THE
UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT
CASE
HISTORIES The experience of Stephen Michalak in the Falcon Lake area in Manitoba, at noon on May 20, 1967, is a CE-II (Close Encounter of the Second Kind) on two counts: physical traces were found on the area where the UFO reportedly landed, and the witness experienced a series of physiological effects apparently linked to his close encounter with a metallic-looking, disc-shaped object. Michalak is an industrial mechanic from Winnipeg who was doing some amateur prospecting in the area. Drawing with notes by
Michalak of the landed UFO he encountered at
Falcon Lake. Notice grill pattern (encircled)
and compare The case was investigated
extensively by Canadian authorities, the Condon
Commission, and several civilian UFO groups from
the U.S. and Canada. The Royal Canadian Mounted
Police (RCMP), the Department of National Defense
(DND), the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), and
the Manitoba Department of Health were some of the
agencies involved. Canadian officials reacted
quickly after some radioactive traces were
detected in soil samples from the landing area as
well as on Michalak's garments. Many reports and
documents on the case were eventually released by
the Canadian government. One document provides a
full summary of the case and investigation:
The RCAF investigation of Michalak, undertaken by Squadron Leader P. Bissky, was tough and highly skeptical. There were a few problems: Michalak failed to locate the landing site on two occasions when accompanied by the RCMP, but found it later with a friend. Much was made of this by physicist Roy Craig of the Condon committee, who eventually dismissed the case.66 However, Canadian researcher Chris Rutkowski makes a reasonable case of "disorientation in the wilderness" in discussing the details of the initial searches. Michalak had literally been taken from the hospital and flown in a helicopter by the RCAF to search for the spot. By the time of the third search, Michalak had partially recovered from his burns.67 Photograph of Stephen
Michalak showing the geometric burn pattern on
his body. Courtesy of ICUFON Archives. S/L Bissky looked at the possibility of a hoax, searching for small details; for example whether Michalak had handled "radium sources" at the cement company where he worked as a mechanic. Although S/L Bissky was trying to find holes in the story, he had to admit that "notwithstanding the evidence as it appears, the abdominal burns sustained by Mr. Michalak remain unexplainable as to the source of the burn."68 Michalak underwent several
medical examinations in the course of the
following months. The first took place on the
evening of May 20 at Misericordia General Hospital
in Winnipeg, where Michalak was taken by his son
following his return from Falcon Lake on the same
day of the incident. The RCAF file includes a
memorandum by a Deputy Base Surgeon who
interviewed the physician who examined Michalak.
The physician was not aware that the injuries were
reportedly linked to a close encounter with a UFO,
but had just been told that it was an accident.
Surgeon D.J. Scott reported:
It is interesting to note
that the geometrical burn marks on Michalak's
chest and abdomen appear to conform to "a
grid-like exhaust vent" observed by Michalak.
According to Rutkowski's report:
Rutkowski summarized other physiological effects such as weight loss, "a drop of his blood lymphocyte count from 25 to 16 per cent," swelling of his body, and other ailments. He described as well the circumstances surrounding a series of physical and psychiatric tests undertaken by Michalak at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota in 1968, at his own expense. Since Michalak was found in general good health, normal medical explanations such as neurodermatitis and hyperventilation were hypothesized. The psychiatrists determined that, despite the stress caused by all the publicity generated by his UFO experience, "there was no other evidence of delusions, hallucinations or other emotional disorders."71 One of the weaknesses
of the case is that Michalak was the only
witness. No one corroborated his crucial
testimony of the landing or overflight of a
disc-shaped object. Professor Craig chose to
dismiss the whole incident with curious
reasoning in his final "Conclusion of 'Case 22'"
for the Condon Report:
Yet a careful review
of all the physical and medical evidence
collected by the RCMP and others could easily
lead one to the opposite conclusion. Moreover,
some of the physiological effects reported in
the Falcon Lake incident are not isolated
events in the UFO literature. Aerospace
engineer John Schuessler has been documenting
UFO medical cases for many years, compiling a
Catalog of Medical Injury Cases. The 1995
version of the catalog contains approximately
400 cases.73 Although this
particular field requires further research, it
is one area where at least "partial proof" can
be offered. UFO BRIEFING DOC - TABLE OF CONTENTS ![]() |