The Chicago O'Hare UFO sighting occurred on November 7, 2006, around 4:15 p.m. when 12 United Airlines employees and a few other witnesses outside O'Hare International Airport reported a sudden UFO sighting. The Federal Aviation Administration refused to investigate the matter because this UFO was not seen on radar, instead calling it a "weather phenomenon". The sighting At approximately 16:15 CST on 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. The object was also witnessed by pilots, airline management and mechanics. No air traffic controllers saw the object, and it did not show up on radar. (Freedom of Information Act released transcript of Air Traffic Controller's phone reporting to FAA). Witnesses described the object as completely silent, in diameter and dark gray in color. Several independent witnesses outside of the airport also saw the object. One described a disc-shaped craft hovering over the airport, stating that it was "obviously not clouds." According to this witness, 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 five 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." Reaction from the Federal Aviation Administration and United Airlines Both United Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) initially denied that they had any information on the O'Hare UFO sighting until the newspaper 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 Chicago 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 therefore not be investigating the incident. According to astronomer Mark