Good evening, and welcome to the Unexplained.
The most common issue upon encountering the
unimaginable, is showing proof. Eye-witness
testimony only goes so far, but what if you
had physical evidence - and you took them
to court?
Tonight, we discuss the testimony of Betty
Cash
and Vickie Landrum.
Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum and Vickies grandson
Colby, were driving home from a truck-stop
restaurant.
They had planned on playing Bingo, but realized
they had their dates mixed up so decided just
to have some dinner, and then head home.
About 18 minutes into their journey home,
they noticed an object.
The light was incredibly bright, but the heat
was even more intense. The fire coming from
beneath the ship made it impossible for them
to continue driving. Betty stepped out of
the car, as the screaming boy and Vickie stayed
inside.
Betty stood in shock, staring at the diamond-shaped
craft, not knowing if she should run or to
get back in the car.
At some point, they noticed between 23 to
26 helicopters which surrounded the craft.
They had "United States Air Force" written
on them.
Vickie was in the car with her grandson, Colby,
trying to calm him.
As the shock began to cease, Betty decided
to go back to the car.
The door handle was so hot, that she had to
use her jacket to open the door.
The car, which was in park, became dead. Betty,
in fear, tried to get the car to start and
drive under the craft.
Vickie screamed for her to stop, and placed
her hand on the dashboard, which melted it,
leaving her fingerprints on the dash.
She finally got the car to start, and blasted
the air conditioning.
The UFO began to move off, with the helicopters
following fast behind it.
Now the road was clear, they took off,
and headed home.
Betty was too sick to call law enforcement
by the time she got home. She had painful
blisters over her face, back and neck. She
had significant hair loss on the side of her
head also.
Vickie couldn't get hold of a Doctor due to
the late hour, but was eventually admitted
into Parkway Hospital in Houston for over a month.
Vickie and Colby experienced similar medical
problems, but was slightly milder than Bettys symptoms
Vickie sustained blisters which became scars,
and even one of her fingernails came off.
Six weeks after the event, her hair started
to fall out. Colby also got blisters, and
scarring, and both experienced nausea like
Betty as well.
Bettys physician, Dr Shoney, said they ran
many tests, but couldn't figure out why she
had these symptoms.
Betty claimed to spend over $10,000USD on
medical expenses, and wasn't sure what to
do next.
They contacted the US Sentators: Lloyd Bentsen
and John Tower, who recommended that they
contact Bergstrom Air Force Base, and file
a complaint.
At the Air Force Base, they were interviewed
about the situation, and were advised to contact
a lawyer and seek financial compensation.
Which isn't exactly what the two wanted to hear.
The case went on for a few years, and was eventually
dismissed on August 21st 1986, on the grounds
that they couldn't prove the helicopters were
from the US Federal Government, and the testimony
that there was no diamond-shaped aircraft
owned by the Air Force base.
Betty Cash died in 1998, aged 71. Vickie Landrum
passed away in 2007, just before her 84th birthday.
UFO cases are always tricky ones to prove.
So, let's take a look at the testimonies and
evidence collected from this case.
Let's discuss the ship. A Dayton police officer
confirmed they saw 12 helicopters in the same
area that night, but they didn't see the ship.
Vickie claimed to have met one of the helicopter
pilots who flew that night, who said they
were following a UFO. Once Vickie said she
was there that night, he refused to keep talking
to her.
Yet, due to the fact the police officer, Betty,
Vickie and Colby didn't have any evidence
to prove they were military helicopters, it
didn't go anywhere.
I find this the most baffling part, there
were definitely helicopters there that night,
but somehow, there was only one sighting of
this supposedly giant and bright object?
Let's talk about the most solid evidence:
The sickness.
I have no medical training, so I couldn't
possibly comment, so I'm just going to present
the findings of others.
A radiologist from MUFON, a group of people
who investigate UFOs, studied their medical
reports, and believed they experienced secondary
damage to ionizing radiation, with the possibility
of there being an infrared component as well.
Yet, Brad Sparks, a researcher and physics
major, claimed that ionizing radiation couldn't
be the cause, due to how fast the symptoms
came about, which would have indicated that
they would have died within a matter of days
of being exposed to it. He suggested the possibility
a form of chemical contamination such as an
aerosol.
But was it either of these things? The medical
reports, released in John Schuesslers book
about the case, said that the Doctors found
nothing wrong with Betty, and concluded the
bald patches was alopecia areata, which was
confirmed by a skin biopsy. The other symptoms
cleared up within a few days.
The reports of who had what injury seemed
to change also. Vickie initially claimed to
just have had issues with her eyes, but later
reported her hair falling out also, and lack
of photographic evidence made it hard to confirm
most of these claims.
I'm quite reluctant to believe anything that
comes from people who firmly believe in the
existence of UFOs as a primary source, so
I guess we take these medical conclusions
with a pinch of salt.
Either way, could these have been a pre-existing
conditions or did something happen that night
that caused these problems?
But going back to physical evidence, when
they used a Geiger counter on Bettys car,
they found no trace of radiation. The melted
hand print on the dashboard was never photographed,
so theres no real evidence of its existence.
They also checked the area where they saw
the diamond shaped craft, and no radiation
was detected there either.
Other UFO researchers said this was because
ionizing radiation doesn't always leave behind
residual radiation, so that might be why.
To Vicki, Betty and Colby, what they experienced
was real. The true horror wasn't the ship
itself, it was the sickness that came from
it. Watching your hair fall out, endless nausea,
and a pain that never stopped.
These effects were real to them, and no one
could help them, because they didn't believe
in them.
Maybe it began as an earthly illness, that
they construed into a tale from beyond the stars,
or maybe, just maybe, they witnessed
the unknown.
We may never know the truth, therefore it
remains a mystery of The Unexplained.
Personally, if I were to speculate that they
organized this as a way of suing the Air Force
to pay for medical expenses, as many people
believe, wouldn't they decide upon a much
more believable story?
Like, if I was to pull a con, the last thing
I'd say is "aliens"
This case leaves me on the edge, I'm inclined
to believe that these symptoms were exaggerated,
due to medical documents saying they didn't
have half the things they claimed to have.
But then again, who really knows? What do
you think?
Until next time, friends. Good night.
