1976 Tehran UFO Incident

A game of “cat and mouse” unfolded during the 1976 Tehran UFO Incident between an unidentified flying object and Iranian Air Force jets.

Name	1976 Tehran UFO Incident
Occurred on	September 19, 1976
Seen by	Multiple witnesses, including F-4 Phantom II jet pilots
Investigated by	Iranian and U.S. Military

This case is a classic that meets all the requirements necessary for a valid study of UFO phenomena.

While the government typically shies away from recognizing UFO cases, it most certainly reacted differently to the 1976 Tehran UFO Incident. The above statement is a direct quotation from a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessment by Colonel Roland Evans, which summarized the case and acknowledged its validity.

The Tehran UFO Incident is one of those rare cases where the government displayed an unusually open attitude towards the entire phenomenon. What exactly happened to prompt this shift in perspective from not just one agency, but multiple agencies?

What Is the 1976 Tehran UFO Incident About?

In its briefest description, the 1976 incident has been uniquely dubbed a “UFO dogfight” over the skies of Tehran, Iran. Upon examining its sequence of events, one can understand why it earned this moniker.

Iran’s first major UFO sighting, the Tehran UFO Incident, occurred on September 18, 1976, and continued into the early morning of September 19, when an unidentified flying object was reported hovering around the capital’s airspace.

The whole event was observed by multiple residents and several officers, lending the case notable credibility.

In the DIA assessment, Col. Ronald Evans summarized the details of the event:

• The object was observed from various locations (Shemiram, Mehrabad, and the dry lakebed) and viewpoints (both from the ground and from the air).
• Its witnesses were comprised of highly credible individuals (Air Force General, aircrews, and experienced radar operators).
• The sightings were confirmed by radar.
• Electromagnetic effects (EME) were reported by three aircraft.
• Some crew members experienced physiological effects.

The Events on September 18, 1976

The first sighting occurred at approximately 10:30 PM on the 18th. 

Air traffic controller Hossein Pirouzi was manning an Imperial Iranian Air Force command post at Mehrabad International Airport when he received the first report. A woman called in an object she had observed in the skies northeast of the airport, describing it as:

• A luminous object that glowed yellow, red, and orange
• Shaped like a four-blade fan, which splits into two

A few minutes later, another caller reported seeing a similar object around the same area. By midnight, the command post received four calls about the same events involving the airborne object, which was collectively described as bird-like or like brightly lit helicopters.

As would every officer, the reports alarmed Pirouzi, who considered them a potential airspace violation. However, with the tower he manned being under repair, he was unable to identify the object through its systems precisely. This prompted him to make a decision that immediately altered the situation’s trajectory.

Pirouzi stepped outside to examine what the calls were about through his binoculars.

It was rectangular in shape, probably seven to eight meters long and about two meters wide. From later observations I made, I would say it was cylindrical. The two ends were pulsating with a whitish blue color. Around its mid-section, there was this small red light that kept going around in a circle. I was amazed. I didn’t know what to think. There definitely was a very strange object there in the sky over Tehran.

As the object drew closer, Pirouzi reportedly saw it changing shape, from cylindrical into:

• A drooping green star-shaped body and a red glowing core
• Having dark orange arms that faded into yellow at the tips

At first glance, it seemed as though the object had four “arms,” but Pirouzi believed it only had one and was switching positions.

This observation, along with its differences from the others’ accounts, suggested that the object was constantly changing its shape. This was later confirmed when his trainees looked through their binoculars and, this time, described the object as a semicircle.

The Events on September 19, 1976

By 12:30 AM, Pirouzi had contacted the Imperial Iranian Air Force to report what had transpired. He spoke to Brigadier General Nader Yousefi, who, coincidentally, also saw the object from his house in Northern Tehran to confirm that it, indeed, wasn’t a star.

I put down my phone and I ran to my balcony to see if I can see the object. I saw a big star that was at least twice as large as the normal stars.

This prompted him to call the Shahrokhi Air Base in nearby Hamadan to dispatch an F-4 Phantom Jet.

The First F-4 Interception

At 1:30 AM, General Yousefi authorized the F-4 fighter jet to investigate.

Its pilot, Yadi Nazeri, reported that the object was brilliant enough to be visible 70 miles away, but this meant that it was also too bright to identify its shape. However, he did manage to make out that it radiated orange, violet, and white light, and was approximately 3.6 km off the ground.

Nazeri was instructed to fly closer and conduct a visual inspection of the object. This was when the “cat and mouse” game between the crafts began.

• The F-4 Phantom jet approached the object, but it quickly moved farther when the jet was 46 km away.
• When Nazeri headed back toward Tehran, the object darted past him, beating him back to the city.
• Nazeri chased the object, but when he was within 25 nautical miles away, the F-4 Phantom jet suddenly lost instrumentation and communications.
• With nothing to defend himself with, Nazeri was instructed to break off the intercept and fly back to base.
• When he arrived back, all the plane’s systems returned to normal.

The Second F-4 Interception

Ten minutes later, Yousefi launched a second interception with another F-4 Phantom jet, piloted by Lieutenant Parvis Jafari. While the first effort was unsuccessful, Lt. Jafari was quickly able to establish a radar lock on the UFO at a distance of 27 nautical miles, and measured the size to be comparable to that of a Boeing 707.

The same “push-and-pull” from the object was still observed during the second interception.

• Every time Lt. Jafari closed in, it immediately sped away, managing to move more than 43 km in an instant.
• At one point, a smaller ball of light detached itself from the main craft and darted towards the jet.
• Lt. Jafari attempted to launch an AIM-9 missile at it, but realized, like the first jet, he had lost all controls and communications.

Both crafts chased after each other until the lieutenant executed a diving turn and broke off the chase. However, before he could return to base, Lt. Jafari, Pirouzi, and his trainees saw another small object emerge from the original’s side and quickly plunged towards the ground.

They watched as the object slowed its descent and landed gently on the ground, illuminating it for 2–3 km. The larger object was orbiting over the smaller one when Lt. Jafari was ordered to approach it again, but before he could go any closer, the jet’s systems died again.

Coinciding Incidents

Around the time of the 1976 Tehran UFO Incident, another major sighting occurred in Morocco. The events not only bore some resemblance but were also handled similarly.

King Hassan II allegedly witnessed the Moroccan incident on September 18th. However, his experience was only made public on September 25, when he instructed the commander of the Royal Gendarmerie to investigate the craft he had seen.

• It was a silvery, luminous, circular-shaped object.
• It gave off intermittent trails of bright sparks.
• It made no noise as it flew overhead, traveling up the Moroccan Atlantic coast.

Multiple accounts also reportedly described seeing a similar object, coming from different areas of the country:

• Agadir
• The Marrakech Area
• Casablanca
• Rabat
• Kenitra

Two Portuguese jetliner crews gave other similar reports: (1) those departing from Lisbon and (2) those over the Mediterranean.³ Both parties claimed to have seen a bright, bluish object fly out of the west.

Investigations and Explanations

The 1976 Tehran UFO Incident was supported not only by the aforementioned similar sightings and eyewitness accounts but also by high-ranking officials who confirmed its occurrence.

A rumor also circulated that a classified document detailing the events was being passed around and examined by several government agencies, both local and federal:

• Secretary of the State
• Central Intelligence Agency
• The White House
• Chief of Naval Operations
• Defense Intelligence Agency
• The Commander-in-Chief of US Naval Forces in the Middle East
• Air Force in Europe
• The European Defense Air Command
• The Commander-in-Chief of Forces in Europe

The significant attention and concern from these top agencies further distinguished the incident as unlike any other. It reflected not only the event’s authenticity, but also its perceived severity.

The Military’s Response

The Iranian Military was quick to respond to the situation. On September 19, just after sunrise, the second jet pilot, Parvis Jafari, alongside his radar operator, was dispatched again to check the lakebed where the object allegedly landed.

However, they found nothing on the site other than several witnesses who claimed to have heard a high-pitched beeper and seen a bright light early that morning.

The day after, the Iranian Air Force interviewed the pilots of both the F-4 jets dispatched to intercept the object. Lieutenant Colonel Olin Mooy of the U.S. Military Assistance and Advisory Group (MAAG) was present during Parvis Jafari’s testimony.

Mooy prepared a teletype message of Jafari’s testimony and relayed it to U.S. government agencies. Another Colonel from the U.S. Defense Attaché Office in Tehran, Frank McKenzie, also sent a similar message to the Pentagon on September 23.

Philip Klass

UFO debunker Philip Klass investigated the incident and published his findings in his book, UFOs: The Public Deceived.

He allegedly spoke with a few military officials and some American field engineers who worked on the jets, stating that only the second jet malfunctioned when it engaged with the UFO.

To account for the inconsistencies, Klass proposed the hypothesis:

• The pilots chased the star Capella or the planet Jupiter.
• The radar systems produced a false return.
• An undocumented flight dropped an emergency beacon near the site.

Klass also claimed that the engineers he interviewed said that the pilots were tired and poorly trained, thus prone to error. This reasoning reduced the 1976 Tehran UFO Incident to the military’s incompetence.

Bruce Maccabee

In 1982, NICAP optical physicist Bruce Maccabee also conducted his own investigation and spoke with the engineers who maintained the F-4 jets.

Maccabee claimed that the engineers revealed they weren’t allowed to examine the jets for days after the incident. They were only authorized after the Iranian Air Force examined them, and no signs of damage were found.

Materials Derived from the Event

With its captivating background, the 1976 Tehran UFO Incident has been the subject of multiple books, documentaries, and dramatized segments.

• UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record by Leslie Kean
  This is a compilation of various UFO events, featuring testimonies from eyewitnesses and government officials, including the Tehran incident and General Parviz Jafari.
• UFOs and the National Security State, Vol. 2 by Richard Dolan
  This includes detailed historical overviews of different UFO cases, and the Tehran incident is presented as a key case in Cold War-era UFO events.
• The UFO Encyclopedia by Jerome Clark
  This is a comprehensive reference work about UFO events, containing an entry on the Tehran incident with cross-references to other documents.
• UFO Hunters by History Channel (Episode: Iranian Dogfight)
  This entire episode reenacted and analyzed the Tehran UFO encounter.
• The Phenomenon by James Fox
  This high-profile UFO documentary discussed the Tehran incident, describing it as one of the strongest cases witnessed by a pilot.

1976 Tehran UFO Incident’s Significance in Ufology

The 1976 Tehran UFO Incident is among the most remarkable UFO encounters in history for being a well-documented military encounter. The case stands out because of:

• Radar data
• Reported effects on military craft
• Multiple independent witnesses from different locations and viewpoints
• International collaboration of government agencies

The case is also substantial proof as to why the military treats UFO events as potential national security issues because of their effect on aircraft.

FAQ

Are there declassified documents about the Tehran UFO Incident?

Yes, there were several documents about the incident. One of which was the DIA’s report, which has now been declassified and made available through archives. Another was a report written by Captain Henry S. Shields titled Now You See It, Now You Don’t.

Did any pilots or officials speak publicly about the incident?

Yes, one of the most notable public testimonies about the incident was from General Parviz Jafari, who spoke at the 2007 press conference in Washington, D.C., on UFOs.

What are the skeptical explanations for the Tehran Incident?

Philip Klass suggested that natural phenomena and simple technical malfunctions could explain the incident. However, these explanations still make the case difficult to dismiss entirely.