---
title: "FOIA records examined in reported 2006 O’Hare disc sighting"
url: "https://usubjects.com/article/foia-records-examined-in-reported-2006-ohare-disc-sighting-4627"
updated: "2026-11-07T16:01:56.312Z"
description: "A Reddit post revisits the reported 2006 sighting of a disc-shaped object hovering near Gate C17 at Chicago O’Hare Airport, witnessed by United Airlines employees. It examines the available FOIA records related to the incident, though the provided excerpt does not include their specific findings."
sources: ["https://wherearethey.info/incident/disc-reported-hovering-over-gate-c17-at-chicago-ohare-7-november-2006"]
licence: "All rights reserved"
---

# FOIA records examined in reported 2006 O’Hare disc sighting

Published: 2026-11-07  
Source: [r/UFOs](https://wherearethey.info/incident/disc-reported-hovering-over-gate-c17-at-chicago-ohare-7-november-2006)

### Overview

A reported 2006 sighting at Chicago O’Hare International Airport is receiving renewed attention as researchers and online investigators examine **Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) records** connected to the incident. On Nov. 7, 2006, several United Airlines employees reportedly saw a dark, disc-shaped object hovering near Gate C17 in Concourse C. The object was said to have remained stationary for several minutes before rising rapidly through the cloud layer.

The account has become one of the better-known U.S. airport UAP cases—not because of photographic evidence, but because multiple aviation employees reportedly described a similar object and because later records confirmed that a United supervisor contacted the Federal Aviation Administration’s control tower.

### What Witnesses Reported

The sighting allegedly occurred at approximately **4:30 p.m.**, beneath an overcast ceiling estimated at about 1,900 feet. According to accounts compiled by the aviation-safety organization NARCAP, a ramp worker directing a United aircraft away from the gate noticed the object first. Other reported witnesses included mechanics working near a Boeing 777, United supervisors, and the captain and first officer of a Boeing 737 positioned near Concourse C.

Descriptions generally characterized the object as **dark gray, elliptical or disc-like, and silent**. Witnesses said it appeared to hover above the terminal and then moved straight upward, apparently passing through the clouds. They also reported a circular opening in the cloud layer that remained visible briefly before closing. No authenticated photograph or video of the object has emerged; an image commonly associated with the case is explicitly identified as an AI-generated illustration based on witness descriptions.

### FAA Response and FOIA Records

The incident became public roughly eight weeks later, after Chicago Tribune reporter Jon Hilkevitch interviewed United employees who spoke anonymously. One mechanic, identified in media reports by the pseudonym “Joe,” later discussed the sighting on CNN, where an artist produced a sketch based on his account.

At first, the FAA said it had no information about the event. However, after the Tribune submitted a FOIA request, the agency located a record of the United supervisor’s call to the tower. The FAA reportedly told the newspaper that the supervisor had asked whether controllers had observed an elliptical craft hovering over Concourse C. Controllers said they had not seen it, and an initial radar review found nothing unusual.

The available material does **not establish that the FAA conducted a formal investigation**. Instead, an agency spokeswoman suggested the witnesses may have mistaken airport lights reflected against a low cloud ceiling for an object. That explanation was rejected by the witnesses and later challenged by NARCAP, which obtained tower audio recordings through FOIA.

### Competing Interpretations

In a May 2007 technical report, NARCAP—whose chief scientist was former NASA Ames researcher Richard Haines—argued that the reported cloud opening was unlikely to have been a natural “hole-punch” cloud. The organization treated the object as a physical craft that went undetected by radar, framing the case as a potential aviation-safety concern.

That conclusion remains **an advocacy group’s analysis, not an official government finding**. The FAA did not publicly confirm the presence of an unidentified vehicle, and the absence of radar data, imagery, or independently identified witnesses leaves important questions unresolved. The FOIA records verify that a call was made and that tower recordings existed, but they do not independently prove what the employees saw.

### Why the Case Endures

The O’Hare episode continues to attract attention because it combines multiple reported witnesses, a major commercial airport, and documentary evidence of an official communication. At the same time, the case illustrates the limits of the available record: the witnesses remained anonymous, United said it had no internal report, and no physical evidence has surfaced. More than a decade later, the sighting remains **unresolved rather than confirmed as extraterrestrial**, with explanations ranging from optical effects involving clouds and airport lighting to an unidentified object that was not captured by radar.

## Provenance

This USUBJECTS page is a summary or digest of the linked original source. Any accompanying generated visual is an illustrative reconstruction, not evidence.