Flying Saucer Fever Grips Iran, Theories Abound

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=570&u=/nm/20040428/sc_nm/space_iran_ufos_dc_2&printer=1

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Is Iran about to be invaded by little green men or are the Americans racing through the night sky in spaceships to spy on the Islamic Republic?



Flying saucer fever has gripped Iran after dozens of sightings in the last few days. Fanciful cartoons of alien spacecraft have adorned the front pages.


State television on Wednesday showed a sparkling white disc it said was filmed over Tehran on Tuesday night.


More colorful Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) have been spotted beaming out green, red, blue and purple rays over the northern cities of Tabriz and Ardebil and in the Caspian Sea province of Golestan, the official IRNA news agency reported.


Newspapers and agencies reported people rushing out into the streets in eight towns on Tuesday night to watch a bright extraterrestrial light dipping in and out of the clouds.


An airforce officer in the Revolutionary Guards was quoted in the reformist Vagha-ye Etefaghiyeh daily saying Iran's Supreme National Security Council should investigate whether these visitors from afar had hostile intent.



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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3671271.stm

He said the sightings were consistent with the planet Venus in its current position.

Its intense light would be given different hues by being filtered through the atmosphere, he said.

Military and civilian radar services have not registered any violations of the Islamic republic's air space, Russian news agency RIA reported.

The FOX affiliate I was watching showed what I think was old stock footage of the Mexico City UFO. They made no disclaimer, so the viewer was left with the impression that this was video of what the Iranians were seeing.

From past experience with these kind of sightings, I'd go with Venus, but recon aircraft is another possible explanation.