A bizarre incident occurred in the United States, one day following the Rendlesham series of UFO incidents in the United Kingdom, in 1980. It involved two women and a child returning from an evening dining out in Texas.

The evening of December 29, 1980 started out normally for Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum and Landrum’s seven-year-old grandson, Colby. While driving home to Dayton, TX, on an isolated two-lane road in the dense woods, the three noticed a light above some trees around 9:00 pm. Within minutes the light became brighter, revealing a diamond-shaped object.

The trio noted an intense heat emanating from the object, which caused Vickie Landrum to tell Cash to stop the car, fearing that they would be burned. Cash considered turning the car around but the narrow road prevented such a maneuver. The women got out of the car, but Landrum quickly returned to it to comfort her grandson. She was not scared as she thought that it was the second coming of Christ, she would later say.

Betty Cash remained outside the car, which became too hot to touch due do the extreme heat, both on the metal body of the car and the vinyl inside. It was said that Landrum pressed the vinyl of the dashboard with her hand, leaving an imprint that remained for weeks.

Soon, at least 23 helicopters approached the object and surrounded it.  Cash returned to the car and the three returned home.

That night, all three experienced nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, burning eyes and a feeling of sunburned skin. Cash’s symptoms became worse. By January 3, 1981, Cash was admitted to the hospital. Large, painful blisters formed on her skin. She lost large patches of skin and clumps of hair. Landrum experienced similar symptoms, though not as severe.

Landrum telephoned a number of U.S. government agencies and officials about the encounter, eventually finding NASA aerospace engineer John Schuessler. Schuessler had an interest in UFOs, and together with associates with MUFON, research began on the case. Although Cash and Landrum were found to be credible witnesses, and a policeman and his wife had also come forward about seeing the helicopters on December 29th, there were no answers.

Cash and Landrum  eventually sued the U.S. government for $20 million, but a judge dismissed the case. The judge said that there was no proof that the helicopters belonged to the government and there was no diamond-shaped craft in their possession.

The case continues to fascinate, 30 years after the incident, profiled over the years in books, magazines and television shows. Colby Landrum appeared on the television show UFO Hunters last year. His grandmother Vickie Landrum passed away two years ago in 2007.

Betty Cash passed away 12 years ago, in 1998. She died on December 29th,  exactly 18 years after the incident.

Further reading: Transcript of Bergstrom AFB interview of Betty Cash, Vickie and Colby Landrum, August 1981

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Copyright 2010, Cherlyn Gardner Strong

Visit Cherlyn’s website for more paranormal posts

Residents of Victoria, the most densely populated state in Australia, were treated to a Christmas light show in the sky. The strange lights were first spotted near the Melbourne Airport around 10:15 pm on Christmas Eve, according to the Herald Sun.

Witnesses reported seeing “orange lights that formed a diamond and moved in a synchronized pattern”.  Resident David Bekesi, 52, said that the lights were visible for several minutes before disappearing, adding:”“They all grouped in one area and then went straight up into the sky.”

Although many of the witnesses used the words “unbelievable” and insisted it was not a plane or balloon, the more skeptical Herald-Sun commenters offered a plethora of explanations for the UFO sighting. One commenter reported seeing candle-like objects released from a church in the area. Some pointed out a number of celebratory fireworks displays around Victoria at the time.  Others speculated over the possibility of Chinese lanterns, or a hobby craft.

Some believers offered up the theory that the lights were extraterrestrial in origin.

Others, however, chose to place their their faith in the spirit of holiday tradition. They said that it must have been Santa.

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Copyright 2010 Cherlyn Gardner Strong

Read more of Cherlyn’s posts at her website, http://www.paranormaloldpueblo.com, Follow all of her posts via Twitter (ParanormalOP), or on Facebook.

On February 1, 1950, a fiery object shot quickly west through the Tucson skies. A B-29 took off in pursuit of the object, but the plane could not catch up to the object.

This is one of the most bizarre cases in Tucson history, documented by the Tucson Daily Citizen (before the paper became the Tucson Citizen).

FLYING SAUCER OVER TUCSON?

B-29 FAILS TO CATCH OBJECT

February 2, 1950, Tucson Daily Citizen

Flying saucer? Secret experimental plane? Or perhaps a scout craft from Mars? Certainly the strange aircraft that blazed asmoke trail over Tucson at dusk last night defies logical explanation. It was as mystifying to experienced pilots as to groundlings who have trouble in identifying conventional planes.

Cannonballing through the sky, some 30,000 feet aloft, was a fiery object shooting westward so fast it was impossible to gain any clear impression of its shape or size. . . .

At what must have been top speed the object spewed out light colored smoke, but almost directly over Tucson it appeared to hover for a few seconds. The smoke puffed out an angry black and then be came lighter as the strange missile appeared to gain speed”

The radio operator in the Davis-Monthan air force base control tower contacted First Lt. Roy L. Jones, taking off for a cross-country flight in a B-29, and asked him to investigate. Jones revved up his swift aerial tanker and still the unknown aircraft steadily pulled away toward California.

Dr. Edwin F. Carpenter, head of the University of Arizona department of astronomy, said he was certain that the object was not a meteor or other natural phenomenon. . .

Switchboards Swamped

Switchboards at the Pima county sheriff’s office and Tucson police station were jammed with inquiries. Hundreds saw the object. Tom Bailey, 1411 E. 10th Street, thought it was a large airplane on fire. [A later check showed no planes missing.] He said it wavered from left to right as it passed over the mountains. Bailey also noticed that the craft appeared to slow perceptibly over Tucson. He said the smoke apparently came out in a thin, almost invisible stream, gaining substance within a few seconds.

The next day, the Air Force gave the most ridiculous explanation for the incident. Tucson Daily Citizen reporter, Asa “Ace” Bushnell, interviewed witnesses for an article to be run following day, called: “Sky Mystery? Tucson People Differ Widely”. Following the interviews, Bushnell inserted the following sub-headline in response to the “official explanation”:

What’d you mean only vapor trail?

As though to prove itself blameless for tilting hundreds of Tucson heads skyward, the U.S. Air Force yesterday afternoon spent hours etching vapor trails through the skies over the city.

The demonstration proved conclusively to the satisfaction of most that the strange path of dark smoke blazed across the evening sky at dusk Wednesday was no vapor trail and did not emanate from any conventional airplane.

The Wednesday night spectacle was entirely dissimilar. Then, heavy smoke boiled and swirled in a broad, dark ribbon fanning out at least a mile in width and stretching across the sky in a straight line. Since there was no proof as to what caused the strange predark manifestation, and because even expert witnesses were unable to explain the appearance, the matter remains a subject for interesting speculation.

There is strong evidence that this story was deliberately kept off the press wires. The Associated Press and other wire services in Washington had no report. Requests for details by Frank Edwards, Mutual newscaster, and other radio commentators ran into a blank wall. At the Pentagon I was told that the Air Force had no knowledge of the sighting or the vapor-trail maneuvers.