Mystery Craft! Chicago 5/20/12

Lovely people of ATS:
I'm just now getting around to posting the following footage. Although I'm placing it in the UFO section, there is no reason to believe an extraterrestrial craft has been sighted. However, what I captured most certainly is mysterious, airborne, unidentified, and an object.

It was taken on the evening of May 20, 2012, during the NATO Summit in Chicago. From my vantage point, I am just north of McCormick Place (where the Summit was convening), and a bit further south from the fancy hotel strip of Michigan Ave.

To give you a bit of perspective, I'm including this bonus badass lightning strike photo. The video is pitch black, so there is no reference to where buildings would be. So if you take a gander at the photo below…. if the Sears Tower is at 12 o'clock, then the object in question would have been at around 2 o'clock, just off the edge of the photo (not quite as far as the distance of the tower from the left edge of the photo and midway between the condo building and the top edge of the photo). Keep in mind that my crappy camera makes objects seem much further away than they really are.



I started filming this craft because I noticed it wasn't traversing the sky, and from its position, seemed relatively small. Then I noticed that the light pattern was not static, which may or may not be of any consequence. Anyway, I assume the heads of state were staying at one of the hotels located just where this object was hovering - and I began to wonder if it was some sort of drone.

In addition to this object, a low flying small plane was sweeping east and west across the city. There was also a helicopter making rounds. I included footage of these as well, but due to my rather primitive setup, wasn't able to catch all three in the frame at the same time. The floating object was noiseless compared to the plane and helicopter (although the plane seemed quieter than one would normally be). Although the craft appeared to be stationary, it did have a small perimeter of movement. I am certain it was not a blimp, because I've seen my share of blimps cruise across the sky from the same vantage point. It was definitely not a plane or helicopter, and the two that appeared in contrast just confirmed this.

ETA: Highly recommended that you watch this at full screen. I was zoomed in as far as I could go on the camera...



I have a time stamp of just before 8pm, but I do not know if that had been adjusted for daylight savings. So I first noticed it between 8ish or 9ish. The object was still there when I went to bed at around midnight, and I have a feeling that it remained there all night long.

With all the security whoop-de-doo that was afoot in the city, my assumption would be that it was a drone monitoring the hotel and immediate vicinity. But it got me thinking; when heads of state are visiting, there must be a massive game of spy vs. spy going on. The US monitoring all their communications, and then others monitoring the US on behalf of the heads of state, and so on, and so on, and so on….

What are your thoughts on this? Thanks in advance for contributing!

I think it looks like a red FAA light on an aircraft. Sorry I don't see anything unusual (my opinion)

Very interesting.

Most of the drones that were intended to fly over the US at this point in time are winged version that need forward momentum to stay aloft.

I am not currently aware if the quadro-copters are planned to be implimented as well.

The light patterns appear to be FAA regulation.

reply to post by MDDoxs
Could you expand on this?

Just to note, yes the lights look like regulation lights, although their patterning seems interesting to me in contrast to the planes I see every night. Edit to add: what does such a patterning indicate? Is it intended to vary and if so, why? Also, this was hovering over the downtown area, very very low. Lower than a plane would be.

Helicopter is a possibility, but this did not hover like a normal helicopter. It "floated" more than "hovered", and was silent compared to the helicopter I film in the same video...

Yes, very odd. No, not really. I dont get all the UFO/Alien nuts who swear every time there is a light in the sky its an Alien craft. They have the technology to travel light years through space, but still require lights and windows.....

Originally posted by JayFlores
Yes, very odd. No, not really. I dont get all the UFO/Alien nuts who swear every time there is a light in the sky its an Alien craft. They have the technology to travel light years through space, but still require lights and windows.....

Read the very beginning of my post again and let it sink in. Where do I say alien craft? Where do I indicate specifically that it's NOT? Did you even read my post or watch longer than 10 seconds (or at all)?

Also, people. Please take the time to watch the entire video to observe the light pattern and the fact that it is stationary. I have much more footage of this thing, but I slimmed it down for the short attention span crowd.

Originally posted by TXRabbit
I think it looks like a red FAA light on an aircraft. Sorry I don't see anything unusual (my opinion).

Agreed. The light flashes are exactly at one second intervals, per FAA guidelines. Of course, there's always a chance that the aliens might adopt those rules in order to stealthily blend in with the rest of air traffic. A pretty small chance.

reply to post by HolographicPrincipal


Is there something to be looking for other than the obvious aircraft in the video Can you point to the mystery craft (with time on vid)...

Im just not sure what we are suppose to be looking at? I see an identifable flying object....a plane or chopper...obviously cant tell make/model...

Originally posted by HolographicPrincipal
Where do I say alien craft?

You put it in the UFO/Aliens Forum. If you think it's just an unusual man-made aircraft, you should ask a moderator to move it to the Aircraft Forum.

Originally posted by Blue Shift
Agreed. The light flashes are exactly at one second intervals, per FAA guidelines. Of course, there's always a chance that the aliens might adopt those rules in order to stealthily blend in with the rest of air traffic. A pretty small chance.

If they are flashing at exactly one second intervals, then why do they sometimes flash almost simultaneously or vary at all in relation to one another? These are honest questions I am posing in every post.

And just to reiterate. I preface my post by saying this has nothing to do with aliens. Is my OP invisible or something??

Also. If we can ever resolve and put aside the issue of the lights, that still leaves the question of what craft has the ability to quietly float/hover for hours low in the sky? This is why I thought some sort of drone that has not been officially introduced to the public, but I was hoping someone with more intimate knowledge of the topic would be able to contribute more information.

Originally posted by Blue Shift

Originally posted by HolographicPrincipal
Where do I say alien craft?

You put it in the UFO/Aliens Forum. If you think it's just an unusual man-made aircraft, you should ask a moderator to move it to the Aircraft Forum.

Okay. I'm getting very frustrated. It's freaking unidentified. Flying. Object. I'm going by the literal meaning. My bad.

I'm not sure what people are not seeing, but I also realize that you are within the confines of a crappy video, and I have the real world experience to relate to. But as I explained above... I see aircraft daily/nightly... all kinds, going in all directions. Never have I seen one hover in the downtown area for an extended period of time. I've seen helicopters hover. I don't know if you guys are watching the complete video fullscreen, but it is a little clearer. I understand the darkness makes it difficult to see that it is pretty much stationary and any broad movement is coming from me. But I have nothing to gain by being fraudulent about that fact, and certainly have no desire to put myself up to harsh scrutiny for lolz.

I understand the brush off, but I am honestly looking for answers to this.

Originally posted by HolographicPrincipal

Originally posted by Blue Shift

Originally posted by HolographicPrincipal
Where do I say alien craft?

You put it in the UFO/Aliens Forum. If you think it's just an unusual man-made aircraft, you should ask a moderator to move it to the Aircraft Forum.

Okay. I'm getting very frustrated. It's freaking unidentified. Flying. Object. I'm going by the literal meaning. My bad.

I'm not sure what people are not seeing, but I also realize that you are within the confines of a crappy video, and I have the real world experience to relate to. But as I explained above... I see aircraft daily/nightly... all kinds, going in all directions. Never have I seen one hover in the downtown area for an extended period of time. I've seen helicopters hover. I don't know if you guys are watching the complete video fullscreen, but it is a little clearer. I understand the darkness makes it difficult to see that it is pretty much stationary and any broad movement is coming from me. But I have nothing to gain by being fraudulent about that fact, and certainly have no desire to put myself up to harsh scrutiny for lolz.

I understand the brush off, but I am honestly looking for answers to this.

I watched it on a huge screen....over and over. Its a terrestrial aircraft. The lights do not blink in unison. They are intermittent like what is seen on the video. I know this is not the cool answer or an answer you may want to hear, but IMO, it is very obvious its a plane/chopper

Aircraft Light Identification
Aircraft Light Identification - 2
Article on Helicopter Lights - they vary

Originally posted by greeneyedleo
reply to post by HolographicPrincipal

 

Is there something to be looking for other than the obvious aircraft in the video

Can you point to the mystery craft (with time on vid)...

Im just not sure what we are suppose to be looking at? I see an identifable flying object....a plane or chopper...obviously cant tell make/model...

edit on August 21st 2012 by greeneyedleo because: (no reason given)

From :15 to 2:34 is the craft in question. It has blinking red lights but its behavior is not that of a normal plane.

From 2:34 to 3:07 is a small plane that was simultaneously making east/west sweeps across the city.

From 3:07 to the end is a helicopter that was simultaneously circling the downtown area (but in a wide swath)

As I stated in the OP, I was unable to get all three in the same frame simultaneously, but the plane and helicopter are just additional information to acknowledge that they were also present with the craft in question.

The craft in question was stationary and much lower in the sky.

Hi. I consider myself to be a bit of an expert on military and civilian aviation, studied it for years. At first glance I thought it resembled a BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile but it is no known aircraft or missile type I've seen before. It looks like some kind of surveillance drone, not sure if I can see rotors on it or not.
It makes no very high G turns or accelerations characteristic of some UFO incidents, which are far beyond our current aerospace technology, there's no reason to think it isn't man made.

A few questions. What altitude do you estimate the craft to be? What distance from the camera in your estimation? How big was the craft in your estimation? Was there any sound from the craft that you could hear?

thank you for this! I am in chicago area and just saw a freaking fighter jet fly over! TONS of loud planes today. didn't know the heads of the state were meeting.

Originally posted by greeneyedleo
I watched it on a huge screen....over and over. Its a terrestrial aircraft. The lights do not blink in unison. They are intermittent like what is seen on the video. I know this is not the cool answer or an answer you may want to hear, but IMO, it is very obvious its a plane/chopper

Aircraft Light Identification
Aircraft Light Identification - 2
Article on Helicopter Lights - they vary

I appreciate your time and thank you for the links.

There seems to be a grave misunderstanding from the start. I stated in the OP that this was surely not "extraterrestrial". I also stated that I thought it could be some sort of drone, especially with regard to the timing being the NATO summit, and the location being near the hotels. I mentioned drone more than once.

But for some reason, most responders think I am postulating that this is an alien craft or that I want it to be. I, myself, believe it's a terrestrial craft! But I made the mistake of placing it in the UFO forum, because I always interpreted UFOs as Unidentified Flying Objects. Not Possible Alien Craft. Should I no longer be interpreting UFO as anything flying and unidentified? This is my mistake, but please take a look at this from the terrestrial angle.

I looked through the lighting charts, and forgive me if I am not seeing it plainly, but I see the location for a red beacon, and I see the location for a red navigation light, and a green navigation light. I also see the diagram that shows a plane with three red lights... Beacons are the only flashing lights, yes?

As I stated in the OP, I wasn't sure if the variability of the blinking was of consequence. Perhaps since it was so low and not traversing the sky, the variability was more apparent than on other planes.

But despite all this, the issue still remains that it was essentially immobile for hours. And perhaps for hours after I went to bed. I will be the first to say that this is a terrestrial unidentified object, but it is still a mystery as to what it could be. Because the only other craft that remains aloft similar to what I saw is a blimp, and this was far far far smaller than a blimp, and the lights seem to indicate that it is not blimp shaped.

Because of what I have seen and described, it couldn't be a common helicopter either. It certainly wasn't anything like the helicopter I filmed in the same video. But it could be one with technology I have not yet seen. Can helicopters stay in the same position for hours? If the helicopter on my film is clearly heard yet further away then the craft in question, then wouldn't I hear the craft too if it was a helicopter?

I am not very familiar with drones, but could it be such? That would make the most logical sense, especially since it was located right where the heads of state were staying, and it remained there. But I don't know.

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum, but I was not aware that UFO=alien.


ETA: novemberecho... this was in May for the NATO Summit. Interesting that you saw fighter jets. Did you see the Blue Angels this weekend? Outstanding show!

Originally posted by JimTSpock
A few questions. What altitude do you estimate the craft to be? What distance from the camera in your estimation? How big was the craft in your estimation? Was there any sound from the craft that you could hear?

...By god, I hope it wasn't a missle!

I'll do my best to describe the distance.... Firstly, the helicopter that I filmed was much higher in the sky in relation to this, although the helicopter seemed to be flying at a "normal" height. The small plane in the video was also much higher than the craft in question, but it seemed to be flying low for a plane within the downtown area.

A map will probably be the best descriptor, so I'm going to go put something together quickly... but in the meantime, I was on a second story balcony. The photo I provided shows a 4 story condo about 50 feet away from me. The craft appeared low in the sky, just above this condo further to the east, but appeared to be located... ooo, I'm guessing here.... maybe ten city blocks north of my location. As I stated before, it remained fairly stationary (it did move within a small perimeter, but slowly as if it were a rubber duck on calm waters).

I'm going to go fetch a map for better visualization...

ETA: I will note, too, that although helicopters and planes are a dime a dozen in this area, the two that were out that particular night were flying patterns I've never observed before, and I got the feeling that they too were somehow related to the summit, or security or what have you.

From what you've said I'd say it was definitely a small surveillance drone. A small rotary wing drone could hover silently for a long period of time. There are small remote control ones you can buy.