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| Vicki Landrum and Betty Cash |
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| Betty Cash |
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| Vicki Landrum |
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| Burns on victim's arm |
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| Colby Landrum |
Unsuccessful Search For Bingo Leads Into Hellish Excursion Into Terror
In Huffman, Texas on the evening of December 29, 1980, Betty Cash, Vicki Landrum and Colby Landrum had visited several small towns in the Piney Woods area of east Texas looking for a bingo game. They discovered that all games had been canceled while the clubs made preparations for Christmas and New Year celebrations. The three settled for a meal in a roadside restaurant in New Caney.
Just Regular Working American Women
Cash owned a restaurant and a grocery store. Landrum worked for Cash in the restaurant and also occasionally as a school meals assistant. Colby Landrum was the grandson of Landrum. After leaving the restaurant between 8.20 pm and 8.30 pm, Cash drove along Highway FM 1485. A road usually used only by people who live in the area because it is so isolated. The area is sparsely populated and covered by oak and pine trees and dotted with swamps and lakes.
Witnesses Note Presence Of Unknown Craft In Sky
It was about 30 minutes later when the three noticed a bright UFO above the treetops some distance away. Colby was the first to spot it and pointed it out to the others. As they drove on it appeared to get larger and larger. As they realized that the object was approaching the road only a short distance ahead they began to get worried but hoped to get by it in time and leave it behind. Before they could do so the object had straddled the road blocking their way.
Initial Curiosity Turned Into Stark Terror
Landrum screamed for Cash to stop the car or we shall be burned alive! The object many times larger than the car remained hovering at tree top level and sending down an occasional large cone of fire like a rocked blast. In between these blasts it would settle downwards only to rise up again on the next cone of fire. Cash described it as being like a diamond of fire. When Cash eventually brought the car to a standstill the UFO was 60 meters away.
Witnesses Describe Unknown Aerial Object In Detail
It looked as if it was made from dull aluminum and glowed so bright that it lit up the surrounding forest like daylight. The four points of the diamond were blunt rather than sharp and blue spots or lights ringed its centerline. Had the UFO not come to rest over the road the cone of fire from its lowest point would have set the forest on fire.
The object also emitted an intermittent bleeping sound. The three of them got out of the car to take a better look at the object. Landrum stood by the open door on the right hand side of the car with her left hand resting on the car roof. Landrum is a committed Christian who does not believe in UFOs or extraterrestrial life and when she saw the bright object she thought it was the coming of the end of the world. She expected to see Jesus come out of the light.
Anything But A Visitation From Jesus Christ
The young boy begged his grandmother to get back in the car and hold him and after about three minutes she did so and told him not to be afraid because when that big man comes out of the burning cloud it will be Jesus. Landrum held the boy as she screamed at Cash to get back in the car with them.
She was so fascinated by the UFO that she had walked round to the front of the car and stood there gazing at it. Bathed in the bright light she stood there even though the heat was burning her skin.
Eventually as the object began to move up and away she moved back to the car door. When she touched the door it was so painfully hot that she had to use her leather jacket to protect her hands as she got back in the car.
Earthly Escorts For Unearthly Craft
The three of them watched the departing UFO. A large number of helicopters then appeared overhead. Cash said they seemed to rush in from all directions...it seemed like they were trying to encircle the thing.
Within a few seconds the UFO had disappeared behind the trees lining the road. It was then that they realized how hot the interior of the car had become. They switched off the heater and put on the air conditioner instead.
Another Glimpse Of Mysterious Craft
When the effects of the bright light had worn off Cash started the engine and they drove off down the darkened highway. After a mile or so of twisting road they were able to join a larger highway and turn in the direction of the departing UFO. This was about five minutes later.
The object was clearly visible some distance ahead and looked like a bright cylinder of light. It was still lighting up the surrounding area and illuminating the helicopters. The helicopters were spread out over a distance. One main group was near the UFO but moving in an erratic flight path.
Almost Two Dozen Unmarked Military Helicopters Surround Craft
As the three watched from their new vantage point they counted 23 helicopters. Many of them were identified as the large double rotor CH-47 Chinooks. The others were very fast single rotor types and appeared to be of the Bell-Huey type but were not properly identified.
A lot of air crew members must have seen the UFO that night. As soon as the UFO and helicopters were a safe distance ahead Cash drove on. When she reached an intersection she turned away from the flight path of the UFO and towards Dayton where the three of them lived.
Witnesses Return Home
Cash dropped the others off at their home at about 9.50 pm then went home by herself. A friend and her children were there waiting for her but by this time she was feeling too ill to tell them about what had happened. Over the next few hours her skin turned red as if badly sunburned. Her neck swelled and blisters erupted and broke on her face, scalp and eyelids. She started to vomit and continued to do so throughout the night. By morning she was almost in a coma.
All Witnesses Suffer Physically From Brief Encounter
Between midnight and 2 am the Landrums began to suffer similar symptoms although less severe. At first they suffered the sunburn like condition and then diarrhea and vomiting. It was a miserable night for all three victims.
The following morning Cash was moved to the Landrum house where all three were cared for. Cash's condition continued to deteriorate and three days later she was taken to the hospital.
The burns and swelling altered her appearance so radically that a friend who came to visit her in hospital did not recognize her. Her hair began to fall out and her eyes became so swollen that she was unable to see for a week.
Helicopters Verify American Government Involvement
The appearance of helicopters at UFO sightings is becoming a common event. The large number of helicopters at this incident is just another link in the chain. One thing is for certain, it is virtually impossible to be mistaken about the presence of CH-47 helicopters when you are directly beneath these large and noisy machines.
The evidence of all the witnesses was consistent. They were interrogated separately about both the UFO and the helicopters and all gave consistent descriptions and sketches that indicated they had seen a large number of CH-47s.
Governmental Coverup Remains Firmly In Place
Finding out where the helicopters had come from was a more difficult task than identifying them. Around 350 to 400 helicopters operate commercially in the Houston area but they are all of the single rotor type.
There are no CH-47s. Because helicopters fly on visual flight rules they do not have to contact the tower. Other information provided was that outside a radius from the airport helicopters must stay below a certain altitude.
Army Officials Deny Any Knowledge Of Helicopters
The Army Fort Hood press officer told the Corpus Christi Caller that no Fort Hood aircraft were in the area that night. He did not know any other place around that would have that number of helicopters nor did he know what it could be..... unless there was a super secret thing going on and he would not necessarily know about it. All other bases in Texas and Louisiana denied they were responsible for the helicopters seen at the incident.
Independent Witnesses Verify Unexplained Incident
The three were not the only witnesses to the strange happenings at Huffman. An off duty Dayton policeman and his wife were driving home from Cleveland through the Huffman area the same night and also observed a large number of CH-47s. A man living in Crosby, directly under the flight path, reported seeing a large number of heavy military helicopters flying overhead.
Oilfield laborer Jerry McDonald was in his back garden in Dayton when he saw a huge UFO flying directly over head. At first he thought it was the Goodyear airship, but quickly realized it was something else. He said it was kind of diamond shaped and had two twin torches that were shooting brilliant blue flames out the back. As it passed above him he saw that it had two bright lights on it and a red light in the center.
Unidentified Airborne Craft Takes Heavy Toll On Texans
Since their encounter the witnesses have been plagued with periodic outbreaks of skin troubles as if they were more susceptible to infection than before. The most far reaching injury has been the damage to their eyes. Their eyelids became infected very rapidly and have never fully recovered.
Since the incident Landrum has had to have three new pairs of spectacles with successively stronger prescriptions to match the deterioration of her eyesight. Her eyesight continues to deteriorate and she still suffers from periodic infections. She fears she may eventually go blind.
Her grandson has suffered similar problems but has needed only one new pair of glasses. Within a few weeks of the encounter Landrum had lost about 30 percent of her hair. She had large bald patches on her head. When it grew back it was of a different texture. The boy lost only a small patch of hair on the crown of his head which grew back in time.
Cash Suffers Most From Bizarre Incident
The Cash injuries seemed even worse. She experienced a severe sunburn like condition and developed large water blisters, some as large as golf balls, over her face head and neck. One of these covered her right eyelid and extended across her right temple.
She also developed a long term aversion to warm water, sunshine or other heat sources. In the year following the encounter she has spent five periods in hospital, two of those in intensive care. She lost over half of the hair on her head and has also had skin eruptions.
Many as big as a large coin which leave permanent scars. Doctors are baffled by these symptoms but speculate that they could be caused by some kind of radiation.
Pilots Continue To Parrot Criminal Government Falsehood
One day in April 1981 a CH-47 flew into Dayton. As the Landrum boy watched he became very upset. Landrum decided to take him to the spot where the helicopter had landed in the hope that it would seem less frightening on the ground.
When they reached the landing zone they found a lot of people there already and had to wait some time before they were allowed to go inside the helicopter and talk to the pilot. Landrum and another visitor both claim that the pilot said he had been in the area before for the purpose of checking on a UFO in trouble near Huffman.
Truth Was Only Fleeting In This Instance
When Landrum told the pilot how glad she was to see him because she had been one of the people burned by the UFO he refused to talk to them any more and hustled them out of the aircraft. The pilot was later questioned.
He admitted to knowing about the encounter with the UFO but maintained that he had not been in the area in December and had nothing to do with any UFO. Unless another pilot decides to come forward it seems that the source of the helicopters will remain a mystery.
SAD LONG OVERDUE UPDATE: Betty Cash died at the age of 71 on December 29, 1998 exactly 18 years after her close encounter. Vickie Landrum died on September 12, 2007 seven days before her 84th birthday. Neither woman ever relented from the truth of what they witnessed.
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