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1976 Tehran UFO Incident
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Date: September 19, 1976
Location: over Tehran, Iran
At approximately 12:30 AM local time, September 19, 1976, over Tehran, Iran, the Imperial Iranian Air Force command post at Tehran received four reports by telephone, from civilians in the Shemiran city district, of unusual activity in the night sky. Some of the callers reported seeing a bird-like object, while others reported a helicopter with a bright light.
When the command post found no helicopters airborne to account for the reports, they called General Yousefi, assistant deputy commander of operations. General Yousefi at first said the object was only a star, but after conferring with the control tower at Mehrabad International Airport and then looking for himself to see a very bright object larger than a star, he decided to scramble one F-4 Phantom II jet fighter from Shahrokhi Air Force Base in Hamadan, approximately 175 miles west of Tehran.
At 0130 hours, the F-4 was launched and proceeded to a point 40 nautical miles north of Tehran. It was noted that the object was of such brilliance that it could be seen from 70 miles away. When the aircraft approached to approximately 25 nautical miles from the object, the jet suddenly lost all instrumentation and communications capabilities, prompting the pilot to break off the intended intercept and turn back toward Shahrohki; upon the evasion, both systems resumed functioning.
A F-4B of VF-111 on the USS Coral Sea armed with AIM-9DsAt 0140 hours, a second F-4 was scrambled, piloted by Lieutenant Parviz Jafari. Jafari would eventually retire as a general and participate on November 12, 2007, at a National Press Club conference demanding a world-wide investigation into UFO phenomena. Jafari's jet had acquired a radar lock on the object at 27 nautical miles range. The radar signature of the UFO resembled that of a Boeing 707 aircraft. Closing on the object at 150 nautical miles per hour and at a range of 25 nautical miles, the object began to move, keeping a steady distance of 25 nautical miles from the F-4. The size of the object was difficult to determine due to its intense brilliance. The lights of the object were alternating blue, green, red, and orange, and were arranged in a square pattern. The lights flashed in sequence, but the flashing was so rapid that they all could be seen at once.
While the object and the F-4 continued on a southerly path, a smaller second object detached itself from the first and advanced on the F-4 at high speed. Lieutenant Jafari thinking to be under attack, tried to launch an AIM-9 sidewinder missile, but he suddenly lost all instrumentation, including weapons control, and all communication. The F-4 pilot then instituted a turn and a negative G dive as evasive action. The object fell in behind him at about 3 to 4 nautical miles distance for a short time, then turned and rejoined the primary object. The main object then flew away at several times the speed of sound, according to a voice tape from one of the pilots.
Once again, as soon as the F-4 had turned away, instrumentation and communications were regained. The F-4 crew then saw another brightly lit object detach itself from the other side of the primary object and drop straight down at high speed. The F-4 crew expected it to impact the ground and explode, but it came to rest gently. The F-4 crew then overflew the site at a decreased altitude and marked the position of the light's touchdown. Jafari would later comment that the object was so bright that it lit up the ground and he could see rocks around it. Then they landed at Mehrabad, noting that each time they passed through a magnetic bearing of 150 degrees from Mehrabad, they experienced interference and communications failure.
A civilian airliner that was approaching Mehrabad also experienced a loss of communications at the same position relative to Mehrabad. As the F-4 was on final approach, they sighted yet another object, cylinder-shaped, with bright, steady lights on each end and a flashing light in the middle. The object overflew the F-4. Mehrabad tower reported no other aircraft in the area, but tower personnel were able to see the object when given directions by the F-4 pilot.
Years later, the main controller and an investigating general revealed that the object also overflew the control tower and knocked out all of its electronic equipment as well.
The next day, the F-4 crew flew out in a helicopter to the site where they had seen the smaller object land. In the daylight, it was determined to be a dry lake bed, but no traces could be seen. They then circled the area to the west and picked up a noticeable "beeper" signal. The signal was loudest near a small house, so they landed and questioned the occupants of the house about any unusual events of the previous night. They reported a loud noise and a bright light like lightning.
Further investigation of the landing site, including radiation testing of the area was apparently done, but the results were never made public. Since this event occurred before the fall of the Shah, any records in Tehran itself may be lost.