Chicago O'Hare digs up 50-ton boulder under airfield, asks public for name ideas

Posted by Stratoscope 3 days ago

Comments

Comment by cmrx64 3 days ago

https://news.wttw.com/2026/09/11/rock-star-meet-guy-who-exca...

here’s a picture of the actual rock - and digger! phew!

Comment by Stratoscope 3 days ago

That is a wonderful article!

> Over the years, Pitelka has rescued some of these rocks and deposited them at his mom’s five-acre property, including a large hunk of limestone that, when he dumped it out of his truck, split in half to reveal a perfect trilobite fossil, convex on one side and a matching imprint on the other.

> “I was so excited to hear that the right people got involved,” he said. “I’m absolutely ecstatic it’s going to be on display. For me, as an (excavator) who loves boulders, it’s the coolest thing that people understand its historical significance and appreciate it.”

Comment by cr125rider 2 days ago

Man this guy found his life’s calling. Love to see it.

Comment by elcritch 2 days ago

I love the ambiguity as to whether his mom wants the rocks dropped off in her yard or not. ;)

Comment by MisterTea 2 days ago

I know a lot of people who live in apartments but have a collection, usually classic computers, stored in their parents house. Hell, I was just talking to a guy few weeks ago who was lamenting how his parents threw out his "junk" pdp11 years ago.

Comment by mathgenius 2 days ago

They should name it after this guy, the Pitelka rock.

Comment by xnx 2 days ago

That rock couldn't have been found by a better guy.

Comment by Bluestein 2 days ago

Even a rock has a soulmate! Not I.- /s

Comment by ComputerGuru 2 days ago

TFA has a picture as well; just scroll down.

Comment by Am4TIfIsER0ppos 2 days ago

I don't see it. I do see a blocked twitter embed and when I click the link to that I do see a rock https://x.com/cbschicago/status/2111193918909903146

Comment by cmrx64 2 days ago

I did but honestly didn’t see it. My connection was struggle to load all the billions of ads.

Comment by aktenlage 3 days ago

Thank you, great read.

Comment by matthewsinclair 3 days ago

Surely it has to be “Boulder McBoulderface”?

[0]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36225652

Comment by samgranieri 2 days ago

I was going to suggest just this! I love Boaty McBoatface.

But as a resident of the Chicago area, I’m partial to Da Rock

Comment by aceazzameen 2 days ago

Can have the best of both worlds.

Da Rocky McRockface

Comment by tanseydavid 2 days ago

Rocky McRockface is the perfect name and gets my vote.

Comment by MegaDeKay 2 days ago

Came here with that same name in mind. It would be a stone cold crime if that wasn't picked.

Comment by dmd 2 days ago

Gneiss!

Comment by senectus1 2 days ago

Missed opportunity to call it "Rocky Bouldoa"

Comment by Mountain_Skies 2 days ago

That would be a slam dunk winner if it was the airport in Philadelphia.

Comment by underdeserver 2 days ago

I wonder if there'll be an episode of Hello Internet on it.

Comment by tjwebbnorfolk 2 days ago

I think this is the only valid name

Comment by Stratoscope 3 days ago

Here are the name finalists:

  • Sweet Stone Chicago
  • No ORDinary Rock
  • Chicago Rocks
  • O'Rock
  • Orchard Rock
  • Da Rock

"No ORDinary Rock" and "Orchard Rock" are the winners for me. They both pay tribute to how O'Hare got its IATA airport code in the 1940s, when it was called Orchard Field.

So deciding between the two, Orchard Rock is my pick! It's subtle, but the plaque can explain it.

Comment by swingandamiss 2 days ago

I like "Orchard Rock" because it's not some stupid reddit'ism.

Comment by lbriner 2 days ago

Just call it "Dwayne Johnson"?

Then in generations to some, old people can explain that Dwayne Johnson was the King of Wrestling and then became King of Hollywood.

Comment by adzm 2 days ago

Naming things after living people is bad luck

Comment by jhatax 2 days ago

Surprised to see `ExtraORDinary Rock` missing => 50-tons, that's got to meet the bar for extraordinary.

Comment by robotnikman 2 days ago

I like 'Da Rock' because it reminds me of da orks from Warhammer 40K

Comment by firesteelrain 2 days ago

Or ‘Da Bears’ trope from the SNL Skit

Comment by phlakaton 2 days ago

So they completely ignored the discoverer's suggestion. Humbug.

Comment by whycome 2 days ago

Wish I saw some of the larger list. This still seems weak.

ORD as an acronym? O Rock D

O’Hare Rock Dolostone O’Hare Runway Dolomite

Rocky.

Da Dolo

Comment by jhatax 2 days ago

O Rock Damn.

Comment by wpm 2 days ago

Shakin my damn head where is "Rock and Roll McDonald"

Comment by deepspace 2 days ago

How is 'BDU' not the top choice?

Comment by toddmorey 2 days ago

Beanie’s Baby

Comment by RaftPeople 2 days ago

Ditka

Comment by lenerdenator 2 days ago

Sounds like something from the old Bill Swerski's Superfans sketches from SNL.

"Alright sooperfyans, next question. Who would win: Coach Ditka, or a 50-ton boulder flying down da side of a mountain?"

"Oh, dat's easy, Dit..."

"Hold ahhhn, hold ahhhn! Da boulder is also named 'Ditka'."

Comment by atreat 2 days ago

Digka

Comment by anonymousDan 2 days ago

I like it. Ditka Rock has a certain ring to it.

Comment by JoeAltmaier 2 days ago

"Mother's Love"

Because, we so often take it for granite.

Comment by bell-cot 2 days ago

[dead]

Comment by syspec 2 days ago

Interesting, the construction worker who found is said he never found one that big in all his years working in the field.

I had no idea that would be rare, what makes it relatively rare?

Comment by firesteelrain 2 days ago

Largest dolomite rock ever found maybe ??

Comment by bcaulfield 3 days ago

Should name it Dwayne Johnson and never explain further.

Comment by cestith 3 days ago

Or Rudy Ray Moore.

Comment by fortran77 2 days ago

I thought a 50 ton boulder would be bigger!

Comment by 2 days ago

Comment by ternaryoperator 2 days ago

Is a 50-ton boulder rare or super-rare?

Comment by crisnoble 2 days ago

In chicagoland, yes. For someone who moved there from California, it was strange that rocks hardly larger than a human warranted school field trips and plaques. Perhaps it is geologically cool, but I was unimpressed as a 6th grader. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53236492797_60069bde90_b...

Comment by quickthrowman 2 days ago

In an area that was covered by a glacier in the last 20k years, yes.

Chicago was covered by ice during the most recent glaciation, which means that boulder is probably a glacial erratic covered by till leftover from the movement of the glacier.

Comment by rags2riches 2 days ago

It's not just the fact that the area was covered by ice. The local geology is also a factor.

Glacial erratics are everywhere in Scandinavia, which also obviously was covered by the ice. Small ones, like in the article, are scattered all over. Large ones weigh thousands of tons and may often be mistaken for bedrock.

I suspect there are other areas in North America where that's also true.

Comment by quickthrowman 1 day ago

There are no mountains in Ontario or Saskatchewan and that is where the glaciers came from, there’s only the exposed bedrock of the Canadian Shield.

Comment by kristianp 2 days ago

Glacial erratic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacial_erratic

Comment by waltbosz 2 days ago

I thought the same thing. My back yard is full of huge rocks. Nothing quite that large, maybe 1/3 of that size. A few doors down there is a boulder twice as big as the O'Hare one.

I'm speaking in volume. I'm not sure of the mass of these boulders.

Comment by Yizahi 2 days ago

Medium-rare I would guess

Comment by fuzzfactor 2 days ago

Well-done, I must say.

Comment by hoppyhoppy2 2 days ago

Dunno, but I haven't ever come across one on my property.

Comment by tptacek 2 days ago

Not from the look of it.

Comment by chrismcb 2 days ago

That boulder must be the size of a large boulder.

Comment by SideburnsOfDoom 2 days ago

This is the answer.

FYI, this refers to "Large boulder the size of a small boulder" in 2020

https://time.com/5772944/large-small-boulder/

Comment by thehappypm 2 days ago

The pioneers used to ride those babies for miles!

Comment by fuzzfactor 2 days ago

Boulderdash!

Comment by PyWoody 2 days ago

If you're ever in the area of Madison, NH and have absolutely nothing else to do, the Madison Boulder is kinda neat. [0] It's a little bigger at about 5k tons.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_Boulder

Comment by stutstev 2 days ago

With New Hampshire mentioned, I must make mention of one glorious boulder that sits alongside Rumney's Quincy Road[0]. This is worth checking out if you're visiting the Plymouth area. Street View doesn't do it justice.

[0] https://maps.app.goo.gl/L4EcqopjLqvX9HQMA

Comment by PyWoody 2 days ago

If we're talking roadside boulders, chicken farmer is worth a mention. [0]

[0] https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2017-11-03/you-asked-we-answere...

Comment by codethief 2 days ago

> It weighs upwards of 5,000 short tons (4,500,000 kg).

TIL there's something called a short ton.

Comment by defrost 2 days ago

If you're in the USofA it's the same 2,000 (US) pound ton you've always known.

For those of us elsewhere on the globe it's that non metric weight we call either a short ton or a US ton.

The OG ton, also known as the imperial ton or British ton is some 2,240 avoirdupois pounds that's been "standardised" (plus minus some obscure fuzzing) for some 700 years or so.

Comment by lukeify 2 days ago

O’Hareball!

Comment by toddmorey 2 days ago

“I am going to show you where on earth in the future we will find the biggest rock: Space.”

https://youtu.be/aO0TUI9r-So?si=7fNwDvf86GpVFxDR

Comment by contingencies 2 days ago

As an Australian aware of Chicago's Irish heritage and the implied weight balancing our antipodean clime, I'd suggest "Tip O'Dea".

PS. If visiting Chicago check out the Lincoln Park Conservatory, an amazing historic plant collection with one of the world's best ferneries, very close to downtown. https://www.lincolnparkconservancy.org/projects/conservatory...

Comment by huxley 2 days ago

“A large boulder the size of a small boulder"

https://time.com/5772944/large-small-boulder/

Comment by entrope 2 days ago

I was going to suggest something in that vein, perhaps "a giant boulder the size of a large boulder" to distinguish it from its Coloradan cousin.

Comment by mindslight 3 days ago

There's something about finding huge rocks in the ground while digging that makes you just want to take them out and like, use them for something? The last one I found I had to make myself leave it there (well I moved it over a foot so a pipe didn't have to go around it). Like no, it has sat here for thousands of years just fine, it can keep sitting. Glad to hear it applies to 50 ton ones, as well.

Comment by acomjean 3 days ago

In New England they made stone walls out of them. Of course most where smallish

https://www.outdoors.org/resources/amc-outdoors/history/hist...

In “original” England they did as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_stone

Comment by mindslight 2 days ago

Oh sure, I'm definitely familiar with those. The weird ones are in forests, a reminder that an area used to be clear and then was left to grow back.

The walls of stones were the result of collecting stones that were near the surface from what I understand (maybe plow depth). I was talking more like bigger stones that were buried several feet under the ground that could just stay where they are (when you fill in the hole), but for a compulsion to treat them as things.

Comment by acomjean 3 days ago

In New England they made stone walls out of them.

In “original” England they did as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_stone

Comment by karlkloss 3 days ago

Rocky McRockface

Comment by wffurr 2 days ago

Glad they included a video of moving it. 50 tons is close to the limit of a typical boom crane.

Comment by whycome 2 days ago

When Toronto had to name their team, I’m sure that the success of Jurassic Park helped the finalist (Raptors) win. I’m surprised “Rocky” didn’t make a finalist here (via Project Hail Mary).

Maybe that’s too Philadelphia.

O’Hare “Rocky” Dolomite

Comment by markstos 2 days ago

O'Bollard.

Comment by 2 days ago

Comment by mikewarot 3 days ago

Tangent time: I've got a smaller one in my yard, and I've got a set of feathers and wedges to avoid having to dig it all up at once. Here's a video of someone using feathers and wedges to split granite.

https://youtu.be/s7_z-SGxUAs?si=vUKYBWYvG7nncszd&t=924

Comment by JoeAltmaier 2 days ago

Pictures or it didn't happen?

Comment by pvaldes 2 days ago

Stonehangar, of course

Comment by dbcurtis 2 days ago

Years ago, a company that I worked for had a huge boulder in the parking lot area that had simply been built around. At some point, facilities decided they were going to remove the boulder. Employees printed up some tee shirts that said "Save the BFR". Because, you know, it was a big rock.

Comment by nyc_data_geek 2 days ago

Rocky McRockFace

Comment by jsd1982 2 days ago

The Boulder. No Avatar references yet?

Comment by isolay 2 days ago

Bouldy O’Bouldface.

Comment by MadrasTh0rn 2 days ago

CHIrock or CHI (shy) stone

Comment by MBCook 2 days ago

Oooh. “CHI and the Family Stone” is perfect.

Comment by shmilia 2 days ago

Bean

Comment by mrlonglong 2 days ago

Bouldery McBoulderface.

Comment by lifeisstillgood 2 days ago

“Deep Crust” surely?

Comment by ashton314 2 days ago

Peewee Pebblestone

Comment by wewewedxfgdf 2 days ago

Big Boy Boulder

Comment by AmazingEveryDay 2 days ago

What means "prehistoric boulder", are not essentially all boulders prehistoric? I just don't know what a historic boulder would even mean. Something in Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Comment by rags2riches 2 days ago

This boulder was broken off and shaped by the ice thousands of years ago. New rocks fall off mountains all the time.

Comment by futuresoonpast 2 days ago

Rocky, obvs.

Comment by willmadden 2 days ago

I nominate "Boaty McBoatface".

Comment by wewewedxfgdf 2 days ago

Biggie.

Comment by pfdietz 2 days ago

Crystal

Comment by powerbroker 3 days ago

There is another rock sitting alongside a chief artery about 25 miles NW just beyond Schaumburg. Silly to give these things a name.

Comment by Stratoscope 3 days ago

There are big rocks everywhere. But surely we can be allowed to have a little fun?

Comment by powerbroker 3 days ago

OK, OK. just drag it up to Schaumburg. Put it next to the other rock. Then call it 'micro-henge'.

Comment by Stratoscope 3 days ago

That works for me! Can you help me drag this 50-ton rock?

Comment by 3 days ago

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Comment by aaron695 3 days ago

[dead]

Comment by dhosek 2 days ago

[dead]

Comment by poontangpoo 2 days ago

[dead]

Comment by hal-eisen 2 days ago

How is it possible that NONE of the candidate names refer to Colbert? Especially given his time with Second City.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_impact_of_The_Colbert...

Comment by tptacek 2 days ago

Colbert is not a Chicago figure. You'd have to remind the median Chicagoan who knows who he is that he ever spent time here. You might just as easily name it after Bob Odenkirk.

Comment by dhosek 2 days ago

And at least Odenkirk sounds like he’s from Chicago (because he is). Colbert’s time in Chicago was a short part of his life.

Comment by tptacek 2 days ago

Berwyn, technically! Our neck of the woods. :)

Comment by dhosek 2 days ago

He grew up in Naperville. Wikipedia says he was born in Berwyn, which I assume just means he was born at McNeal, but I don’t think he ever lived there or there’d be a bigger deal made of it by the local gentry. But that voice is hardcore inner suburbs/southwest side. I had no difficulty believing Jimmy McGill grew up in Cicero.

Comment by nonethewiser 2 days ago

I dont get it. Does he have some association with large rocks or something?