- Published January 8, 2007
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- The story last week about an unscheduled flight over
O'Hare International Airport generated a universe of opinions from near
and very far out.
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- A man in Aurora said he came home from work on the same
day as the O'Hare sighting, looked skyward in his back yard and spied a
shiny round object hovering between two masses of clouds. And then it disappeared.
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- A woman from Ireland wrote to asked what the heck was
happening at "O'Hara."
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- A man named Montana said he had encounters with extraterrestrials
in Romania and in Wichita, Kan. He expressed amazement that neither incident
made the news.
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- It may never be known whether the phenomenon at O'Hare
on Nov. 7--which was reported by numerous United Airlines employees--was
an actual UFO sighting, or much ado about nothing. But readers don't seem
to mind offering their opinions.
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- Here's a sample from the more than 400 e-mails Getting
Around has received:
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- "For those of us researchers who are convinced that
UFO sightings reported by witnesses of the caliber of those at O'Hare are
not triggered by errant weather balloons, swamp gas, the planet Venus,
atmospheric anomalies, secret government aircraft or outright hallucinations,
your ongoing attempt to get to the bottom of what hovered that day over
Gate C17 is extremely refreshing."
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- --C. Scott Littleton, professor of anthropology emeritus
at Occidental College in Los Angeles.
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- "I have a different take on what happened at O'Hare.
It's the obvious side-effect of the two-joint coffee break."
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- --Mike Maday, Spring Hill, Tenn.
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- "Hmm. Looks like we're being visited by advanced
craft from other worlds, and not only is the U.S. government keen to cover
up the details, so are many private corporations whose existence would
be threatened by the free-energy technology that powers these vehicles."
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- --Andrew Johnson, United Kingdom
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- "While not directly admitting that E.T. had indeed
phoned home, you appeared at least open to that possibility. It was a nice
departure from the norm to see the witnesses treated as respectable observers
rather than being portrayed as nuts or inebriated liars. Aliens may not
have yet landed on the front lawn of the White House, but they appear to
be toying with the idea if the O'Hare incident is any indication."
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- --John Oathout, Broken Arrow, Okla.
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- "I wish that people would believe what we know we
saw. I'm afraid to go outside, and I can't sleep. I've purchased a large
caliber pistol and have installed a top-of-the-line security system. Needless
to say, I've also canceled my family's camping trip to Indiana Dunes."
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- --Scared in Indiana
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- "I would have laughed at this story about a year
ago, but I saw something very similar in the Detroit area. Others saw it
too. I am glad people have stood up to the downplay[ing] of this issue.
I too had to give myself a reality check, but it happened, and I was on
my fifth cup of coffee."
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- --Thomas Fullerton
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- "I sat on a plane at the Port Columbus, Ohio, airport
for at least an hour on the afternoon of Nov. 7. This flight was scheduled
to arrive at O'Hare at 4:30 p.m. (the same time as the UFO sighting) The
flight was further delayed for about another hour and circled the airport
waiting to land. The pilot was not able to provide us with a reason for
the delays. My daughter said when she arrived at the airport to pick me
up around 4:30 that there were very many military personnel at the airport."
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- --Dennis Goethe, Durand, Ill.
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- "It should be clear to everyone that the U.S. government
has been lying about UFOs since the first reports. They have been here
before Earth's civilization began, and they'll be here after we've trashed
our planet to death."
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- --Eli Pine
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- "I am a 67-year-old woman who has lived in the Chicago
area for 65 of those years. I believe in UFOs because I've seen them--long
time ago, when I was about 14 years old, walking my dog on the South Side
of Chicago. It was two side-by-side cigar-shaped lights in the eastern
sky. I remember that sight as clearly as I remember the exact moment I
heard that Mayor [Richard J.] Daley had a heart attack and that Kennedy
had been shot."
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- --Dorothy P. Schmidt
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- Finally, the mayor of Roswell, N.M., where it was reported
in 1947 that an alien spacecraft was recovered on a nearby ranch, said
he thinks the saucer-shaped craft at O'Hare must have taken a wrong turn.
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- "I'm hoping they were on their way to Roswell to
help us celebrate our biggest UFO festival to date," Mayor Sam LaGrone
said of the event scheduled for July 5 through 8.
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- "Even if the gates at O'Hare were full, we have
plenty of landing space here in Roswell and we welcome any alien visitors
to drop in and celebrate the 60th anniversary with us," LaGrone said.
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- Contact Getting Around at jhilkevitch@tribune.com or
c/o the Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611. Read
recent columns at www.chicagotribune.com/gettingaround
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- Copyright © 2007,Chicago Tribune
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