Claim

An object of unknown origin disabled the weapons and instruments of Iranian F-4 jets over Tehran in September 1976

Also known as Tehran 1976 claim

Open. A U.S. Defense Attaché report circulated by the DIA documents the intercepts and calls the case outstanding; the sceptic Philip Klass attributed the light to Jupiter and the failures to ordinary faults. (U.S. Defense Attaché / DIA report: UFO sighting in Iran, 19 September 1976 (NSA-released reproduction))

On 19 September 1976 the Imperial Iranian Air Force sent two F-4 Phantoms after a bright object over Tehran; both lost instruments or communications as they approached it, and the second pilot says his weapons failed as he tried to fire.

Evidence for

Who has said it, in order

  1. September 1976 — says so, documented: After calls from Tehran residents reporting a bright object, the Imperial Iranian Air Force scrambled two F-4 Phantom II jets from Shahrokhi Air Base. The first lost instrumentation and UHF/intercom communications as it closed on the object; the systems returned once it turned away. Source: doc-dia-tehran-1976.pdf
  2. September 1976 — says so, documented: The second F-4 tracked the object on radar. As the pilot prepared to fire an AIM-9 missile, his weapons control panel and communications went dead. Smaller objects appeared to separate from the main object. Source: doc-dia-tehran-1976.pdf
  3. September 1976 — context, documented: The report was sent through U.S. defense attaché channels and circulated by the DIA, the National Security Council, the White House and the CIA. Source: doc-dia-tehran-1976.pdf
  4. 12 November 2007 Parviz Jafari — says so, first-hand: Jafari: as squadron commander he flew the second F-4 and locked on with radar at 25 miles; the return was comparable to a 707 tanker, and the object flashed red, green, orange and blue. Source: National Press Club - November 12th, 2007. UFO Close Encounters at 25:45
  5. 12 November 2007 Parviz Jafari — says so, first-hand: Jafari: objects separated from the main one; when one came towards him he tried to fire a heat-seeking missile but his weapons panel went out, and his radio was garbled. Source: National Press Club - November 12th, 2007. UFO Close Encounters at 26:40
  6. 29 April 2013 Antonio Huneeus — says so, documented: Huneeus cites the 1976 Tehran case, when a huge object “was flying over Tehran” and an Iranian F-4 lost its weapons and instruments, documented by the U.S. government and evaluated by the Defense Intelligence Agency. Source: Citizen Hearing 2013: A Global Phenomenon, Part 2 at 16:21
  7. 29 April 2013 Robert M. Wood — says so, relayed: Wood says he read a classified version of the report on the Iranian Air Force F-4 pilot “attempting to fire a missile at a ufo only to have his control shut down” as he thought about firing. Source: Citizen Hearing 2013: Science & Technology at 9:01
  8. — context, relayed: A report by Richard Haines's NARCAP cites a section of a DIA document, not among those the archive holds, that called the incident “outstanding” and a classic meeting all the criteria for a study of the phenomenon. Source: en.wikipedia.org (archived)
  9. — disputes it, opinion: Skeptic Philip Klass argued the object was the planet Jupiter and that the aircraft problems were ordinary equipment failures. Source: en.wikipedia.org (archived)

Connected files

Incidents

Documents

People

More claims

WHERE ARE THEYUAP · NHI CASE ARCHIVE
About