The “1976 Iran Incident” – UFO Encounter over Tehran, Iran

Background

The following case is thoroughly documented within the United States Government’s files. It was the first document I had ever received under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and will always remain special to me in that regard. But despite my personal connection, this case remains one of the most interesting cases you can find in official documents.

The document, obtained under the FOIA from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) reads as follows (.pdf version):

Continue scrolling for more...

What was strange about this case, was the fact that the document was “UNCLASSIFIED.”  However, that was not the case for a document that I obtained from the National Security Agency (NSA) which had one major difference: an opening paragraph from a United States Air Force Captain. This document was classified “CONFIDENTIAL.”  The statement read as follows (full .pdf version):

Statement by Captain Henry S. Shields and the “1976 Iran Incident”

Another great find within the NSA files, was the routing slip for the original intelligence document. On it, it outlines the extreme importance of the case as it “met the criteria for a valid UFO study.” The reasons outlined were the credibility of the witnesses, which included an Air Force General; radar confirmation; electromagnetic effects on THREE seperate aircraft; physiological effect on some crew members; and a UFO which displayed in “inordinate amount of maneuver-ability.”

Although difficult to read in its entirety, here is the relevant portion of the routing slip:

The full document is available below:

Follow The Black Vault on Social Media:

This post was published on December 3, 2020 1:47 pm

John Greenewald

Recent Posts

FBI Files: Civil Rights Era

Background Movements for civil rights were a worldwide series of political movements for equality before…

July 1, 2025

FBI Files: Historical Figures & Groups

Background Welcome to the FBI Files on Historical Figures & Groups archive at The Black…

June 26, 2025

Emails From Pentagon Spokesperson Uncovered on Gimbal, FLIR1, and GoFast UFO Videos

The Department of Defense has released a collection of internal emails in response to a…

June 18, 2025

Agency Cafeterias – Complaints & Menus

Background You can get quite a bit of material under the Freedom of Information Act…

June 18, 2025

DoD Releases Previously Unseen Document Detailing “NIGHT TRAIN 84” Nuclear War Exercise Scenario

The Department of Defense (DoD) has released, through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request…

June 18, 2025

TEMPS (Transportable Electromagnetic Pulse Simulator) Final Reports, 1973

The two volumes of the TEMPS (Transportable Electromagnetic Pulse Simulator) Final Report, dated August 1973…

June 8, 2025