Cash-Landrum Incident
Vickie Landrum, Colby Landrum, and Betty Cash reported observing a diamond-shaped object discharging flame over a roadway near Houston, Texas, accompanied by what they described as approximately 23 helicopters. All three later reported severe medical effects.
The original photographs, video, audio, and supporting documents for this case are hosted by the originating agency. Direct embedding will be added to this page as the corpus is mirrored into our reference archive.
MUFON case file ↗Official description
Witness affidavits describe a roughly 10-minute observation. The witnesses subsequently filed a federal claim against the U.S. government alleging the object was a military craft or military-monitored craft. The U.S. Department of the Air Force, Department of the Army, and other agencies denied any aircraft of theirs was in the area; the case was dismissed in 1986.
Editor's context
One of the few UAP cases with documented physical injuries to witnesses (alleged radiation-like burns and lasting health effects). The legal record is preserved in U.S. District Court filings and is available in the Project Blue Book successor archives. The case remains contested: claimed military involvement is officially denied, but the witnesses' injuries and consistent testimony are extensively documented.
In the margins
Transcribed redactions, stamps, and handwritten markings, the paratext of the file. Often the most human part of a declassified document, and worth reading on its own.
- Stampp. civil filingU.S. DISTRICT COURT, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS, CASE H-81-3110
- AnnotationPlaintiffs: Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum, Colby Landrum. Filed against the United States August 1981 under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
- AnnotationReported helicopter count from witnesses: approximately 23, identified by witnesses as CH-47 Chinooks. The Departments of the Air Force, Army, and Navy each formally denied any aircraft of theirs in the area.
- AnnotationDocumented witness injuries (medical records, court exhibits): radiation-burn-like skin lesions, hair loss, persistent gastrointestinal symptoms. Betty Cash died in 1998 of cancer.
- AnnotationCase dismissed August 21, 1986 on the basis that the witnesses had failed to prove government ownership of the craft. The dismissal did not address whether the encounter occurred.
Cite the primary source
Citations center the originating government agency and link to the official record. This archive is listed as the access point, not the author.
U.S. Department of Defense. "Cash-Landrum Incident." Released via PURSUE program, 1981-08-14. https://mufon.com/. Accessed 2026-05-12 via Social Media for Aliens archive, https://socialmediaforaliens.com/files/cash-landrum-1980.
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