Tehran F-4 intercept

Record summary

What happened After public calls about a bright object over Tehran, the Imperial Iranian Air Force launched two F-4 fighters. The first crew returned after reported instrument and communications problems; the second, piloted by Parviz Jafari, reported radar contact with a luminous object and a smaller light that appeared to move toward the aircraft. Jafari said weapon and communication systems failed when he attempted to engage, then recovered after he turned away. A U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency report summarized the event and gave it unusual credibility, but later analysis proposed Jupiter, meteors, equipment malfunction and expectation effects as a combination explanation. Evidence Multiple civilian reports, two military aircrews, an airborne radar claim, ground-controller involvement and a contemporary DIA information report. Explanations considered Jupiter and bright stars could explain the persistent main light; meteors or aircraft could explain moving secondary lights; known F-4 electrical faults may explain system failures. Critics argue this requires several coincidences. What remains uncertain The publicly available record is a summary rather than raw radar and maintenance data. Reported weapons failure is testimony, not an independently measured effect from the object. Primary source Iran — UFO sighting — U.S. National Archives / Defense Intelligence Agency Further source trail 1976 Tehran UFO incident — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Tehran_UFO_incident