FORGOTTEN ENCOUNTERS #6: The Falcon Lake Incident (Canada, 1967)
- Paul Balmer
- 35 minutes ago
- 4 min read
He saw two silent discs in the sky. One landed. Minutes later, he was burned, sick, and radioactive — and no one could explain why.
Welcome back to Forgotten Encounters, where we uncover UFO cases that left behind more than just stories — they left evidence, scars, and a trail of unanswered questions.
Today’s story isn’t just weird — it’s one of the most thoroughly documented UFO encounters in history. It happened in the Canadian wilderness, involved a reliable, no-nonsense witness, and left behind radiation, burns, and one man forever changed.
📍 Location:
Falcon Lake, Manitoba, Canada
📅 Date:
May 20, 1967
👤 Witness:
Stefan Michalak, a 51-year-old industrial mechanic and amateur geologist.
A Polish immigrant, war veteran, and former military engineer
Not a believer in UFOs
Out prospecting for quartz when the encounter occurred
THE ENCOUNTER
While alone in the remote woods near Falcon Lake, Michalak heard a group of geese suddenly erupt into flight, clearly startled. When he looked up, he saw two bright, disc-shaped objects silently flying across the sky.
One of them abruptly changed course and flew off into the distance. The other began to descend — slowly, deliberately — and landed on a flat rock surface about 50 meters away.
It was a classic saucer-shaped craft, metallic silver, about 30–35 feet in diameter, with a domed top. It emitted a reddish-orange glow, gave off a faint humming noise, and filled the air with a smell like sulfur and burning electronics.
Thinking it might be a military test vehicle, Michalak cautiously approached.
He got close enough to see a panel open on the side of the craft. Inside, he could see flashing lights and what looked like instrument panels. He called out in English, Polish, and French. There was no response. No movement. No visible beings.
When he reached out and touched the hull, it burned his glove and his hand instantly — the metal was searing hot. Then, without warning, a vent-like grid on the side of the craft opened and blasted him in the chest with a force of hot gas or energy, setting his shirt on fire and knocking him backward.
The craft then rose into the air and flew away, leaving him in pain, disoriented, and nauseous.
THE INJURIES
Michalak stumbled back to his motel, vomiting along the way, and later went to a hospital. His symptoms included:
Grid-shaped burns on his chest, matching the shape of the exhaust port (see below.)
Severe nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea
Metallic odor on his breath and skin
Skin irritation, fatigue, and blackouts over the following weeks
His clothing tested positive for elevated radiation
Doctors at two hospitals documented his injuries, including the burn marks and ongoing illness. His symptoms were consistent with radiation exposure, although blood tests and long-term scans remained inconclusive.
OFFICIAL INVESTIGATIONS
This wasn’t a fringe event. It was taken seriously by multiple agencies:
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
Canadian Department of National Defence (DND)
Manitoba Department of Health
United States Air Force / Project Blue Book
Investigative findings included:
Elevated radiation readings at the landing site (which later declined)
Unusual radioactive traces in soil and rocks
No signs of hoaxing, no evidence Michalak made up the story
The U.S. Air Force marked the case “unsolved”
None of the agencies could explain what happened, but all acknowledged that something real and strange occurred.
THE RADIATION MYSTERY
One of the strangest parts of this case is what was left behind — and it wasn’t just burns on Michalak’s chest.
When Canadian investigators visited the site, they collected soil, moss, and rock samples from where the craft allegedly landed. Lab results revealed abnormally high levels of radiation, specifically thorium-232, a radioactive isotope not naturally found in high concentrations in that region.
Even more strange: Michalak’s burned clothing also tested positive for radiation, enough to raise alarm but not enough to cause acute radiation syndrome, although he still showed signs of radiation sickness while in hospital. Investigators were concerned enough to cordon off the site temporarily.
Whatever hit him left a measurable mark — and to this day, the source of the contamination remains 'unexplained.'
GOVERNMENT FILES & PROJECT BLUE BOOK
The Falcon Lake incident wasn’t just a Canadian concern — it quickly caught the attention of the U.S. Air Force’s Project Blue Book, America’s official UFO investigation program at the time.
Michalak’s case was classified as a “Close Encounter of the Second Kind” due to the physical injuries and trace radiation left behind. Dozens of pages of interviews, reports, and internal memos were compiled by both Canadian and U.S. agencies.
In the end, Project Blue Book closed the case as “Unexplained.” Despite exhaustive efforts, Canadian authorities could not identify the object, nor could they explain Michalak’s injuries as self-inflicted or caused by any known natural phenomenon.
Declassified documents now show that the RCMP, Canadian Armed Forces, and U.S. authorities all cooperated in the investigation — but no agency ever reached a conclusive answer.
We’ve archived the full Project Blue Book file on Falcon Lake in our UFO Archive for anyone who wants to read it directly. It's an incredible insight into how seriously this encounter was taken at the highest levels.
NO PROFIT. NO PUBLICITY. NO HOAX.
Stefan Michalak never changed his story. He refused to capitalize on the event, avoided publicity, and often regretted going public at all.
He passed away in 1999, still without answers. His son, Stan Michalak, later said:
“He never wanted this attention. He just wanted someone to explain what had happened to him.”
In 2018, the Government of Canada installed a permanent plaque near the encounter site, officially recognizing the Falcon Lake Incident as one of the country’s most credible UFO encounters.
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