Document · 23 September 1976
USDAO Tehran cable IR 6 846 0139 76 and DIA evaluation: reported UFO sighting, Iran, 19 September 1976
Also known as Tehran 1976 attaché cable, DIA evaluation of the Iran UFO report
The original record of the Tehran F-4 encounter: a four-page priority cable sent on 23 September 1976 by the U.S. Defense Attaché Office in Tehran to the Defense Intelligence Agency, as printed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff message centre with its distribution list, together with a DIA routing slip dated 8 December 1978 (from Louis E. Foster, RDS-3A, DIA) and a DIA evaluation form. The copy is the one released by the National Security Agency and mirrored by The Black Vault; the DIA released the cable alone under the FOIA in 1996.
The cable recounts the calls from the Shemiran district, the decision of Brigadier General Yousefi, assistant deputy commander of operations, to scramble an F-4 from Shahrokhi, the first jet's loss of instruments and communications at 25 NM, the second jet's radar lock at 27 NM, the failure of its weapons control panel as the pilot tried to fire an AIM-9, the smaller objects, and the next day's helicopter visit to the supposed landing site. It says the information came from a source's conversation with a sub-source and one of the F-4 pilots; it names no crew member. The evaluation form calls the case a classic for the study of the phenomenon and gives its reasons; its first line and first reason are overstruck and barely legible in this copy, and the evaluator's name is blank.
The cable reports the crews' account; it is not an investigation. Sceptics, notably Philip J. Klass, attributed the light to the planet Jupiter and the failures to equipment faults (see the incident file).
Sources: USDAO Tehran cable IR 6 846 0139 76 with DIA routing slip and evaluation (NSA release, via The Black Vault) · DIA FOIA letter U-80,597/PO/FOIA, 22 August 1996
Facts and claims
- documented A priority cable of 23 September 1976 from the U.S. Defense Attaché Office in Tehran to the DIA, with information copies to the Secretary of Defense, CINCUSAFE and USCINCEUR, reported the sighting as information report IR 6 846 0139 76. Its originator is given as Col. Frank B. McKenzie, USAF, the Defense Attaché. Source: doc-dia-tehran-1976-cable.pdf
- documented The Joint Chiefs of Staff message centre's distribution list for the cable includes the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the CIA, the NSA, the White House and the Air Force, Navy and Army chiefs of staff. Source: doc-dia-tehran-1976-cable.pdf
- documented The cable says the information “WAS OBTAINED FROM SOURCE IN CONVERSATION WITH A SUB-SOURCE, AND IIAF PILOT OF ONE OF THE F-4S”. It names no aircrew; the only Iranian it names is the officer who ordered the scramble, “BG YOUSEFI, ASSISTANT DEPUTY COMMANDER OF OPERATIONS”. Source: doc-dia-tehran-1976-cable.pdf
- documented The attached DIA evaluation form rates the report's reliability as confirmed by other sources and its value as high. Its remarks list why the case is one that meets the criteria “necessary for a valid study of a UFO phenomenon”, among them “The credibility of many of the witnesses was high (an air force general, qualified aircrews, and experienced tower operators).” The name of the evaluator is blank on this copy. Source: doc-dia-tehran-1976-cable.pdf
- documented The evaluation also records: “Visual sightings were confirmed by radar.” Source: doc-dia-tehran-1976-cable.pdf
- documented The evaluation also records: “Similar electromagnetic effects (EME) were reported by three separate aircraft.” Source: doc-dia-tehran-1976-cable.pdf
- documented In 1996 the DIA's FOIA office told John Greenewald that a search of its records had located one document on the sighting, and released the same cable. Source: theblackvault.com (archived)
Connected files
Claims
- An object of unknown origin disabled the weapons and instruments of Iranian F-4 jets over Tehran in September 1976 (evidence for claim) — The original cable and the DIA evaluation, which lists electromagnetic effects reported by three separate aircraft
Incidents
- Tehran UFO incident (documents)
Organizations
- Defense Intelligence Agency (produced by) — Circulated with a DIA routing slip of 8 Dec 78 and a DIA evaluation form
Documents
- U.S. Defense Attaché / DIA report: UFO sighting in Iran, 19 September 1976 (IUR reproduction, NSA release) (quoted in) — reproduces the text of the U.S. Defense Attaché report
People
- Parviz Jafari (describes) — the failure of its weapons control panel as the pilot tried to fire an AIM-9
More documents
- Ministry of Defence UFO files: release of 22 March 2009 (7 files)
- Italian Air Force OVNI reports, 2022–2026 (yearly tables)
- Ministry of Defence UFO files: release of 21 June 2013 (25 files)
- The National Archives: guides to the Ministry of Defence UFO files (2008–2013)
- Ministry of Defence UFO files: release of 12 July 2012 (25 files)
- CMRI decision on the Operação Prato records (Brazil, 2012)
Links
- The Black Vault — the NSA-released copy (PDF)
- NSA — DIA routing slip and Defense Attaché report
- The Black Vault — DIA FOIA release of 22 August 1996 (PDF)