Tehran F-4 Phantom intercept (19 Sep 1976).
documentedclose_encounterLandmark High-Strangeness Cases
[DOCUMENTED] Sub-incident of the 1976 Tehran case: two IIAF F-4 Phantoms scrambled from Shahrokhi AB. Lt. Yaddi Nazeri's jet lost instruments + UHF/intercom at ~25 nm and returned (restored on withdrawal). Maj. Parviz Jafari's second F-4 got a radar lock at ~27 nm (return size compared to a KC-135), then lost AIM-9 weapons and comms on closing; reported a smaller object releasing toward him. Systems faltered on approach, returned on retreat.
Documentation chain is the case's strength: day-after IIAF interviews attended by Lt. Col. Olin Mooy (US MAAG), whose teletype reached CIA/NSA/White House/State (Kissinger); Col. Frank McKenzie's near-identical Defense Attache cable to the Pentagon (23 Sep); DIA's Col. Roland Evans evaluated the Mooy memo (12 Oct 1976) as high reliability/value, suitable for a 'valid study of the UFO phenomenon.' The DIA Intelligence Information Report was FOIA-released 31 Aug 1977. A USAF Security Service MIJI Quarterly (Meaconing/Intrusion/Jamming/Interference) bulletin cited it as an electronic-interference example. Skeptical [DISPUTED]: Brian Dunning (Jupiter + meteor shower + equipment faults + stray transponder); Philip Klass (Capella/Jupiter; he wrongly claimed only the 2nd jet malfunctioned). Iranian records closed off after the 1979 revolution. Maj. (later Gen.) Jafari testified publicly at the 2007 National Press Club conference.