Jalal Damirian

Jalal Damirian was an Iranian Air Force First Lieutenant who trained at Vance Air Force Base, earning United States Air Force wings before returning to serve in the Iranian Air Force as an F-4 Phantom crew member. Hailing from the city of Tabriz, he spoke Turkish as his first language due to his cultural background. He was described as a wise, kind, and educated man, and he had a wife and a two-year-old child. Approximately six months into the Iran-Iraq War, Damirian was killed during a bombing mission when his aircraft was shot down by a SAM II (SA-2) missile.

Damirian served as navigator, or backseater, in Major Jafari's F-4 Phantom during the Tehran UFO incident on September 19, 1976. From the rear cockpit, he witnessed the approach of a sub-object and observed the ground landing of a bright object. According to his friend Ahmad Motallebi, Damirian was one of the first pilots to encounter UFOs in Iran. His account contributes to the well-documented 1976 Tehran UFO incident, during which equipment failures and unusual object behaviors were reported. During the pursuit, Damirian noted the radar lock on the object and experienced weapons system and instrument failures alongside Major Jafari.