Summary
On the night of 29 December 1980, Betty Cash was driving Vickie Landrum and Landrum’s seven-year-old grandson, Colby, home to Dayton, Texas, after dinner in New Caney. On Farm to Market Road 1485, in the pine woods near Huffman, they said a diamond-shaped object hovered over the road, pouring flame and heat down on the car. They later counted twenty-three helicopters around it, and Cash said some were twin-rotor Chinooks with Air Force markings. All three were ill that night. Cash, who had stood outside the longest, was in the hospital by the start of January.
Background
Cash was 51 and ran a restaurant. Landrum was 57 and worked for her. Colby was 7. They had gone out looking for a bingo game, found the halls closed for the holiday, and eaten instead. A little before 9 p.m., on a narrow two-lane road still wet from rain, Colby saw a light over the trees. They thought it was a plane for Houston Intercontinental, about thirty-five miles off. A few minutes later the light was low in front of them. Landrum told Cash to stop or they would be burned.
Landrum, who was a born-again Christian, then told Colby, “That’s Jesus. He will not hurt us.” Cash and Landrum got out. Colby was terrified, so Landrum got back in with him. Cash stayed outside. They described a dull silver diamond, about the size of the Dayton water tower, flat at the top and bottom, with blue lights around the middle. Flame shot from the underside with a whoosh, the object rose a little, and when the flame stopped it settled again. The car body was too hot to touch. Cash said she had to use her coat on the door handle. Landrum said the dashboard vinyl softened under her hand and kept the print.
They put the whole sighting at about twenty minutes. As the object climbed, helicopters closed in. Cash and Landrum counted twenty-three. Cash later said some were Boeing CH-47 Chinooks and that she read “United States Air Force” on them. Chinooks are Army aircraft. She drove on, dropped the Landrums at home, and went to bed.
That night all three were sick, Cash worst. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, burning eyes, and skin that felt sunburned. Over the next days Cash said large blisters formed and her hair came out. She was admitted at the beginning of January 1981, could not walk, and stayed about twelve days, then went back for another stretch. Landrum and Colby had the same kind of trouble, milder, and it lingered. In April 1981 a cataract was found in one of Landrum’s eyes. Cash was treated for breast cancer in 1983.