O'Hare Airport Incident
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Evidence quality · 6 components
Behavioral anomalousness · 4 components
TL;DR
Approximately twelve United Airlines employees including pilots and mechanics observed a metallic spinning disc hovering silently above Gate C17 at O'Hare before it punched a circular hole through overcast cloud cover, with FAA FOIA audio later revealing a supervisor saying 'in 28 years I've never had something like this' after United's initial denial was contradicted.
Confirmed
- ✓A United Airlines employee called the FAA O'Hare Tower on November 7, 2006 to report an unidentified object (FAA records confirmed via FOIA after initial denial)
- ✓FAA FOIA audio records a supervisor's real-time reaction to the report
- ✓Chicago Tribune published the story January 1, 2007 based on FOIA records, becoming the Tribune's highest-traffic article to that date
- ✓United Airlines' initial denial of any employee reports was directly contradicted by the FAA FOIA audio
Unresolved
- ?Why no radar return was recorded at one of the most radar-saturated airports in the United States
- ?Object's identity - atmospheric phenomenon, classified aircraft, or genuinely anomalous
- ?Why no photographs were taken by approximately twelve witnesses at a major public airport
- ?Whether United Airlines internal safety reports contain details not in the public record
Strongest mundane explanation
The FAA's official explanation is a lenticular or hole-punch cloud atmospheric formation, which can produce saucer-like shapes and circular gaps in cloud layers - but trained aviation professionals including licensed airline pilots routinely distinguish atmospheric phenomena from solid metallic objects, and lenticular clouds do not accelerate rapidly upward through a cloud deck.
On November 7, 2006, approximately 12 United Airlines employees including gate personnel, mechanics, supervisors, and pilots observed a spinning, metallic, saucer-shaped object hovering silently at approximately 1,900 feet beneath overcast cloud cover near Gate C17. The object made no sound and displayed no identifying markings or lights. After approximately five minutes, it shot vertically through the overcast cloud layer, leaving a circular hole in the clouds that was visible for several minutes. The FAA initially declined to investigate, claiming no radar contact. The Chicago Tribune obtained FAA audio recordings through FOIA, revealing FAA supervisor discussions of the event and United Airlines pilot communications reporting the object. The FAA's official position remains that the incident was a weather phenomenon.
Key Facts
- ›Date: November 7, 2006, approximately 4:15-4:30 PM CST
- ›Location: United Airlines Terminal C, Gate C17, O'Hare International Airport
- ›Approximately 12 United Airlines employees reported the object: ramp workers, mechanics, supervisors, and at least two pilots
- ›Object described as metallic gray, saucer-shaped, spinning, silent, and hovering below the cloud deck at approximately 1,900 feet
- ›Duration: estimated 5 minutes of hovering before the rapid vertical departure
- ›The object departed by punching straight up through the overcast cloud layer, leaving a circular hole visible for several minutes
- ›FAA initially stated no radar contact and classified as a weather phenomenon
- ›Chicago Tribune filed FOIA request and obtained FAA audio recordings from Chicago TRACON
- ›Audio revealed FAA supervisor telling another employee 'in 28 years I've never had something like this'
- ›United Airlines initially denied any reports but the FOIA audio contradicted the denial
- ›The FAA declined to formally investigate, citing no radar return - despite the airport having among the most sophisticated radar in the US