1980-12-29: The Cash-Landrum UFO Incident

Описание: On the evening of 29 December 1980, Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum, and Vickie's seven-year-old grandson, Colby Landrum, were driving home to Dayton, Texas in Cash's Oldsmobile Cutlass after dining out. While driving on a narrow two-lane road in dense woods around 9 : 00 PM, the witnesses said they observed a light above a tree line which they soon made out as a huge diamond-shaped object. It hovered at about treetop level and expelled flame and significant heat from its base.

This low-tech presentation and the alleged casualties that followed are suggestive of this being an experiment of the US military gone awry. Nevertheless, it is still a UFO and a part of UFOlogy's history.

Landrum asked Cash to stop the car to avoid being burned by the heat. The adults exited the vehicle to better examine the object, but grandson Colby was frightened so Landrum returned to the car to stay with him.

The report summarized by American UFO author Jerome Clark is frequently cited:

"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."

Those involved claimed that the incident resulted in physical symptoms and health problems. Cash and Landrum contacted their U.S. Senators, Lloyd Bentsen and John Tower, who in turn recommended that the witnesses file a complaint with the Judge Advocate Claims office at Bergstrom AFB. Cash, Landrum, and Colby were all interviewed in August 1981 by Bergstrom AFB personnel, and were told that they should hire a lawyer to seek financial compensation for their injuries.

Peter Gersten took the case pro bono which was bounced around U.S. courts for several years. Cash and Landrum sued the U.S. federal government for $20 million.

On 21 August 1986, a U.S. District Court judge dismissed their case, noting that the plaintiffs had not proved that the helicopters were associated with the U.S. federal government, and that military officials had testified that the United States Armed Forces did not have a large, diamond-shaped aircraft in their possession.

This video clip is extracted from Ron Lakis' 1982 documentary The UFO Experience under Fair Use for academic commentary. The Cash-Landrum incident seems pretty low-tech in comparison to other reports. Thus, it is often assumed to be US Military or other private excursions. If not a military or private research vehicle, that Texas fundamentalist Christians would be presented with such heat that would damage them as reported is an interesting point for consideration.

This post is an audio-video improvement over an earlier contribution from this channel.
   • 1980-12-29: Cash-Landrum UFO Incident  

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