1976 · Tehran, Iran
Jets lose weapons over Tehran
WhenSeptember 19, 1976
WhereTehran, Iran
Backing2 independent
Witnesses1 named
Evidenceofficial records
Two Imperial Iranian Air Force F-4 Phantoms were sent after a brilliant object over Tehran. As each jet approached, its instruments and communications failed. One pilot tried to fire an AIM-9 missile and his weapons panel went dead. A smaller glowing object separated from the main one and headed toward him before rejoining it.
Evidence, in date order (2)
- 1976U.S. Defense Intelligence Agencyofficialreport circulating the case as a classic meeting all criteria for valid study Wikipedia: 1976 Tehran UFO incident
- 19 Sept 1976Crew of the first F-4witnesstheir own jet's instruments and communications failed on approach Wikipedia: 1976 Tehran UFO incident
How plausible · Very high
Named military pilots, two jets with equipment failures, and a DIA report that called it a classic case.
- ●●Access Direct observation or instruments.
- ●●Cost of speaking Named on record.
- ●●No gain sought Nothing to gain.
- ●●Character record Trained professionals.
- ●●Independent convergence Independent sources agree.
- ●●Checkable details check out Released official records.
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.
On the record
- A U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency report circulated the case and called it 'a classic which meets all the criteria necessary for a valid study'.
Claims
Craft that could switch off weapons at will, a pattern repeated at Malmstrom and in later military encounters.MalmstromspeculationSourced, unconfirmedbelievers
Lee Graham and Roger Ritter, satellite sensor technicians at Aerojet, said they found a DSP computer printout from the time of the Tehran overflight showing an anomalous object ('238 scans possible SR').Rocketdyne / Aerojet Rocketdyne (L3Harris)The NORAD fast-walker papers (1989, 2008) and the FOIA denialsFASTWALKERS - UFOs Outside EarthsecondhandLeadLee Graham and Roger Ritter
The printout image gives a date but no time and may show the scrambled jets rather than the object.FASTWALKERS - UFOs Outside EarthanalysisSourced, unconfirmedBrad Sparks
Where
Tehran, Iran
35.7°N 51.4°E
In The picture
They came when we split the atomThe pattern is attention to one thing: our ability to destroy ourselves. It watches both sides. At Malmstrom it switched the missiles off, and over Tehran a fighter's weapons panel went dead as it closed in. That looks less like conquest and more like oversight, or a warning.
Similar cases · sharing people, threads, topics or era
Connected cases
Four areas of contrast cross an infrared view over water: "4 UAP Formation Iran" (26 August 2022) 2022Hearing, 2025 2025Iran 2020 2020Iran's Air Force and the luminous objects over its nuclear sites 2004Malmstrom 1967Manises: TAE flight JK-297 diverted and the Mirage chase 1979
People and organizations
Rocketdyne / Aerojet Rocketdyne (L3Harris) orgThe NORAD fast-walker papers (1989, 2008) and the FOIA denials documentThe new science of Unidentified Aerospace-Undersea Phenomena (UAP) document
Threads · click one to see it on the board
Sources
- Wikipedia: 1976 Tehran UFO incident
- war.gov video (on DVIDS): Four UAP in formation over water, Iran, Aug 2022
- war.gov: Mission report, Iran, November 2020
- war.gov: Release 2 videos (incl. four objects in formation near Iran, 2022)
- Gen. Parviz Jafari at the National Press Club (2007)
- Gen. Jafari on the 1976 Tehran UFO incident