1975 · Over Dubrovnik-Ćilipi and Prevlaka, Yugoslavia (now Croatia/Montenegro)
Prevlaka: Yugoslav MiGs chase a radar object while Tito watched
Part ofOrdered to fire
From the accounts: Yugoslav MiG-21s were scrambled at an object that stopped over Dubrovnik's airport, February 1975. · Illustration for uaptrail.com
WhenFebruary 1975
WhereOver Dubrovnik-Ćilipi and Prevlaka, Yugoslavia (now Croatia/Montenegro)
In February 1975 Yugoslav air-defence radars picked up an object that came in from the Adriatic each day and stopped over Dubrovnik's airport. MiG-21s were scrambled about fifteen times and got radar locks, but their missiles would not respond. A general turned the Prevlaka headland into a war room and Tito was briefed daily. A colonel who guided the pilots told the story in 2018.
How plausible · High
A named radar officer guided about fifteen MiG-21 scrambles with radar locks on an object that came daily; he names the other participants.
- ●●Access He guided the pilots from the radar station.
- ●●No gain sought Nothing sold.
- ●●Character record Colonel and professor.
- ●●Physical traces or official reaction Repeated radar tracks and locks.
- ●○Cost of speaking Named.
- ●○Independent convergence He names the intercept leader, pilots and an engineer.
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
Over several days an object came daily on radar from the Brindisi direction and stopped over Ćilipi; MiG-21s from Batajnica and Bihać scrambled about 15 times and locked it ('Imam zahvat u radaru'), but missiles would not respond. Gen. Ismet Kulenović made Prevlaka a war room and ordered discretion; Tito, at Igalo, was briefed daily.firsthandSourced, unconfirmedCol. Prof. Dr. Aleksandar Kostić, at the radar station guiding the pilots, to Novosti (2018)
Lt. Col. Zvonko Jurjević led the first intercept; pilots Žindarčič and Mamić and VTI engineer Milivoje Jugin took part.secondhandSourced, unconfirmedKostić
Where
Over Dubrovnik-Ćilipi and Prevlaka, Yugoslavia (now Croatia/Montenegro)
42.4°N 18.5°E
Similar cases · sharing people, threads, topics or era
Connected cases
Pan Adria: an airliner paced by a red light 1977Plaški: a MiG-21 can't catch a luminous object at 22,000 m 1970