The Cash-Landrum Incident

Summary

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Conspiracy Theories – The Cash-Landrum Incident

Spotify Studios | March 25, 2026
Host: Carter Roy

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Episode Overview

In this episode, host Carter Roy revisits one of the most chilling and well-documented UFO encounters in U.S. history: the Cash-Landrum Incident. Set in 1980s Texas, this story explores how an otherworldly sighting led to severe physical injuries, a lawsuit against the U.S. government, and decades of questions about what really transpired that night. Through first-hand accounts, medical mysteries, and government stonewalling, Carter examines whether the incident is evidence of alien visitation, a military test gone wrong, or something else—and why the truth remains elusive.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Setting the Stage: The Unimaginable Accident

• [00:06–01:39] The episode opens with an analogy, likening the experience to a typical accident—only the "bus" turns out to be a UFO spewing fire.
• Carter introduces the main theme: What happens when the unimaginable crashes into real life and the authorities deny it ever happened?

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The Cash-Landrum Sighting: What Happened?

• Event Date & People Involved:
  • December 29, 1980, just outside Houston, Texas
  • Betty Cash, Vicki Landrum, and Vicki’s grandson Colby
• The Sighting:
  • "A giant diamond-shaped object flying above the road...dull metallic gray, as tall as a water tower and blindingly bright with flames shooting out the bottom." – Carter Roy [08:05]
  • Excruciating heat and a smell like lighter fluid; Vicki tries to reassure Colby by saying it could be Jesus appearing [08:38]
  • Multiple military-style helicopters swarm the object, seemingly on a rescue mission
• Immediate Physical Effects:
  • All three experience severe burns, vomiting, and blisters by the time they get home.
  • "[Their] skin feels so hot, it looks like they've been badly sunburnt." – Carter Roy [10:53]
  • Symptoms worsen into hair loss, skin lesions, eye damage, and lasting trauma for Colby

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Medical Mystery and Government Silence

• [11:41–14:39]
  • Betty and Vicki are hospitalized; doctors are baffled, with one putting a biohazard warning on Betty's door.
  • "About 50% of her hair falls out in clumps. That's on top of the burns, blisters...nausea, diarrhea." – Carter Roy [12:10]
  • Skin sensitivity to heat and light becomes a permanent condition for all three
  • Despite 30 doctors examining Betty, no diagnosis is made

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Enter the UFO Investigator

• John Schuessler: NASA Aerospace Engineer and UFO Researcher
  • Initially ignores Betty’s call until realizing this "ridiculous claim" was reported by credible sources
  • Investigates thoroughly, becoming convinced of the witnesses’ sincerity and the authenticity of their injuries
  • "To him, [the] symptoms look a lot like a case of radiation poisoning." – Carter Roy [20:53]
  • Finds seven other witnesses corroborating parts of the sighting

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Dead Ends and Suspicion

• Military Denial:
  • All relevant U.S. military branches deny any operations in the area; official logs show no flights—"except there's a pretty big asterisk on that statement: Saron admits his probe didn’t include any classified records." [32:20]
  • The Texas Department of Health finds no radiation at the site, but their response comes months later and can’t be conclusive [23:42–24:12]
• Suspicious Setback:
  • A private pilot hired to photograph the area has his home broken into and film stolen, raising suspicions of a cover-up [24:12–24:53]
• Conspiracy?
  • "If you run into enough coincidences, you might just be dealing with a conspiracy." – Carter Roy [24:53]

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Lawsuit Against the U.S. Government

• Filing Suit:
  • In 1983, Betty and the Landrums sue the U.S. government for $20 million for damages and medical expenses [28:54–29:02]
• Government Investigation:
  • Lt. Col. George Saron of the Air Force leads an official investigation, but with access only to non-classified records
  • Saron’s findings: "The attendant facts fail to establish that the unidentified flying object or helicopters were owned and operated by the U.S. government or any agency or instrumentality thereof." [30:43]
• Case Dismissed:
  • Judge rules there’s insufficient evidence to tie the military (or U.S. government) to the incident [30:34–30:56]

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Lingering Doubts and Unanswered Questions

• Classified Secrets:
  • The Air Force recently allocated $11.5 million for a classified project mere weeks before the incident; Saron claims no knowledge about it [32:44–33:14]
• Long-term Health Fallout:
  • Betty and Vicki’s conditions never improve; Betty ultimately develops cancer and is unable to receive radiation therapy due to lasting damage [27:03–28:12]
• Media & Public Perception:
  • The victims are sensationalized, not treated as credible witnesses; dismissed as kooks despite physical evidence and medical documentation

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Final Assessment and Context

• Expert Opinions:
  • Dr. J. Allen Hynek (of Project Blue Book) called the Cash-Landrum event "a crucial case because of the absolutely unequivocal physical effects." [34:16]
• John Schuessler’s Conclusion:
  • "The U.S. Government had answers. They knew what happened that night and gaslit the world anyway." [35:00]
• Historical Precedent of Government Secrecy:
  • Carter cites the White House Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, which confirmed decades of unethical tests on U.S. citizens [35:20]
• Possibilities:
  • Could be a secret military project, a foreign incursion, or truly alien; "Maybe they felt it was important to keep the Fermi paradox alive." [35:55]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "If the government really doesn't know anything about it, they'd better find out now." – Vicki Landrum, quoted by Carter [23:04]
• "To him, [the] symptoms look a lot like a case of radiation poisoning." – [20:53]
• "If you run into enough coincidences, you might just be dealing with a conspiracy." – [24:53]
• "[Hynek] called the Cash Landrum incident a crucial case because of the absolutely unequivocal physical effects...rarely as clear cut as this." – [34:16]
• "He believed the US Government had answers. They knew what happened that night and gaslit the world anyway." – [35:00]

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 05:35–06:22: Discussion of the Fermi Paradox and "plausibility" of alien encounters
• 07:03–10:10: Detailed recounting of the event
• 11:24–14:39: Description of injuries and medical response
• 16:19–21:11: Introduction of John Schuessler and his investigation, radiation theory
• 22:13–25:34: Military denial and possible government cover-up
• 28:54–30:56: Lawsuit against the government, court outcome
• 32:00–33:14: Discussion of classified military projects and the investigation’s limits
• 34:00–35:55: Opinions of Hynek and Schuessler; comparison to other government secrecy scandals

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Episode Tone & Style

Carter Roy brings a balance of skepticism and empathy, often using dry wit and rhetorical questions to underline the emotional toll on the victims while highlighting the absurdity of the official narrative.

• "[The] truth isn’t always the best story, and the official story isn’t always the truth." – [39:44]

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For Further Information

Carter recommends contemporaneous coverage from the Houston Chronicle, Corpus Christi Caller Times, and Texas Monthly for deeper background.

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This episode provides an in-depth, sympathetic, and critical look at a little-acknowledged piece of UFO lore that remains unsolved, blending narrative storytelling, investigative journalism, and skeptical inquiry into a compelling account of the Cash-Landrum incident.

Transcript

[A]

Imagine you're visiting New York City.

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The streets are bustling, the energy is high, the smell is questionable. But you're excited.

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You're on your way to meet your friends. You've got your headphones in listening to

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your favorite podcast, and you're waiting for

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a walk signal to change. And then when the little hand turns into a little person, you step out onto the street and bam.

[B]

You're hit by a city bus.

[A]

Luckily, you survived the accident, but your injuries are serious. The doctors tell you your health might never fully recover.

[B]

What do you do?

[A]

Well, among other things, you probably sue

[B]

the New York City Transit Authority for

[A]

negligence and pain and suffering.

[B]

After all those medical bills are piling up and they're not going to pay themselves, you think you have a good shot. You have a clear account of what

[A]

happened, injuries to support your claim, medical records galore and witness statements corroborating your accident.

[B]

Everyone says it was a city bus.

[A]

Everyone says you had the right of way. You should be good, right?

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Well, what if after you file your

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lawsuit, the city just dismisses your claims outright? They deny any involvement. The accident.

[B]

What accident?

[A]

The bus.

[B]

It wasn't theirs. The injuries, not their problem. Now imagine that the bus wasn't a bus at all.

[A]

You ready? It was a UFO that spit fire.

[B]

What would you do then? This is the story of the Cash Landrum incident. Welcome to Conspiracy Theories, a Spotify podcast. I'm Carter Roy.

[A]

You can find us here every Wednesday. Be sure to check us out on

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Instagram at the Conspiracy pod and we

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would love to hear from you.

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So if you're listening on the Spotify app, swipe up and give us your

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thoughts and be sure to watch all the way through. After today's case, I'll be sharing some conspiracy related news stories our team is

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keeping a close eye on. Stay with us. This episode is brought to you by Cologuard. Do you know what's really scary? Not screening for colon cancer when you turn 45. The cologuard test is non invasive, requires no special prep or time off work,

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Looking for something gripping to listen to?

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[e-mail] screen According to NASA, there's roughly 1 septillion stars in the universe.

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Or to put it another way, 1 billion trillion stars.

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That's one with 24 zeros after it. An unimaginable number.

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And scientists pretty much agree, given that scale, advanced alien lifeforms almost certainly exist somewhere out there. They should theoretically be common and detectable. And yet, most scientists also agree we

[B]

don't have any actual evidence of their existence.

[A]

That apparent contradiction is known as the

[B]

Fermi paradox after physicist Enrico Fermi. You might have heard of it before. We've covered it on this show and one of my favorite episodes. But the thing about the Fermi paradox

[A]

is its premise operates under the assumption that evidence doesn't already exist, that mankind

[B]

hasn't encountered aliens, that every person who has ever claimed otherwise is either mistaken, a liar, a fool, or a con artist.

[A]

Today I am talking about three people whose names have been added to that list despite never claiming to see an

[B]

alien, just a ufo, and despite having

[A]

enough corroborating evidence to sue the United States government. Their story begins in the Lone Star

[B]

state, Texas, about 30 miles outside of Houston. It's December 29, 1980. Betty Cash and Vicki Landrum are driving home after a night out. Betty was once Vicki's boss at a small cafe in Dayton. Betty owned the place. Vicki waited tables, but now they're just good friends.

[A]

The two middle aged women spent the evening playing bingo along with Vicki's seven year old grandson, Colby.

[B]

Vicki and her husband Ernest won custody of Colby a few years back, so she's more like a mother to him than anything.

[A]

It's a cold and cloudy night. Betty is behind the wheel, Vicki rides shotgun and Colby sits quietly in the back.

[B]

Nothing unusual happens until they reach an uninhabited stretch of the highway about 15

[A]

miles northwest of Dayton. That's when they notice a bright light above the treetops ahead.

[B]

And after they round a corner, they find the source.

[A]

A giant diamond shaped object flying above the road. It's a dull metallic gray, as tall as a water tower and blindingly bright with flames shooting out the bottom.

[B]

Vicky screams at Betty to stop the car.

[A]

They come to a halt about 100ft away from the object and everyone jumps

[B]

out of the vehicle. The first thing they notice is the heat.

[A]

It's excruciating. It feels like they're burning up and the air smells like a lighter fluid.

[B]

Colby is terrified, so Vicky tries to calm him down.

[A]

She's a God fearing woman, so she explains the blinding light the only way she knows how. She tells him not to be afraid. If anything comes out of the light, surely it'll be Jesus for a while.

[B]

It's as if time stands still.

[A]

But Vicki will later estimate that Colby

[B]

is outside for about a minute before he runs back and hides in the car.

[A]

Vicki follows suit. About four minutes later, Betty gets closest

[B]

to the object and spends the most time outside, about 10 minutes total. In that time, the women say the

[A]

UFO looks like it's in distress, like it's having a hard time maintaining flight Every time it spews flames from the bottom, it shoots back into the air

[B]

and emits a horrible noise.

[A]

Shrill piercing beeps. But it's not the only flying object

[B]

in the sky that night.

[A]

At some point, a swarm of helicopters surrounds the craft. Big ones with double rotor blades, the

[B]

kind you'd expect to find in the military.

[A]

To the women, it looks like the choppers are there to help the object, like they're on a rescue mission.

[B]

Before they know it, the sky is empty again. The light and the flames and the

[A]

choppers drift back over the trees and disappear.

[B]

Betty, Vicki and Colby are alone again in the car, unsure what they just witnessed. They continue their drive home, confused and scared.

[A]

And before they reach their destination, they make a pact not to tell anyone what happened.

[B]

After all, who would believe them? They can hardly believe it themselves. Now, obviously, the cat doesn't stay in the bag forever. I mean, we're able to talk about it now. Their secret pact eventually gets broken, but

[A]

there's a good reason for it. And that reason is a big part

[B]

of what made this case so famous.

[A]

See, Betty, Vicki and Colby don't just

[B]

bring home traumatic memories of that night. They bring home physical trauma, too. What some would consider hard evidence. It starts that night in the car. Even though it's the middle of winter, they end up riding home with the air conditioning on because their skin feels so hot, it looks like they've been badly sunburnt. By 1am Betty has dropped Vicki and Colby off. At home, Vicky covers her grandson's skin

[A]

in baby oil to try and soothe the pain. The burns have already started to blister,

[B]

but the blisters are just the beginning. Vomiting and uncontrollable diarrhea starts that night, too, which leads to dehydration.

[A]

No matter how much water they drink,

[B]

it never feels like enough.

[A]

Two days later, Vicky feels well enough

[B]

to check on Betty at her home. And it's a good thing she does. Betty is in terrible shape.

[A]

She's too weak to even get up and pour herself a glass of water. She's hospitalized the next day. Doctors have no idea what's wrong with

[B]

her, but her symptoms are alarming.

[A]

About 50% of her hair falls out in clumps. That's on top of the burns, blisters,

[B]

nausea, diarrhea, headaches, and weakness.

[A]

By some accounts, doctors put a biohazard warning outside Betty's door. It gets to the point where they

[B]

become concerned she might not survive, which is actually what puts an end to the trio's secret pact. Hearing that Betty's illness could be life threatening is enough for them to break their silence. If the truth can save her life, that's what matters. After weeks in the hospital, Betty is finally released. By that point, her eyesight starts failing. Doctors prescribe her medicine, but they never reach a diagnosis.

[A]

And that's true for all three who

[B]

were there that night. No one has it as bad as Betty, but Vicky spends about four weeks in a hospital with doctors who are just as confused. She develops scattered bald spots, thinning skin, eyes that look like they're decaying.

[A]

Her eyeglass prescription changes multiple times over the course of a few months, and

[B]

eventually her peripheral vision fades and she develops cataracts.

[A]

Colby also needs glasses, and his blisters eventually turn into raised scars.

[B]

And even though his physical symptoms are the lightest, it's clear he's traumatized from that night. For months afterward, he wakes up screaming from nightmares. And he develops an intense fear of helicopters. But there's one symptom that never goes away for all three. Their skin remains incredibly sensitive to heat. They can't bear to take warm baths.

[A]

And if they go out in the sun for too long, their blisters will reappear.

[B]

It's a lot to deal with, and I'm sure it's even more frustrating to not have answers.

[A]

Apparently, as many as 30 different doctors

[B]

examine Betty to try and figure out what actually happened to them. And still nothing.

[A]

So in February 1981, Betty picks up

[B]

the phone and places a call to

[A]

a man she thinks might be able

[B]

to help, an employee at NASA. And she learns he's absolutely the right guy for the job. This episode is brought to you by Rocket Money. I get so intimidated when I think about organizing my finances.

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Most UFO stories have a UFO guy. You know the kind? They go by many names.

[A]

UFO researchers, ufologists, paranormal investigators, skywatchers.

[B]

But no matter what title they use, they often raise eyebrows because they're not always seen as being credible. I'm sure you've seen the ancient aliens meme guy, the one with the hair. But this UFO story is different. In February 1981, Betty Cash places a phone call to a man named John Schuessler. He's a UFO guy, sure, but he's much more than that. He works for NASA at the Johnson Space center, where he's a flight manager overseeing a team of around 200 aerospace engineers. He's currently preparing for what will be NASA's boldest flight yet, launching Space shuttle

[A]

Columbia on its maiden voyage. The first of many trips, it will

[B]

eventually famously disintegrate in 2003, leading to the deaths of seven astronauts. But that's still more than two decades away.

[A]

John's Columbia voyage will go on to become the first orbital flight of a reusable spacecraft in history. It'll spend two days in space, making 37 trips around the Earth.

[B]

And the project's success will open the door for the NASA's space shuttle program for decades to come. So pretty impressive. John's interest in UFOs is separate from his work at NASA. It started in the 60s, during the peak of UFO mania in the United States.

[A]

John thought he'd spend six months debunking a bunch of sightings and turn his research into a book.

[B]

But things did didn't go as expected. Sure, there were the wild claims that

[A]

were easily discredited, but he ran into

[B]

a few that he couldn't easily dismiss. The experience led him to forming the

[A]

Mutual UFO Network, an organization dedicated to investigating the phenomena further.

[B]

And his colleagues at NASA now consider him their go to UFO guy on staff. Anytime they get a phone call from someone who says they saw a strange object in the sky, they get forwarded to John. It's a headache more than anything. Most calls are nonsense. Strangers making strange claims.

[A]

It's why when Betty Cash places that

[B]

call to John's office, he doesn't actually pick up. And when she then leaves a voicemail, he doesn't bother calling back. He assumes it's another fake lead. What he doesn't realize is he's actually

[A]

heard of Betty before. A doctor friend told him about a woman who came into the hospital with horrible injuries, claiming to have been burned by a ufo. They wanted John to investigate, but told him they couldn't ethically pass along the woman's name. John only puts the pieces together that it was Betty, the woman who left him a voicemail after a reporter friend pushes him to investigate her case.

[B]

He drives to visit Betty in Houston on February 22, and she is an open book. She answers all of John's questions about that night, about her symptoms, her medical history, the medicine she's been taking.

[A]

He photographs her injuries and asks her

[B]

to keep a running diary of her symptoms. Moving forward to him, she seems like a credible witness. John interviews Vicki and Colby as well, takes pictures of their injuries, hears their

[A]

perspectives, and he has Colby draw pictures

[B]

of the helicopters from that night. To John, Colby's fear feels real, palpable, not the kind of thing a 7 year old can fake. He walks away believing that Betty, Vivian, Vicki and Colby are all genuinely convinced of what they think they saw that night and something clearly happened. The physical side effects don't lie.

[A]

John doesn't know what it was exactly, but he does have a theory that

[B]

might solve one piece of the puzzle.

[A]

To him, their symptoms look a lot

[B]

like a case of radiation poisoning. John reaches out to a radiation specialist who agrees with his theory. There's no guarantee that's what it is for sure, but at the same time,

[A]

nothing else seems to fit.

[B]

Meanwhile, John continues his investigation, and it's both promising and very frustrating. Promising is the fact that Betty, Vicki

[A]

and Colby's stories remain consistent even under hypnosis. And the fact that John is able to track down seven other witnesses who also saw a fleet of helicopters and a strange blinding light in the sky that night.

[B]

Frustrating is the fact that no one will claim the helicopters. The most logical explanation is they belong to the military.

[A]

For starters, there are Air Force bases nearby, and based on witness descriptions, they

[B]

look exactly like the kind the military uses. Plus, who else could it be? Who else owns that many helicopters? John reaches out to all the military bases in Texas, but they deny any

[A]

involvement in the incident. In fact, they act like they have

[B]

no idea what he's talking about. But like John is just some weirdo talking nonsense, which is a hard pill to swallow because John's sitting there with three people who have documented health problems which seem to have a direct one

[A]

to one connection with this military style event. That seven other people also saw. And the best the military can do is shrug and say, sorry, not us.

[B]

Can't help you.

[A]

Even if they're telling the truth and it wasn't them, shouldn't the government know if 20 something foreign craft suddenly entered their airspace? As Vicki Landrum tells the newspapers, if

[B]

the government really doesn't know anything about

[A]

it, they'd better find out now. John's investigation continues for months and eventually years.

[B]

He's dedicated to helping Betty and the

[A]

Landrums, but unfortunately, he doesn't make a

[B]

whole lot of progress. It's just more obstacles. Turns out, getting medical professionals to speak publicly about health complications caused by an apparent UFO encounter proves nearly impossible. The Texas Department of Health eventually decides

[A]

to test the area where the incident occurred for radiation. But according to their representatives, their equipment

[B]

doesn't register anything, which might not be

[A]

surprising by the time they investigate.

[B]

It's been almost nine months since the UFO sighting. And even if they acted sooner, there are certain types of radiation that don't always leave traces like ultraviolet and infrared light.

[A]

At some point, John tries to build out his case by hiring a private pilot to fly over the area and take pictures. But before the photos can be developed and studied, the pilot's home gets broken into and his camera is stolen with the undeveloped film inside. I mean, that could be a total coincidence, right? Cameras can be expensive, especially back then. It makes sense that a robber might steal one. But also, we all know that if you run into enough coincidences, you might

[B]

just be dealing with a conspiracy. Now, John may never go so far

[A]

as to use that word, but he does eventually draw two One, that the

[B]

case he's built to substantiate Betty, Vicki and Colby's claims is irrefutable. And two, the UFO was either from

[A]

another planet, from another country, or part

[B]

of a top secret government project gone wrong. Which one was it? Well, eventually the government launches a probe of their own, and the answer might

[A]

be found not in what they choose to investigate, but what they don't.

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[B]

By 1983, life hasn't really gotten better for Betty, Vicki or Colby. They're famous now, but not in a good way. Their stories have been splashed all over the National Enquirer and just about every major newspaper in Texas.

[A]

Even though they've never claimed that what

[B]

they saw came from another planet, they can't escape the alien associations or the sensationalized coverage. They're always cast as sideshow characters and never the victims of a dangerous public health event. And that remains true even as their health problems continue. All three have a hard time going out in the sun due to their skin sensitivity to light. Even riding in a car during the daytime can cause blisters, so they mostly avoid it. Especially Betty. She stops working altogether, shuts herself inside her home and basically becomes a hermit. And what's worse than being forced to live life as a hermit? Living life as a hermit with cancer. I know it's terrible. And what's even worse is doctors tell Betty she can't treat her cancer with radiation, that her skin is too paper thin and damaged already, but she's able to undergo surgery to remove her right

[A]

breast based on reports that seems to

[B]

keep her cancer at bay. It's good news, sure, but imagine being Betty facing a cancer diagnosis and not knowing if it's linked to what happened that night, not knowing who or what to blame. Every health problem becomes just another mystery that plagues her mind from time to time. In between fighting for survival. It's exhausting and cripplingly expensive. In 1983, Betty and the Landrums decide to do something about it. They want answers. They want to know what happened to

[A]

them, and they want the people responsible to pay.

[B]

They follow the advice of John and

[A]

their lawyers and file a civil lawsuit against the government for their medical expenses

[B]

plus pain and suffering. $15 million for Vicki and Betty, plus another 5 million for Colby. And wouldn't you know it? The government changes its tune.

[A]

They tap Lieutenant colonel George Saron of

[B]

the Air Force to conduct a thorough investigation, and according to the government, he does just that. He leaves no stone unturned and hands

[A]

over his findings to the court. His conclusion? Oh, the government did no wrong.

[B]

Now, a lot of time passes between the filing of the lawsuit and the judge's final decision. About three years, which is to be expected. It's the court system. There's lots of feet dragging and appeals. As far as UFO cases go, there's a lot of evidence handed over. Official medical records, witness statements, testimony from NASA, the Air Force, the Army and the Navy. Mind you, the judge is in a tough position. The government is technically his employer. And if he sides with Betty and

[A]

the Landrums, he could be labeled as

[B]

that UFO judge, which would probably be disastrous for his reputation and career. I mean, what would you do in that situation? Ultimately, the judge doesn't let the case go to trial. And when his ruling finally comes out,

[A]

it's clear that he weighs the results

[B]

of the government's investigation heavily. He writes, the attendant facts fail to

[A]

establish that the unidentified flying object or helicopters were owned and operated by the U.S. government or any agency or instrumentality thereof.

[B]

The judge dismisses the case for a lack of evidence. Now, especially in a case that involves a UFO claim, when the average person hears lack of evidence, there's a pretty good chance their mind hears it didn't happen or it's a hoax.

[A]

But that's not what the judge actually says. You'll notice the decision never questions Betty

[B]

or the Landrum's account of that night.

[A]

It doesn't question their pain or suffering. It simply says there's not enough evidence that the UFO and helicopters belonged to the government.

[B]

Which, as I said, is a conclusion

[A]

drawn largely from the government's findings.

[B]

So let's take a closer look at that investigation. George Cerrona says he called up every military base in Texas.

[A]

And just like with John's investigation, they all say they know nothing about the UFO or the helicopters.

[B]

And official military logs back up that statement. Those logs were entered into evidence and apparently there were no official flights scheduled in that area on December 29, 1980. Except there's a pretty big asterisk on that statement.

[A]

Saron admits that his probe didn't include any classified records.

[B]

Which means he couldn't have ruled out the military. Not entirely.

[A]

So it's possible it was a top secret operation. And yet the judge in the case

[B]

seems to just take Saron's word that it wasn't.

[A]

But get this. A report released by the U.S. house Committee in 1983 showed that the military allocated a substantial sum of money for a classified project in October 1980, just

[B]

two months before the incident, they set aside $11.5 million for it.

[A]

And when asked what the project was, George Cerron, the government's lead investigator, basically just shrugs.

[B]

He says he doesn't know what that project is, and that's that there's no pressing the issue because there's no forcing the government to declassify documents. Betty Cash and Vicki Landrum both die without answers. Colby disappears from the public eye entirely after their case is dismissed. Many go on to doubt Betty and

[A]

the Landrum's claims, accusing the women of

[B]

either exaggerating their symptoms or ascribing unrelated health problems to support their false claims. But here's what I'll say. You might not have heard of Dr. J. Allen Hynek before, but if you're tuning into this show, you've probably heard

[A]

of Project Blue Book.

[B]

It's the government program that investigated UFO sightings during the 50s and 60s. Hynek worked on Project Blue Book and at the center for UFO Studies in Evanston, Illinois.

[A]

He called the Cash Landrum incident a crucial case because of the absolutely unequivocal physical effects. He said the connection with the event is clear. It's one to one. We have other cases, but rarely as

[B]

clear cut as this. John Schuessler never questioned the women's account. He documented their symptoms, spoke to the doctors, interviewed witnesses. He saw their pain and suffering firsthand.

[A]

He didn't know what happened that night. He never felt confident drawing a conclusion with the evidence he had. But he did say he believed the

[B]

US Government had answers. They knew what happened that night and gaslit the world anyway. If you find that hard to believe, I'd recommend looking up the White House Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments. It was created in 1994 to investigate

[A]

unethical radiation experiments the US government ran

[B]

on its citizens without their permission. And it found hundreds of them that federal officials conducted over three decades.

[A]

But maybe George Saron was telling the truth. Maybe the government had nothing to do

[B]

with what happened that night. Maybe the UFO and those helicopters were

[A]

actually foreign invaders, either from another country

[B]

or another planet, far, far away. Maybe they felt it was important to keep the Fermi paradox alive. We here at Conspiracy Theories are always trying to stay on top of what's happening in the news. There's always so much happening in our world. And we found some stories we think are worth sharing.

[A]

You know all those conspiracy theories about a global surveillance state? Well, Meta apparently plans to add facial recognition to its smart glasses, a feature they're calling nametag.

[B]

And it's safe to say even Mark Zuckerberg understands what that could mean for our privacy rights.

[A]

The New York Times reportedly reviewed internal documents from the company that suggested they intend to launch Nametag during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.

[B]

The good news is there's nothing happening right now that could possibly distract their critics. Nothing at all. What's more frightening, according to Apple Insider, the technology has already been used to capture footage of people's most private moments.

[A]

Going to the bathroom, removing clothes, entering bank information. And those videos are all apparently seen by the real human beings training Meta's AI in Kenya.

[B]

But expensive glasses aren't the only things using you to mine information. Data collected from the popular, once much

[A]

more popular augmented reality game Pokemon Go has helped map the world. That data is now being used to train robots that deliver you food and

[B]

do so with absolutely no issues.

[A]

Isn't Coco cute?

[B]

As for its evolution, well, I guess we'll find out.

[A]

And in Alien News a few weeks back, President Trump asked the Pentagon and all federal agencies to release any documents related to UFOs and aliens.

[B]

As of recording this segment, that has not happened.

[A]

But eight days after making that statement, a former high ranking officer in the US Air Force, Major General William McCasland has disappeared. His disappearance has fueled conspiracy theories online Due to McCasland's previous work researching UFOs

[B]

for the government, suggesting the two are somehow connected.

[A]

Even members of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee have called the disappearance really

[B]

disturbing, citing the fact that he has a lot of information on UFOs. But McCaslin's wife doesn't share that same point of view.

[A]

She told reporters from Newsweek that she

[B]

doubted her husband's disappearance had anything to

[A]

do with what she called his brief

[B]

association with the UFO community. And that's all for this week. Thank you for listening to Conspiracy Theories, the Spotify Podcast. We're here with a new episode every Wednesday. Be sure to check us out on Instagram he conspiracypod. If you're listening on the Spotify app, swipe up and give us your thoughts. Among the many sources we used for this episode, we recommend checking out contemporaneous

[A]

coverage by the Houston Chronicle, Corpus Christi

[B]

Caller Times, and Texas Monthly. Until next time, remember, the truth isn't always the best story, and the official story isn't always the truth.

[A]

This episode was written and researched by

[B]

Connor Sampson, edited by Miki Taylor, fact checked by Sophie Kemp, and engineered video edited and sound designed by Alex Button. I'm your host, Carter Roy.

[C]

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