UFOs One Year at a Time: 1967

Falcon Lake, Canada; May 20, 1967

Stephen Michalak (left) shown here in his hospital bed. He claimed a UFO landed near him while he was prospecting in the Falcon Lake area. Curious, he touched the object with his gloved hand. At that moment, the object let
out a blast of heat as it left the earth. The pattern of dots on his abdomen matched the ventilation, or exhaust grill from which the blast of heat emanated.

(UFO Casebook) An important UFO close encounter of the second kind comes to us from Canada. This amazing account details the experiences of Stephen Michalak of Winnipeg. Michalak earned his living as a mechanic, but was an amateur geologist, and while enjoying a few days off, he decided to do some prospecting. He tried his luck in the Whiteshell Provincial Park. This area was by no means new to Michalak. He had spent considerable time in the vicinity of the lake there. Michalak had followed reports of quartz veins being found in the area around Falcon lake. There were also reports of silver being found, and Michalak was on the trail of the valuable metal on May 19, 1967. He had traveled by bus from his home town of Winnipeg to a motel on the Trans-Canada Highway the night before.

Stephen rose early that morning, heading into the vast beauty of the wilderness. Only a couple of hours had transpired before he found a quartz vein by a small brook. After breaking for a quiet lunch, he resumed his work. At about 12:15 P.M. his attention was drawn away from his labors by the sound of geese passing overhead. Looking up to see them fly over, he was shocked to see two red, glowing, elongated objects descending from the skies. As they came ever closer, their shape was defined more as disc-shaped. As he stood mesmerized by the sight, one of the craft abruptly stopped and hovered in midair.

The other continued its downward flight until it landed on a big, smooth rock only about 150 feet from him. The hovering craft began to move away, and as it went, it changed colors from red to orange, and finally gray. It disappeared into the clouds above him. The landed craft also began to change its color in the same pattern. Finally, the gray turned into what appeared to be "hot stainless steel," with a golden glow.

Michalak had been wearing his protective welding glasses earlier, and now they protected his eyes from the brilliant purple lights shining through openings in the front of the craft. He could now smell something..like sulfur, and hear a type of hissing sound. Curiosity overcame him. He knew he was looking at something he thought he would never see, a craft from another world. The only emotion more powerful than his curiosity was the gripping fear that held him in his tracks. He did have the presence of mind to sketch the object, never moving a step.

After approximately 30 minutes, he was frightened to see a door open from the side of the object. He could now see inside the craft! The interior was brilliantly lighted. Pulling all the courage together that he possessed, he moved ever closer to the other worldly craft. As he reached a point about 60 feet from the mysterious flying machine, he could hear two voices conversing above other sounds coming from inside the object. Being a multi-linguist, he tried several languages to communicate with whoever... or whatever was inside.

All of his efforts failed to draw a response from inside. Undaunted, he moved even closer. He reached the door, and stuck his head inside. He saw a large panel of different colored lights, and other light beams crossing in different directions. Michalak would later describe the flashing lights as resembling lights on a computer. He saw no one in the craft, and decided not to push his luck any farther. He moved back away from the door. Suddenly, three panels moved together, hiding the door. His attention was now on the exterior of the craft. He later described the surface as "highly polished colored glass with no breaks or seams in its surface."

He reached out his hand to touch the polished surface, and his glove was melted. Suddenly the object suddenly moved, and as it did, a vented opening was exposed, like a type of exhaust port. He estimated it's size as about nine inches high by six inches wide. Heat was vented through the opening, setting Michalak's shirt and undershirt on fire. He was now in great pain. He quickly tore off his top garments, and turned to see the craft ascending back into the skies. He felt a rush of air as it made it's departure. He could still smell the craft after it had disappeared. Knowing that he needed medical attention, he quickly tried to mark the spot. Using rocks, pine cones, loose dirt, anything he could find, he made a landmark. A severe headache now was complicated by a sick stomach. He broke into a cold sweat, and vomited.

On his way back to his motel, he had to stop several times to ease his stomach pain. After being refused help from a passing police officer, he finally reached his motel. It was now 4:00 P.M. He entered the coffee shop, and asked someone to recommend a doctor.

The nearest doctor was in Kenora, 45 miles east of Falcon Lake. Because of the distance, he decided to return home instead of making the trip to Kenora. The next bus would not arrive for about four hours, so he rested in his room, and phoned his wife. He told her only that he was in an accident, but was OK. He instructed her to have their son meet him at the bus terminal in Winnipeg. He arrived there at 10:45 P.M. His son took him to the Misericordia Hospital immediately.

He was treated for his headache, nausea, and the grid-like burns on his chest. Theorists came out of the woodwork suggesting that his burns were from a barbecue pit, or some other common object. Stephen Michalak made not a cent from his story. He paid all of his own medical expenses, including a trip to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for additional treatment. To defray these costs, he wrote a privately funded booklet on his experience, but it lost money.

Ultimately, Michalak was seen by more than a dozen doctors in the United States and Canada. The site of the experience was investigated by the RCMP, RCAF, other government officials and civilian groups. America's Condon Committee also joined the investigation. Nothing conclusive was ever offered to debunk the fantastic account of Stephen Michalak. His story is unique in many ways, and is accepted as genuine by many UFO groups and investigators.

(UFOs at Close Sight) At 12:15 p.m. on May 19, 1967, Stephen Michalak, who was engaged in some amateur prospecting near Falcon Lake, on the Manitoba/Ontario border, was startled to see two cigar-shaped objects with "bumps" on them, glowing red and descending. One object stopped in mid-air, hovered, and then silently rose and disappeared into the clouds.

The other object, about thirty-five feet in diameter and twelve feet high, landed about 160 feet away from Michalak. A door opened in the side of the craft and Michalak heard voices within. He called out in English and Russian and other langages, but got no response. He was able to walk up to the craft and actually touch it, but it took off as he stood near it, burning his chest and setting his shirt on fire. He went to a doctor, who found a pattern of burn marks in a grid on his chest. He suffered from nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss. Radioactive contamination of the site was much debated, as was the truth of his story .

During Victoria Day week-end, Canadian Stephen Michalak of Winnipeg, a mechanic by trade, decided to do some prospecting in the Whiteshell Provincial Park. Michalak was an amateur geologist and had been prospecting in the area many times. Others had found several quartz veins near Falcon Lake that were associated with silver deposits, and Michalak had himself found a few promising sites. So, on May 19, 1967, he traveled from Winnipeg to Falcon Lake, where he spent the night in a motel on the Trans-Canada Highway.

Michalak left his motel at 5:30 that morning and headed north into the wilds of the park. At about 9:00 a.m. he found a quartz vein near a small stream. At 11:00 a.m. he ate lunch, then continued to examine the quartz formation. At 12:15 p.m. Michalak´s concentration was disturbed by the cackling of some geese. He looked up and was surprised to see two red, glowing cigar-shaped objects descending at a forty-five degree angle. As they came nearer, their appearance became more oval and then disc-shaped.

As he watched, one of the objects stopped and hovered, while the other one descended and landed on a large, flat rock about 160 feet away from him. After a few moments the object still in the air departed, changing from red to orange to grey as it flew into the west and disappeared behind the clouds. The object on the ground also turned from red to grey and finally to the color of "hot stainless steel" surrounded by a golden-hued glow. He had been wearing welding goggles while chipping at the quartz to protect his eyes from flying rock fragments, and now they served the additional purpose of protecting his eyes from a brilliant purple light that was shining through openings in the object´s exterior. The object was making a hissing sound and a whirring noise, and it gave off a sulphurous smell.

For several minutes, Michalak stayed where he was and sketched the object. After about half an hour, a door opened in the side of the object, revealing a lighted interior. Michalak decided to move closer, and when he was approximately sixty feet away from the object, he began to hear two voices over the other sounds coming from the object.

Believing that the object was a secret experimental American craft of some sort, Michalak called out in English. There was no response, so he tried Russian, German, Italian, French, Ukrainian, and then English again. There was still no response.

Summoning his nerve, Michalak approached the open door and stuck his head inside. There he saw a maze of lights on what appeared to be a panel, and beams of light in horizontal and diagonal patterns. There was also a cluster of lights flashing in a random sequence "like on a computer."

Not seeing anyone, he pulled back and waited. Suddenly, three panels slid together, closing the opening completely. Michalak then examined the outer surface of the object, noting that it was like highly polished colored glass with no breaks or seams in its surface. He touched it, and it melted his glove.

Without warning, the object moved, and something like an exhaust vent was now in front of him. It was about nine inches high by six inches wide, and contained a uniform pattern of round holes, each about 1/16 inch in diameter. A blast of hot gas shot from these holes onto his chest, setting his shirt and undershirt on fire and causing him severe pain. He tore off his burning garments and threw them to the ground. He looked up in time to see the craft depart like the first, and felt a rush of air as it ascended.

After the object was gone, Michalak noticed a strong odor of burning electrical insulation along with the sulphurous smell he had noticed earlier. Some moss on the ground had been set on fire by his burning shirts, and so he stamped it out.

The spot where the object had landed looked as if it had been swept clean, but piled up in a 15 foot circle was a collection of pine needles, dirt and leaves. As he looked around, he developed a severe headache, became nauseous, and broke out in a cold sweat. His nausea became worse, and he soon vomited. He decided to head back to the motel, and on the way back he had to stop several times because of vomiting.

Finally, after asking for help from a passing RCMP officer and being refused, he reached the motel. At 4:00 p.m., he entered the coffee shop and asked where he could find a doctor. He was told that the nearest doctor was in Kenora, Ontario, 45 miles east of Falcon Lake. Michalak decided to return to Winnipeg rather than go into Ontario.

The next bus to Winnipeg didn't come through until around 8:45 p.m., so he went to his room and called his wife. He told her not to worry, but that he had had an accident and to send their son to meet him at the bus terminal. He got to Winnipeg at around 10:15 p.m., and his son immediately took him to the Misericordia Hospital, where his headache and nausea were treated and the curious burn marks on his chest in the shape of a grid were noted.

One of the RCMP investigators tried to make the case that Michalak had burned his chest on a barbecue grill. However, the burn pattern was opposite to what it would have been had that been the case. There was a manned firetower nearby, but the lookouts reportedly saw nothing that day. Michalak never made any money off his experience. In fact, he had to pay all of his own medical expenses, including a trip to the Mayo Clinic on Minnesota. A small, privately published booklet he wrote on the experience lost money.

Over the course of the next two years, Michalak was examined by more than one dozen physicians in the United States and Canada. Site investigations were made by members of the RCMP, RCAF, government officials and numerous civilians. Among those who traveled back to the site with Michalak were representatives of: the RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) Training Command Headquarters, CFB (Canadian Forces Base) Winnipeg, RCMP CID (Criminal Investigations Division); the federal Department of Health and Welfare, and the Manitoba provincial Department of Health and Welfare. Also, the University of Colorado Condon Committee investigated the case, Life magazine reporters came to Manitoba and two civilian UFO groups, APRO (Aerial Phenomena Research Organization) and CAPRO (Canadian APRO), became involved. Finally, the federal Department of Mines and Natural Resources got involved to a degree, as did the Whiteshell Nuclear Research Establishment (WNRE), the Manitoba Cancer Institute, the Mayo Clinic, and a host of other medical establishments.

Canadian Chris Rutkowski thoroughly investigated this case, and the details of his investigations may be found at Too Close an Encounter.

Odessa, Delaware, February 9, 1967-Disc-Shaped Object with Cupola

(UFO Casebook) At about 8:45 p.m. on February 9, 1967, Mr. and Mrs. Donald Guseman of Middletown, Delaware, were driving south on U.S. 13 toward Odessa. They had just crossed a bridge over a canal when Mr. Guseman saw two lights near the road ahead and to their left. The left light was green and the one on the right red. Suddenly two bright white lights came on between the colored ones. Thinking they were landing lights, Guseman said to his wife, "Look at the crazy plane trying to land!" As the couple drew nearer, they could see the lights were stationary and attached to a large and unfamiliar object. Only the white lights were visible as they came up opposite to the object, across the highway from them. It sat motionless just over the trees approximately 200 feet from them at an altitude of about 70 or 80 feet. Mr. Guseman rolled down his left window and he and his wife studied the object more closely. It was disc-shaped with a kind of cupola under the main body. Its width was estimated at about 50 feet and its height at about 20 feet at the thickest point. Except for the top, the object was clearly visible, a dark gray silhouette against the lighter sky. The surface was smooth and the bright white lights appeared to be searchlights affixed to the front end. The beams of these lights were wider at the ends than at the source and only the source of the closer beam was visible, the other being hidden by the body of the object. The rather squared cupola, or "gondola," contained a horizontal row of windows which gave forth a faint soft light, steady and uninterrupted by any forms or movement. The light was described as "yellowish" by Mr. Guseman, "pinkish" by his wife. On the bottom of this gondola, in the center, were three red lights which shone with an even intensity. For about two minutes the couple watched the object as it hovered motionless. Several cars and trucks passed on the high-way, but none slowed down or appeared to take notice. Then suddenly the two forward beams of light began to swing upward until they were pointed at a 45-degree angle from horizontal, shining upwards and out into the night sky. As soon as they reached this new position, the object began moving in a forward direction toward the north, and to the left of the witnesses. As it moved, the Gusemans heard a soft hum or buzz, similar to the sound of an electric motor. The UFO proceeded in a slow, straight trajectory at an even altitude and as it changed its angle of perspective relative to the viewers' position, it presented the same circular, disc-shape with the undercarriage and windows below. After moving approximately two or three hundred feet to the north over the trees, the UFO seemed literally to disappear. They assumed it had dropped down into a field beyond the tree-line, but when they drove near the field to check further they saw nothing; nor could they find any evidence on the ground where the UFO had hovered when they searched it with a flashlight. Guseman, 29 at the time of the sighting, is president of the Delmarva Contracting Company, Middletown; his wife is a business administrator in Wilmington Memorial Hospital. Their sighting was investigated by NICAP staff members Stuart Nixon and Isabel Davis and they were later questioned further at NICAP headquarters by Dr. James E. McDonald. The witnesses were articulate, unemotional and cooperative in both their interviews.

source: http://www.nicap.org/newlook/section_IV.htm

Yorba Linda, California, January 24, 1967

FROM www.ufologie.net

On January 24, 1967 at twilight, Tom, aged 14, was startled by a dark hat-shaped object hovering outside the second storey window of his home in Yorba Linda, in a small, relatively isolated town on the edge of Orange County California.

He quickly rushed to another room to get his inexpensive Mark XII fixed-focus camera and returned within seconds. The object had moved farther away from the windowpane in the meantime, but that he was still able to snap one black-and-white picture before running downstairs, shouting for his family to come and view the strange craft. Unfortunately, by the time they had climbed the stairs, the UFO had moved out of sight.

Tom had the impression that the object was "gigantic", but there was no objective reason to accurately talk of its size, so that this could be a subjective impression only.

The sighting and the photograph came to the attention of Ann Druffel of NICAP's Los Angeles section in June 1967, and she subjected to analysis by six photographic experts during the next four years, including sophisticated aerospace photogrametric systems. All the experts estimated that the photograph was of a real, three dimensional object, either stationary or moving at slow speed. Double exposure, cutouts, hand-thrown, or string-suspended models possibilities were examined but ruled out.

1967 Mechanix Illustrated article (click pages to enlarge)