There is no guarantee that this is in reference to flight JAL-1628. It's just very likely.
As I stated in the first post the
link is:
- At the bottom of the FOIA document which reads, "It was a cargo flight."
There aren't many prolific cargo flights that have been reported on in the UFO community. The biggest two that I know of are -
JAL-1628 and
- the 1991 Kosmonaut Musa Manarov
filming of the approach of the PROGRESS cargo flight towards MIR.
- Another link is the description of the lights. There were three crafts in the JAL-1628 sighting. One was largely stationary (the "mothership")
and the other two crafts moved about the 747, flying in trail. This seems to match up with the description in the FOIA document, "ONE WAS A
STATIONARY, BLINKING LIGHT; THE TWO OTHER, MOVING, LIGHTS CROSSED PATHS ..."
Most of the confusion seems to be coming from the the quote,
"
The UFO was at an altitude of approximately 300 meters..." I encourage everyone to read
Bruce
Maccabee's analysis of the JAL-1628 flight. One of the first things you'll read is:
After the plane leveled out he observed "lights that looked like aircraft lights, 30 degrees left front, 2,000 feet below us, moving exactly
in the same direction and with the same speed we were. ... IT is important to note the pilot's statement of his belief that the lights were 2,000
feet below him. He could not know how far below the lights were just from his visual sighting. (To determine the distance below he would have to
know the exact depression angle and the distance to the lights.) Nevertheless, his statement indicates that his sighting line to the lights had a
noticeable depression angle (the angle below horizontal). At 35,000 ft the horizon distance is about 214 nm so the depression angle of the horizon is
about 1.5 degrees which is hardly noticeable. The pilot's statement therefore implies that the lights were below, probably considerably below, his
horizon, i.e., between himself and the ground, thus ruling out any astronomical source for the lights. "
So after reading that, look at the redacted area of text surrounding the quote, "
The UFO was at an altitude of approximately 300 meters..."
It's easy to see how the text might actually read, "
The UFO was at an altitude of approximately 300 meters below the 747 cargo plane." As
Bruce Maccabee points out it would be very difficult to estimate with any amount of certainty the actual distance, especially at dusk. So it's
possible, that the ROCC controller was tracking the craft the entire time (he admitted a primary return at least once) and used additional equipment
to more accurately measure the telemetry of the UFO in relation to the 747. In which case it's possible the UAP was actually 300m (~1000ft) below the
aiplane - not 2000ft as originally reported.
Another aspect of the FOIA document that suggests it's referring to JAL-1628 is, "
The light was subsequently identified as at least one
aircraft."
It was about 11 minutes past 5 local time, November 17 that Capt. Terauchi first realized that the lights to the left and below were unusual. He later
reported thinking, " After watching them for a short time [I determined] they were lights of `special missioned aircrafts or two fighters` on some
mission."
Coincidence?
Yes, this is still conjecture, but it fits in line with the rest of the details better than the MIR sighting would.
So,
greatlakes, if you don't think this is the JAL-1628 flight, do you think it's some other anonymous flight that was never reported
on? Or do you have a hunch that it better fits the details of another sighting?
I look forward to your response!
[edit on 16-6-2007 by Xtraeme]