Unknown over Au Train (Forest Lake), MI

The report, as filed

My wife and I were camping in a rustic campground south of Au Train, MI in the Hiawatha National forest, Forest Lake campground (Cleveland Cliffs Basin) (46°18'20.2"N 86°52'04.4"W) - approximately 8 miles south of Au train, MI. We had met a younger couple camping on the campsite North of ours and got together as the early morning of the 13th of August 2020 approached. We all had decided we would take in the meteor shower down by the waters edge where viewing would be ideal. We had no light pollution and both campsites fires had not been lit for ideal viewing. We had a crescent moon due east reflecting off the water. We watched the meteor shower and shared stories and laughed into the night. At one point, the women from the campsite two sites to the south, voiced her displeasure with our laughter. The women also stated it was “two o’clock in the morning!”. I jokingly, but quietly asked, “exactly?” I then walked up to the truck out of curiosity. The truck’s clock was 0223. I walked back and we all were all about to retire when my wife said, “WHAT IS THAT?” We all then turned to the North and approximately 30 Degrees from the horizon moving from west to east was a spinning light between 1500 to 2000 feet AGL. The object was turning in a counterclockwise direction progressively spinning into itself while moving to the east. It also appeared to be disturbing the air around it; creating a cloud or aura that dissipated commensurately with the rate of travel. I was fixated on the spinning surface as the they appeared to mirage distorting the light. We were deep in the woods and you could have heard a pin drop - Zero sound. As the moon as a reference that night - the object was slightly larger. I served 26 years in the USAF and have physically touched most of aircraft in the US inventory and many foreign aircraft as well. I observed the object for about 7 seconds and it just was gone. You can imagine the expletives after the object was gone. The couple left before we woke the next morning.

Held as-reported from National UFO Reporting Center (record NUFORC #158701). Witness text is preserved verbatim, including its spelling; nothing is edited beyond formatting.