NARCAP Technical Report 10 NARCAP TR 10, 2007 Report of an Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon and its Safety Implications at O'Hare International Airport on November 7, 2006 Richard F. Haines, Senior Editor Chief Scientist K. Efishoff, D. Ledger, L. Lemke, S. Maranto, W. Puckett, T. Roe, M. Shough, R. Uriarte National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena This report presents the results of an extensive analyses of data surrounding a multiple witness visual sighting of a single object hovering above O'Hare International Airport on the afternoon of November 7, 2006. The authors are not as concerned with the nature or identity of the object as with aviation safety. It was abundantly clear that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) not only did not detect the presence of this object but also did not take seriously any of the eye witness reports from United Airlines. This situation is serious because it shows a gap in our nation's aeronautical radar detection system, a gap where an apparently solid object of twenty feet diameter (or larger) could hover for many minutes over the nation's busiest airport and not be detected. This report calls loudly for an official inquiry not only into the nature of the aerial phenomenon that can do these things but also into what improvements are needed in our technology to adequately detect them and prevent such an occurrence from happening in the future. A word is in order concerning how time is referred to in this report. In all documents from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) time is given in Universal Coordinate Time (UTC), formerly called Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or sometimes Zulu (Z) time. Since Chicago O'Hare International Airport is located six time zones to the west of the Greenwich meridian (i.e., earlier), all UTC times must have six hours subtracted from them to yield local Central Standard Time (CST). Finally, a twenty-four hour clock notation is sometimes used which also must be converted to local time when necessary. Thus: UTC Local Time at ORD (CST) (midnight) (midnight) Richard F. Haines Senior Editor Oak Harbor, Washington Table of Contents 2.0 United Airline Employee Eye Witnesses Accounts ..................... 2 2.1 Other Unofficial and/or Unverified Responses ........................ 9 2.1.2 Airline Management and Flight Crews .............................. 10 3.0 O'Hare International Airport - Overview .................................. 13 3.5 Flight Delays and Tower Communications on November 7, 2006 ... 19 5.0 Hole-in-Cloud Considerations Kim Efishoff and Larry Lemke ........ 31 6.0 Radar Coverage and Propagation Conditions Martin Shough .......... 41 6.2 Radar System Types and Characteristics ............................... 42 7.3 Radar Cross Section (RCS) Issues Richard. F. Haines ............... 66 8.1.1 Radar Cross Section and Safety Implications ...................... 70 A.4 Satellite Cloud Top Temperature Data ............................... 80 B. United Airlines Published Departures and Arrivals Between ORD C. Investigation of Photographic and Other Hoaxes Ted Roe ........... 81 D. Press Coverage Review Ruben Uriarte and Richard F Haines ....... 84 E. Other Ground Observer Reports of UAP in the Area .................. 90 E.1 Interview 1with Ms. J. H. (February 6, 2007) Sam Maranto ...... 90 E.2 Interview 2 with Ms. J. H. (February 22, 2007) Sam Maranto .... 96 E.3 Selected BLOG Postings by Ms. J.H. Richard F. Haines .......... 98 E.4 Selected BLOG Postings by Ramp Agent X Richard F. Haines . 106 E.5 Selected Questions by Linda Moulton Howe and E.6 Another Possible Report Richard F. Haines ........................ 112 F. Pilot Workload During Landing of Heavy Commercial Aircraft F.4 Personal Observations as a Pilot Related to Take-offs on Runway 32L and 27L at O'Hare Airport on November List of Figures 1. Aerial Photograph of United Concourses B and C from Altitude of 1,610 feet ........ 2 2. View of United Concourse C with Gate C17 Visible at Center ............................ 3 3. Airport Diagram Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) .......................... 6 8. Daily Record of Facility Operation, ORD, November 7, 2006 ........................... 15 9. Vertical Visibility Limits from New Control Tower ....................................... 18 10. Diagram of Control Tower Voice Recordings Received Through 11. Atmospheric Lapse Rate Data for Davenport, Iowa on November 12. Santa Rose, CA. and Louisiana-Alabama Region. Photographs of 'Holes in Clouds' due to Bergeron-Findeisen Phenomenon ........................... 36 14. Comparison of Viscous and Pressure Drag for Blunt and Streamlined 15. Aerial View of ASR-9, ORD#1, Chicago O'Hare, Dupage County, Ill. ................ 47 16. Aerial View of ASR-9, ORD#3, Oak Forest, Cook County, Ill. ......................... 48 19. Aerial View of NEXRAD WSR-88D Weather Radar at Romeoville, Ill. ................ 49 20. Topographic Profile on Line of Sight Between ORD#3 and Sighting Location ........ 51 21. ASR-9 Radiation Pattern VPD Showing Contours of Equiprobability of Detection for a 1 m2 Target in High and Low Beams .............................. 51 22. NEXRAD Base Reflectivity Radar Images Bracketing the Observation Period ....... 53 23. NEXRAD 0.5 degree Base Reflectivity Radar Image for 1635 CST 24. NEXRAD Volume Coverage Pattern VCP 31 & 32, Clear Air Mode ................... 53 25. Footprint of the NEXRAD Radar Resolution Cell Superimposed on 26. Radar Refractivity Profile for 1800 CST Nov 7, 2006 (0000 GMT 27. Primary Radar Returns Between 4:25 and 4:30 pm on November 7, 2006 .............. 63 28. Primary Radar Returns Between 4:30 and 4:35 pm on November 7, 2006 .............. 63 29. Plots of Primary Radar Targets in O'Hare Area Between 4:31 and 4:34 pm ............ 64 31. Sectional Avigation Chart of ORD Showing Class B Airspace .......................... 68 32. Surface Air Pressure Map for November 7, 2006 - 3:00 pm CST ....................... 79 33. Map Showing Three Upper Air "Balloon Sites" Nearest O'Hare ........................ 79 35. GOES-12 Satellite Cloud Top Temperature Profile for November 7, 36. Published UAL Departures and Arrivals Between O'Hare Airport 38. Original (Reversed) Photograph that was Modified ....................................... 83 39. Aerial Photograph of O'Hare Airport Related to Witness Testimony 40. Approach Plate for ILS Runway 27L (Cat. II) at O'Hare International Airport ........ 117 41. Witness D Report to the National UFO Reporting Center ................................ 120 42. Witness B Report to the National UFO Reporting Center ................................ 120 List of Tables 2. Percentage of on-time Arrivals and Departures at ORD Across all Airlines for a Twelve Month Period Ending in the Month indicated 3. Phone Conversation Between United Zone Controller and FAA Area 4. Phone Conversation Between United Ramp Tower and FAA Area 5. Phone Conversation Between United Airlines and FAA Flight Operations 6. Radio Conversation Between Pilot of Gateway Airlines Flight 5668, United Maintenance ## and FAA Inbound Ground Controller ....................... 25 7. Table of Lapse Rates, Humidity & Winds (Davenport, Iowa) November 7, 13. Sample Range and Horizon Figures for Chicago Area Surveillance Radars ........... 50 14. Radar Refractive Index Gradients in N-units per 1000 ft. for 1800 15. Wind Speed and Direction for Four Pairs of Levels Having Significant