2004 · Bushehr, Khondab (Arak), Natanz and Kharg Island, Iran
Iran's Air Force and the luminous objects over its nuclear sites
From the accounts: Iranian Air Force fighters were sent after luminous objects around Bushehr and other nuclear sites, 2004-2012. · Illustration for uaptrail.com
When2004 – 2012
WhereBushehr, Khondab (Arak), Natanz and Kharg Island, Iran
Backing2 independent
Evidencepress
Between 2003 and 2005 Iran's Air Force logged nearly 180 sightings of luminous objects, clustered around the Bushehr, Natanz and Arak nuclear sites. Fighter crews were sent after them: F-4Es near Bushehr met one with no heat or radar signature, and an F-14 over Arak locked one that outran it and knocked out its electronics. Officials threatened to shoot them down, and in January 2012 an F-14 scrambled from Bushehr against a luminous object exploded after take-off, killing both crew. The same coast is where the U.S. PURSUE reports of 2020 cluster.
Evidence, in date order (2)
- 28 Apr 2004Reuters (28 Apr 2004)pressan IRGC officer called for a Supreme National Security Council investigation of the April 2004 nationwide wave
- 26 Jan 2012AP and Bushehr governor Mohammad Hossein Jahanbakhshpressconfirmed the F-14 crash that killed two pilots on 26 Jan 2012
How plausible · High
Named Iranian pilots and leaked Air Force logs describe luminous objects around nuclear sites; a minister threatened to fire on them, and a 2012 F-14 crash is confirmed though its target is not.
- ●●Access Fighter crews with radar lock.
- ●●Independent convergence Many crews, several sites, a minister's public warning.
- ●●Fits secrecy practice Internal Air Force documents, leaked.
- ●○Cost of speaking Named officers.
- ●○No gain sought No gain shown.
- ●○Consistent over time Hundreds of logged reports over years.
Against
- −Lone source, no corroboration The documents reach us through one researcher.
Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-23.
Claims
77 sightings in 2003/04 and 101 in 2004/05, many of small round yellow-green objects, peaking around the Bushehr, Natanz and Arak nuclear sites; the Air Force was tasked on Khamenei's personal order, and after six years its Office of Studies concluded they were man-made and American.Range Fouler: a solid white object makes "erratic moments" over the northern Gulf (14 May 2020)Three separate UAP observations on one ISR mission over the Persian Gulf (16 July 2020)An ISR crew records one UAP "transitting" over the Persian Gulf (8 August 2020)A "formation of unknown flying objects" tracked along the coast for two minutes (27 August 2020)One UAP on full-motion video off Bushehr, Iran, on a mission with two lost-link events (16 September 2020)A UAP near the Strait of Hormuz whose observation line is missing from the release (2 October 2020)A full-motion video of a UAP zoomed and tracked (16 September 2020)Range Fouler: one object overtaken by another, then three on screen (31 August 2020)secondhandSourced, unconfirmedBabak Taghvaee, citing IRIAF Air Defence Command and army intelligence documents, Iran International (11 Apr 2020)
On 10 Oct 2004 two F-4Es on training near Bushehr met a luminous object at about 500 kt with a green glow; it had no heat signature and no radar return.Range Fouler: a solid white object makes "erratic moments" over the northern Gulf (14 May 2020)Three separate UAP observations on one ISR mission over the Persian Gulf (16 July 2020)An ISR crew records one UAP "transitting" over the Persian Gulf (8 August 2020)A "formation of unknown flying objects" tracked along the coast for two minutes (27 August 2020)One UAP on full-motion video off Bushehr, Iran, on a mission with two lost-link events (16 September 2020)A UAP near the Strait of Hormuz whose observation line is missing from the release (2 October 2020)A full-motion video of a UAP zoomed and tracked (16 September 2020)Range Fouler: one object overtaken by another, then three on screen (31 August 2020)firsthandSourced, unconfirmedBrig. Gen. Masoud Jafari, second-jet pilot, in an unaired provincial TV interview, via Taghvaee
On 28 Oct 2004 an F-14A over Khondab/Arak locked a glowing sphere that zigzagged at a claimed Mach 7–10; ordered to destroy it, the crew lost electronics and radar, and the object accelerated away when an AIM-7 was selected.secondhandSourced, unconfirmedthen-Maj. Majid Ghasemi's encounter, via Combat Aircraft and Air Forces Monthly from leaked report scans
'If any of the bright objects come close, they will definitely meet our fire.'firsthandSourced, unconfirmedIntelligence Minister Ali Yunesi (late 2004), via CBS
On 26 Jan 2012 an F-14A (3-6062) scrambled from Bushehr against a luminous object near Kharg exploded minutes after take-off, killing Maj. Alireza Karimaei and Capt. Mostafa Fasihi. The crash is confirmed; the luminous-object target and an IRGC friendly-fire shoot-down are claimed, not demonstrated.Range Fouler: a solid white object makes "erratic moments" over the northern Gulf (14 May 2020)Three separate UAP observations on one ISR mission over the Persian Gulf (16 July 2020)An ISR crew records one UAP "transitting" over the Persian Gulf (8 August 2020)A "formation of unknown flying objects" tracked along the coast for two minutes (27 August 2020)One UAP on full-motion video off Bushehr, Iran, on a mission with two lost-link events (16 September 2020)A UAP near the Strait of Hormuz whose observation line is missing from the release (2 October 2020)A full-motion video of a UAP zoomed and tracked (16 September 2020)Range Fouler: one object overtaken by another, then three on screen (31 August 2020)secondhandSourced, unconfirmedTaghvaee; The Aviationist (anonymous officers); AP; Fars ('technical failure')
Where
Bushehr, Khondab (Arak), Natanz and Kharg Island, Iran
32.0°N 51.0°E · region only
In The picture
They came when we split the atomFrom 1948, green fireballs flew over Los Alamos and Sandia; Sandia logged 209 sightings and Los Alamos held a conference of physicists about them. In March 1950 the Farmington paper named a dozen townspeople, a few hours' drive from Los Alamos, who watched hundreds of silvery discs fly in formation; in 1953 an F-84 c…
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Sources
- Iran International: secrecy over luminous objects over nuclear and military sites (2020, Persian)
- The Aviationist: F-14 vs UFO (2013)
- The Aviationist: Iranian Tomcat blue-on-blue (2013)
- Hürriyet Daily News / AP: Iran warplane crash kills 2 pilots (2012)
- CBS: Iran says U.S. drones spy on nukes
- NBC/Reuters: UFO sightings in Iran (2004)