Look Into The Cash-Landrum UFO Incident

Look Into The Cash-Landrum UFO Incident

On December 29, 1980, a terrifying encounter with a flame belching UFO on a lonely road near Huffman, Texas, resulted in appalling injuries for the three innocent victims. According to MUFON investigator Bob Pratt, "the case remains one of the most important in the history of ufology. It has never been resolved. Someone in the U.S. knows exactly what happened to Betty and Vickie and Colby but they have remained silent despite all the suffering - and ridicule - those three endured."

HUFFMAN, TEXAS - On the evening of December the 29th 1980, Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum and Colby Landrum had visited several small towns in the Piney Woods area of east Texas looking for a bingo game, but discovered that all games had been canceled while the clubs made preparations for the Christmas and new year celebrations. Instead they settled for a meal in a road side restaurant in New Caney.

Betty Cash was then a 51 year old business woman who owned a restaurant and a grocery store. Vickie Landrum, then 57, worked for Betty in the restaurant and also occasionally as a school meals assistant. Colby Landrum, Vickie's grandson, was then 7.

After leaving the restaurant some time between 8.20 and 8.30 pm, Betty drove them along Highway FM 1485, a road usually used only by people who live in the area because it is so isolated. Although only about 50km from Houston the area is sparsely populated and is covered by oak and pine trees, and dotted with swamps and lakes.

It was about 30 minutes later when the three noticed a bright UFO above the tree tops some distance away. Colby was the first to spot it and pointed it out to the others. As they drove on it appeared to get larger and larger. As they realized that the object was approaching the road only a short distance ahead they began to get worried but hoped to get by it in time and leave it behind. But before they could do so the object had straddled the road blocking their way.

Vickie screamed "Stop the car or we shall be burned alive!" The object, many times larger than the car remained hovering at tree top level and sending down an occasional large cone of fire like a rocked blast. In between these blasts it would settle downwards some 7.5 meters or so only to rise up again on the next cone of fire. Vickie described it as being "like a diamond of fire".

When Betty eventually brought the car to a stand still the UFO was only 60 meters away. It looked as if it was made from dull aluminum and glowed so bright that it lit up the surrounding forest like daylight. The four points of the diamond were blunt rather than sharp and blue spots or lights ringed its centerline. Had the UFO not come to rest over the road the cone of fire from its lowest point would have set the forest on fire. The object also emitted an intermittent bleeping sound.

The three of them got out of the car to take a better look at the object. Vickie stood by the open door on the right hand side of the car with her left hand resting on the car roof. Vickie is a committed Christian who does not believe in UFOs or extraterrestrial life and when she saw the bright object she thought it was the coming of the end of the world. Because she expected to see Jesus come out of the light she starred at it intently.

Colby begged his grandmother to get back in the car and hold him and after about three minutes she did so and told him not to be afraid because "when that big man comes out of the burning cloud it will be Jesus." As Vickie held Colby she screamed at Betty to get back in the car with them. But Betty was so fascinated by the UFO that she had walked round to the front of the car and stood there gazing at it. Bathed in the bright light she stood there even though the heat was burning her skin. Eventually as the object began to move up and away she moved back to the car door. When she touched the door it was so painfully hot that she had to use her leather jacket to protect her hands as she got back in the car.

As the three of them watched the departing UFO, a large number of helicopters appeared overhead. As Betty said, "They seemed to rush in from all directions...it seemed like they were trying to encircle the thing." Within a few seconds the UFO had disappeared behind the trees lining the road. It was then that they realized how hot the interior of the car had become. They switched off the heater and put on the air conditioner instead.

When the effects of the bright light had worn off, Betty started the engine and they drove off down the darkened highway. After a mile or so of twisting road they were able to join a larger highway and turn in the direction of the departing UFO. This was about 8km and five minutes later. The object was clearly visible some distance ahead and looked like a bright cylinder of light. It was still lighting up the surrounding area and illuminating the helicopters.

By this time the helicopters were spread out over an 8km distance. One main group was near the UFO but moving in an erratic flight path. As they watched from their new vantage point they counted 23 helicopters. Many of them were identified as the large double rotor CH-47 Chinooks, the others were very fast single rotor types and appeared to be of the Bell-Huey type but were not properly identified. A lot of air crew members must have seen the UFO that night.

As soon as the UFO and helicopters were a safe distance ahead Betty drove on. When she reached an intersection she turned away from the flight path of the UFO and towards Dayton where the three of them lived. She dropped Vickie and Colby off at their home at about 9.50 and went home by herself. A friend and her children were there waiting for Betty but by this time she was feeling to ill to tell them about what had happened. Over the next few hours Betty's skin turned red as if badly sun burned. Her neck swelled and blisters erupted and broke on her face, scalp and eyelids. She started to vomit and continued to do so through out the night. My morning she was almost in a coma.

Some time between midnight and 2am Vickie and Colby began to suffer similar symptoms, although less severe. At first they suffered the sunburn like condition and then diarrhea and vomiting. It was a miserable night for all three victims.

The following morning Betty was moved to Vickie's house and all three were cared for there. Betty's condition continued to deteriorate and three days later she was taken to hospital. The burns and swelling altered Betty's appearance so radically that friend who came to visit her in hospital did not recognize her. Her hair began to fall out and her eyes became so swollen that she was unable to see for a week.

The appearance of helicopters at UFO sightings is becoming a common event, and the large number of helicopters at this incident is just another link in the chain. One thing is for certain, it is virtually impossible to be mistaken about the presence of CH-47 helicopters when you are directly beneath these large and noisy machines. The evidence of all the witnesses was consistent. They were interrogated separately about both the UFO and the helicopters and all gave consistent descriptions and sketches that indicated they had seen a large number of CH-47s.

Finding out where the helicopters had come from was a more difficult task than identifying them. according to a official at Houston Airport abound 350 to 400 helicopters operate commercially in the Houston area but they are all of the single rotor type, there are no CH-47s. The official also said that because helicopters fly on visual flight rules they do not have to contact the tower. Other information provided by Houston was that outside a 24km radius from the airport helicopters must stay below an altitude of 550 metres, and that due to a technical limitation the Houston control radar is restricted to a minimum altitude of 600 metres around the Huffman area.

The US army's Fort Hood press officer, Major Tony Geishauser, told the Corpus Christi Caller that no Fort Hood aircraft were in the Houston area that night. "I don't know any other place around here that would have that number of helicopters," he said. "I don't know what it could be..... unless there's a super secret thing going on and I wouldn't necessarily know about it."

All other bases in Texas and Louisiana denied they were responsible for the helicopters seen at the incident.

Betty, Vickie and Colby were not the only witnesses to the strange happenings at Huffman. An off duty Dayton policeman and his wife were driving home from Cleveland through the Huffman area the same night and also observed a large number of CH-47s. A man living in Crosby, directly under the flight path, reported seeing a large number of heavy military helicopters flying overhead. Oilfield laborer Jerry McDonald was in his back garden in Dayton when he saw a huge UFO flying directly over head. At first he thought it was the Goodyear airship, but quickly realized it was something else. "It was kind of diamond shaped and had two twin torches that were shooting brilliant blue flames out the back", he said. As it passed about 45 meters above him he saw that it had two bright lights on it and a red light in the center.

Since their encounter Vickie and Colby have been plagued with periodic outbreaks of skin troubles, as if they were more susceptible to infection than before. But the most far reaching injury has been the damage to their eyes. Their eyelids became infected very rapidly and have never fully recovered. Since the incident Vickie has had to have three new pairs of spectacles with successively stronger prescriptions to match the deterioration of her eyesight. Her eyesight continues to deteriorate and she still suffers from periodic infections. She fears she may eventually go blind. Colby has suffered similar problems but has needed only one new pair of glasses. Within a few weeks of the encounter, Vickie had lost about 30 per cent of her hair, and had large bald patches on her head. When it grew back it was of a different texture. Colby lost only a small patch of hair on the crown of his head, this too grew back in time.

Betty Cash shows her scars many years after the incident

Betty's injuries seemed even worse. She experienced a severe sun burn like condition and developed large water blisters, some as large as golf balls, over her face head and neck. One of these covered her right eyelid and extended across her right temple. She also developed a long term aversion to warm water, sunshine or other heat sources. In the year following the encounter she has spent five periods in hospital, two of those in intensive care. She lost over half of the hair on her head and has also had skin eruptions, many as big as a large coin, which leave permanent scars.

Doctors are baffled by these symptoms but speculate that they could be caused by some kind of radiation.

One day in April 1981 a CH-47 flew into Dayton. As Colby watched he became very upset. Vickie decided to take him to the spot where the helicopter had landed in the hope that it would seem less frightening on the ground. When they reached the landing zone they found a lot of people there already and had to wait some time before they were allowed to go inside the helicopter and talk to the pilot. Vickie and another visitor both claim that the pilot said he had been in the area before for the purpose of checking on a UFO in trouble near Huffman. When Vickie told the pilot how glad she was to see him, because she had been one of the people burned by the UFO, he refused to talk to them any more and hustled them out of the aircraft.

The UFO organization VISIT later located the pilot and questioned him. He admitted to knowing about Vickie and Betty's encounter with the UFO but maintained that he had not been in the area in December and had nothing to do with any UFO. Unless another pilot decides to come forward it seems that the source of the helicopters will remain a mystery. - NICAP

Cash-Landrum Route - Google Maps

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INTERVIEWS

TRANSCRIPT OF BERGSTROM AFB INTERVIEW OF
BETTY CASH, VICKIE & COLBY LANDRUM - Part 1

TRANSCRIPT OF BERGSTROM AFB INTERVIEW OF
BETTY CASH, VICKIE & COLBY LANDRUM - Part 2

Click For Video - Rare Live Interview with Colby Landrum, Cash-Landrum UFO Incident

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UFO HUNTERS - Episode 208

On December 29, 1980, Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum and Colby Landrum took a drive that would soon become a life-changing nightmare. At approximately 9PM, driving through the Piney Woods of Texas, they observed a huge diamond-shaped object flying low above the isolated road, expelling flame and emitting significant heat. That night, all three experienced horrible physical symptoms--nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, and burning sensations all over their bodies. Betty Cash's symptoms soon worsened, and a few days later, she was sent to the emergency room, unable to walk, and losing large patches of skin and clumps of hair. The team re-opens this and other famous cases of alleged "alien effects" to determine if UFOs are leaving behind more than just sightings.

Click For Video - History Channel UFO Hunters 208 Alien Fallout 2009-1.avi

Click For Video - History Channel UFO Hunters 208 Alien Fallout 2009-2.avi

Click For Video - History Channel UFO Hunters 208 Alien Fallout 2009-3.avi

Click For Video - History Channel UFO Hunters 208 Alien Fallout 2009-4.avi

Click For Video - History Channel UFO Hunters 208 Alien Fallout 2009-5.avi

On a cold, wet night in late December 1980, three Houston area residents were driving home when they saw something that changed their lives forever.

Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum and her Landrum’s 7-year-old grandson, Colby Landrum, were driving from New Caney to Dayton down FM 1960, which was then a two-lane blacktop road with dirt shoulders.

Cash and Landrum were heading home after trying to go find a bingo game. As Cash would later tell Air Force investigators, “Well, we hadn’t thought about it being a Monday night because we’d had so many holidays and we’d gone to Cleveland that night to play bingo.”

The transcript of Cash and Landrum’s interview with Air Force Captains John Camp and Terry Davis goes on to say that the ladies thought that their weekly bingo game had been canceled due to the holidays, so they drove to New Caney and found that there was no bingo there either. They stopped to eat at a truck stop restaurant on U.S. 59.

Cash explained that “after we got through eating, we got in the car and started home, and we drove approximately, I’d say, maybe twelve miles, when we spotted this object. And we kept watching it. We couldn’t figure out what it was, not ever dreaming that we were going to run dead into it.”

According to a Texas Monthly article titled “Close Encounters of the Lone Star Kind,” Cash and Landrum saw “a large, glowing, diamond-shaped aircraft spurting flames.” Cash said in the interview with the Air Force that the craft was “maybe as large, if not larger than, a water tower.”

All three reportedly exited the 1980 Oldsmobile Cutlass to get a better view. They were soon forced to reenter the vehicle because of the intense heat coming from the flying diamond.

Cash and Landrum reportedly told the Air Force officers that after 15 to 20 minutes the strange craft flew away followed by anywhere from 23 to 26 helicopters. Cash described the helicopters as: “They were the ones that had two deals, two rotors, on them” and that they had Air Force markings on the side.

After returning home, Cash, who had stayed out of the car longer than the others, immediately fell ill and was soon taken to Parkway Hospital in Houston. All three allegedly began to show symptoms of what appeared to be radiation poisoning or sickness.

Their symptoms included burns, blisters, nausea, diarrhea, severe headaches, sore and irritated eyes, heat and light sensitivity, hair and fingernail loss. These symptoms, and the fact that Camp told the women that “since 1969 the Air Force no longer has been made the responsible agency to investigate UFO sightings,” prompted the women to file suit against the government in 1981 seeking $20 million in damages.

The notice of the suit filed in Federal District Court in Houston made headlines around the country. It was picked up by UPI and versions of the story ran in papers as far away as Philadelphia and Miami.

The case wound its way through the justice department until a judge dismissed it, citing a lack of evidence. His judgment hinged on the fact that the women had been unable to prove that the helicopters belonged to any branch of the U.S. military and that Air Force officers testified that they didn’t have a diamond-shaped craft.

After the case was dismissed, life became fairly tragic for the three. Cash later developed breast cancer.

Colby Landrum rarely spoke about the events or the subsequent health problems and tried to put that night behind him.

Now almost 30 years later, the History Channel series UFO Hunters is coming to Liberty County to try and find out information about the event.

“It’s a fascinating case,” said series producer Kevin Berry. “The heat from the craft melted the dashboard and Vickie Landrum’s handprint was visible for weeks afterward.” Berry and his crew will be arriving in mid-August and are trying to find any area residents who remember the events of that night.

“There was a sheriff’s deputy and his wife who said that they saw some helicopters,” said Berry. “I would love to interview them.” He also expressed interest in finding newspaper clippings as well as books and videos that anyone may have on the subject. - Your Houston News

Source:
NICAP
ufoevidence.org
The Cash-Landrum UFO Incident
CUFON
The UFO Evidence - Volume 2 : A Thirty Year Report
History Channel - UFO Hunters
The UFO Magazine UFO Encyclopedia: The Most Compreshensive Single-Volume UFO Reference in Print
yourhoustonnews.com
UFOs - Wicked This Way Comes: The Dark Side Of The Ultra-Terrestrials

Look Into The Chicago O'Hare Airport UFO Incident

Look Into The Chicago O'Hare Airport 

UFO Incident

On Tuesday, November 07, 2006 at approximately 16:30 p.m. local time (Central), Federal authorities at O'Hare Airport received a report that approximately a dozen witnesses were observing a small, round disc-shaped object, metallic in appearance, which hovered over Gate C17 at that airport:

The National UFO Reporting Center has received the following information from a single source, who, for the time being, wishes to remain anonymous, and who prefers not to reveal for what entity he works. We have received documentation about the alleged sighting, which satisfies us as to the veracity of the report, and as to the credentials of the party reporting the incident.

We have delayed release of this case, principally because an investigation was begun almost immediately after our receipt of the initial report, and because we were hoping to obtain addition documentation about the sighting, before it could be concealed, or destroyed.

At approximately 16:30 p.m. (Central) on Tuesday, November 07, 2006, Federal authorities at O'Hare Airport received a report that approximately a dozen witnesses were observing a small, round disc-shaped object, metallic in appearance, which hovered over Gate C17 at that airport.

The object was first spotted by an employee, working on the ramp, who was engaged in "pushing back" Flight 446, departing Chicago for Charlotte, NC. The employee reported to his supervisors that the object appeared to be almost directly above his location at Gate C17, it appeared to be perfectly round, and that its size was approximately equal to a U. S. quarter, held at arm's length. The object had a metallic appearance, according to the first witness, and it appeared to him to be spinning.

The first witness apprised the flight crew of Flight 446 of the existence of the object above their aircraft, and we believe both the pilot and copilot were witness to the bizarre object, as well. The witness also contacted his supervisors, who also witnessed the object, which was visible for approximately 2 minutes.

At the end of that time, the object was seen to suddenly accelerate straight up at a very rapid pace, and it "shot" through the solid overcast, which was at 1,900 feet at the time. The witness added that the object appeared to leave a "hole" in the clouds, where it had streaked upwards through the overcast.

Both the Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Security Administration were apprised of the event at the time it was occurring, and personnel in one, or more, of the towers at O'Hare may have witnessed the object, possibly with binoculars. The FAA apparently reported that the object was not visible on radar, although that fact has not been confirmed at the time of this writing.

We hope to be able to release more information about the incident at some time in the near future. In the meantime, we would like to invite anyone who may have been personal witness to the event to submit a report of their sighting, using our Online Report Form. We would be most grateful if you would indicate in your report where you were located, at the time of the sighting, and what the object looked like, from your vantage point. - NUFORC

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CNN interview with O'Hare UFO witness 'Joe' (airplane mechanic) (transcript)

Source: CNN, Jan 5, 2007

Summary: CNN's Gary Tuchman talked to one of the airport workers about what he says he saw.

CNN's Gary Tuchman talked to one of the airport workers about what he says he saw.

Gary Tuchman, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Flights come to Chicago's O'Hare Airport from all over the world. But do they come from other worlds?

(on camera) You don't believe this was possibly your imagination?

'Joe', Airplane Mechanic: It was definitely not my imagination.

Tuchman (voice-over): Joe is a mechanic for United Airlines.

While taxing a jumbo jet to the hangar, he and another mechanic...

'Joe': Looked out the window in the general direction and noticed an object up in the sky, dark gray object, sitting above the terminal complex.

Tuchman: Joe, which is not his real name, is one of several airport workers, some of whom have talked to the "Chicago Tribune", who said they saw a saucer-shaped UFO hovering just beneath the clouds at the airport.

He's the first to go on camera to talk about it since this happened several weeks ago. He wants to remain anonymous.

(on camera) But you're sure it was some kind of object that normally would not be above O'Hare Airport?

'Joe': I've been at O'Hare for quite some time. And let's just say that I've never seen an object in my time that looked like this. And I'll tell you definitely it was not an airplane as we know it.

Tuchman: But it could be an airplane as another world knows it?

'Joe': Possibly.

Tuchman (voice-over): We brought in one of Chicago's top sketch artists...

'Joe': Followed the contours of the object.

Tuchman: ... to listen to Joe and draw a picture of what he says he saw.

'Joe': More like an oval, dark gray oval.

Tuchman: Because no photos have surfaced, and Joe doesn't know of any.

(on camera): It didn't say "Goodyear" on it, did it?

'Joe': No "Goodyear," no.

That's a really good drawing.

Tuchman: That's what it looks like?

'Joe': Very much so, yes.

Tuchman (voice-over): Other witnesses told an organization called the National UFO Reporting Center that the object eventually shot straight up in the sky at a great rate of speed.

'Joe': It looked like literally someone had poked a hole in the clouds, just a round hole.

Tuchman: Joe thinks the disk is either a stealthy military project or a spacecraft from another planet. But...

'Joe': I find it very strange or very peculiar that somebody who possesses the technology to travel between star systems would sit over an airport in Chicago.

Tuchman: Hard to argue that.

A spokesperson for United Airlines says, "We are aware of what the employees said they saw, but this is not something United would investigate." Talk to the FAA, says the airline.

The TSA and the Chicago Department of Aviation also told us to talk to the FAA. So we did. And an FAA spokesperson told us, "We, too, don't have the power to investigate." The FAA adds that radar did not pick up anything out of the ordinary and the sighting might have been caused by a weather phenomenon.

(on camera) You don't believe it was a weather phenomenon?

'Joe': Not at all. Not for a minute.

Tuchman (voice-over): O'Hare has apparently been UFO free since that November afternoon, although Joe now tends to pay special attention to that same patch of airport sky.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Chicago

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Report about this incident from a senior aircraft mechanic

Summary: NUFORC has received a second report about this incident from a senior aircraft mechanic, who was taxiing a Boeing 777 at the time of the sighting, and who witnessed the object.

Occurred : 11/7/2006 16:30
Reported: 11/21/2006

Location: Chicago O'Hare Airport, IL
Shape: Circle
Duration:20 min

((NUFORC Note: This individual was interviewed, at length, by one of the investigators involved in the follow-up investigation. The investigators were highly impressed with the witness's credentials, and with the accurate description of the event. We deem this witness to be highly credible.)

Chicago OHare UFO Report

Ok I have been hesitant about talking about this, but after hearing the report on Coast to Coast AM with Mr. Noory I can not be silent. I work for a major airline at OHare, I am a taxi mechanic. I have the job responsibilty of moving aircraft under there own power from gate to gate or the hangar complex for maintenance. We also accomplish the engine run-up testing needed. So I hope that does something for establishing a little of credibility for my report. I am still in absolute wonder and amazement at what I saw that afternoon.

Around 1630 a pilot made a comment on the radio about a circle or disc shapped object hovering over gate C-17 at the C concourse in Chicago. At frist we laughed to each other and then the same pilot said again on the radio that is was about 700feet agl (above ground level). The day was overcast with the ceiling being reported at 1600 feet if I remember correctly. I was taxing a Boeing 777 from the Intl Terminal to the Company Hanger on the North side of the Airport. As we passed the C Terminal on the Alpha taxiway we observed a dark gray hazy round object hovering over OHare Intl Airport. Is was definately over the C Terminal. It was holding very steady and appeared to be trying to stay close to the cloud cover. The radio irrupted with chatter about the object and the ATC controler that was handling ground traffic made a few smart comments about the alleged UFO siting above the C terminal.

We had to contiune moving the aircraft to the hangar. After parking I noticed the craft of no longer there but there was an almost perfect circle in the cloud layer were the craft had been. The hole disappeared a few minutes later.

For the rest of the night there were jokes made on the radio about the siting.

(NUFORC Note: This individual was interviewed, at length, by one of the investigators involved in the follow-up investigation. The investigators were highly impressed with the witness's credentials, and with his description of what he saw. We deem this witness to be highly credible. PD) - NUFORC

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In the sky! A bird? A plane? A ... UFO?

by Jon Hilkevitch

It sounds like a tired joke--but a group of airline employees insist they are in earnest, and they are upset that neither their bosses nor the government will take them seriously.

A flying saucerlike object hovered low over O'Hare International Airport for several minutes before bolting through thick clouds with such intense energy that it left an eerie hole in overcast skies, said some United Airlines employees who observed the phenomenon.

Was it an alien spaceship? A weather balloon lost in the airspace over the world's second-busiest airport? A top-secret military craft? Or simply a reflection from lights that played a trick on the eyes?

Officials at United professed no knowledge of the Nov. 7 event--which was reported to the airline by as many as a dozen of its own workers--when the Tribune started asking questions recently. But the Federal Aviation Administration said its air traffic control tower at O'Hare did receive a call from a United supervisor asking if controllers had spotted a mysterious elliptical-shaped craft sitting motionless over Concourse C of the United terminal.

No controllers saw the object, and a preliminary check of radar found nothing out of the ordinary, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said.

The FAA is not conducting a further investigation, Cory said. The theory is the sighting was caused by a "weather phenomenon," she said.

The UFO report has sparked some chuckles among controllers in O'Hare tower.

"To fly 7 million light years to O'Hare and then have to turn around and go home because your gate was occupied is simply unacceptable," said O'Hare controller and union official Craig Burzych.

Some of the witnesses, interviewed by the Tribune, said they are upset that neither the government nor the airline is probing the incident.

Whatever the object was, it could have interfered with O'Hare's radar and other equipment, and even created a collision risk, they said.

The Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (the term that extraterrestrial-watchers nowadays prefer over Unidentified Flying Object) was first seen by a United ramp worker who was directing back a United plane at Gate C17, according to an account the worker provided to the National UFO Reporting Center.

The sighting occurred during daylight, about 4:30 p.m., just before sunset.

All the witnesses said the object was dark gray and well defined in the overcast skies. They said the craft, estimated by different accounts to be 6 feet to 24 feet in diameter, did not display any lights.

Some said it looked like a rotating Frisbee, while others said it did not appear to be spinning. All agreed the object made no noise and it was at a fixed position in the sky, just below the 1,900-foot cloud deck, until shooting off into the clouds.

Witnesses shaken by sighting

"I tend to be scientific by nature, and I don't understand why aliens would hover over a busy airport," said a United mechanic who was in the cockpit of a Boeing 777 that he was taxiing to a maintenance hangar when he observed the metallic-looking object above Gate C17.

"But I know that what I saw and what a lot of other people saw stood out very clearly, and it definitely was not an [Earth] aircraft," the mechanic said.

One United employee appeared emotionally shaken by the sighting and "experienced some religious issues" over it, one co-worker said.

A United manager said he ran outside his office in Concourse B after hearing the report about the sighting on an internal airline radio frequency.

"I stood outside in the gate area not knowing what to think, just trying to figure out what it was," he said. "I knew no one would make a false call like that. But if somebody was bouncing a weather balloon or something else over O'Hare, we had to stop it because it was in very close proximity to our flight operations."

Some joke, others research

The databases of various UFO-watching groups are full of accounts filed by pilots about sightings of unknown aircraft and anomalies that affected navigational equipment onboard planes.

Whether any of the UFO incidents are real or merely the result of individual perceptions, some experts say the events pose a potential safety risk to pilots and their passengers.

"There have been documented cases where safety appears to have been implicated, and more and more we are coming to the point of view that we are dealing with an intelligent phenomenon," said Richard Haines, science director at the National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena, a private agency.

"We must be proactive before an aircraft goes down," said Haines, a former chief of the Space Human Factors Office at NASA's Ames Research Center.

Haines is investigating the O'Hare incident. He said he has determined that no weather balloons were launched in the vicinity of O'Hare on Nov. 7.

"It's absurd that the military would be conducting aerial test flights" near the airport, Haines said.

All the witnesses to the O'Hare event, who included at least several pilots, said they are certain based on the disc's appearance and flight characteristics that it was not an airplane, helicopter, weather balloon or any other craft known to man.

United denies UFO report

They're not sure what was hanging out for several minutes in the restricted airspace, but they are upset that no one in power has taken the matter seriously.

A United spokeswoman said there is no record of the UFO report. She said United officials do not recall discussion of any such incident.

"There's nothing in the duty manager log, which is used to report unusual incidents," said United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy. "I checked around. There's no record of anything."

The pilots of the United plane being directed back from Gate C17 also were notified by United personnel of the sighting, and one of the pilots reportedly opened a windscreen in the cockpit to get a better view of the object estimated to be hovering 1,500 feet above the ground.

The object was seen to suddenly accelerate straight up through the solid overcast skies, which the FAA reported had 1,900-foot cloud ceilings at the time.

"It was like somebody punched a hole in the sky," said one United employee.

Witnesses said they had a hard time visually tracking the object as it streaked through the dense clouds.

It left behind an open hole of clear air in the cloud layer, the witnesses said, adding that the hole disappeared within a few minutes.

The United employees interviewed by the Tribune spoke on condition of anonymity.

Some said they were interviewed by United officials and instructed to write reports and draw pictures of what they observed, and that they were advised by United officials to refrain from speaking about what they saw.

Federal agency backtracks

Like United, the FAA originally told the Tribune that it had no information on the alleged UFO sighting. But the federal agency quickly reversed its position after the newspaper filed a Freedom of Information Act request.

An internal FAA review of air-traffic communications tapes, a step toward complying with the Tribune request, turned up the call by the United supervisor to an FAA manager in the airport tower, Cory said.

Cory said the weather might have factored into what the witnesses thought they saw.

"Our theory on this is that it was a weather phenomenon," she said. "That night was a perfect atmospheric condition in terms of low [cloud] ceiling and a lot of airport lights. When the lights shine up into the clouds, sometimes you can see funny things. That's our take on it." - Chicago Tribune, January 1, 2007 (reporter: Jon Hilkevitch)

Click for video - The O'Hare Airport UFO Sighting [FULL VIDEO] or cut / paste http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jRa1vMs8zQ

NOTE: There are many different sources available for this incident. We tried to post the most descriptive. As to what happened, I'm not sure exactly. We have talked to people who where at O'Hare during this incident. We left with the impression that an unusual event did occur.

Source:
NUFORC
UFOEvidence.org
CNN
Chicago Tribune

Sorocco UFO Landing

'The Vehicle in the Arroyo' - Sorocco UFO Landing

An encounter with a UFO with occupants occurred in Socorro, New Mexico on April 24, 1964. The experiencer was a police officer name Lonnie Zamora. This encounter is one of the best documented events with physical trace evidence. Until this incident, reports from persons claiming to have seen small beings in connection with UFOs on the ground (CE-III or Close Encounters of the Third Kind) were looked upon with considerable disfavor within the UFO research community. After the landing near Socorro, New Mexico, confirmed by a second reputable witness, attitudes changed. The years following this event produced an unprecedented flow of reports of high credibility and strangeness:

Lonnie Zamora's close encounter on April 24, 1964 continues to be one of the most profound UFO events in the modern history of the phenomena. To this day it remains a case in which all the facts involved support the witness' claims and it is this kind of case that makes the UFO phenomenon such an enduring mystery. Lonnie Zamora saw a highly unusual device of unknown origin, what can only be described as a "craft" of some kind, and he reported seeing what he believes were occupants. Despite the controversy which often surrounds the subject of UFOs, the incident at Socorro remains an example of what the UFO phenomenon is, in fact, all about.

The following information is based on facts I have gathered from various sources including conversations in person and by telephone with Mr. Lonnie Zamora. This is not intended to be a complete report on Lonnie Zamora's experience, but is intended to provide a source for some rash details about the case and to clarify others. More than anything else I have made every effort to ensure that what is here is the truth. I also owe a great deal of gratitude to Mr. Ray Stanford, one of the most thorough and knowledgeable investigators I have met. He arrived in Socorro within four days of the incident and authored the definitive book on Zamora's experience and the subsequent investigation. I recommend it to anyone seriously interested in this case and in the subject of UFO's in general. Socorro "Saucer" in a Pentagon Pantry is available in major libraries but can be obtained from the author.

Socorro is a small town located about an hours drive south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. In April 1964, Lonnie Zamora was a police officer with the town and late in the afternoon on April, 24th he had just dropped his pursuit of a speeding car to go check on what he thought might have been an explosion on the outskirts of town. Thinking that a small shack containing dynamite might have exploded, he made his way up a rough embankment and then moved slowly along a narrow gravel road that wound beside a small arroyo (a shallow dry gully). From this first more distant vantage point he saw what he thought might have been an overturned car down in the arroyo and radioed back to his headquarters that he was proceeding to check out this 'vehicle'. It was from here that he saw what he described as possibly two children or small adults, and he noted that one appeared startled at his approach and seemed to "jump somewhat".

He moved further along the gravel road and finally stopped his car at the point where he believed he had previously seen the vehicle in the arroyo. It was at this point that he heard what he later could describe as several loud "thumps" or "slams", similar to metal hitting metal. As he left his patrol car and proceeded towards the gully, he had not gone more than a few steps before he had a full view of an elongated oval shaped object on "girder-like" legs. In that instant a loud roar and bluish flame shot out of the underside of the object and it began to rise. Zamora did not hesitate...he hit the ground thinking it was about to explode, then got up running and jumped down on the other side of the gravel road. He heard a whirring noise and watched the object rise up out of the arroyo, the legs he saw moments before were no longer apparent. He noted that the object had risen to perhaps 20 feet above the bottom of the gully when suddenly the sound stopped completely. There was no more flame visible and he watched as the now-silent vehicle moved off parallel to the terrain picking up speed as it left the area. He watched it move off into the distance and it eventually disappeared from view.

Almost immediately upon the object having left the area, State Police Sargeant Sam Chavez arrived having overheard Zamora who had radioed wildly to his dispatcher hoping that someone else might be able to see the object. Together they noted the evidence left in the arroyo...a half burned bush, four angular impressions in the sandy soil where the "legs" had been, and several small footprints and other impressions.

From an oil painting based on photographs taken of the actual landing site. The image portrays the object just as it began to lift off and from a viewpoint near where Mr. Zamora reportedly stood. Mr. Zamora has seen this illustration and stated that it is a good representation of what he observed, though he felt that the "legs" might have been extended slightly further than is portrayed. The dimensions presented however are taken from both the witnesses description and the exact measurements provided by investigators of the impressions in the soil.

Ever since the first report that Zamora had seen some type of symbol on the side of the craft there had been some confusion about just what that symbol was. He had drawn and described this symbol to several people soon after the incident, and what appeared to be discrepancies in the description had arisen from various sources. There does appear to be some support for believing that the symbol that was widely circulated early on may have actually been a variation of the actual one. The idea that a substitute might have been circulated by the investigative personnel from the Air Force or other governmental agencies as a way to guard against copycat reports has some merit. Though the actual shape may not be ultimately important to the overall case I did make an effort to try to obtain an honest description of just what Zamora saw. In one of our telephone conversations he clarified to me that he had never been told -not- to relate the actual shape and he gave me a description which I realized was slightly different from what I had heard and seen before. I was curious about this and shortly afterward I sent him several pages of small sketches which covered various details of his sighting. I included several variations of this symbol including one that matched what I had seen in other places and one that matched what I thought he had described to me. I asked him to merely place a check mark by whichever sketch matched his recollection. Below are several sections of the sheets I sent him, and his check marks are visible. But on the section showing the symbols, he was nice enough to actually redraw what he had seen.

Of all the evidence that could be presented to support the contention that what Lonnie Zamora saw was something totally unexplained, perhaps nothing is more compelling than this brief article. It appeared in the formerly classified CIA publication entitled "Studies in Intelligence" from the fall of 1966. It was written by Hector Quintanilla, Jr., the former head of the Air Force's Project Bluebook.

It gives a history and methodology of the Air Force's investigation of UFO's, and after presenting many of the prosaic explanations that had been encountered, he concluded his article with a synopsis of a "Policeman's Report" in which he described the Socorro incident. One short quote from this article in itself makes a profound statement about the reality of some UFO reports.

"There is no doubt that Lonnie Zamora saw an object which left quite an impression on him. There is also no question about Zamora"s reliability. He is a serious police officer, a pillar of his church, and a man well versed in recognizing airborne vehicles in his area. He is puzzled by what he saw, and frankly, so are we. This is the best-documented case on record, and still we have been unable, in spite of thorough investigation, to find the vehicle or other stimulus that scared Zamora to the point of panic."

This document was approved for release on January, 2, 1981 and is available to anyone under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.

It is my hope that this information is useful to anyone wanting to know more about the subject of unidentified flying objects. Even I find it easy to become disillusioned at times when I find that almost all the readily available information is made up of fantastic claims made by people who offer no valid proof. However, anyone who looks closely will be able to find that there are many cases, like the Socorro incident, that clearly indicate something physically real, and of a high degree of strangeness, is being seen by honest, reliable witnesses. - Chris Lambright - CUFON

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At about 5:45 p.m. on Friday, April 24, 1964 Socorro policeman Lonnie Zamora was chasing a speeding car when his attention was drawn to a peculiar sight in the sky. "At this time I heard a roar and saw a flame in the sky to the southwest some distance away." Thinking it might be an explosion connected with a building known to contain explosives, he forgot about the car chase, and sped off in the direction of the UFO.

The next time he saw it, it was on the ground, and from a distance it looked like a car that had overturned. As he drove closer, he could see that it resembled a large egg, sitting on one end and supported by slender legs. He stated:

"I saw two people in white coveralls very close to the object. One of these persons seemed to turn and look straight at my car and seemed startled -seemed to quickly jump somewhat. I don't recall noting any particular shape or possibly any hats or headgear. These persons appeared normal in shape -but possibly they were small adults or small kids."

As he drove closer, a small hill blocked his view of the object, though at one point he heard a noise like a door closing. When he could again see the object, there was no one near it. He drove as close as the rough terrain would permit, stopped, parked his police cruiser and got out, intending to walk toward the craft. At this point "I heard about two or three loud 'thumps,' like someone possibly hammering or shutting a door or doors hard. These 'thumps' were possibly a second or less apart."

The white-suited individuals were not seen after he heard the thumps. As he started towards the object, it began to roar:

"It started at a low frequency, but quickly the roar rose in frequency and in loudness... Flames were under the object... light blue and at bottom was a sort of orange color."

Assuming it might be about to explode, Zamora quickly hid behind his cruiser for protection. The roaring then stopped and he looked up to see it hovering a few feet above the ground. "It was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop." The vehicle then moved away slowly, gathering speed as it headed toward the dynamite shack, which it cleared by a few feet.

At this time, Zamora was joined by a police sergeant who watched the craft fly away into the distance. Zamora and the sergeant then walked to where it had been parked, and noted charred and singed grass, underbrush and imprints in the ground corresponding to where the vehicle had landed.

Within hours, Zamora was interviewed by U.S. Army Captain Richard T. Holder, Up-Range Commander of the White Sands Missile Range, and by FBI Special Agent Arthur Byrnes, Jr., the latter requesting that the FBI's involvement be kept secret. Zamora described the object to them:

"It was smooth - no windows or doors. As the roar started, it was still on or near the ground. There was red lettering of some type. The insignia was about 2.5 feet (75 cm.) high and about 2 feet (60 cm.) wide. It was in the middle of the object. The object was... aluminum-white."

He then drew a sketch of the object with the red "insignia": half of a circle over an inverted V with a vertical line inside and horizontal line below.

A day or two later, Dr. J. Allen Hynek arrived to investigate the report for the Air Force's Project Blue Book. In addition to questioning Zamora, Hynek measured and photographed the landing site. He located what appeared to be impressions in the ground made by the landing gear, as well as several small footprints.

The case received rapid and extensive press coverage, and the Air Force was under pressure to explain it as something less momentous than a landed spacecraft. Among the explanations considered and rejected were a rancher's helicopter and an experimental NASA lunar lander.

In the end, Project Blue Book declared the report "unsolved," and Major Hector Quintanilla, the project's final director, stated that there is no doubt that Lonnie Zamora saw an object which left quite an impression on him:

"There is also no question about Zamora's reliability. He is a serious police officer, a pillar of his church, and a man well versed in recognizing airborne vehicles in his area. He is puzzled by what he saw, and frankly, so are we. This is the best-documented case on record, and still we have been unable, in spite of thorough investigation, to find the vehicle or other stimulus that scared Zamora to the point of panic."

The Day the Earth Stood Still in Clayton South

Australia's Roswell

The Day the Earth Stood Still in Clayton South

THE WESTALL UFO INCIDENT

Over 200 students and teachers witnessed an unexplained flying object on Wednesday 6th April 1966 around 11.00 am. They reported it descended into a nearby open wild grass field adjacent to a grove of pine trees in an area known as The Grange. The object then ascended in a north-westerly direction over the suburb of Clayton South.

Shane Ryan is a researcher looking for eyewitnesses. "It happened on the Wednesday before Easter, April 6, 1966, about 11 0’clock in the morning.

Around about 200 people, most of them students at what was then called Westall High School, were out for morning recess", says Shane. "Many saw the strange object descend behind pine trees in The Grange Reserve, and then later ascend and fly away at great speed.

The people who ran over to the reserve found a huge ring in the paddock where the object had been seen.

Some people reported five light aircraft following or chasing the object.

Academic throws light on 40-year-old UFO mystery

Just what did flash out of the sky and into the lives of hundreds that April day? Stephen Cauchi reports.

A Canberra academic is investigating one of Australia's most compelling UFO mysteries, a sighting by hundreds of people in the Melbourne suburb of Westall on April 6, 1966.

More than 200 students and staff from two schools watched as the object landed in a nearby paddock, lifted off and vanished.

Shane Ryan, an English lecturer at the University of Canberra, is interviewing dozens of witnesses for a book he hopes to publish on the 40th anniversary of the sighting.

Mr Ryan, 38, was alerted to the events in the 1980s by a housemate who was there. Unlike most UFO sightings, the Westall object had a large number of credible witnesses. It was viewed in daylight and attracted a forceful response from police and the RAAF.

"It had these rather interesting elements which indicated to me that, unlike some other so-called UFO stories, there was some substance to this," he told The Sunday Age.

"I knew the 40th anniversary was coming up next year, so I thought it was timely to do some research on it."

Mr Ryan has interviewed about 30 witnesses, mostly former staff and students from the Westall secondary and primary schools. He has tried obtaining police and RAAF reports, but so far with little luck. The story was covered then by Channel Nine, The Age and local newspapers.

On the UFO, everyone seems to agree, Mr Ryan says. It was a low-flying, silver/grey shining object, either of classical flying saucer shape or close to it, "a cup turned upside down on a saucer". The students were familiar with light aircraft because the schools were close to Moorabbin Airport. Although the UFO was of similar size, "everyone said straight away that they knew it was not a plane", Mr Ryan said, nor a weather balloon.

The object was in view for up to 20 minutes, and many saw it descend. Most agree it landed behind pine trees at the Grange Reserve. Dozens of students ran across what was then an open paddock to the reserve to investigate, but the object had lifted off and vanished.

Other details are sketchier. The UFO appears to have left a circle of scorched grass; others say several circles were left in paddocks bordering Grange Reserve.

Many witnesses, not all, report seeing aircraft, up to five, trailing the UFO. Some say it made no sound, others say it did.

Many reported that police/air force/military personnel inspected the site; some (not all) say the authorities burnt the site. The Dandenong Journal, for which the story was front-page news two weeks in a row, reported that "students and staff have been instructed to 'talk to no-one' about the incident". Nevertheless, one teacher, Andrew Greenwood, gave the paper a detailed account.

"It was silvery-grey and seemed to thicken at times," he said. "The thickening was similar to when a disc is turned a little to show the underside."

One of the closest witnesses was a boy whose family leased land at Grange Reserve for horses.

Shaun Matthews (not a student at Westall) was on holidays and spending time on the land.

"I saw the thing come across the horizon and drop down behind the pine trees," he told The Sunday Age this week. "I couldn't tell you what it was. It certainly wasn't a light aircraft or anything of the like …

"I saw the thing drop down behind the pine trees and saw it leave again. I couldn't tell you how long it was there for, it was such a long time ago."

Mr Matthews, 51 and now living in Greenvale, said the object "went up and off very very rapidly".

"I went over and there was a circle in the clearing. It looked like it had been cooked or boiled, not burnt as I remember," he said. "A heap of kids from Westall primary and high school came charging through to see what had happened — 'look at this, look at that, we saw it as well', that sort of thing. It was a bit of a talking point for a couple of days."

Mr Matthews said the object, about the size of "two family cars", passed him at a distance of about "four football fields". "It was silvery, but it had a sort-of purple hue to it, very bright, but not bright enough that you couldn't look at it," he said.

"I saw that it dropped down behind the trees, and I thought, 'hello, hang on'. A minute or so later, it went straight up, just gone."

He said police and other officials interviewed his mother. But he cannot remember them burning the landing site, as others have alleged. And he did not see any light aircraft trailing the object, as others did.

"The way this thing moved there is no way it could have been a weather balloon or a light aircraft," he said.

"A helicopter? No way — no noise, wrong shape, and it didn't move like it. It came out of the distance, stopped, and then just dropped.

"It didn't just sort of cruise and then slightly descend at an angle. It just stopped, dropped, and then went straight up."

The Victorian UFO Research Society investigated the incident. VUFORS secretary Tony Cook said Westall remained one of Australia's major unexplained UFO cases.

The top one was the case of Frederick Valentich, a 20-year-old Melbourne pilot whose light plane disappeared while flying over Bass Strait in 1978.

In the last minutes of radio communication, Valentich reported seeing a UFO hovering above his plane. He and his craft were never recovered.

"It's pretty well documented," Mr Cook said. "That's probably the most important one because it involves the disappearance of a person."

Mr Cook said the society's stance on UFOs was that, "there are people out there seeing unusual things in the sky at times and they can't be explained. But it's a very big leap to go from unexplained things in the sky to extraterrestrials."

Most witnesses, including Mr Matthews, say the UFO was not an aircraft or helicopter. But Westall is only six kilometres from Moorabbin Airport, and the object was roughly headed in that direction, travelling north to south.

"It sounds to me like some sort of experimental craft, very much Earth-based," Steve Roberts, of Australian Skeptics, said.

"It is an interesting event with lots of witnesses and what we now call a crop circle.

"Accounts are confused. Some have the object landing and taking off again, others say 'a paddock over which the object seemed to hover'."

As well, "if there was a whole swag of officials investigating it, there must be an official report in RAAF archives somewhere".

But Mr Ryan said that no one at the RAAF knew of the incident.

But given the history of the case — the way students and staff were told to keep quiet from the start — that was not surprising, he said.

"As I got a little bit older, I got a little more interested in the social and historical aspects of the story, how something like this could have happened and how it reflected society at the time, and how authorities responded to it," he said.

"There's been a layer of secrecy that was very, very prominent in this story from the beginning."