1976 in UFO history
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 📅 Year
Contents 5
| Year | 1976 |
|---|---|
| Events | 1 |
| Decade | 1970s |
| Timeline | 1976 on the UAP Timeline |
1976 in UFO history — the UAP Timeline records 1 event in 1976. People named in these events include John Greenewald, Gerald Haines.
Overview
The most notable UFO case of 1976 happened over Iran. On 19 September civilians and military personnel in Tehran reported a radar and visual sighting of an unidentified object.[1] In separate incidents, two Imperial Iranian Air Force F-4 Phantom II interceptors lost instruments and communications as they approached it, which returned when they withdrew. One crew reported a temporary weapons-system failure as they prepared to fire, and an airliner reported radio failure.[1] The incident was recorded in CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency documents, and the 1998 Sturrock panel listed it as an example of electromagnetic effects attributed to UFOs.[2] See 1976 Tehran UFO incident.
The timeline's only 1976 entry concerns the CIA. A teletype dated 26 April admitted that "offices and personnel within the Agency" monitored UFO reports, though not officially. It called the work of independent researchers "vital for further progress."[3] The timeline notes that four years later a senior CIA analyst wrote to the Director that intelligence working groups were analysing unexplained events and Soviet scientific "enigmas." It says the CIA's official history of its UFO involvement plays down this interest in the 1970s and 1980s.[3] The timeline's sources include copies held by John Greenewald's Black Vault archive.[3]
Events
- CIA Domestic Collection Division memo (1976) (26 April 1976) — A CIA teletype says agency staff monitor UAP unofficially.
People
- John Greenewald — Founder of The Black Vault FOIA archive.
- Gerald Haines — Historian who wrote the CIA's 1997 history of its role in UFO study.
Nearby years
1975 in UFO history · 1977 in UFO history
References
- 1976 Tehran UFO incident — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- Unidentified flying object — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- UAP timeline published with Michael Shellenberger's 2024 congressional testimony, entry for 26 April 1976 · oversight.house.gov
Facts in this article are drawn in part from the Wikipedia articles “1976 Tehran UFO incident”, “Unidentified flying object”, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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