Documents / Report
This Black Vault FOIA release contains a 22 August 1996 cover letter from the Defense Intelligence Agency and the one responsive document, a September 1976 intelligence report sent from USDAO Tehran to DIA. The report describes a UFO seen over Tehran on 19 September 1976. Two Imperial Iranian Air Force F-4s were scrambled, and both lost instruments or communications when they approached the object. Smaller objects came out of the main object, and one appeared to land. The crew later picked up a beeper signal, and the area was being checked for radiation.
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
12. (U) USDAO, TEHRAN, IRAN 13. (U) FRANK B. MCKENZIE, COL, USAF, DATT 14. [U] NA 16. THIS REPORT FORWARDS INFORMATION CONCERNING THE LIGHTING OF AN UFO IN IRAN ON 19 SEPTEMBER 1976. 4. AT ABOUT 1238 AM ON 19 SEPT 76 THE IMPERIDAL IRANIAN AIR FORCE (IIAF) COMMAND POST RECEIVED FOUR TELEPHONE CALLS FROM CITIZENS LIVING IN THE SHENIRAN AREA OF TEHRAN SAYING THAT THEY HAD BEEN STRANGE OBJECTS IN THE SKY, SOME REPORTED A KIND OF BIRD-Like OBJECT WHILE OTHERS REPORTED A HELICOPTER WITH A LIGHT ON. THERE WERE NO HELICOPTERS AIRBORNE AT THAT TIME. THE COMMAND POST CALLED BY YOUSEFI, ASSISTANT DEPUTY COMMANDER OF OPERATIONS, AFTER HE TOLD THE CITIZEN IT HAS ONLY STARS AND HAD TALKED TO MEHRABAD TOWER HE DECIDED TO LOOK FOR HIMSELF. HE NOTICED AN OBJECT IN THE SKY SIMILAR TO A STAR BIGGER AND BRIGHTER. HE DECIDED TO SCRAMBLE AN F=4 FROM SHAHROKH1 AFB TO INVESTIGATE. B. AT 0138 HRS ON THE 19TH THE F-4 TOOK OFF AND PROCEEDED TO A POINT ABOUT 48 NK NORTH OF TEHRAN, DUE TO ITS BRILLIANCE THE OBJECT WAS EASILY VISIBLE FROM 70 MILES AWAY. AS THE F-4 APPROACHED A RANGE OF 25 NK HE LOST ALL INSTRUMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS (UHF AND INTERCOM), HE BROKE OFF THE INTERCEPT AND HEADED BACK TO SHAHROKHI, WHEN THE F-4 TURNED AWAY FROM THE OBJECT AND APPARENTLY WAS NO LONGER A THREAT TO IT. THE AIRCRAFT REGAINED ALL INSTRUMENTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS. AT 0148 HRS A SECOND F-4 WAS LAUNCHED, THE BACKSEATER ACQUIRED A RADAR LOCK ON AT 27 NK, 12 O'CLOCK HIGH POSITION WITH THE VC (RATE OF CLOSURE) AT 158 NKPH, AS THE RANGE DECREASED TO 25 NK THE OBJECT MOVED AWAY AT A SPEED THAT WAS VISIBLE ON THE RADAR SCOPE AND STAYED AT 25 NK. C. THE SIZE OF THE RADAR RETURN WAS COMPARABLE TO THAT OF A 767 TANKER. THE VISUAL SIZE OF THE OBJECT WAS DIFFICULT TO DISCERN BECAUSE OF ITS INTENSE BRILLIANCE. THE LIGHT THAT IT GAVE OFF WAS THAT OF FLASHING STROBE LIGHTS ARRANGED IN A RECTANGULAR PATTERN AND ALTERNATING BLUE, GREEN, RED AND ORANGE IN COLOR. THE SEQUENCE OF THE LIGHTS WAS SO PART THAT ALL THE COLORS COULD BE BEEN AT ONCE. THE OBJECT AND THE PURSUING F-4 CONTINUED ON A COURSE TO THE SOUTH OF TEHRAN WHEN ANOTHER BRIGHTLY LIGHTED OBJECT, ESTIMATED TO BE ONE HALF TO ONE THIRD THE APPARENT SIZE OF THE MOON, CAME OUT OF THE ORIGINAL OBJECT. THIS SECOND OBJECT HEADED STRAIGHT IONARD THAT F-4 AT A VERY FAST RATE OF SPEED, THE PILOT ATTEMPTED TO FIRE AN AIR-0 MISSILE AT THE OBJECT BUT AT THAT
Report, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 6 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.