  The differential cross section, $d\sigma/dt$ for $\omega$ meson exclusive
photoproduction on the proton above the resonance region ($2.6<W<2.9$ GeV) was
measured up to a momentum transfer $-t = 5$ GeV$^2$ using the CLAS detector at
Jefferson Laboratory. The $\omega$ channel was identified by detecting a proton
and $\pi^+$ in the final state and using the missing mass technique. While the
low momentum transfer region shows the typical diffractive pattern expected
from Pomeron and Reggeon exchange, at large $-t$ the differential cross section
has a flat behavior. This feature can be explained by introducing quark
interchange processes in addition to the QCD-inspired two-gluon exchange.
