Exploring Falcon Lake, Manitoba: A Horseback Adventure Amid UFO Mysteries
Standing on the exact spot where the world’s most documented UFO sighting took place is one for the books. But for the thrill-seekers on Atlas Obscura’s trip to Manitoba, it was just another day of adventure into the mysteries of the unexplained. Atlas Obscura trip leader and Canadian architectural historian Frank Albo shares a moment from Mysterious Manitoba.
We reached our destination on horseback and arrived at a secluded outcropping nestled between towering spruce trees and a small stream. Our guide was Chris Rutkowski, Canada’s foremost paranormal writer and UFOlogist. If anyone knows about the Falcon Lake incident on the fateful afternoon of May 20, 1967, it's Chris.
Prospecting for quartz in the hinterland around Falcon Lake five decades ago, Stefan Michalak spotted two strange objects soaring silently overhead. As one of them descended, the craft assumed a disc-shaped profile and hovered above a rocky terrace 45 meters away. Entranced, Michalak spent the next 30 minutes meticulously sketching the object from afar. An opening appeared in the upper portion of the 35-foot disc, which hissed and emitted warm air and the odious smell of sulfur.
Michalak braved forward. He poked his head into the opening and saw a maze of blinding horizontal and diagonal-patterned lights. As he marveled at the flawless exterior, which showed no signs of welding or joints, the craft began to rotate, sealing off the opening and scorching him with hot gas. The blast set Michalak’s clothes ablaze, leaving him with lifelong burns on his chest and abdomen that mimicked the grid-like pattern of the ship’s exhaust.
Despite exhaustive investigations by the United States Air Force and the Canadian RCMP, both organizations classified the event as “unexplained.” But with Chris at our side, we relived the moment through his masterful storytelling. Most visceral of all was holding a fragment of this otherworldly encounter in the palm of our hands. In essence, a piece of radioactive metal recovered directly beneath the “landing pad” within cracks of the Precambrian Shield. Today, the same granite platform is devoid of all moss and vegetation, which otherwise grows bountifully on the adjacent rock surfaces.
What happened on May 20, 1967? And why is this spot still devoid of life 53 years later? Visit Falcon Lake and decide for yourself.
