Cash–Landrum incident
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🛸 Case
Contents 5
| Type | Case |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Cash-Landrum |
The Cash–Landrum incident is a reported UFO encounter on the evening of 29 December 1980 on a rural road near Dayton, Texas, in which Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum and Vickie's seven-year-old grandson, Colby Landrum, said they saw a fiery, diamond-shaped object hovering over the road, followed by a large group of helicopters. All three later reported illnesses they attributed to the encounter, and they unsuccessfully sued the U.S. government.[1][2]
The encounter
Driving home through pine forest, the three said they saw a large, glowing, diamond-shaped object with flames shooting from its underside, hovering at treetop height above the road and giving off intense heat. Cash got out of the car to look; the metal of the car became too hot to touch. As the object moved away, they said, it was surrounded by about 23 helicopters, many of them twin-rotor CH-47 Chinooks; Cash said some bore "United States Air Force" markings.[1][3]
Illnesses
In the following days and weeks, all three reported symptoms including skin burns and sores, nausea, eye problems and hair loss. Cash spent long periods in hospital. Vickie Landrum developed a cataract in 1981, and Cash was treated for breast cancer from 1983. Whether these conditions were caused by the encounter is disputed, and the medical records have been debated.[1][4]
Investigations and lawsuit
NASA engineer John Schuessler, a founder of MUFON, investigated the case extensively. In 1982 an Army Inspector General investigation found no evidence that the helicopters belonged to the U.S. armed forces. With lawyer Peter Gersten representing them for free, the witnesses sued the federal government for $20 million; a federal court dismissed the suit on 21 August 1986 because no government ownership of an object or helicopters could be established.[1][5]
Explanations
No conclusive explanation exists. Researchers have proposed a secret military project such as a nuclear-powered device, chemical contamination, a mirage of the star Canopus, and exaggeration of the evidence; skeptic Brian Dunning attributed Cash's hair loss to alopecia areata. Betty Cash died on 29 December 1998, the 18th anniversary of the encounter, and Vickie Landrum in 2007.[1][3][4]
References
- Cash–Landrum incident — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "Close Encounters of the Lone Star Kind", Texas Monthly · texasmonthly.com · archived copy
- Brian Dunning, "The Cash–Landrum UFO Incident", Skeptoid #652 (2018) · skeptoid.com · archived copy
- Gary Posner, "The Legendary Cash–Landrum Case: Radiation Sickness from a Close Encounter?" (2023) · gpposner.com · archived copy
- Bergstrom AFB interview of Betty Cash and Vickie and Colby Landrum — CUFON · cufon.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 31 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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