芝加哥奥黑尔机场UFO事件（2006）（CHICAGO O’HARE UFO – 2006）

中文版

中文版

简介：2006年11月7日，芝加哥奥黑尔国际机场多名员工目睹一架碟形不明飞行物悬停在C-17登机口上方。目击者包括飞行员和地勤人员，该物体在云层中高速穿梭后留下清晰孔洞。尽管联邦航空管理局最初否认，但《芝加哥论坛报》通过信息自由法案迫使当局承认此事。官方最终以天气现象为由拒绝调查，引发目击者不满。

芝加哥奥黑尔UFO目击事件发生于2006年11月7日，当时芝加哥奥黑尔国际机场的人员报告看到一个碟形或圆盘状UFO。

目击经过

2006年11月7日星期二，大约下午4点15分（美国中部标准时间），芝加哥奥黑尔国际机场的联邦当局接到报告称，12名机场员工目睹了一个金属质感的碟形飞行器悬停在C-17登机口上方。

该物体最初由一名正在推回美联航446号航班的停机坪员工发现，该航班当时正从芝加哥飞往北卡罗来纳州夏洛特。该员工告知446号航班的机组人员其飞机上方有物体。据信，机长和副机长也目睹了这一物体。

机场外的几位独立目击者也看到了该物体。有人描述称，一个“明显的”碟形飞行器悬停在机场上空，“显然不是云”。据这位目击者称，当该物体高速穿过云层，在云层中留下一个清晰的蓝色孔洞时，附近的观察者倒吸一口凉气。据报道，这个孔洞随后不久便自行闭合。

据《芝加哥论坛报》的乔恩·希尔克维奇报道，“这个碟形物可见约两分钟，被近十几名美联航员工看到，从飞行员到主管，他们听到无线电通话后跑出去观看。” 到目前为止，尚未出现该UFO的决定性照片证据，尽管希尔克维奇被告知，其中一名美联航飞行员在目击时携带了一台数码相机，可能拍下了这一事件。

联邦航空管理局和美联航的反应

美联航和联邦航空管理局（FAA）最初都否认掌握有关奥黑尔UFO目击事件的任何信息，直到正在调查此事的《芝加哥论坛报》提交了《信息自由法案》（FOIA）请求。FAA随后下令对空中交通通信录音进行内部审查，以配合《论坛报》的FOIA请求，结果发现美联航主管曾就UFO目击事件致电机场塔台的FAA经理。

FAA的立场是，此次目击是由天气现象引起的，该机构不会对此事件进行调查。UFO调查人员指出，这一立场直接违背了FAA调查美国机场可能安全漏洞的职责，例如本案中：一个被众多机场员工目睹、并由至少一人正式报告的物体，公然悬停在世界上最繁忙的机场之一上空。《论坛报》采访的许多目击者显然对联邦官员拒绝进一步调查此事感到“不满”。

媒体报道

芝加哥奥黑尔机场UFO故事被各大主流媒体广泛报道，如CNN、CBS、MSNBC、福克斯新闻、《芝加哥论坛报》和NPR。

2009年2月11日，历史频道播出了一集名为《机场外星人》的节目，其中重现了这一事件。

English Version

中文版

简介：2006年11月7日，芝加哥奥黑尔国际机场多名员工目睹一架碟形不明飞行物悬停在C-17登机口上方。目击者包括飞行员和地勤人员，该物体在云层中高速穿梭后留下清晰孔洞。尽管联邦航空管理局最初否认，但《芝加哥论坛报》通过信息自由法案迫使当局承认此事。官方最终以天气现象为由拒绝调查，引发目击者不满。

The Chicago O’Hare UFO sighting occurred on November 7, 2006, when people at Chicago O’Hare International Airport reported seeing a saucer or disc-shaped UFO.

The sighting

At approximately 16:15 CST on Tuesday November 7, 2006, federal authorities at Chicago O’Hare International Airport received a report that a group of twelve airport employees were witnessing a metallic, saucer-shaped craft hovering over Gate C-17.

The object was first spotted by a ramp employee who was pushing back United Airlines Flight 446, which was departing Chicago for Charlotte, North Carolina. The employee apprised Flight 446’s crew of the object above their aircraft. It is believed that both the pilot and co-pilot also witnessed the object.

Several independent witnesses outside of the airport also saw the object. One described a “blatant” disc shaped craft hovering over the airport which was “obviously not clouds.” According to this witness, nearby observers gasped as the object shot through the clouds at high velocity, leaving a clear blue hole in the cloud layer. The hole reportedly seemed to close itself shortly afterward.

According to the Chicago Tribune‘s Jon Hilkevitch, “The disc was visible for approximately two minutes and was seen by close to a dozen United Airlines employees, ranging from pilots to supervisors, who heard chatter on the radio and raced out to view it.” So far, no conclusive photographic evidence of the UFO has surfaced, although it was reported to Hilkevitch that one of the United Airlines pilots was in possession of a digital camera at the time of the sighting and may have photographed the event.

Reaction from the Federal Aviation Administration and United AirlinesBoth United Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) first denied that they had any information on the O’Hare UFO sighting until the Chicago Tribune, which was investigating the report, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The FAA then ordered an internal review of air-traffic communications tapes to comply with the Tribune FOIA request which subsequently uncovered a call by the United supervisor to an FAA manager in the airport tower concerning the UFO sighting.

The FAA stance concludes that the sighting was caused by a weather phenomenon and that the agency would not be investigating the incident. UFO investigators have pointed out that this stance is a direct contradiction to the FAA’s mandate to investigate possible security breaches at American airports such as in this case; an object witnessed by numerous airport employees and officially reported by at least one of them, hovering in plain sight, over one of the busiest airports in the world. Many witnesses interviewed by the Tribune were apparently “upset” that federal officials declined to further investigate the matter.

Media coverage The Chicago O’Hare airport UFO story was picked up by various major mainstream media groups such as CNN, CBS, MSNBC, Fox News, The Chicago Tribune, and NPR.

On February 11, 2009 The History Channel aired an episode with the title Aliens at the Airport in which they reconstructed the incident.