Transcription concerning the incident involving Japan Airlines Flight 1628 on November 18, 1986

This document is a formal memorandum and transcript issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Anchorage ARTCC, dated January 9, 1987. It provides a verbatim record of air traffic control communications concerning an incident involving Japan Airlines Flight 1628 on November 18, 1986. The transcript covers the period from 0214 UTC to 0259 UTC. During the flight, the crew of Japan Airlines Flight 1628 reported visual contact with unidentified traffic. The crew described the object as 'quite big' and noted it was maintaining a position in-trail of their aircraft at the same altitude of 35,000 feet. Throughout the communication, Anchorage Center and the Regional Operations Command Center (ROCC) attempted to identify the target via radar. While the controllers noted primary radar returns, they were unable to correlate these with any known military or civilian aircraft, and the target was not squawking a transponder code. The controllers requested assistance from other aircraft in the vicinity, including United Airlines Flight 69 and a military aircraft (referred to as Totem 71), to visually identify the object. Despite these efforts, the object remained unidentified, with reports of it appearing and disappearing on radar and visual observation. The transcript concludes with the aircraft continuing their flight and the object no longer being tracked or observed. The document is certified as a true transcription of the recorded conversations by Anthony M. Wylie, Quality Assurance Specialist at Anchorage ARTCC.