The Iranian 'buzzing' that wasn't

The plane that was reported to have "buzzed" National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski's plane en route to Saudi Arabia was a US Navy F-14 fighter from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, according to Pentagon spokesman Thomas Ross.

Newsmen aboard the plane with Mr. Brzezinski and Deputy Secretary of State Warren M. Christopher earlier reported that the plane, which flew briefly below the official flight, was an Iranian F-14 sold to the Iranian Air Force before the overthrow of the Shah.

The F-14 was sent up from the Nimitz to identify the US Air Force jet over the Gulf of Oman, and passed within 2.5 nautical miles of it, Mr. Ross said. Pentagon sources were puzzled by the earlier positive identification of the F-14 as Iranian. They speculated that perhaps the official plane's flight plan was not available aboard the Nimitz with the interception was ordered.