Japan Air Lines (JAL) Flight 1628 – a Boeing 747 cargo freighter – was involved in one of the most noteworthy UFO encounters on record. On the evening of November 17, 1986, while flying over remote Alaska, the crew observed multiple unidentified objects with bright flashing lights maneuvering around their aircraft. The encounter lasted nearly 50 minutes and was tracked intermittently on both the plane’s onboard radar and by FAA air traffic control on the ground[1]. At one point the veteran captain, Kenju Terauchi, reported a huge unknown craft “twice the size of an aircraft carrier” pacing his 747[2]. Anchorage air traffic controllers scrambled to make sense of the situation, even enlisting a U.S. Air Force radar station and another commercial flight to help. Despite extensive official documentation – including FAA radar data analysis, recorded communications, and detailed crew interviews – no conventional explanation for the objects was confirmed. The incident became international news in early 1987 after the FAA initially acknowledged the encounter. In the years since, it has been scrutinized by investigators and skeptics alike. FAA records, pilot testimonies, and radar evidence make the JAL 1628 case uniquely well-documented, though its true nature remains unresolved. This Vault File assembles the primary evidence and analyses, presenting a factual account of the encounter and examining the official response, media coverage, skeptical explanations, and the enduring questions surrounding this famous UFO incident.