Ground crews and pilots report disc above O'Hare gate C-17

Shortly after 4:15 p.m. local time on 7 November 2006, ramp personnel, a pushback operator, mechanics, and pilots associated with United Airlines reported a small, dark, metallic, disc-shaped object hovering at low altitude — approximately 1,500 feet — directly above gate C-17 at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. Witnesses described the object as silently rotating in place for several minutes before ascending rapidly through the overcast, leaving a circular hole in the cloud deck visible from the ground.

The Chicago Tribune obtained Federal Aviation Administration internal communications and ramp logs through the Freedom of Information Act, confirming the reports were made in real time. The FAA publicly attributed the sightings to a 'weather phenomenon' and declined to investigate; the National Transportation Safety Board likewise did not open an inquiry. The case is the highest-profile civilian-aviation UAP report in the U.S. record from the post-Project-Blue-Book era.