Cash-Landrum UFO Questions

Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum, and Colby Landrum

terrifying massive diamond-shaped UFO hovering above a rural highway near
Huffman, Texas. They said the object emitted intense heat and light, and when it
finally moved away, it was pursued by a fleet of unmarked helicopters.
Afterwards, the witnesses came to believe the U.S. government was involved and
in a subsequent cover-up of the incident.

The most compelling element of the case is the reported injuries suffered by
the witnesses. Afterwards, Betty Cash had the most severe problems, and she
was hospitalized for several weeks with a batch of mysterious symptoms
including nausea, headaches, skin lesions, and eventually, hair loss. Doctors
ultimately suspected Betty had been exposed to ionizing radiation exposure,
but Betty’s blood test results were negative. Nevertheless, there were many
stories about people burned by UFOs, and the Cash-Landrum case was promoted by
its ufologist investigator as the prime example. The witnesses disagreed with
the extraterrestrial explanation; they thought they were the victims of a
faulty nuclear-powered US secret aircraft. At the time, there was widespread
public distrust of nuclear energy and weapons, so it was easy for many people
to believe the story, and that the government would want to conceal it.

The first cover-up was by witnesses themselves. Supposedly, fearing their
story wouldn’t be believed, they initially kept it secret. Weeks later, when
they let the story out, the investigations of the case failed to provide
answers. In time, it became one of ufology’s most popular unsolved mysteries,
and certain elements of the story have taken on a mythological life of their
own. Questions certainly remain.

Black Helicopters or Paranormal Visions?

The Cash-Landrum case intersected with stories circulating about sinister and
mysterious unmarked black helicopters flown secretly by the U.S. military.
Since the 1970s, conspiracy theories had linked helicopters to cattle
mutilations and UFO sightings, so ufologists had no trouble accepting them as
part of the story. In this case, the presence of the helicopters suggested
that they were there attempting to intercept the object, or that the UFO
itself was part of a covert military operation.

Multiple investigations found no evidence of helicopters, military or
otherwise, flying in the area on the night of the sighting. Some ufologists
clung to the theory of a massive military cover-up, while others theorized
that the helicopters the witnesses reported were not physical objects, but
rather paranormal or holographic projections created by the UFO itself, as a
decoy or defensive measure.

Black Project or Alien Reproduction Vehicle?

One of the earliest and most enduring theories about UFOs is that they are
secret experimental military aircraft. Over the years, this interpretation has
merged fact and fiction, fueling legends of flying saucers at Area 51. The
witnesses themselves believed a version of this; that they were unintentional
victims of radiation leaking from test flight of a nuclear-powered aircraft
gone wrong.

Another narrative promoted by
Richard Doty
was that the object was alien or alien-derived but operated by the U.S.
military. This idea aligned with the notions of Paul Bennewitz, who believed
in covert treaties between the U.S. government and aliens. He said they
allowed the aliens to engage in abductions and cattle mutilations in exchange
for their advanced technology. The UFO in the Cash-Landrum story was supposed
to be a faulty attempt to fly a manmade craft based on the alien’s science.

Mother Hen or Mother Goose?

The MUFON investigator who took the Cash-Landrum case became the de facto
press manager for the witnesses and joined them in interviews and television
coverage of the story. Throughout the 1980s, the case remained newsworthy due
to the lawsuit pursued by the witnesses against the U.S. government. When
fellow researchers became interested and requested medical data on the case,
they were refused on the basis that it was evidence to be presented in court.
Taking protective ownership of the story, the investigator presented it and
the witnesses only in the most favorable light. With unsupportive material
ignored or suppressed, it became a UFO cover-up of another sort. The
Cash-Landrum story began changing into more of a spooky UFO fable – or
parable.

Justice or Cover-up?

The witnesses pursued
legal action against the U.S. government, seeking compensation, alleging that the government’s involvement in the
incident made it liable for their suffering. Beyond the documentation of
Betty’s health problems, the only real evidence their attorney could produce
was their testimony. Meanwhile, the defense offered statements made from NASA
and military branches denying that they had any aircraft matching the
description of the UFO. The judge dismissed the casein 1986, so it never went
to trial. The failed legal battle was portrayed by proponents as another stage
of the cover-up.

The UFO cover-up. That’s the widely held dogmatic belief in a massive
government project or policy to conceal evidence of UFOs and aliens. The
belief is so widespread that the cover-up angle is often exploited by
promoters as a justification for their lack of tangible evidence. Some of
their cases simply cannot be true unless the government has somehow made all
the proof disappear. The prime example of a case that collapses without a
cover-up is the Roswell saucer crash story. Within that scenario, essentially,
the absence of evidence is proof, and any government denial equals
confirmation.

The Cash-Landrum UFO case does a little better than that. Although the
investigation of it was somewhat delayed and imperfect, we’ve got a
wealth of documentation
of the case from a variety of sources. There are period statements from the
witnesses, documents from several investigations, including the U.S.
government’s probe into the events. There’s little doubt that due to the
involvement of ufologists, that the witnesses’ story was changed. However,
even the Army’s investigator found the witnesses to be credible. So, we’re
left to wonder… How much of the story was true? Possibly, the story was
created around Betty’s medical problems, a ploy for financial assistance. If
so, it failed when the legal case was dismissed. If it was false, why did
Betty and Vickie fight so hard the rest of their lives for their story to be
heard?