Two women and a child report a flaming craft and helicopters near Huffman, Texas
December 29, 1980 · Farm Market Road 1485, between New Caney and Huffman, Texas · Sighting · Primary document linked
At about 9:15 pm on 29 December 1980, Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum and Landrum's seven-year-old grandson Colby were driving on a country road between New Caney and Huffman, Texas, when they reported a bright, diamond-shaped object near treetop height with flames beneath it and intense heat. Their car stalled. They also reported many twin-rotor helicopters around the object, which they said had United States Air Force markings; Cash counted 23 and Landrum 26. Cash and Landrum reported burns, hair loss and other illness afterward. Air Force officers interviewed them on 17 August 1981 at Bergstrom Air Force Base. They sued the U.S. government, and the case was dismissed in 1986 because no agency owned or operated aircraft matching their description.
Why it matters (4/5)
A reported close encounter with claimed injuries that led to an Air Force interview, a state radiation survey and a lawsuit against the U.S. government.
Caveats
The witnesses' accounts vary on details such as the object's shape and whether the engine was switched off. One chapter reports that the Texas Department of Health surveyed the road in September 1981 and found no significant radiation above background, and that an Air Force letter of 2 September 1983 found no evidence of military involvement; its author argues the symptoms do not fit radiation, and notes that Philip Klass doubted the account. The Air Force interview is cited from a transcript posted on a private site, not from an official copy; the other government documents named here were not opened.
Sources
- Transcript of the U.S. Air Force interview with Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum and Colby Landrum, 17 August 1981 (U.S. Air Force (Bergstrom Air Force Base)), primary
- Cash-Landrum incident (book chapter, PDF) (gpposner.com), context