O'Hare Airport UFO sighting
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 7
| Date | 01 Jan 2007 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Military encounters (topic) |
| People | Richard Haines |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 164 |
| Year | 2007 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 2007 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 9 |
The 2006 O'Hare International Airport UFO sighting took place at about 4:15 p.m. on 7 November 2006, when a group of United Airlines employees and other witnesses at Chicago O'Hare International Airport reported a dark, disc-shaped object hovering over Gate C17 before shooting upward through the clouds. The case became public through the Chicago Tribune and is one of the best-known modern sightings at a major airport.[1][2]
The sighting
A ramp employee pushing back United Flight 446, bound for Charlotte, first noticed the object. About a dozen United employees, including pilots, managers and mechanics, as well as several people outside the airport, later described a silent, dark grey, saucer-shaped object estimated at between 6 and 24 feet across, hovering below the cloud deck. One outside witness said it shot straight up at great speed and left a clear, sharply defined hole in the clouds through which blue sky could be seen, which closed shortly afterwards. Accounts differ on details such as the object's shape, height and the duration of the sighting.[1][3]
Official response
No air traffic controller saw the object and it did not appear on radar. The Federal Aviation Administration said it was probably a weather phenomenon and declined to investigate. United and the FAA at first said they had no information, until a Freedom of Information Act request by the Chicago Tribune led to the review of tower recordings, which captured a United supervisor calling an FAA manager about the sighting. Transportation columnist Jon Hilkevitch reported the story on 1 January 2007, and it drew huge public interest.[1][3]
Analysis
The National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena (NARCAP) published a report on the case, focusing on its safety implications for aviation. Astronomer Mark Hammergren noted that the weather conditions that day were consistent with a "hole-punch cloud", a natural phenomenon in which a circular gap forms when supercooled droplets freeze, and skeptic Brian Dunning has also proposed ordinary explanations.[1][4][5]
In the testimony
The testimony cites: Daily Record of Facility Operation, ORD.
People and topics
- Freedom of Information Act — The 1966 U.S. law that lets the public request government records.
- NASA — The U.S. civilian space agency, created in 1958.
- Richard Haines — NASA Ames scientist who founded NARCAP to study aviation UAP reports.
- NARCAP — An aviation safety group founded by Richard Haines in 2000.
On the Timeline
- George H.W. Bush and the Trudeau briefing (17 October 2006) — Eric Davis says George H.W. Bush recalled a briefing about recovered material.
- 1960s disc hovercraft inquiry (5 Jan 2007) — Puthoff and Davis look into a 1960s Lockheed hovercraft that looks like a disc.
See every 2007 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- 2006 O'Hare International Airport UFO sighting — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "O'Hare UFO sighting in 2006 one of the most famous reported", Chicago Tribune (2013) · chicagotribune.com · archived copy
- Jon Hilkevitch, "In the sky! A bird? A plane? A ... UFO?", Chicago Tribune (1 Jan 2007) · web.archive.org · archived copy
- NARCAP, report on the O'Hare International Airport UAP of 7 November 2006 · web.archive.org · archived copy
- Brian Dunning, "The Chicago O'Hare Airport UFO", Skeptoid #926 · skeptoid.com · archived copy
- O'Hare UFO sighting files — The Black Vault · theblackvault.com · archived copy
- The O'Hare UFO — Skeptoid · skeptoid.com · archived copy
- chicagotribune.com · chicagotribune.com · archived copy
- static1.squarespace.com · static1.squarespace.com · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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