Michael started his career as an athlete. After his freshman year in college, Michael was drafted into the North American Soccer league as a goalie, and by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a pitcher. Instead, he chose to play on the professional tennis tour where he was good enough to have to been beaten by some of the best players in the world, including Jimmy Connors, Roscoe Tanner, and Harold Solomon.

In New York City, Michael studied acting with legendaries Stella Adler, Michael Shurtleff and David LeGrant. He starred in several independent films and in many off-Broadway shows. Michael had a recurring role on “Mama’s Family” and was a series regular on the CBS soap opera, “Capitol”.

As a casting assistant for Sylvester Stallone’s White Eagle productions, Michael worked on Rambo, Rocky IV, and several movies of the week. He worked with numerous other production companies including Glen Larson Productions.

Previous to his film career, Michael had a strange experience he didn't understand. Then he meet Bud Hopkins and the truth of his experience began to emerge. He was an abductee.

Bud featured a Stephen Killburn in his first book on abduction, Missing Time (1980). Stephen Killburn is Michael Burshad. Michael now says he has experienced what we now call a "typical Gray abduction." His coming forward now, after many years of silence, is not to reintroduce his past but to shine light to what has happened to him since working with Bud Hopkins in the first years of abduction disclosure.