Pilot, Co-Pilot Encounter UFO over Lake MichiganPilot, Co-Pilot Encounter UFO over Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan – 1981

In 1981, TWA Captain Phil Schultz was flying a passenger jet over Lake Michigan on a bright, clear summer day. Suddenly he saw a “large, round, silver metal object” with six jet black “portholes” equally spaced around the circumference, which quickly “descended into the atmosphere from above.”

Captain Schultz and his co-pilot were so close to the object that it appeared to Schultz to be the size of a grapefruit held at arm’s length. Expecting a mid-air collision, they braced themselves for impact.

The object then made a sharp, high speed turn, avoiding the aircraft, and departed.

This drawing of the event was made by Dr. Richard Haines, former senior scientist with NASA, while he sat with Captain Schultz in his cockpit.The Captain completed a detailed report for Haines, who interviewed him extensively. (Courtesy Richard F. Haines)

In this photograph, Captain Schultz demonstrates the size and location of the object relative to his cockpit window.With extensive experience as a US Navy fighter pilot in the Korean War and afterward, Captain Shultz never accepted the reality of UFOs prior to this incident. This encounter changed that.

He wrote as much in his handwritten report, saying he had no choice but to characterize the object as “spaceship.” (photo (C) courtesy Richard F. Haines)