Sketch of the UFO
Case File: Falcon Lake UFO
Location: Falcon Lake, Manitoba
Date: May 20, 1967
Description: Falcon Lake is located in the Whiteshell Provincial Park in southeastern Manitoba, Canada. The lake is reputedly named for Métis poet/songwriter Pierre Falcon (1793-1876). Falcon Lake is a community in Manitoba with a population of 390.
Case
History: On May 20, 1967, fifty-one-year-old Stephen Michalak was prospecting in Falcon Lake, Manitoba, when two UFOs appeared from the sky. He described them as two cigarette-shaped objects with humps in the middle. One of the objects then landed near him. He looked to see if there were any identifying marks on it, but he did not see any. He assumed that it was an experimental vehicle from the United States.
A few seconds later, the door of the craft opened. He tried to speak to the operators of the craft in English, Russian, Polish, and German, but received no response. As he walked closer to the door, a light emitting from it became so bright that he had to snap down the visor on his safety goggles. Then, the door suddenly shut. He tried to touch the craft but was burnt by its exterior. The craft rotated clockwise and he noticed a grid-like exhaust vent on the side of it, which shot out a large amount of gas that set his clothes on fire. Mysterious burns also appeared on his body. The UFO then went up into the sky and flew away.
Stephen was disoriented as a result of the incident. He tried to find his way back home, but his compass was not working. Nine hours later, he arrived at home. He went to the hospital complaining of pain and sickness due to the encounter. For weeks, a strange sulfuric odor came from his body. He was tested for radiation poisoning, which came back negative.
A few weeks after the incident, Stephen and a friend went looking for the site. After several hours, they found a burned-out semicircle in the ground. Dead branches were found around the site. Within days, he took RCMP to the location of the landing site. To this day, no one has been able to explain what happened to him or what the UFO was, but interestingly, the burns from it are still on him.
Stephen Michalak with mysterious burns
Background: Stephen lived in Winnipeg, Canada, but he was in Falcon Lake on vacation with his wife and children on the day of his encounter. He reportedly described his encounter originally to the Winnipeg Tribune.
Investigations: The RCMP became involved soon after the encounter and became skeptical when Stephen initially could not locate the landing site. On the day of the incident, Stephen refused to let an RCMP officer inspect his shirt or chest wounds; the RCMP officer described Stephen's condition in the incident report stating he looked he had "taken a black substances (sic), possibly wood ashes, and rubbed it on his chest." The RCMP officer also reported no visible burns to the back of his head, despite the damage to his hat.
The RCMP became more skeptical when Stephen initially could not locate the landing site. They also learned that he had consumed large amounts of beer on the night before the encounter. However, in July, he was able to locate the site, and the RCMP was able to locate radiation there. At first, the health department wanted to quarantine the site. However, it was later determined that radium ran under the entire region, which caused that high radiation levels.
A year after the incident, Stephen and a friend returned to a site. They found some molten material that was radioactive. An analysis determined that the material was a type of silver that was difficult to obtain. It had been coated with pitch-blend ore, which was a blend of uranium and radium. It is believed that this was planted by someone who wanted to make Stephen's story more believable.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on the November 4, 1992 episode.
Results: Unsolved. Born in 1915, Stephen eventually died in 1999, but the burns remained on his body. Currently, the Canadian Government identifies the case as "unsolved."
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