Thanks for the reply. Time of day was about 12:15pm est. Weather conditions, clear sunny and beautiful. We were approximately 150-200 yards from shore,water depth 11 feet. bottom structure flat for the most part and weedy ranging from 6 to 12 foot. Vessel, 2006 Lund ssv-14 with side console steering, 25HP Honda four stroke.

My immediate thought was a underwater earthquake, I have seen television programs depicting strange occurrences where the water becomes aerated and anything in that area would somehow lose buoyancy. I of course was quit uneasy and many thoughts were traveling through my mind, I was actually in fear for my family more than anything!

The waves went off in both directions toward shore and away from shore which is where we were anchored. Again they were on angle from land not parallel and the wake was approximately 30-40 in length. We were struck with about the leading 20 feet of the wave pattern. The leading part of this wave abruptly stopped, as if something was close to the surface then it submerged quickly. I saw the end of the pattern and the aeration behind it, as the waves started to build I was awe struck literally, because I have fished these waters enough and have been passed by large vessels while fishing, this wake was very intense but no boat to cause them. I also remembered that my fish sonar was going crazy before and after. The screen had alot of noise on the graph unsure if it was fish, if it was they were running scared.

Hope this helps, I just would kinda like to know what the heck may have caused this, I usually fish this area several times a year wondering about going back, If you have any more questions please let me know I'll do my best to answer them. Thank you again.

Editor’s Note on ? “Strange Waves”

A Reply from Robert D. Morningstar,
Co-Editor, UFO Digest

That is a very strange boating incident, indeed!

I would like to know the visibility, time of day, exactly how far from shore Dave’s boat was anchored, the size and make of the vessel, the range of depths and the composition of the bottom, between his anchoring position and the shore.

If there was not enough depth and length for the passage of a submarine or other unidentified submerged object (USO) going by, my only other "logical" explanation would be that only a local tremor or a sudden upwelling and release of submarine gases. A small tremor on land, especially in the dark, would not be perceived or felt by the boater, of course, and the only indication, would be the arrival of waves, radiating from the shoreline. Dave could check with USGS for data on this possibility.

One final possibility is that a very large vessel passed earlier, unnoticed, on the lakeside of his boat and that the wake of the vessel inbound, passed under Dave’s boat as a very large swell, but ascending along a fast-rising, steep lakebed slope to the shore, could have cascaded back violently as “strong chop” after breaking against the coastline.

This theory could also explain the aeration, which Dave saw.

But for now, without more detailed information, we can only say it was a “USO”…something that remains “unidentified” in or under under the waters of Lake Michigan.