Tehran UFO Incident, 1976: Iranian Fighter Jets Chase a UFO

It's common for debunkers to argue that trained observers don't see UFOs, but the incident over Tehran in 1976 puts the lie this myth. For several hours, multiple experienced pilots, air traffic controllers, and ground observers watched a UFO drift over the city of Tehran, and exhibit a wide range of baffling behaviours that they are still unable to explain.

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Illustration by Colin Campbell.
Music by Josh Chamberland.
Animation by Brendan Barr.
Sound design by Will Mountain and Josh Chamberland.

Sources:

US Department of Defence Report, 1976. Accessed February 13, 2019: http://nicap.org/reports/760919routing_slip_ufo_iran.pdf
Written transcript, accessed February 13, 2019: http://www.nicap.org/reports/760919tehran_rep.htm

Bruce Maccabee's Report, “The Iranian Jet Case”, Self-published, NICAP, 2006. Accessed February 12, 2019: https://www.nicap.org/reports/760919_tehran_Maccabee_report.pdf

"UFOs Force Government Action," UFO Investigator, NICAP: October, 1977. Accessed February 13, 2019: http://www.cufos.org/UFOI_and_Selected_Documents/UFOI/139%20OCTOBER%201977.pdf

Henry Shields, "Now you See it, Now you Don't." Declassified Dec 4, 1981.
Accessed February 12, 2019:
pg1: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Tehran_ufo_1976_1.jpg/138px-Tehran_ufo_1976_1.jpg
pg2: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Tehran_ufo_1976_2.jpg/138px-Tehran_ufo_1976_2.jpg
pg3: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Tehran_ufo_1976_3.jpg/138px-Tehran_ufo_1976_3.jpg

"Iranian Air Force Jets Scrambled," UFO Investigator, November 1976. Accessed Jan 5, 2019: http://www.cohenufo.org/iranafjet.html
Accessed February 12, 2019: http://www.nicap.org/reports/760919tehran_NICAP.pdf

Bob Pratt, "The Pentagon's ‘Classic’ UFO Case," CohenUFO.org. Accessed Jan 5, 2019:
http://www.cohenufo.org/iran.htm

MUFON report, “Iranian Air Force UFO Intercept - 1976.” Accessed February 13, 2019:
https://www.mufon.com/iranian-airforce-ufo-intercept---1976.html

Roland B. Evans, DIA Defense Information Evaluation Report, “Jet Interceptors Disarmed by UFO,” 22 Sept 1976. Accessed February 12, 2019:
http://www.nicap.org/reports/760919fufor_docs.pdf

Video Sources:
Sightings (1991 - 1997), Season 3, Episode 8, aired October 30, 1994. Accessed Jan 5, 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1LTBE4UIk0

Parviz Jafari at the National Press Club Conference in Washington, D.C., November 12, 2007. Accessed January 6, 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giSuEiNneh8
(Transcript: https://www.theufochronicles.com/2007/11/transcipt-of-witness-declarations-from.html)

Parviz Jafari discussing his encounter with James Fox, I Know What I Saw (2009). Accessed February 12, 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGMGOdKOPKk

Parviz Jafari discussing his encounter on UFO Hunters, History Channel, S1 Ep11, aired April 16, 2008. Accessed January 6, 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCNFrl4lq-o

Skeptical Sources:
Philip Klass. UFOs: The Public Deceived. Prometheus Books, 1983.

NARCAP Commentary on Philip Klass's debunking of the incident. Accessed February 12, 2019: http://www.nicap.org/reports/NARCAP_Iran_Klass.pdf

Brian Dunning, “The Tehran 1976 UFO,” Skeptoid, June 19, 2012. Accessed January 6, 2019: https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4315

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