O'Hare Airport UFO Sighting Discussion: Pictures, Witnesses, and Analysis

January 27, 2007
Thread Update

Beginning on December 8th, 2006, AboveTopSecret.com contributor amongus began this quick-moving discussion thread with a UFO sighting alert from NUFORC.org covering an early November 2006 sighting of a UFO at O'Hare International Airport. The UFO sighting was originally reported by several members of ground and air crew working at the Airport, as well as several others in a nearby parking lot. And recent eyewitness testimony indicates that the presence of the UFO may have effected air traffic at the airport.

Initial reaction from the FAA, United Airlines, and News Sources either made light of the sighting, or attempted to brush off the reports of multiple witnesses as "weird weather". However, nearly every witness reports seeing the object leave up into the clouds with such energy and velocity that it "punched a hole in the clouds."

Exclusive AboveTopSecret.com O'Hare UFO Content

Over time, AboveTopSecret.com has become an exclusive venue for several witnesses and at least two people with potential photographs of the actual UFO seen over the airport.

First Eyewitness Account: "rampagentX," Baggage Handler

The first potential eyewitness came to AboveTopSecret.com under the user name, "rampagentX" and provided additional detail.

"At first we thought it was really far away, because it was hard to focus on it, but it shifted left and right a couple times and thats when we knew it wasn't too far away. I looked up at the 727 cockpit and pointed to it then the crew saw it and was staring at it too. The pilot got on his radio and waving his arms like he was going nuts over what he was seeing. We figured it was a fat disc, like a M & M, about 20 feet wide but it was really hard to tell for sure because it was almost the same color as the clouds and if you looked away it was hard to find it and focus again. One of our crew ran to his locker to get his cellphone to take a picture.

"It hung there moving really slightly from side to side for about another minute when we all felt our hair stand on end, and it just shot straight up into the clouds faster than anything we ever seen. It disturbed the clouds, like it made a big shockwave and we could see sunlight for a bit. We never got a picture but I don't think it would have come out very good anyway.

"We could see a few other rats staring up at the hole and everyone was talking about it for a few days. Then the sups came and talked to all of us that we cant talk about this to anyone or we'd get fired. They said something about federal regulations and unauthorized reporting of false airspace breeches."

Aspects of this persons testimony began being suspect, such as the mention of "727" equipment which is currently a rare sight as most major airlines have discontinued such eqiupment. All of "rampagentX's" posts are available here: posts by rampagentX

First Potential Photo of O'Hare UFO For Public Display

A mysterious user account, "00000000" posted a photo of the O'Hare UFO that corroborates the testimony of several eyewitnesses, with one eyewitness on AboveTopSecret.com confirming the photo is what she saw. However, several contributors doubt the authenticity of the photo as it appears to be amodified image from a source picture found online. But as the story developed, it is plausible the picture was taken from an often used vantage point.

Initial opinion of this photo leaned heavily in favor of hoax (despite the image hold up under close professional scrutiny as an actual camera phone image) in a special Coast To Coast AM segment. However, after eyewitnesses have confirmed the object's appearance and location, this photo is becoming potentially more credible.

Peter Davenport comments on this image.

Detailed Photo Analysis Comparing the "Congestion" Shot
"It's ocular distortion. The UFO image, seems to swell and level towards us as opposed to the Cgd shot. It seems to get worse as we move right. At the right end, we barely match up...and forget being as definitive as the runway turn. The entire UFO shot seems to compress inward progressively. One would have to stretch out the length, and even then you couldn't make everything maintain it's every matching stationary point."

Detailed Comparison Between The Position of Elements
"You'll note the tube object doesnt move in either shot. Note the movement in the runway, the buildings, and especially the little white light on the right side, which jumps like a jackrabbit. Remember what I said before, the distortion to me, progresses more the further we go right."

NOTE: As of April, 2007 the lack of provenance regarding this photo, combined with suspicious signs of editing must engender a healthy degree of skepticism. While eyewitnesses have confirmed this is "what they saw," it does not mean this is actually a valid photo of the object.

Second Eyewitness Testimony: "Eyewitness," Former Media Professional

Perhaps the most credible and detailed testimony of this event, from any source, has been recent posted to AboveTopSecret.com by a member going under the user name of "Eyewitness".

"I saw the ORD UFO. I first sighted it while at the intersection of Irving Park Rd. and Mannheim Blvd., and again for just a bit when I got to the parking lot of the international terminal. I was picking up a friend, an American Airline cockpit officer who was flying in from Charles deGaulle International Airport. His plane, scheduled for a 4:55p arrival time, was delayed because of the object.

"The ostensible cell phone photo could have been the object, in that the UFO's perceptible coloration did alter somewhat depending on the viewer's angle. When I saw it from Mannheim, it appeared much paler, but as I moved closer to underneath it it darkened... my impression is that it was highly reflective, with the upper part mirroring the lighter sky and the underneath mirroring the darker areas (as well as being naturally shaded). "Mirroring" is actually an awkward word, as the "texture" of the craft didn't seem highly polished, but it's the only word I can think of that somewhat applies. I do know that there are other photos, as I saw a fair number of people, even several on Mannheim, take photos with cell phones or digital cameras.

"It was definitely an object, not a lenticular cloud or any other weather phenomenon. At its closest, it was no more than a quarter of a mile from me, and I saw it fly off. It was very clearly a controlled craft of some sort. There were no lights in use on it at that time."

This person joined AboveTopSecret.com on January 26th, 2007, and creating sixteen posts by the morning of the 27th. She has been exceptionally forthcoming in answering member questions, and her account has been invaluable in filling many holes. Her entire posting history is available for review here: Posts by Eyewitness




This discussion thread, while long, is an excellent source of information, analysis, study, and opinion about this singularly unique and potentially important event from early November, 2006.

Several important factors are discussed:

1- Why were multiple sightings of an unknown object hovering in important civilian airspace quickly dismissed or made light of? Especially in our current "higher alert" status of the post-9/11 world.

2- The first image may still be a hoax, but does not fit the typical patterns of many attempts at Internet hoaxes, why?

3- Credible eyewitness testimony is emerging at a fast pace, if they photos are hoaxed, is it an organized effort to discredit the entire event?

4- And, while doubt remains, as it always does for UFO sightings, there is an increasing amount of corroborating testimony and evidence that there may have been a fantastic object above the O'Hare airport.

Review the thread. Read the supporting material. Read the skeptical analysis. Come to your own conclusions.




This post will be updated as new information is presented.



This is a summary post created by AboveTopSecret.com administration to provide a single source of content for a very large and quickly evolving discussion thread. This post was first created on January 27th, 2007 and back-dated in the post database so that it appears as the first post in the discussion thread.




[edit on 22-4-2007 by SkepticOverlord]

One of my relatives who lives in Chicago told me about this today. She said there was a quick mention on the evening news, but nothing else. Pretty strange incident with a bunch of witnesses. The fact that it happened at an airport is scary. You would think it would have scrambled a few jets. . .yet it did not.


Check out the report for yourself. . . .interesting

www.nuforc.org...

What else can you say about that? We have a major airport sighting with multiple credible witnesses!

And an impenetrable skeptic would suggest that it was a balloon save for the amazing speed with which it ascended vertically, directly through the clouds, actually leaving a hole in the clouds.

SOURCE

That part was especially interesting. Is the hole it left the same as the holes shown pictured at this site? check out these holes. (site)

The article also cites and links to further eyewitness testimony:



I'll include here the additional testimony of that senior aircraft mechanic. (link)

That was yesterday, Thursday! A ufo appears over a national airport (noted it was Chicago, IL). Does it mean anything? Are we getting closer to something...? Very exciting...

OK this is good. Multiple sources. No denying this one. Most of these people know the difference between a weather balloon and a UFO.

Excellent Information!

Did I miss where it said how low the clouds were that day? How could it have left a hole noticeable from the ground if it were only the size of a quarter? Very interesting story, though, especially since I live about thirty minutes from O'Hare. Maybe it'll visit me over my Christmas break.

I think they meant it had the appearance of being the size of a quarter held out at arm's length, which is to say that the object itself was likely as big as a small plane at least.

I'd be interested to hear any OTHER accounts of this since so many folks seem to have either seen it or been notified directly at the airport. I mean, I'd like to see account not just on the UFO site but maybe coming out into the news, or on blogs of folks who work there, etc...

Wow this is pretty close to where I live....no one told me

I bet someone has a photo of it...somewhere. O'hare is quite a busy airport. Plus this taxi mechanic seems like a normal guy...I believe him.

Mechanics report

I live in Chicagoville. No one told me about this..

Head for the hills..

Seriously though, if I can find any other local sources, I'll post them here.

I just moved back to the southern suburbs within the last month. I asked some friends around here and they said they had not heard anything on the news or radio around that week, which is strange because the article says it made a quick blurb (and some of my friends are UFO nuts ... they wouldn't have let it slip by if it made Chicago media).

I'll post if I find anything else too.

Pretty strange that I have not been able to get any more info on this event. Has anyone else managed to stumble on more info from witnesses, etc?

Strange

O'hare has no military jets in it, just loooooootttss of airliners.

This is really weird, why would a UFO be at O'hare? wtf?

I'm from not too far away from Chicago either and I'm kind of disappointed I didn't hear anything about this.

It does make me wonder why the hell a UFO would be over O'Hare, that airport is always extremely busy. It'd be a miracle not to be sighted by multipule people. Of course for all we know that's their exact intent.

talk about dejavu......i had just read this thread earlier today at work, and then i get home and see the story flash across the banner at the bottom of msnbc. then i checked fox, and the same thing (i dont watch cnn anymore....still kind of ticked off about seeing our troops getting sniped from the snipers point of view).

i agree that the technicians who saw this thing would certainly know the difference between an aircraft or a balloon and a flying saucer. i've been an air traffic controller for 15 years in military, contract, and faa facilities, and i have never seen a weather phenomenon that fits the description of what these folks saw....and i've seen alot of strange weather.

i'm not surprised that the controllers in the tower didnt see it though. from the sound of things, it would have been behind them, and ohare is one of those place where your attention is kept either on the runway, the radar, or your flight data computers and strips. i am rather puzzled that in this day and age in which everyone seems to have a camera phone that nobody managed to get a pic.

anyway, my two cents worth.

It's on MSNBC.com

www.msnbc.msn.com...

"The workers, some of them pilots, said the object didn’t have lights and hovered over an airport terminal before shooting up through the clouds, according to a report in Monday’s Chicago Tribune."

wow....i had thought the only witness were mechanics and line personnel. adding pilots to the list of witnesses certainly lends credence to the report.

www.msnbc.msn.com...

I just saw them cover this on MSNBC tv just now too.

What I am wondering is, why was the incident on Novemer 7th, 2006. Only first reported here one month after. And now news coverage two months after?

When I first saw the postings here earlier today, I thought that they were new incidents. Apparently not; rather a 2 month lag in media coverage.

Something smells fishy. I live in Chicago, btw.

[edit on 1/1/2007 by Mechanic 32]

Totally awesome, was there any video, even taken by an amateur of this? Wouldn't that be a great way to bring in the new year!

*puts skeptic goggles on*

I do want to be sure we can say this one was for real though. Any knowledge of military exercises going on at the time? Any secretive bases around there?

I want it to be real, but I don't want it to be a mistake.

an airport diagram of ohare:

ohare

you can see from the diagram that the "c" terminal is quite close to the control tower (in the middle of the diagram), so i dont really understand why it would not be visible from the tower, but obviously it was not as the mechanic's testimony clearly states that the controller was joking about it on the air, which he would not be apt to do if he had seen it.

very strange indeed.

also, as the other thread was closed because this one had been started first, i am adding the chicago tribune article originally posted by fellow ats member gforce811:

chicagotribu ne.com

[edit on 1-1-2007 by snafu7700]

I just wrote an email to the editor thanking him for printing this story. I mean it takes guts to run a UFO report story in a major news paper or news channel these days... you might want to do the same:

jhilkevitch@tribune.com