The Falcon Lake UFO encounter holds a unique position in paranormal history among the thousands of UFO-related instances that have been recorded throughout the years.
The Falcon Lake encounter is one of a small number of cases that document actual physical injuries as a result of a UFO-related experience. While the vast majority of UFO incidents are reported as strictly aerial sightings, the Falcon Lake encounter is one of a small number of cases that document actual physical injuries as a result of a UFO-related experience.
On May 20th, 1967, an occurrence was alleged to have occurred at Falcon Lake in southwestern Manitoba, Canada. Stephen Michalak, a Winnipeg mechanic, had planned to spend his Victoria Day weekend prospecting for silver near Falcon Lake at Whiteshell Provincial Park.
He was familiar with the region, having tried his hand at prospecting in different sections of Whiteshell previously, but he had lately been told of some interesting quartz veins near Falcon Lake that had prospective silver resources.
Michalak arrived at Falcon Lake on May 19th, equipped with a game plan, and booked into a motel along the Trans-Canada Highway that evening, anxious to start prospecting the next morning.
Michalak left the motel at 5:30 a.m. on the 20th and went into the park’s northern section to start digging. He had discovered a quartz vein beside a tiny creek by 9:00 a.m., and he kept digging until approximately 12 p.m. when he took a lunch break. The sound of many cackling geese, apparently responding to some form of disturbance nearby, quickly shattered the serenity and quiet of his surroundings.
Michalak raised his eyes to the sky and noticed two cigar-shaped things gently descending into the trees. Both objects looked to have a reddish color to them, and as they got closer, they took on a disc-like form rather than an oval or elongated shape.
One of the two objects began to hover in mid-flight as Michalak watched from afar, while the other landed on a big flat rock around 160 feet distant from Michalak’s viewing point.
The UFO, which had been floating in mid-air, quickly moved westward and vanished behind a cloud cover. Before it vanished from view, Michalak saw that the craft’s hue changed from red to grey.
As Michalak shifted his focus back to the craft that had landed just a short distance away, he observed that its hue had similarly changed from a flaming red to a greyish tone that Michalak described as appearing like “hot stainless steel.”
Michalak had been wearing goggles to protect his eyes from rock fragments while excavating, and they had also proven to be useful in shielding his eyes from the brilliant light emitted from the craft’s many holes.
Michalak estimated the object’s diameter to be around 40 feet, with a domed top and multiple openings through which a brilliant purple light shone. There were no outward markings on the craft to suggest that it belonged to a commercial or military enterprise.
Michalak also detected waves of warm air emanating from the vessel, along with a sulfur-like odor. From his vantage point, he was able to sketch the item, and after about 15 minutes, he noted that a gateway or portal on the craft’s side had been opened. Michalak scanned the area for as much information as he could, waiting for someone to emerge from the craft.
Michalak decided to approach the item with caution after waiting for almost half an hour in vain. He approached the open entryway gingerly, assuming it was an experimental US military vehicle and heard a pair of humanlike voices communicating in an unidentifiable language.
While the speakers inside the vessel ceased speaking, he sought to approach them in English initially, and they did not respond directly to him. He then asked, “Do you speak Russian?” in a cautious Russian tone. This, too, received no answer.
Michalak then tried a few simple greetings in German, French, Ukrainian, and Italian, but they were all unsuccessful. He was able to see portions of the inside of the vessel via the doorway at this time, and he saw that the walls were around 18 to 20 inches thick and had a honeycomb-like architecture.
He also spotted a maze-like pattern of numerous separate beams of light organized in horizontal and diagonal combinations on what looked to be some form of the control panel.
Following Michalak’s attempts at greetings in multiple languages, the craft’s door slammed shut with a motion akin to that of a camera shutter. With his gloved hand, he touched the craft and noted that it lacked any form of welds or welding, instead of having a flawlessly smooth, polished, and extremely shiny surface.
Michalak then observed that his glove had scorched and melted, despite the fact that he had just lightly touched the UFO. Michalak was positioned immediately in front of a grid-like exhaust vent after the vehicle abruptly altered its position in what felt like a fraction of a second.
Michalak’s shirt and undershirt caught fire as a burst of extremely hot air came from this vent. He yanked his clothing off as quickly as he could, but the explosion scorched his flesh.
As the ship raced, Michalak felt a rush of air as it climbed and soared off into the skies. Burn marks in the precise grid-like form of the exhaust vent were subsequently discovered on his chest.
Michalak returned to the location where he had left his possessions after the situation had passed, attempting to regain his composure. Along with the sulfur-like odor, the air had a thick odor comparable to burned electric wire.
When he peered down at his compass, he noted that the needle was whirling crazily, but it gradually got motionless after a few minutes. Michalak began to feel sick to his stomach and developed a nasty headache.
He returned to the landing-place and found a fully smooth, round area of land (no stones or twigs), but a pile of collected material such as dirt, leaves, and pine needles on the circle’s border.
He began to break out in a cold sweat and grew increasingly nauseated, eventually vomiting. Michalak gathered his belongings and returned to the motel, vomiting many times along the way.
Michalak attempted to enlist the assistance of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police policeman who happened to be passing by, but was unsuccessful because the officer refused to assist Michalak after accusing him of being inebriated. Michalak took a bus back to Winnipeg after returning to the hotel, where his son met him and drove him to the hospital.
Michalak was subjected to radiation poisoning testing, but all of the results were within normal limits. Michalak struggled with nausea and headaches for the following seven days, losing a total of 22 pounds in the process.
He finally regained his weight and gradually regained his health, but he was determined to investigate the location of the encounter in order to learn more about what he had witnessed.
On July 2nd, 1967, Michalak enlisted the assistance of the Canadian military, who formed a team of investigators to accompany him to the location. The investigators gathered multiple soil samples from the surrounding region, which were found to have significant amounts of radium following laboratory investigation, posing a “potential major health concern” to the area.
Investigators also discovered a 15-foot-wide oval clearing on the surface of the rock where the plane had supposedly landed. What looked to be a powerful burst of air had “blasted” the moss and soil that had previously covered the rock to the clearing’s perimeter.
While some of the team’s findings appeared to contradict Michalak’s account–for example, the surrounding trees and flora showed little to no signs of disturbances or heat damage–there has been an ongoing suspicion that some of the site’s evidence has been obfuscated or tampered with in order to assuage paranormal suspicions.
Michalak’s case was even taken before the Canadian House of Commons in November 1967, but the Department of National Defence effectively stonewalled cabinet members who raised concerns about the Falcon Lake event.
Michalak died in 1999, at the age of 83. The Falcon Lake UFO experience is largely regarded as one of the most credible tales of a near contact with physical consequences.
While the inquiries into the details of Michalak’s narrative have sparked suspicion because of its paranormal claims, nothing has been found that entirely disproves his story.
