contact Anchorage Center
Ah ah, okay
Okay fourth question, what did you see exactly shape, light, and
all, the shape, lighting, etc.
Well if you can just explain these to me cause it looks like
you've done alot of drawing here so it's not necessary for you to
redraw all this stuff
This light was amber and whitish, but, when it came to here it
wa s only amber • white light. Why don't I understand.
(Japanese) right
First of all it's like amber and whitish color, came closely it
seems like all the output exhaust position of the jets, all these
Challenger
Look like something like after burners ••• okay okay, like each
one of these was an individual exhaust
Yes
Okay
So this light is special like (Japanese) when ah Challenger, yes
like Challenger took off amount of flame going on, we can't see
Challenger by this flame
3

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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.