O'Hare Airport UAP Sighting

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On November 7, 2006, at around 4:15 p.m., a ramp employee pushing back a United Airlines flight spotted a silent, dark gray disc hovering over Gate C-17 at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. Close to a dozen United employees, including pilots and supervisors, saw the object during its roughly five-minute appearance. The disc shot upward through the clouds at high speed, leaving a clear blue hole that seemed to close afterward. No radar picked it up, and air traffic controllers didn't see it.

What did witnesses say they saw?

Employees described the object as completely silent, 6 to 24 feet across, and dark gray. It moved fast and left a visible hole in the cloud layer. However, at least four eyewitness accounts disagreed on the shape, height, movement, time, and even how many objects there were.

Did radar detect anything?

No. Air traffic controllers saw nothing on their screens. The FAA reviewed radar data from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. that day and found no unidentified objects on primary or secondary radar.

What was the official explanation?

The FAA concluded witnesses had seen a "hole-punch cloud," a rare weather phenomenon. FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory told the Chicago Tribune that the night had perfect conditions: low clouds and bright airport lights. When light bounces off clouds, she said, "sometimes you can see funny things." Astronomer Mark Hammergren agreed the weather that day could have produced such a cloud.

How did the public find out about this?

Both United Airlines and the FAA initially denied having any information. The Chicago Tribune filed a Freedom of Information Act request, which forced the FAA to review its records. That review uncovered a call from a United supervisor to an FAA tower manager reporting the object on November 7. The Tribune published a front-page story in January 2007.

What did independent investigators conclude?

The National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena (NARCAP), a private group of scientists and aviation experts, published a 155-page technical report in March 2007. Dr. Richard Haines, a former NASA scientist, led the study. NARCAP called the incident a "potentially significant air safety problem" because radar failed to detect the object. The group recommended better UAP reporting systems and less stigma for pilots and controllers who report unusual sightings.

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly did the witnesses see?

Employees described a completely silent, dark gray disc measuring 6 to 24 feet across. It hovered over Gate C-17 for about five minutes, then shot upward through the clouds at high speed, leaving a clear blue hole that seemed to close afterward.

Did radar or air traffic control detect the object?

No. Air traffic controllers saw nothing, and the object did not show up on radar. The FAA reviewed radar data from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. that day and found no unidentified objects.

Why did the FAA initially deny knowing about the sighting?

Both United Airlines and the FAA initially denied having information until the Chicago Tribune filed a Freedom of Information Act request. That request forced the FAA to review its records, which uncovered a call from a United supervisor to an FAA tower manager reporting the object.

What explanation did the FAA offer?

The FAA concluded that witnesses had seen a hole-punch cloud, a rare weather phenomenon. FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said the night had perfect conditions with low clouds and bright airport lights that could create optical effects.

What did the independent investigation find?

NARCAP, a private group of scientists and aviation experts, published a 155-page report in March 2007. The group called the incident a "potentially significant air safety problem" because radar failed to detect the hovering object and recommended better UAP reporting systems.

Has the sighting been definitively explained?

No. To this day, no one has come forward with a definitive answer for what hovered over Gate C-17, and no hard proof has emerged for any of the proposed explanations.