Tehran F-4 UFO Intercept

In the early hours of 19 September 1976 unusual lights were seen in the sky above Tehran, Iran. Two U.S.–supplied F-4 Phantom II interceptors of the Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF) were scrambled from Shahrokhi Air Base to identify the object. ¹

Both crews reported loss of communications, weapons control, and flight instruments when they neared the luminous target. Radar aboard the second jet locked the object at 27 nmi before it accelerated away. A smaller luminous body apparently exited the primary object and aggressively maneuvered toward the fighter, disabling its weapon panel just as the pilot attempted to fire an AIM-9 missile. ²

The episode was logged by Iranian controllers and documented in a highly-rated U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) report that remains one of the best-known military UFO cases.

Timeline (local time, IRST-UTC+3:30)

Time	Event
≈00:30	Mehrabad Airport tower receives four telephone reports of a bright object over Shemiran district; tower supervisor observes large starlike light himself.
01:30	First scramble: F-4E (Lt. Yaddi Nazeri) launches from Shahrokhi AFB (Hamadan). As aircraft closes to 25 nmi all radios and instruments fail; systems return once pilot turns away.
01:40	Second scramble: F-4E (Maj. Parviz Jafari / Lt. Jalal Damirian) takes off. Back-seater acquires radar lock at 27 nmi, target return comparable to a KC-135.
01:50	Within 25 nmi the object executes rapid climb; dazzling multicolored strobes prevent visual shape determination. Fighter again loses UHF and intercom when nose-on.
01:52	A brilliant, round secondary object ejects from the primary and heads straight for the F-4 at high speed. Jafari attempts AIM-9 launch; weapons panel and radios go dead.
01:53	Pilot performs negative-G break; secondary object follows, then returns to dock seamlessly with the primary.
01:55	Another object drops vertically from the primary and appears to land softly on the deserted dry lake bed near Ray, illuminating a 2–3 km area.
02:10	Returning for recovery, crew notes third cylindrical object with steady end-lights passing overhead; Mehrabad radar briefly picks it up.
~02:45	Jafari lands after multiple communication dropouts on final; a civilian airliner on approach experiences similar radio failure near "Kilo Zulu" fix.
Dawn	IIAF helicopter team with F-4 crew overflies landing site; no craft found but portable DF gear homes on an aircraft transponder beacon recovered nearby. Locals report loud noise & flash during the night.

Technical Characteristics

Electromagnetic Effects: Three aircraft (two F-4s and one airliner) suffered simultaneous radio and instrumentation outages that cleared once line-of-sight was lost.
Radar Data: AN/APQ-120 set aboard Jafari's Phantom tracked a solid return matching a Boeing 707 until target performed instant acceleration outside 25 nmi gate.
Visual Appearance: Witnesses described a diamond-shaped core with rapidly flashing blue, green, red and orange lights so intense that its body was obscured. The emitted smaller objects were round and intensely bright.
Kinematics: Reported motions included instantaneous acceleration, right-angle turns and hover-to-dash capability well beyond 1970s fighter performance.

Intelligence Evaluation

A three-page FLASH precedence message from the U.S. Defense Attaché Office Tehran was relayed to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 19 Sep 1976, later catalogued as DIA Report 6 - IR 000 001-76. A DIA analyst checklist rated the data:

Reliability: "Confirmed by other sources."
Information value: High (Unique, Timely, Major Significance).
Utility: Potentially Useful.

The report highlighted multiple witness strata, radar-visual correlation, repeatable EM effects and apparent advanced maneuverability as meeting "all the criteria necessary for a valid study of the UFO phenomenon." ³

Alternative Explanations

Hypothesis	Proponents	Issues
Bright planet Jupiter misidentified; meteor shower for "secondary objects".	Philip J. Klass, James Oberg	F-4 radar lock & simultaneous EM effects not addressed; luminous 'lander' on dry lake incongruent with Jupiter.
Equipment malfunction in notoriously unreliable first F-4; crew fatigue & stress.	Klass (1983)	Second jet exhibited failures only when nose-on to object; civilian airliner experienced radio outage in same azimuth.
Gamma & Southern Piscid meteors produced brilliant streaks interpreted as craft.	Brian Dunning (Skeptoid #315)	Meteors do not hover, merge, pace aircraft or jam UHF communications.

No conventional scenario fully reproduces the combined radar, visual and electromagnetic data reported.

Legacy

The Tehran case is frequently cited in governmental briefings (e.g., U.S. House 2022 UAP hearing) as an example of historical sensor-based encounters. Retired Gen. Jafari has reiterated his account in multiple interviews, insisting the object displayed technology far superior to the F-4. Skeptics continue to debate the episode, but declassified primary documents keep it prominent in UAP literature and documentaries such as Sightings (1994). ⁴⁵⁶

Command Palette