Mysterious Lights Hover Over Tehran Highway As Strange Object Sparks Online Frenzy

X user Ali Sedaghati recorded a curved string of colored lights appearing among the clouds above Azadegan Highway around 7:30 p.m. on September 20.

The lights shifted between blue, white, purple, green and red as they appeared to hover above the highway near the Tondgoyan interchange.

Sedaghati described the object as silent and near the clouds. He later said it was not a plane, that he left and returned about 10 minutes later, and that the object had disappeared.

The video drew millions of views online. Suggestions about what appeared in the sky included a drone, an LED kite or balloon string, and aircraft camera artifacts.

Sedaghati also said the clip was not AI. Iranian authorities had not identified the object, and there was no official confirmation of what it was.

The sighting was compared online with the 1976 Tehran incident, but that was a separate case.