{"it":{"id":"UFO-TEH1976","name":"1976 Tehran UFO incident","kind":"ufo","sub":"Historical sighting","place":"Tehran, Iran","lat":35.69,"lon":51.39,"date":"1976-09-19","rep":"Temporary weapons failure while preparing to fire.","off":"Klass and Oberg: likely Jupiter, plus equipment problems.","src":[{"t":"Wikipedia: 1976 Tehran UFO incident","u":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Tehran_UFO_incident"}],"tags":["Sightings"],"sum":"On 19 September 1976 an Iranian F-4 pilot prepared to fire on a bright object over Tehran and his weapons system failed; another jet had lost instruments.","nsrc":1,"new":1,"qs":["One jet lost its instruments, another's weapons failed as the crew prepared to fire, and an airliner lost radio. Coincidence, or a response?","Skeptics say Jupiter plus unrelated faults. How many separate failures on one night would it take before you stopped calling it chance?","If something really disabled fighter jets in 1976, what does that say about what we can and can't defend against?"],"yt":"One jet lost its instruments and another's weapons failed as the crew prepared to fire. Coincidence, or a response?","rel":["UFO-RB47-1957"],"hook":"An Iranian F-4 pilot readied a missile at a light over Tehran. His weapons panel went dead.","why":"A US defence cable records jet instrument and weapons failures near a bright light. Sceptics blame Jupiter and faulty equipment."},"S":{},"rec":{"id":"UFO-TEH1976","sum":"As the second Iranian jet closed on a bright light over Tehran, the pilot made ready to fire an infrared missile. His weapons panel went dead, and he lost his radio.\n\nThat is how a US Defense Intelligence Agency cable, sent soon after the night of 19 September 1976, tells it. At about 12:30 am residents of the Shemiran district rang in reports of a bright object. At about 1:30 an F-4 Phantom took off from Shahrokhi air base. Its crew saw the light from 70 miles away, then lost instruments and radio at about 25 miles and turned back. When it turned away, everything came back. A second F-4 got a radar lock at 27 miles, with a return the size of a 707 tanker. The cable says a smaller object left the first and appeared to land, lighting an area of 2 to 3 km.\n\nWhat is hard to explain is how many systems are said to have failed, and then recovered. The cable was sent to the CIA and the White House among others. Pilots, including Parviz Jafari, retold the story for decades.\n\nSceptics Philip Klass and James Oberg suggested that the first light was Jupiter, and that the faults were ordinary equipment problems. Supporters reply that a planet does not lock on radar or follow a fighter.\n\nIs it likelier that several faults lined up by chance, or that the pilots saw something real?","qs":["One jet lost its instruments and another's weapons failed as the crew prepared to fire. Coincidence, or a response?","Sceptics say Jupiter plus unrelated faults. How many separate faults would have to line up?","The cable went to the CIA and the White House. What would a full official file add?"],"gal":[{"src":"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Tehran_ufo_1976_1.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tehran_ufo_1976_1.jpg","title":"Tehran ufo 1976 1.jpg","lic":"Public domain","licurl":"","by":"Captain Henry S. Shields","cap":"Photo of 1976 Tehran UFO incident","alt":"Photo of 1976 Tehran UFO incident"}],"ms":[],"aa":[],"ac":[],"src":[{"t":"Wikipedia: 1976 Tehran UFO incident","u":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Tehran_UFO_incident"},{"id":"VUFO-TEH1976-2","t":"Defense Intelligence Agency cable, Tehran, 1976 (UFO Transparency copy)","u":"https://ufotransparency.com/files/1976-09-19-dia-tehran-iran-uap-cable-dia-tehran-iran-cable-1976"}],"pts":[{"p":"Controller Pirouzi got calls at about 1:30 am.","g":"SINGLE SOURCE","b":"S","t":"Wikipedia: 1976 Tehran UFO incident","u":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Tehran_UFO_incident"},{"p":"Nazeri saw it from 70 mi; lost instruments at 25 nm.","g":"SINGLE SOURCE","b":"S","t":"Wikipedia: 1976 Tehran UFO incident","u":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Tehran_UFO_incident"},{"p":"Jafari had radar lock at 27 nm, with a return the size of a KC-135.","g":"SINGLE SOURCE","b":"S","t":"Wikipedia: 1976 Tehran UFO incident","u":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Tehran_UFO_incident"},{"p":"An airliner also reported radio failure.","g":"SINGLE SOURCE","b":"S","t":"Wikipedia: 1976 Tehran UFO incident","u":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Tehran_UFO_incident"}]},"img":null,"md":null,"hh":null,"hs":{},"lh":{"s":"img/h/UFO-TEH1976.webp","w":844,"h":1055,"o":"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Tehran_ufo_1976_1.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled"}}