Incident · 19 September 1976 · Tehran, Iran
Tehran UFO incident
Also known as Tehran 1976, Iran UFO incident
In the early hours of 19 September 1976, residents of Tehran's Shemiran district phoned Mehrabad Airport about a brightly lit object in the sky, and the Imperial Iranian Air Force scrambled two F-4 Phantom II jets. The first, flown by Lt. Yaddi Nazeri, lost its instruments and UHF and intercom communications as it closed to about 25 nautical miles; they came back as it turned away. The second, flown by Maj. Parviz Jafari with 1st Lt. Jalal Damirian, locked the object on radar at 27 nautical miles. As Jafari prepared to fire an AIM-9 Sidewinder, his weapons control panel and communications failed, and the crew reported smaller objects separating from the main one.
A report went through U.S. defence attaché channels to the Defense Intelligence Agency and was circulated to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the National Security Council, the White House and the CIA; according to a NARCAP report, a section of a DIA document, which the archive does not hold, called it "outstanding" and a classic meeting all the criteria for a study. The documents were later released under the Freedom of Information Act, and Jafari described the encounter publicly at the National Press Club in 2007.
The sceptic Philip J. Klass attributed the light to the planet Jupiter and the failures to ordinary equipment faults, noting the first F-4's history of electrical problems; others have pointed to meteors that night.
Sources: DIA report (1976) · Wikipedia
Facts and claims
- 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
- 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
- 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
- claimed 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)
- claimed 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
Claims
- An object of unknown origin disabled the weapons and instruments of Iranian F-4 jets over Tehran in September 1976 (subject of)
Documents
- U.S. Defense Attaché / DIA report: UFO sighting in Iran, 19 September 1976 (NSA-released reproduction) (documented in)
Events
People
- Parviz Jafari (witnesses)
Official records (PURSUE)
- 255_413270_UFO's_and_Defense_What_Should_we_Prepare_For — 255_413270_UFO's_and_Defense_What_Should_we_Prepare_For (subject of)
Videos
- UFO Cover-Up?: Live! (1988 television special) (subject of)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: A Global Phenomenon, Part 2 (discussed in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Science & Technology (discussed in)
- National Press Club - November 12th, 2007. UFO Close Encounters (discussed in)
Mentioned in this file
- Defense Intelligence Agency (Organization)
- Central Intelligence Agency (Organization)
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