Burned by a UFO: The Cash-Landrum Incident

On Monday night, December 29th, 1980, Betty Cash wanted to play bingo. She ran a truck stop outside Dayton, Texas, about 40 miles from Houston. Vicky Landrum waited tables there. Vicky's six-year-old grandson Colby was with them. They drove to one bingo hall—closed for the holidays. Then another—also closed. So they ate supper at a truck stop and took the back roads home.

A little after 9 p.m., Vicky pointed at a light over the trees. Betty figured it was a plane approaching Houston Airport. Then the light slowed, dropped, and stopped over the road ahead of them, right at treetop level. Betty hit the brakes. It was too bright to look at—brighter than the sun. Colby said it was a diamond, a big diamond standing on its point. Betty said it was as big as a water tower, roaring like a jet with a high-pitched shriek underneath.

Then fire came out of the bottom—a cone of flame shooting straight down at the road. The heat came through the windshield. Betty got out and walked to the front of the car to see it better. Vicky got out too, with Colby screaming and crying, dragging her back to the car. He crawled onto the floorboard. Betty stood at the front of the car for fifteen minutes. When she finally went for the door, the handle was too hot to touch. She used her coat sleeve. The ring on her finger left a burn on her skin.