Case: The Cash-Landrum UFO Incident
Timeline: December 29th 1980 at about 9:00pm
Note: This incident occurred only one day after the Rendlesham Forest Incident occurred in the UK.
Location: Near Dayton, Texas U.S.A. 30.0926°N 95.1109°W (Texas state highway FM 1485/2100 just south of Inland Road)
Map: Google UFO Map
Type: N/A
Classification: CE 2 (see about classification)
Source: UFOEvidence.org, Wikipedia.org
Synopsis:
On the evening of December 29, 1980, Betty Cash and Vickie and Colby Landrum (Vickie's seven-year-old grandson) were driving home to Dayton, Texas in Cash's Oldsmobile Cutlass after dining out.At about 9:00 p.m., while driving on an isolated two-lane road in dense woods, the witnesses said they observed a light above some trees. They initially thought it was an airplane approaching Houston Intercontinental Airport (about 35 miles away) and gave it little notice.A few minutes later on the winding roads, the witnesses saw what they believed to be the same light as before, but it was now much closer and very bright. They claimed that the light came from a huge diamond-shaped object, which hovered at about treetop level. Its base was expelling flame and emitting significant heat.Landrum told Cash to stop the car, fearing they would be burned if they approached any closer. However, her opinion of the object quickly changed: a born again Christian, she now interpreted the object as a sign of the second coming of Jesus Christ, telling Colby: "That's Jesus. He will not hurt us."Anxious, Cash considered turning the car around, but abandoned this idea because the road was too narrow and she presumed the car would get stuck on the dirt shoulders, which were soft from that evening's rains.Cash and Landrum got out of the car to examine the object. Colby was terrified, however, and Landrum quickly returned to the car to comfort him. Cash remained outside, "mesmerized by the bizarre sight", as Jerome Clark wrote. He went on:The object, intensely bright and a dull metallic silver, was shaped like a huge upright diamond, about the size of the Dayton water tower, with its top and bottom cut off so that they were flat rather than pointed. Small blue lights ringed the center, and periodically over the next few minutes flames shot out of the bottom, flaring outward, creating the effect of a large cone. Every time the fire dissipated, the UFO floated a few feet downwards toward the road. But when the flames blasted out again, the object rose about the same distance."The witnesses said the heat was strong enough to make the car's metal body painful to the touch—Cash said she had to use her coat to protect her hand from being burned when she finally got back in the car. When she touched the dashboard, Landrum's hand pressed into the softened vinyl, leaving an imprint that was evident weeks later. Investigators cited it as proof of the witnesses' account; however, no photograph of it exists.The object then moved to a point higher in the sky. As it ascended over the treetops, the witnesses claimed that a group of helicopters approached it and surrounded it in tight formation. Cash and Landrum counted 23 helicopters, and later identified some of them as tandem-rotor CH-47 Chinooks used by military forces worldwide.
With the road now clear, Cash drove on, claiming to see glimpses of the object and the helicopters receding into the distance.
From first sighting the object to its departure, the witnesses said the encounter lasted about 20 minutes. Based on descriptions given in John F. Schuessler's book about the incident, it appears that the observers were southbound on Texas state highway FM 1485/2100 when they claimed to have seen the object. The initial location of the reported object, based on the same descriptions, was just south of Inland Road, approximately at 30.0926°N 95.1109°W.
Photos:
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| Rendered image of Cash Lundrum UFO Case |
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| Radiation burned hand |
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| Betty's actual 1980 Oldsmobile cutlass (2-door) |
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| Vicky's hands left an impression on the melting dashboard |
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| Texas state highway FM 1485/2100 just south of Inland Road |
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| Betty's falling hair from radiation burn |
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| Vicky revisiting the location with investigators |
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Map:
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