Cash/Landrum Texas UFO on Unsolved Mysteries

Here is yet another UFO case covered by Unsolved Mysteries TV show and freely available on Youtube. We go back to late December of 1980 and a case that involved a strange diamond shaped craft emitting flames over a highway in Texas. Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum and Colby Landrum were the witnesses affected by their encounter.

Link to Segment : youtu.be...

First Aired : February 6th 1991



Unsolved Mysteries Show Notes

On December 29th 1980, Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum, and Vickie’s 7-year-old grandson, Colby, were returning home after dinner on State Road 1485, near Dayton, Texas, on the outskirts of Houston. At around 9pm., according to Vickie Landrum, they noticed a bright light in the sky:

“You could see it through the trees. It started to get real close. Then I knew it wasn’t a plane.”

Betty Cash described what happened next:

“We didn’t know what it was, but we knew there was something that was lighting up the sky. We had begun to feel heat, and all of a sudden Vickie screamed for me to stop. And when I stopped, she went forward and her handprint was embedded into the dash of the car. And I thought, well, I’ve got to see what this is. So I got out, walked toward the front of the automobile, and I stood there looking up to try to figure out what this object was. It was a diamond-shaped object. Then at the bottom, flames were shooting out. The heat was tremendous. It just felt like I was burning from the inside out. When I reached for the door handle, the door handle was so hot, I couldn’t even begin to hold on to it. I was more than scared. The only thing I was thinking was, are we going to get out of here alive?

Vickie Landrum said that just moments later, a large squadron of helicopters descended on the area:

“They were the large helicopters that have the double rotaries on them. I counted 22 and I knew they had to belong to the army.”

The craft allegedly had left marks on the road

For years, Betty, Vickie, and Colby have battled with the government, trying to get clear answers about what actually took place that night. They’ve also fought against mysterious illnesses whose symptoms appeared just hours after the encounter. According to Vickie Landrum, later that night, at around 1 A.M., Colby woke up crying:

“He was begging me for water. He had a fever and had vomited all over the bed.”

The next morning, Vickie and Colby were still suffering from nausea and what appeared to be severe cases of sunburn. Betty was in even worse shape. Her temperature was dangerously high and large red welts had appeared on her face and hands.

Over the next four days, Betty’s condition grew more serious. Vickie finally convinced her to see a doctor in Houston. He immediately admitted Betty to the hospital. Three weeks later, she underwent treatment for acute radiation poisoning. Betty was in the hospital six weeks. She lost more than fifty percent of her hair and patches of skin on her face. She was treated by Dr. Brian McClelland:

“There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that Betty was exposed to high doses of radiation. As to what the source was, I can’t exactly say.”

After her release from the hospital, Betty asked for help from UFO investigator John Schuessler, a former NASA project manager:

“We had done several interviews with Betty and Vickie, and then we went out to the location where this happened. They were very clear on where it happened and how it happened. They told us exactly where along the road they stopped, because there were markers that identified the spot. They were able to point out exactly where they saw the object coming down out of the sky, over the road, and hovering there. They were able to point out a spot on the road that indicated that it had been heated to an extreme level of heating. It was burned, and it was very clear to the naked eye. Several weeks after we went to the spot and saw this burned area, someone dug up the road and hauled it away and replaced it with new asphalt. Some of the witnesses that watched this happen said people brought in unmarked trucks, dug up the road, put the material on the trucks, covered it with a tarpaulin, and drove away.”

Was the military involved with the UFO?

John Schuessler also questioned everyone living within a 5-mile radius of the area:

“At least 10 other people had seen the object, and seven or eight other people had seen the helicopters. And their descriptions were all very similar to what Betty and Vickie described.”

One eyewitness was police officer L.L. Walker, who was in the area on the night that Betty and Vickie encountered the object:

“My wife Marie and I were returning from her mother and dad’s. As we were coming out of some tree lines, I saw a helicopter. It was shining a spotlight at the ground. Then I heard the noise of other helicopters behind it. And I stopped the car, ’cause I didn’t know what was going on. The helicopters were military, and they were all flying fairly low to the ground, and all of them had search beams on. I thought maybe there was an airplane down, but they didn’t hesitate. They kept going in the same direction, which would probably intersect the area where Vickie said her encounter was.”

Convinced that the military was somehow involved, Betty and Vickie appealed to their senators. The Air Force agreed to a meeting at Bergstrom Air Force Base. As they entered the room, Vickie noticed a large map. The exact spot where the encounter had occurred was clearly marked.



According to Betty and Vickie, they were questioned for more than two hours. The interview was recorded by a military stenographer. In the end, the two men denied that any military or government operation had been conducted at that time and place. The women were told they were entitled to file a claim and the Air Force would review the case. Four weeks later, Betty and Vickie’s claims for medical damages were denied.

What did Betty Cash, and Vickie, and Colby Landrum see in the Texas sky on that winter night in 1980? John Schuessler offered two explanations:

“One is that it was an experimental craft of some kind, probably from our government. The other, it was an unidentified flying object, possibly extraterrestrial.”

Vickie Landrum:

“I don’t believe in little green men. And it had to be an object. It could have been a spacecraft that the government was carrying, but our government was carrying it.”

Betty, Vickie, and Colby continue to battle illnesses that doctors say could be the result of massive radiation exposure. Betty has been diagnosed with several types of cancer. She, Vickie, and Colby all have white blood cell counts that are far below normal. Their immune systems now have difficulty fighting off even minor infections. Dr. Brian McClelland:

“Vickie’s having visual problems. And there are lots of suggestions that they may be related to radiation as well, but that depends on the kind of exposure. And someone needs to tell us what the exposure was so we can figure it out.”

Betty Cash said that all she wants is information that could help her medically:

“If it’s a top-secret object that’s protecting the United States, then I could say I could forgive them for that. But at least they owe us to tell us exactly why we were burned, and what type of radiation that we were exposed to and how much.”

After the UFO incident, Betty Cash was hospitalized for cancer treatments at least once every year. She died 18 years later at the age of 69. The Air Force declined to be interviewed for this story. Their official position is that no military or government operation occurred.

Beyond Unsolved Mysteries


■ In 1982, Lt. Col. George Sarran of the DAIG [Department of the Army Inspector General] conducted the only formal governmental investigation into the incident. He found no evidence that the helicopters the witnesses claimed to have seen belonged to the U.S. Armed Forces.

■ In 1998, well known UFO debunker, Phil Klass, aired his doubts over the story by Cash and Landrum:

..".When Schuessler inspected Betty's car in early 1981 and used a Geiger counter to check for radioactivity, he found none. Presumably he also checked for radioactivity when he visited the site of the (alleged) incident, and found no abnormal radiation ... [Schuessler] provides NO medical data on Betty's health PRIOR to the UFO incident. Nor does he provide any medical data on the prior health of Vicki or Colby”...

■ As already noted, Betty Cash passed away exactly 18 years after the incident on December 29, 1998. Vickie Landrum passed away in 2007. Colby Landrum, who will be 50 this year, has rarely spoken publicly.

■ Some UFO researchers have pointed out that high-energy ionizing radiation of the kind that can cause damage to human beings (such as gamma radiation) does not induce radioactivity in objects and would not have left behind any residual radioactivity in the area.

■ In 2008 the TV show, UFO Hunters featured Colby & Dr. McClelland who said there were people (in the know) telling him that there was an accident with an aircraft called the “WASP II”. He examined Colby but found not traces of any cancers from radiation poisoning.

■ In 2013, due to some dilgent investigative work Curt Collins unearthed the Texas Department of Health’s Bureau of Radiation Control file of their own investigations of radiation at the site. The report confirmed that there was no residual radiation found along the road Cash and Landrum had travelled. But they were not dismissing the case and asked to see medical files. John Schuessler, who appeared to be acting in a representative capacity for the witnesses, refused to share the medical information. Which could have revealed a lot more about what had happened to the trio.

Department of Health investigator Charles Russ Meyer even asked Schuessler if he had pin-pointed the location of the sighting. Who responded that due to the late hour and the ladies’ emotional state, they could only state that they believed they saw the object "..on the straight portion of FR 1485 between a beer joint and some kind of highway warning sign.”

In other words, neither the witnesses, nor Schuessler could accurately say where the incident happened! Contrary to Schuessler’s statement in the Unsolved Mysteries segment where he claimed “They were able to point out a spot on the road that indicated that it had been heated to an extreme level of heating. It was burned, and it was very clear to the naked eye…”.

Schuessler would later appear in the BAASS>MUFON>AAWSAP shenanigans. Where as the sole MUFON director who knew, he chose not to reveal to any other MUFON directors that the US government was indirectly sponsoring the deal with Bigelow. One which would not only utilize MUFON's resources but also give unlimited access to their case files.

In over 40 years, no other witnesses have claimed to have seen something similar flying over Texas that night. The case remains unsolved and the details first presented remain in some doubt due to the actions of John Schuessler.

a reply to: mirageman

Art Andrus, originator and former head of MUFON, told me that the strange craft and 'copters were from a US aircraft carrier in the gulf and it was testing a new craft.

My understanding is that the Landrum case was thrown out of court because the air force said that it did not have the number of helicopters available in the Houston area at that time as the plaintiffs claimed. As I recall, the number was over twenty. I've always had difficulty envisioning how a person could reasonably count such a number of 'copters milling around at night at night during such a stressful event. Regardless of that seemingly discrepancy, I fully support these common citizens as victims of official activities of both government and the military. Similarly to the situation of UFO abductees that bear lifelong scars, justice will never be served but ignored, covered up and denied.

BTW: Charter members of MUFON itself ignored and denied abduction accounts for several years.

originally posted by: mirageman

■ Some UFO researchers have pointed out that high-energy ionizing radiation of the kind that can cause damage to human beings (such as gamma radiation) does not induce radioactivity in objects and would not have left behind any residual radioactivity in the area.

Non-ionizing radiation, like what you get with high powered microwave (HPM) or other radiofrequency systems such as the ADS (Active Denial System, see video below) can induce thermal heating in (or "lightly cook") biological tissue as well as induce other physiological effects depending on the system. Many UAP witnesses have experienced burns and other injuries characteristic of exposure to these systems. Symptoms typically last for a few days up to a few months depending on the degree of exposure/number of exposures over time. Other symptoms include but are not limited to:

-Chronic migraines
-Flash burn type eye injuries (like welder's torch exposure)
-Burnt skin
-Sudden onset of chronic tinnitus
-Psychological/neurological issues (concentration issues, anxiety, etc)
-Visual disturbances ("sparks" in field of vision, etc)

This type of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation (NIEMR) does not register on a Geiger counter. Geiger counters only measure ionizing (such as nuclear) radiation. The type of injuries Cash and Landrum experienced were in some ways characteristic of exposure to both types of radiation, but the hair loss/immune issues are more of an ionizing radiation thing, which Schuessler was unable to find evidence of with his Geiger counter.

I know that the idea was talked about in the Zamora thread, but this case right here more than anything, makes me feel like this wasn't something "Extraterrestrial" but was the governments testing in the arena of nuclear propulsion.

a reply to: wavelength

Good observations wavelength. The landrum incident was not a ufo. It wasn’t really an aircraft. It was testing something you might want to apply to an aircraft. It’s basically a flame jet generator coupled with something else, and the “vehicle” was testing long wavelength microwave mitigation for stealth. By inducing a certain effect. Hence the landums being cooked by radiation. Incidentally exasperated by electrons being dumped into the flame. Plasma, Gaussian beams and certain atomic molecules give off incident soft x rays which compound the damage being next to something being bombarded with high powered microwaves tends to do to biological tissue.

Source Between a Beer Joint and a Highway Warning Sign: The ‘Classic’ Cash-Landrum Case Unravels

If radiation were involved, according to Posner, the reported symptoms would have indicated a fatal dose. Since both women lived many years after the incident—and Colby is still living —nobody received a fatal dose of radiation, and the reported symptoms, if correct, must be caused by something other than radiation.

There is no way that such discrete, round patterns could be produced by radiation from a distant object. What Posner is suggesting is that, like religious zealots of yore who fabricated their own symptoms of “stigmata,” Betty Cash created the discrete, round “radiation burn” patterns on her arms to be able to display impressive symptoms to her doctors.

Medical science has a term for this kind of behavior, Münchausen syndrome, which is a psychiatric factitious disorder wherein those affected feign disease, illness, or psychological trauma to draw attention, sympathy, or reassurance to themselves. While not terribly common, it is far from rare. And assuming that Betty Cash’s medical records contains the term “Münchausen syndrome” or words to that effect, which seems likely, we now understand why the promoters of the Cash-Landrum case adamantly refuse to let anyone see her medical records. It would destroy all vestiges of credibility that this case ever had.

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a reply to: wavelength

Came across this….don’t know if you have read it yet…cash-landrum mentioned…. could be up your alley

Defense Intelligence Reference Document Acquisition Threat Support Anomalous Acute and Subacute Field Effects on Human Biological Tissues
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a reply to: BASSPLYR

Yes! Many if not most of the UAP encounters which produced these types of injuries were likely encounters with unconventional technology designed for aerospace/defense applications.

Although I remain reasonably skeptical of the exact nature of the incident due to the inconsistencies of the descriptions and types of injuries reported by Cash and Landrum, the case is a solid platform for a critical thinking exercise in the study of UAP-related injuries, particularly concerning the identification of types of injuries and their causes, and the differences between non-ionizing (EMR) and ionizing radiation exposure.
We also need to keep in mind the fact that many UAP witnesses are laypeople, and most laypeople are oblivious to the fact that there is a difference between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and that there is a significant difference in the degree and nature of their physiological effects.

a reply to: Ophiuchus1
The Skeptical Inquirer article linked is probably correct regarding the type of radiation injuries described in the Cash Landrum incident not being ionizing. Most of their initial injuries are more characteristic of exposure to non-ionizing radiation. High-powered NIEMR exposure, depending on the nature of the system, can sometimes result in odd "rash-like" burns.
From the article (Skeptical Inquirer):

All suffered from nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, general- ized weakness, a burning sensation in their eyes, and feeling as though they’d suffered sunburns.

These symptoms can easily be attributed to non-ionizing (electromagnetic) radiation exposure. Not "ionizing" (nuclear) radiation. Again, Non-ionizing radiation does not leave residual radiation and can not be detected by a Geiger counter.

I remain reasonably skeptical of the nature of this case due to inconsistencies and the witnesses' inability to determine the location of the incident among other "off" details, but the reported symptoms by Cash and Landrum are consistent with symptoms from exposure to powerful doses of NIEMR.

Oh, and yes! The reference document you linked is an excellent resource!! I have a copy of it in my virtual library. It's a must-read for any UFO researcher, or anyone interested in unconventional RF-related systems. It gets technical, but not intimidatingly so.

a reply to: wavelength

Agreed. Although it’s likely there was a small minor degree of weakly ionizing radiation. From the soft x rays. But most of it was just getting roasted by microwaves.

99.9 percent of “ufos” have nothing whatsoever to do with alienz…

Boy are the alien advocates going to be pissed when they find out what the tic-tac really was. Or the photos Knapp n lazar took at “area51” really we’re. Hint. They weren’t even vehicles. 2nd and 3rd gen harmonics are obvious in the lazar photos. And with the tictac it was whitish silver and oblong. No schitt Sherlock. I bet it’s a nice orange red color at night. Alas, damn you nitric oxide you confound thee! Bet the tic-tac-toe and orbs can split into multiples and other wild feats. Nlom for the win! Subjects like that really bloom my interest. Also, Fravor knows damn well what he saw.

originally posted by: mirageman
Vickie Landrum said that just moments later, a large squadron of helicopters descended on the area:


“They were the large helicopters that have the double rotaries on them. I counted 22 and I knew they had to belong to the army"

Those dual rotor helicopters are called Chinooks and she told the Air Force they said USAF on the side of them.

originally posted by: Observer19
My understanding is that the Landrum case was thrown out of court because the air force said that it did not have the number of helicopters available in the Houston area at that time as the plaintiffs claimed. As I recall, the number was over twenty.

She said 22 and they said USAF on the side, and the USAF said they didn't have any Chinooks, with USAF markings, so, it sounds like she at least lied about the USAF markings, and I wouldn't rule out “Münchausen syndrome” either. It's too bad the medical records were not released to see if they mentioned “Münchausen syndrome”, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

originally posted by: wavelength
The type of injuries Cash and Landrum experienced were in some ways characteristic of exposure to both types of radiation

"There is no way that such discrete, round patterns could be produced by radiation from a distant object." so her alleged "radiation burns" were not characteristic of either type of radiation as Ophi's source pointed out. "What Posner is suggesting is that, like religious zealots of yore who fabricated their own symptoms of “stigmata,” Betty Cash created the discrete, round “radiation burn” patterns on her arms to be able to display impressive symptoms to her doctors. " Given that she lied about the USAF markings on the chinooks, that sounds plausible that she would fake such "radiation injuries" not realizing that they are not at all consistent with real radiation injuries.

I never really got the Landrum case man.

Just too odd to take as absolute truth.

Either there was an amazing thing that LOOKED like it was escorted by helicopters, or it was ACTUALLY escorted by helicopters and it wasn't that amazing, and these people got some hysteria from a misunderstood sedentary event.

What an Extreme Amount of BS!!!

This is a prime example of re-writing History!

Below is a link for an episode from TRVL channel’s Beyond the Unknown. It is Season 3 Episode 2 …..titled Piney Woods Close Encounter, Grace Kelly Crash Mystery and the Bunny Man

This episode has 3 to 4 segments……the 1st segment is about the Cash-Landrum incident.

Here’s where this episode segment outright lies…….it totally tells the story with only Betty Cash and NOT Vickie Landrum!! …she is not part of the story whatsoever…..her name is not mentioned or referenced at all!!

It’s like Landrum was removed from history. As I was watching it….I said to myself OMG…the Mandela Effect.

What else will TV/Movies productions erase from history???

Judge for yourself….

(It’s un-embeddable due to ATS only using YouTube format)

Beyond the Unknown - Se3 - Ep02 - Piney Woods Close Encounter

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A few more observations.

■ This is a UFO case in that the 'object' was unidentified. However, the two adult witnesses believed it to be something the government was testing. As they both claimed in the show and as consequent complaints to the military illustrate.

■ If something was overhead bleeding enough energy to leave a handprint embedded into the dashboard of a car. Why would anyone decide to get out of their car and risk even more exposure?

■ I think the claim that Betty Cash suffered with Münchhausen's syndrome can't be ruled out. But how do we account for high doses of radiation? (As claimed by Dr. Brian McClelland) How do we then account for Colby and Vickie Landrum falling ill. Even if the symptoms weren't as severe.

■ Why weren't medical records released to the Texas Bureau of Radiation Control? Surely someone who could assist with the witnesses claims against the military?

■ How, and why, did [NASA contractor] John Schuessler become the appointed gatekeeper of information and seemingly defacto representative for Cash & Landrum? Except when they met with the military when he was notably absent. What gives him the right to withold their medical records?

I think Schuessler's role in all of this is more suspicious than the witnesses?

Especially given his NASA, NIDS, Bigelow connections.

originally posted by: Arbitrageur
"There is no way that such discrete, round patterns could be produced by radiation from a distant object." so her alleged "radiation burns" were not characteristic of either type of radiation as Ophi's source pointed out. "What Posner is suggesting is that, like religious zealots of yore who fabricated their own symptoms of “stigmata,” Betty Cash created the discrete, round “radiation burn” patterns on her arms to be able to display impressive symptoms to her doctors. " Given that she lied about the USAF markings on the chinooks, that sounds plausible that she would fake such "radiation injuries" not realizing that they are not at all consistent with real radiation injuries.

I do agree that neither can cause perfectly round shapes to appear and that Münchhausen's syndrome would be the only cause of perfectly patterned injuries (remember the Falcon Lake incident and the witness's perfectly patterned injuries?), but non-ionizing radiation absolutely can cause rash-like burns at a significant distance which can appear "spotted" (although not perfect shapes).

Ionizing (nuclear type) radiation can do no such thing at all, not by any stretch.

Whatever the truth is here, it’s a lesson that if one sees such a craft, DO NOT approach it.

Anyway, to the case here.

I have always been suspicious of this case and many in Brazil, BTW, which seems somewhat similar.
And I detect what is known as non-lethal weapon research being done. And don’t be surprised if it was done on Americans, not to mention Brazilians; our government has made many Americans guinea pigs.

In this case, it may not have been the air force but, as someone mentioned above, the navy or some other military entity.

This case reminds me of the contractor lawsuit against area 51 in 94 where the US invoked security reasons for burying the case. Here though they didn't even get that far.

originally posted by: mirageman

■ Why weren't medical records released to the Texas Bureau of Radiation Control? Surely someone who could assist with the witnesses claims against the military?

■ How, and why, did [NASA contractor] John Schuessler become the appointed gatekeeper of information and seemingly defacto representative for Cash & Landrum? Except when they met with the military when he was notably absent. What gives him the right to withold their medical records?

I think Schuessler's role in all of this is more suspicious than the witnesses?

His involvement was interesting, to say the least.
Schuessler was a big name in the study of physiological effects and anomalous encounters. Following his investigation of the Cash-Landrum incident, he gathered information from a large number of UAP incidents containing reports of physiological effects. His catalog, which contains information about the Cash-Landrum incident and many others, can be found here:
1996 Catalog of UFO-related Human Physiological Effects
Go to page 10 (12 on the page finder) for a detailed account of Cash and Landrum's experience and injuries. Side note: Schuessler mentions "beeping" heard in their heads during the encounter.
Page 13 (15 on the page finder) discusses difficulties obtaining their medical records.
The entire mention of the incident in Schuessler's catalog above is an important read regarding this case and his involvement in the investigation.

a reply to: mirageman
I understand that some respondents to this thread have a deep knowledge of some aspects of contemporary science, but there is little reason to take them as being the last word in the power systems that the ETs can use and abuse. Let's not get too hasty and dismissing something we don't understand.

There's a huge collection of documents and other evidence thanks to Curt Collins on his website.

The Cash-Landrum UFO Case Document Collection


It would seem Schuessler's involvement arose when Betty and Vickie had informed various news and TV outlets to no avail. They called NASA who referred them to Schuessler in February of 1981. Schuessler was both a member of MUFON and a separate group calledVISIT [ Vehicle Internal Systems Investigation Team].

With his first report here : app.box.com...

Interestingly (p10) the number of helicopters seen is recorded as more than 20 by Vickie but that they moved around a lot. So she thinks there might "10-12 or more". Also, there were "two kinds of helicopters, maybe more".

One was large and smooth with a rotor on top. Another had two rotors. The story eventually changing into being CH47 Chinooks.

It also gives the sighting location as Huffman, New Caney Road near the Inland road intersection. Somewhere along this route on Google Maps. If I got my bearings correct. Something that Schuessler later admitted they could not pinpoint accurately!

Regardless of what this vehicle was or wasn't, both women suffered dreadfully and their medical and hospital bills should have been covered by our government.
Imagine this happening to a Senator or Congressman or anyone in power, I'm sure they would have been taken care of.
Shameful!