U.S. Defense Attaché / DIA report: UFO sighting in Iran, 19 September 1976 (NSA-released reproduction)

This NSA-released article reproduces the U.S. Defense Attaché report, circulated by the Defense Intelligence Agency, on the night of 19 September 1976 over Tehran. It records that after residents phoned in reports of a bright object, the Imperial Iranian Air Force sent two F-4 Phantoms to intercept it.

The first jet lost its instruments and UHF and intercom communications as it closed in, and regained them when it turned away. The second tracked the object on radar; as its crew prepared to fire a missile, their weapons control panel and communications failed, and they reported smaller objects separating from the main one, one of which appeared to descend to the ground. The report describes the object's flashing coloured lights and its apparent speed.

The report was distributed to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the National Security Council, the White House and the CIA, and its evaluation rated it an outstanding case. Sceptics attribute the light to Jupiter and the failures to equipment faults.

Sources: NSA-released reproduction of the attaché report