General Parviz Jafari

General Parviz Jafari is a retired commander of the Iranian Imperial Air Force and a central witness to one of the most well-documented UAP encounters in military history: the 1976 Tehran UFO incident.

The 1976 Tehran Encounter

On September 19, 1976, Jafari piloted a F-4 Phantom II interceptor during a radar-visual encounter with an unidentified object over Tehran. He was accompanied by First Lieutenant Jalal Damirian, serving as the weapons officer and radar operator. The incident was prompted by numerous civilian reports and a previous F-4 intercept attempt earlier that night. Jafari's aircraft was scrambled at approximately 1:40 a.m. local time.

During the approach, Damirian acquired a radar lock on the target at 27 nautical miles, with a closing rate of 150 nautical miles per hour. Remarkably, the radar return signature was comparable in size to a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker — a substantially sized military aircraft — despite Jafari's visual observations describing a compact, intensely luminous phenomenon. The object displayed a rectangular pattern of flashing lights cycling through blue, green, red, and orange, so bright that Jafari reported being unable to see the object's physical body through the glare.

Technical Anomalies

As Jafari's F-4 closed on the target, the aircraft's instruments and communications systems went offline. When the jet withdrew from the vicinity of the object, systems returned to normal function. Most critically, while Jafari was preparing to fire an infrared-guided missile, the aircraft's weapons systems also temporarily failed. This sequence of electromagnetic interference during approach and recovery upon withdrawal was independently corroborated by the first F-4 intercept, piloted by Captain Mehrabad Kermani, which experienced identical systems failures.

Official Documentation

The incident was documented in a four-page Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) report distributed to the White House, Secretary of State, Joint Chiefs of Staff, NSA, and CIA. This official U.S. government record lends significant credibility to Jafari's account and distinguishes the Tehran incident from many other historical sightings lacking contemporary government verification.

International Disclosure Testimony

More than three decades after the incident, Jafari stepped forward publicly. On November 12, 2007, he appeared alongside other retired military and government officials at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., an event organized by investigative journalist Leslie Kean and others. The press conference brought together former military pilots, officials, and government insiders from multiple nations to urge world governments to declassify UAP records. Jafari recounted the Tehran incident in detail to the international media, asserting that the craft he pursued was "under intelligent control and far beyond human technology."

His willingness to publicly testify at the National Press Club distinguished Jafari from many witnesses who remain anonymous or anonymous decades later. His military rank, corroborated account, and appearance at a formal international disclosure event granted his testimony exceptional standing in the UFO research community.

Later Career & Documentary Work

Jafari has appeared in several documentary productions related to UAP phenomena, including The Phenomenon (2020), UFOs: Investigating the Unknown, and UFOs Declassified. These appearances have kept his testimony in circulation among researchers and the general public, particularly after the 2017 U.S. government UAP disclosure and renewed international interest in the topic.

Significance

Jafari's account represents one of the few military intercept encounters with supporting DIA documentation, independent radar corroboration, systematic electromagnetic interference, and later public testimony from an officer of unquestionable credibility. Unlike many historical sightings relying on civilian witnesses or classified accounts, the Tehran incident has been openly acknowledged by U.S. intelligence agencies and discussed in official forums. Jafari's 2007 disclosure appearance formalized his role as a key elder statesman of credible military UAP witnesses.