On this day in conspiracies

Around 12:30 a.m., the air-defense command post near Tehran receives several calls from residents reporting a bright, unusual light in the night sky. The duty officer, Hossein Pirouzi (often cited as General Yousefi), initially assumes the callers are seeing stars, then steps outside and reports seeing the object himself.

Tim Leach, the BBC's correspondent in Zimbabwe, visits the school and films interviews with pupils and staff. He later says the experience shook him deeply, remarking that he could handle war zones but could not handle this. His footage preserves the children's accounts on camera within days of the event.

The Justice Department Inspector General releases a roughly 471-page review faulting the operation as seriously flawed, identifying management and supervisory failures, and referring named ATF and department officials for possible discipline. The review documents mismanagement rather than a proven scheme to manufacture a gun-control pretext.