O'Hare Airport UFO Sighting -- UPDATE: Photos & Analysis

hey why in this day and age are we still getting blurry photos i thought that with so many people having a 10 megapixel camera maybe you could start capturing objetcs in more detail, i guess until cell phones come with a 10 megapixel camera on them this wont happen

Originally posted by SkyWay
Yes, but it's the photo that some people keep whining about that they can't seem to come to grips that anyone would post it on a forum for free when they supposedly could BECOME RICH!! selling it! That is not very sensible because the money wouldn't be a significant amount for a single photo.

Well, I'm not one of those people. I know that photo wouldn't make a dime, and I don't believe it at all to be the object that was seen that day. But if somebody had a good photo taken by a good camera, it would be worth some money, look how much the paparazzi make of shots of celebrities walking. If somebody got a good image of a spinning disc that left a hole in the clouds on camera or film that wasn't hoaky, I'm sure it'd be worth more than a shot of Britney Spear's cash and prizes...

Originally posted by 27jd
Well, I'm not one of those people. I know that photo wouldn't make a dime, and I don't believe it at all to be the object that was seen that day. But if somebody had a good photo taken by a good camera, it would be worth some money

It still wouldn't be enough to compensate for losing your job. And no matter how good and convincing a photo is, it still will only fetch a few hundred dollars. It's only a photo. It isn't anything that is going to convince anyone that it is worth the negative notoriety and possible loss of job that often accompany such public exposure.

I think it makes more sense that any person with such a photo would rather reveal it on a forum where they can remain anonymous even if there is no money to be had. That way you would be serving the public by revealing the photographic evidence without jeapardizing your job and peaceful living.

So, this photo could be real even if the person who provided it did not seek to profit monetarily from it. No one has proven it to be false although there are many who keep bellowing that it is. But calling anything false and proving it false are universes apart.

Well, into the fray I go...

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.

roadgravel, the winds were light that day... too light to require any directional TO or landing alterations.

nextguyinline, purduejake actually posted the sighting information, as an eyewitness, the day after the sighting on a local democratic forum... months before the Trib heard of it.

amongus, the weather that day would match the photo, and there were still many green leaves around... my leaves in NW Indiana, 40 miles from O'Hare, didn't fall until after the snow in late November. In fact, the weather had been ridiculously warm up till then.

I'm willing to talk with the moderators of this forum, either online or by phone. I'm not willing to give my name and information in an open forum, but I'll be glad to answer questions. For the record, I'm a 52 year-old woman, former radio news anchor and reporter with an ABC affiliate, former chef and restaurant owner, with many hours in the air and experience with many types of aircraft. This was nothing conventional, and I frankly doubt whether it was something manmade.

Again, to the moderators --- please email me if you wish more information... this truly was an amazing sighting, given the proximity and the location, and I hope the truth emerges. I do encourage all with photos of the craft to release them --- I think there are far more credible photos out there than this one.

Eyewitness, thanks for coming forward.

You sound very sincere, and in saying that, please don't be discouraged if you take some flak from members. Talk to Springer, who is running this investigation and i'm sure he will be able to verify anything that other members wanted to ask.

Due to the amount of hoaxes we do get here, we are automatically dubious of anyone making claims. Don't take it personally!

Welcome to ATS, and thanks again.

[edit on 26-1-2007 by fooffstarr]

Two witnesses traveling north on eastside of the airport seem to place it over the terminals. I think both photos seem to place it out to the south of the airport. Maybe there really were two objects. I remember that someone stated a person had seen a similar object leave to the east later. ( one of the interviews)

I just had a thought. I know that might not be a good thing, but hear me out.

Now the description by some of the witnesses was that the object that was seen was approximately 20 feet in diameter right? And it flew up into the clouds and left a hole in the clouds right? The hole was big enough that blue sky could be seen right?

Now if this 20 foot diameter object made a hole in the clouds and I was real liberal in the size of the hole, let’s say up to 100 feet in diameter, and the cloud cover were fairly thick, wouldn’t you have to be almost directly beneath the hole in order to see blue sky?

Any thoughts?

I for one think the photos are hoaxes, but I will leave it up to the experts to figure that out.

Edit: just saw that a new member Eyewitness just joined us. Welcome, that is a great description.

Question for Eyewitness: Did you see the object leave the area? Was it straight up or to the East?

[edit on 1/26/2007 by Hal9000]

[edit on 1/26/2007 by Hal9000]

Originally posted by Eyewitness
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.

Sounds as though Eyewitness is validating the photo...tentatively. Just what we needed. She saw the ufo with her own eyes and indicates that the ufo in the photo could be the same object. Eyewitness corroborating evidence. The next best thing to being there.

Eyewitness, Thanks For Sharing Your Account!

Of course, it will be subject to scrutiny and skepticism, but I hope you won't take that the wrong way (i.e., personally).

Such are the ways of our people, and there is wisdom in this approach.

Meanwhile, I certainly wish to encourage anyone else who may have seen this object or have information about it to share your story with us.

The more information we have to work with, the better!

Originally posted by Eyewitness
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.

Eyewitness,
could you be a little more specific about How it flew off?
Direction, speed , etc.

And thanks for stepping into the fray.

fooffstarr... yes, I imagine I will get a bit of hassle about posting, and it's taken me a few days of reading the full thread (and a devil of a lot of peer pressure from the friend who was with me and also saw it) to step over the edge of obscurity, lol. But this, to me, is a terribly important sighting, in part because of the mainstream media coverage. And as for how it impressed me --- I bought an 8-megapixel digital camera the very next day, and I don't leave home without it. That's a heck of a chunk of change to spend over a "weather phenomenon."

roadgravel, I haven't taken the time to try to make sense of where I was versus where the main terminals and concourses were, but I could indeed see it from part of the international terminal lot... if someone wants to do up a tighter map area that shows Mannheim and the international terminal and parking area, I can pretty well determine from that exactly where it was when I saw it from there. I watched it for a number of minutes from the parking lot, as did more than a few other people, although it did generally need to be pointed out, as most people walk around with their heads sort of down, or eyes focused on their destination. By the time it took off, there were six other people standing there with me watching it, plus others at other spots in the parking lot.

Eyewitness PLEASE check your email.

EVERYONE ELSE, PLEASE extend the ATS courtesy to this member. These things TAKE TIME to vet and we will, as ALWAYS, share our findings when we have them.

That will be tomorrow earliest with all that is going on right now. Until then I would like to say that as far as we can tell at this point, Eyewitness is definitely in the proper geographic location, has openly offered to initiate contact with staff and that's MORE than all others except Pegasus1 have been.

BE PATIENT, BE NICE.

Springer...

Originally posted by Eyewitness
His plane, scheduled for a 4:55p arrival time, was delayed because of the object.

Also , can I ask, How, you determined the delay was a result of the object?

Thanks again.



[edit on 26-1-2007 by Jbird]

this quote by eyewitness interests me:

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.

One of the first reports by a pilot stated a plane (or planes) were delayed for mechanical problems during the sighting. Although he was clear to state there was no reason to believe the two were in any way related I am wondering if delays were in fact a result of the sighting. Were the delays really mechanical problems or simply a zoning issue due to the sighting?




[edit on 26-1-2007 by chetinglendalevillage]

[edit on 26-1-2007 by chetinglendalevillage]

Jbird, when I told the friend I was picking up what I'd seen, he told me that that made sense, given that he'd been asked by the tower if he had "observed anything unusual" while holding. I'm admittedly surmising that the hold was put on because of the UFO, but there was a sudden and marked difference in the number of planes coming in for perhaps the last ten minutes of the sighting duration (while I was in the parking lot). I frequently meet my friend's flights, and am very accustomed to the usual traffic at ORD at that time of day.

I did see it leave. It didn't go quite straight up, and from my angle I couldn't see blue sky at the top of the hole... but it surely did leave a hole, and it went from no movement to incredible speed in a split second... no noticeable acceleration, just gone. And no sonic boom. If I've got my own position in the parking lot adequately judged, it did angle up in an eastwardly direction. I'm in the process now of trying to locate it exactly, which I should be able to do, having seen it from two locations.

Skyway, you know, I'm indeed tentative on my ID of 00000000's photo... on the one hand, I can see where it would appear that way at a different angle, and I can even justify it not being centered (from my understanding, the copilot or pilot who took that shot opened his side window and stuck his cell phone out, and those windows aren't very conducive to much more than a quick shot at an angle). But the same object did look darker when I was more beneath it than it did when I was viewing it at a more sidelong angle from Mannheim. What I do know for sure is that a number of people in the parking lot photographed the object, and I encourage them to release their photos.

Eyewitness,

Were you able to determine the size of the ufo? Approximately how high and wide would you say it appeared? Did the ufo display any notable features such as a discernable dome or fins or portholes?

Originally posted by Eyewitness
... but there was a sudden and marked
difference in the number of planes
coming in for perhaps the last ten minutes of the sighting duration (while I was in the parking lot).

Just to clarify, did you mean less than usual number?

Wow, great description!

Care to give us your personal thoughts , while viewing this object ?

Forgot to add-

Also of great interest, would be the thoughts of your friend,
after hearing your story.

And, as well, any interaction, with fellow witnesses.

[edit on 26-1-2007 by Jbird]

Eyewitness,

Thank you for sharing your story with us. I find it quite interesting that you saw several other people taking pictures. Hopefully they will come forward too!

I just spoke to "Eyewitness" on the phone. This is a VERY credible person based on what one can ascertain over the phone.

THANK YOU ATS Members for being civil and INTELLIGENT with your questions so far and I ask that we keep on in this manner.

Springer...