On November 17th, 1986, a JAL 747 was soaring across the skies of Interior Alaska en route to a refueling stop in Anchorage. As it approached the darkness of the east, the captain and crew suddenly spotted lights in the distance.

At first, the lights were seen to the left and below the plane, but as the co-pilot set a course towards Talkeetna, the lights remained persistently with them. The crew was stunned as the lights suddenly appeared in front of the 747 after six or seven minutes of observation.

To their amazement, the co-pilot and flight engineer also reported seeing strange lights and a large object following them. With permission from air traffic control, the plane descended to 31,000 feet, but as it did, a 360-degree turn was made in a daring attempt to see if the mysterious lights would follow. To the captain’s shock, he saw a dark silhouette of a massive “mothership” larger than two aircraft carriers lurking behind the plane.

With permission from air traffic control, the captain made an astonishing maneuver and took his airplane in a complete circle, and then descended back to 31,000 feet. To everyone’s disbelief, the “mothership” followed the plane through both the circle and the descent. This extraordinary encounter remains a mystery to this day, with no reports of military aircraft operating in the area.