A couple is fishing on Pike Lake in Wisconsin when a sudden heavy storm comes through. After the storm clears, the couple encounters a huge bird on the lake. Was this a Thunderbird?

The following account was recently forward to me. I later followed up with the witness:

"On the Independence day holiday, my family had a big bash this year. My aunt and her husband even showed up. They shared with me a fascinating story.

About 10 or so years ago, they were fishing on a small lake called Pike Lake in Wisconsin. They were on a rowboat when a heavy storm shelf moved in. They said it was supposed to stay north of them but it shifted and began to move over the lake. The first thing they noticed was the temperature drop "by what felt like 30 degrees." Soon after all the birds flew out in a massive swarm all at once. That's when they knew to get the hell off the lake. It got eerily silent (calm before the storm) and they started to row in towards shore.

Soon the wind picked up and I'm told the water was super choppy, but it was like pitch black; the caps almost crystal like. Tornado sirens start to ring and they're struggling against the waves to get back to shore. Luckily, the owner of the resort they were staying at happened to be nearby to help pull them into safety.The sky goes green and a tornado touched down about 5 miles east from them.

Once it cleared up they went back out on the lake. And they row to this lily pad patch. My aunt's husband said he's casting and looking at this tree. As they drift closer towards it, he said the tree just did not look right, he couldn't put his finger on it. When they're about 10 feet from the shoreline and the tree, a head turns slowly. A massive curved beak stood out to him. Then it drops from the tree and spreads its wings. They say the span was massive, at least 15-16 feet. He screams to my aunt "Look at the size of this thing!" It swoops over them close enough to see the detailed "veins" on the feathers. They said it was a dark gray with a purplish sheen to it. As it flew off, it didn't flap its wings like a typical bird trying to attain lift. It was very slow and steady and they could hear the 'whoosh, whoosh' with each flap.

To this day they swear to this account. They said they know for sure it wasn't a heron or sand crane. The curved beak was more align to some kind of hawk. But it was bigger than any hawk they'd ever seen, including eagles. When I mentioned that their story and description reminded me of the Thunderbird, my aunt's husband seemed kind of like something finally clicked, as if he'd never considered that before. I pulled up a picture of some native American totems with the Thunderbird present and I could see the color drain from his face. I swiped to an artist rendition of what one may look like and he says, "You know, I've never considered that. But I swear that's what it had to be. It looked almost like that's exactly, just slightly different color. I'd never seen anything like that before or since".

Now I'm not saying that what they saw wasn't something explainable or misidentified. However, their sincerity and knowledge of the local wildlife (they frequently fish in the area) compels me to believe they definitely saw something that was a bit out of the ordinary." JM