Did Betty Cash Die From Her UFO Encounter 19 Years Later On The Anniversary?

Location. Near Huffman, Texas
Date: December 29 1980 Time: evening
Three occupants of a 1980 Olds Cutlass, Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum and Vickie’s seven year old grandson, Colby, were on their way home through the southern tip of the east Texas piney woods when they noticed a large light above the trees some distance ahead. The light was briefly lost from view, but they saw it again when after rounding a curve they found themselves on a straight stretch of a two lane road on Highway FM 1485. This time it was approaching them, floating above the road at less than treetop height and belching flames from its bottom. Cash and the Landrums were only about 130 feet from the object. Escape was out of the question because the road was narrow and the shoulders soggy. If Betty Cash, who was driving, tried to turn around, she knew the car would get stuck. There was no other traffic on the desolate highway, so she stepped outside, as did the elder Landrum. But Colby’s frantic screams brought her back into the car. The object, intensely bright and dull metallic silver in color, was shaped like a huge, upright diamond, with its top and bottom cut off so that they were flat rather than pointed. Small blue lights ringed the center, and periodically over the next five minutes flames shot out of the bottom, flaring outward to create a cone affect. All the while the witnesses felt their faces burning. The car was too hot to touch. At one point Vickie Landrum, leaning out the front window, steadied herself by putting her hands on the dashboard, only to find it molded to the shape of her fingers. A few minutes later, when Cash tried to get back into the car, the door handle burned her fingers. With a final blast of fire and heat, the UFO ascended slowly into the sky. But just as it was clearing the treetops, helicopters flew in from all directions. The helicopters and the UFO then were lost from view. The three resumed their journey. Five minutes later they arrived at the intersection of FM 1485 and FM 2100 where they saw the UFO and the helicopters again. Cash counted 23 helicopters, all clearly visible because of the light from the diamond-shaped object was reflecting off them. Many of the aircraft were subsequently identified as large, double-rotor Boeing CH-47 Chinooks, used by the Army and Marines. The whole incident lasted a total of 20 minutes. Soon Betty Cash became extremely ill with large knots forming on her neck and scalp that soon became blisters. Her skin reddened and her eyes swelled. She vomited and experienced severe diarrhea. The Landrums suffered similar distress, but not quite as intense. In the morning Cash had lapse into near unconsciousness. She was eventually taken to the hospital in January 3 1981; she could not walk and had lost large patches of skin and clumps of hair. She was released after 12 days, but had to return to the hospital for another 15 days. A doctor who examined the patients reported strong evidence of damage as a result of ionizing radiation with the possibility of infrared or ultraviolet component as well. Betty Cash never fully recovered and suffered for years to come and in an ironic twist of fate she died on the anniversary of the bizarre encounter in December 29 1999, some say as a result of the initial encounter 19 years before.

HC addendum
Source: Jerome Clark, “The UFO Book” Encyclopedia of The
Extraterrestrial Type: F