CODEX Entry 7111: Teheran AAV Incident 18-19 September 1976¹
A radar and visual sighting over the capital of Iran.
Ground Eyewitnesses:
Hossain Pirouzi – Airtraffic Control Mehrabad Airport, with six other junior controllers.
General Yousefi – Commander of Shahrokhi Airforce base
Hundreds of civilians.
Air Eyewitnesses and Radar:
Captain Aziz Khani and 1st Lieutenant Hossein Shokri – 1st F-4 II crew
Lieutenant Parviz Jafari² and 1st Lieutenant Jalal Damirian – 2nd F-4 II crew
Airtraffic Control at Mehrabad Airport received 4 calls from 10:30pm to 11pm describing a slow-moving object with blue, green, red and orange lights over the city. Pirouzi confirmed the sighting with his binoculars, viewing the object approximately 2000m above the ground over the northern districts, moving south east then south west, arcing around the city. At 12:30 the Iranian Air Force was called, and Deputy General Yousefi at Shahrokhi Airforce base also confirmed visual contact. Captain Aziz Khani and 1st Lieutenant Hossein Shokri were scrambled in an F-4 II fighter. They chased the object up to a distance of 300km North East of the city. Each time they got closer than 50 km from the craft, their instrumentation and radio would malfunction, but restart again once they moved further away. Nearing the Iranian border, the object suddenly disappeared, reappearing back behind them over the city.
At 1:30am a second jet was scrambled. Lieutenant Parviz Jafari experienced similar difficulty in approaching the object. Strange almost instantaneous swift movements of the object meant it was briefly lost before reappearing on their radar. These movements represented jumps of 10.5km in 0.5 seconds or speeds of 75,000km/h. The size of the object was hard to discern visually due to the brightness of the lights, but the radar signal was similar in scale to a Boeing 707. When they would get within 40 km it would instantly jump to a position 50 km away.
A small round object detached itself from the primary object and moved swiftly towards the F-4. Lt. Jafari assumed he was the target of an incoming missile. He engaged his AIM 9 heat-seeking missile to take down the approaching threat. However, his missile systems would not work, and all instruments and radio failed, with instruments spinning randomly. The pilot had to shout to his Lt. to communicate. They planned to eject as the missile approached, but it halted 8km from them before returning to the primary object. A second small object left the primary object and circled the F-4 fighter.
Orders were given from General Yousefi to return to base. As the F-4 left the primary object, it was followed on its left side by the small bright round object. As the pilot was in final approach Lt. Damirian observed another small object leaving the primary object and dropping swiftly down to the ground. General Yousefi also saw the object land about 25km away and ordered Lt. Jafari to abort his landing and go to observe the landing site. As soon as they flew within 7 km of the object his systems failed again, including radio. The landed object was issuing a type of squawk signal, a beeping, that could be tracked by civil airliners in the area.
The primary object suddenly accelerated away at 4 a.m. No malfunctions were found in the two F-4 aircrafts systems on returning to base. A nearby jet airliner also suffered radio failure.
The next morning the briefing, attended by many Iranian generals, also included American Colonel Olin Mooy. At the hospital in the afternoon during tests there was difficulty with coagulating blood samples. No radioactivity was found. While the squawk continued for 4 days, nothing could be found at the landing site. The crew were continually interrogated over several months, including a meeting with the Shah of Iran.
At the time US Iranian relations were strong, and military cooperation at a high level. On October 12th , US Airforce Major Colonel Roland Evans released his review of the incident, indicating the reputations of military witnesses and the detailed manoeuvres of the vehicle, made this an important sighting.
References:
¹ Leslie Kean, UFOs, Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go On the Record
² https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giSuEiNneh8