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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.

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“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 Fifteen minutes after you visually contacted it, okay, okay.
K. Terauchi Yeah, fifteen minutes • when ah • • •
R. Gordon
K. Terauchi
R. Gordon
K. Terauchi
R. Gordon
See, it just says did you paint anything that's did you see
anything else on the radar, weather or anything else • • •
No, no, nothing.
Just that target
Yeah, yes, yes.
Okay, okay The only thing we saw on the radar then was that
target
F. Fujii How about the aircraft, any turbulence?
K. Terauchi No, ah, no
R. Gordon No, no turbulence, no turbulence at all, okay. Autopilot stayed
on all the time.
K. Terauchi Yeah •
R. Gordon Okay
K. Terauchi Working good
R. Gordon Good, (laughter)
F. Fujii Now how about communications, naviagion, or interferring of any
sort • • • ?
K. Terauchi This ah small aircraft near the here, so ah all the way VHF
transmit on (unintelligible) with ah some we got a like some kind
of . • • like ah, jamming.
R. Gordon Some kind of interference?
K. Terauchi Interference.
R. Gordon On the VHF?
K. Terauchi Yes then this one leave for rnothership . . .
R. Gordon Ah ha
K. Terauchi Back to normal(?)
R. Gordon Okay, did you say it's like German talking uh?
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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.