In 2006 an incident spilled out onto the mainstream media with the fury unlike any other at the time. On November 07, at approximately 4:30 PM a number of witnesses, including several employees working at the Chicago O’Hare International Airport were shocked to observe a strange object hovering above gate C-17. No one had predicted how the media and the public would react to the incident, and it remains to this day as one of the most incredible stories not only of UFO contact, but of the hearts and minds of the public.
The incident itself was no more spectacular than hundreds, if not thousands before it. But it was happening at a time when the rift between the status quo and the media was steadily on a downward swing. The incident began with a strange object hovering above Chicago O’Hare and witnessed by no more than a few dozen individuals who tracked its movements for a few minutes before it shot up, leaving a hole in the clouds. But before long there were sketches of the object, interviews, and fairly consistent media coverage for days afterward. As the days turned to weeks, there was a marked increase in the amount of serious consideration newscasters were giving the incident.
One of the most striking incidents in the media after the sighting was never aired on television, but made its way onto the internet as Jon Hilkevitch, a Chicago Tribune transportation reporter, had a conversation with Jim Wagner of CLTV as the cameras were still running unbeknownst to either party. The discussion criticized the FAA’s flip-flop on the official story and the genuine interest many media outlets as well as the public were displaying in regards to the incident. Hilkevitch pointed out that the official explanation by the FAA “just doesn’t wash,” and the two continued in that vein of conversation for several minutes afterward. It was understandable that both parties were clearly excited by the potential for a story here, and that betrayed a similar interest in the UFO phenomena that is usually glossed over or marginalized in the mainstream media. At least until that point. Hilkevitch also mentioned that the Chicago Tribune’s website had received “almost a million hits” since the story had first broke, which was uncommon for stories of this nature. The conversation continued long after the video cuts out, and eventually ends with an unknown individual saying, “It would’ve landed, but -uh…” before the audio cuts out.
And it wasn’t such an isolated incident after that. The media has taken a marked increased level of seriousness in the UFO phenomenon with 24 hour coverage coming in every other day of incredible aerial photography that defies explanation. Of course some media outlets still show some level of consistency in how they marginalize the hundreds of UFO reports that pass through their hands, but the occasional reporter has been known to lately pop his head above the crowd and give serious contemplation to a matter that is important both to the general public and any number of organizations within the territory that these objects are appearing.