The 1976 Tehran UFO Incident was a radar Radar is an object-detection system that uses electromagnetic waves - specifically radio waves - to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, spacecraft, mountain ranges, radio and TV towers, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish, or and visual sighting of an unidentified flying object Unidentified flying object is the popular term for any apparent aerial phenomenon whose cause cannot be easily or immediately identified by the observer. The United States Air Force, which coined the term in 1952, initially defined UFOs as those objects that remain unidentified after scrutiny by expert investigators, though today the term UFO is (UFO) over Tehran Tehran , is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With a population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the 21st largest city in the world, the capital of Iran Iran (Persian: ایران [ʔiˈɾɒn] ), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Central Eurasia and Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was also known to the western world as Persia. Both Persia and Iran are used, during the early morning hours of 19 September 1976. The incident is particularly notable for the electromagnetic interference Electromagnetic interference is a disturbance that affects an electrical circuit due to either electromagnetic conduction or electromagnetic radiation emitted from an external source. The disturbance may interrupt, obstruct, or otherwise degrade or limit the effective performance of the circuit. The source may be any object, artificial or natural, effects observed upon aircraft coming within close proximity to the object: two F-4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the U.S. Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. Proving highly adaptable, it became a major part of the air wings of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force. It was used jet interceptors independently lost instrumentation and communications as they approached, only to have them restored upon withdrawal; one of the aircraft suffered temporary weapons systems failure, while preparing to open fire.
The incident, extensively recorded in a four-page U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency The Defense Intelligence Agency, or DIA, is a major producer and manager of military intelligence for the United States Department of Defense, employing over 16,500 military and civilian employees worldwide. The Defense Intelligence Community is headed by the DIA, through its Director , and coordinates the activities of the Army, Navy, Marine (DIA) report distributed to at least the White House The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical style. It has been the residence of every U.S, Secretary of State The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence. The current Secretary of State is Hillary Rodham Clinton, the 67th person, and third woman, Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff is a group of military leaders in the United States armed forces who advise the civilian government of the United States. The JCS is defined by statute and consists of a Chairman and Vice Chairman appointed by the President, and the Chiefs of service from the four branches of the armed services, National Security Agency The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States government, administered as part of the United States Department of Defense. Created on November 4, 1952 by President Harry S. Truman, it is responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals (NSA) and Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior United States policymakers. The CIA also engages in covert activities at the request of the President of the United States (CIA), remains one of the most well-documented military encounters with anomalous phenomena in history, and various senior Iranian military officers directly involved with the events have gone on public record stating their belief that the object was not of terrestrial Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets. It is sometimes referred to as the World, the Blue Planet,[note 6] or by its Latin name, Terra.[note 7] origin.
Map of Iran and surrounding countries, showing Tehran and Hamadan, where two F-4 jet interceptors were launched
Contents |
The incident
At approximately 0030 hours local time Iran Standard Time or Iran Time (IT) is the time zone used in Iran. Iran uses UTC+3:30. IRST is defined by the 52.5 degrees east meridian, the same meridian which defines the Iranian calendar and is the official meridian of Iran (2100Z Coordinated Universal Time is a time standard based on International Atomic Time (TAI) with leap seconds added at irregular intervals to compensate for the Earth's slowing rotation. Leap seconds are used to allow UTC to closely track UT1, which is mean solar time at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich), 19 September 1976, the Imperial Iranian Air Force command post at Tehran Tehran , is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With a population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the 21st largest city in the world received four reports by telephone, from civilians in the Shemiran city district, of unusual activity in the night sky. Some callers reported seeing a bird Birds are winged, bipedal, endothermic (warm-blooded), egg-laying, vertebrate animals. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most varied of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from the 5 cm (2 in) Bee Hummingbird to the 2.75 m (9 ft) Ostrich-like object; others reported a helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine driven rotors. In contrast with fixed-wing aircraft, this allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards and laterally. These attributes allow helicopters to be used in congested or isolated areas where with a bright light.
When the command post found no helicopters airborne to account for the reports, they called General A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given Yousefi, assistant deputy commander of operations. General Yousefi at first said the object was only a star A star is a massive, luminous ball of plasma held together by gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth. Other stars are visible in the night sky, when they are not outshone by the Sun. Historically, the most prominent stars on the celestial sphere were grouped together into constellations, but after conferring with the control tower at Mehrabad International Airport and then looking for himself to see a very bright object larger than a star, he decided to scramble one F-4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the U.S. Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. Proving highly adaptable, it became a major part of the air wings of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force. It was used jet fighter A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets by dropping bombs. Fighters are small, fast, and maneuverable. Many fighters have secondary ground-attack capabilities, and some are dual-roled as fighter-bombers; the from Shahrokhi Air Force Base in Hamadan Hamedān or Hamadān is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. It had an estimated population of 550,284 in 2005, approximately 175 miles (282 km) west of Tehran. (for location see map at right)
At 0130 hours (2200Z), the F-4, piloted by Captain Mohammad Reza Azizkhani was launched and proceeded to a point 40 nautical miles (74 km) north of Tehran. It was noted that the object was of such brilliance that it could be seen from 70 miles (110 km) away. When the aircraft approached to approximately 25 nautical miles (46 km) from the object, the jet suddenly lost all instrumentation and communications capabilities, prompting Azizkhani to break off the intended intercept and turn back toward Shahrohki; upon the evasion, both systems resumed functioning.
An Iran Air Force F-4D.At 0140 hours, a second F-4 was scrambled, piloted by Lieutenant Parviz Jafari. Jafari would eventually retire as a general and participate on 12 November 2007, at a National Press Club The National Press Club is one of the world's leading professional organizations for journalists. It is located in Washington, D.C. Its membership consists of journalists, former journalists, government information officers, and those considered to be regular news sources. It is well-known for its gatherings with invited speakers from public life conference demanding a worldwide investigation into UFO phenomena.[1][2][3][4][5] (see also below) Jafari's jet had acquired a radar lock on the object at 27 nautical miles (50 km) range. The radar signature of the UFO resembled that of a Boeing 707 aircraft. Closing on the object at 150 nautical miles (280 km) per hour and at a range of 25 nautical miles (46 km), the object began to move, keeping a steady distance of 25 nautical miles (46 km) from the F-4. The size of the object was difficult to determine due to its intense brilliance. The lights of the object were alternating blue, green, red, and orange, and were arranged in a square pattern. The lights flashed in sequence, but the flashing was so rapid that they all could be seen at once.
While the object and the F-4 continued on a southerly path, a smaller second object detached itself from the first and advanced on the F-4 at high speed. Lieutenant Jafari thinking he was under attack, tried to launch an AIM-9 sidewinder The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a heat-seeking, short-range, air-to-air missile carried mostly by fighter aircraft and recently, certain gunship helicopters. Variants and upgrades remain in active service with many air forces after five decades. When a Sidewinder missile is being launched, NATO pilots use the brevity code Fox Two in radio communication, missile, but he suddenly lost all instrumentation, including weapons control, and all communication. He later stated he attempted to eject, but this also was to no avail as it malfunctioned. Jafari then instituted a turn and a negative G dive as evasive action. The object fell in behind him at about 3 to 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) distance for a short time, then turned and rejoined the primary object.
Once again, as soon as the F-4 had turned away, instrumentation and communications were regained. The F-4 crew then saw another brightly lit object detach itself from the other side of the primary object and drop straight down at high speed. The F-4 crew expected it to impact the ground and explode, but it came to rest gently. The F-4 crew then overflew the site at a decreased altitude and marked the position of the light's touchdown. Jafari would later comment that the object was so bright that it lit up the ground and he could see rocks around it. The object had touched down nearby Rey Oil Refinery on the outskirts of Iran. Then they landed at Mehrabad, noting that each time they passed through a magnetic bearing of 150 degrees from Mehrabad, they experienced interference and communications failure.
A civilian airliner that was approaching Mehrabad also experienced a loss of communications at the same position relative to Mehrabad. As the F-4 was on final approach, they sighted yet another object, cylinder-shaped, with bright, steady lights on each end and a flashing light in the middle. The object overflew the F-4 as they were on approach. Mehrabad tower reported no other aircraft in the area, but tower personnel were able to see the object when given directions by Jafari. Years later, the main controller and an investigating general revealed that the object also overflew the control tower and knocked out all of its electronic equipment as well (see below).
The next day, the F-4 crew flew out in a helicopter to the site where they had seen the smaller object land. In the daylight, it was determined to be a dry lake bed, but no traces could be seen. They then circled the area to the west and picked up a noticeable "beeper" signal. The signal was loudest near a small house, so they landed and questioned the occupants of the house about any unusual events of the previous night. They reported a loud noise and a bright light like lightning.
Further investigation of the landing site, including radiation testing of the area was apparently done, but the results were never made public. Since this event occurred before the fall of the Shah The Pahlavi dynasty consisted of two monarchs, father and son. The Pahlavi father and son ruled Iran/Persia from the crowning of Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1925, following the overthrow of Ahmad Shah Qajar, the last ruler of the Qajar dynasty, already weakened by Soviet and British occupation, any records in Tehran itself may be lost.
D.I.A. form
Alongside the report there was a form from the DIA which assessed the quality of the report. The form indicated in checked boxes that the content was of high value, that the report was confirmed by other sources, and that the utility of the information was potentially useful to them. The form from the DIA also stated the following:
- "An outstanding report. This case is a classic which meets all the criteria necessary for a valid study of the UFO phenomenon:
- a) The object was seen by multiple witnesses from different locations (i.e., Shamiran, Mehrabad, and the dry lake bed) and viewpoints (both airborne and from the ground).
- b) The credibility of many of the witnesses was high (an Air Force general, qualified aircrews, and experienced tower operators).
- c) Visual sightings were confirmed by radar.
- d) Similar electromagnetic Electromagnetic interference is a disturbance that affects an electrical circuit due to either electromagnetic conduction or electromagnetic radiation emitted from an external source. The disturbance may interrupt, obstruct, or otherwise degrade or limit the effective performance of the circuit. The source may be any object, artificial or natural, effects (EME) were reported by three separate aircraft.
- e) There were physiological effects on some crew members (i.e., loss of night vision due to the brightness of the object).
- f) An inordinate amount of maneuverability was displayed by the UFOs."
261px x 600px | 44.90kB
[source page]
Drawing based on a sketch and description by pirouzi courtesy Bruce Maccabee
Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:19:36 PDT
Part 1: www.youtube.com Part 2: www.youtube.com Part 3: www.youtube.com Part 4: www.youtube.com Part 5: www.youtube.com I was so excited when I ... youtube.com.
