In part one, we saw how the Cash-Landrum case had been investigated by the US government in 1981 by officials from Bergstrom Air Force Base in Texas, in 1982 by the Department of the Army Inspector General, and in 1983 by the nation's defense team responding to the UFO-related lawsuit. In the conclusion, we'll look at the subsequent secret investigation and how it relates to other agencies that may be covertly studying UFOs today. John B. Alexander has had a long involvement in the UFO and paranormal, and participated in the DAIG investigation mentioned earlier. Dr. Alexander's publisher notes his lengthy interest and research into exotic studies: 'life after death, mind over matter, UFOs, remote viewing, telepathic communications with animals, and more...' Chiefly known for his work in non-lethal weapons research, Alexander retired from the US Army in 1988 as a colonel, and along the way earned his Ph.D. in Thanatology at Walden University in 1980. Dr. Alexander developed a network of friends and associates with similar interests, many of whom were also in the military, doing contract work for the government, the Intelligence Community, or professionals in private industry. One of those friends was Dr. Paul E. Tyler (1930 - 2013), a Captain in the US Navy, and medical consultant on the government's remote viewing program. This circle of associates was valuable when Alexander put together the Advanced Theoretical Physics Working Group. The primary purpose of the group was to determine if there was a hidden UFO government agency, but their findings were negative. The team also studied a few UFOs cases, and the Cash Landrum incident was one of particular interest. Dr. Harold E. Puthoff was a key member of ATP, and he kept his colleague Jacques Vallee informed of the group's activities. Vallee's journals record several entries on ATP, which he called 'the Secret Onion.' From Forbidden Science - Volume III (2016), by Jacques Vallee: 'Hyde Street. Wednesday 24 July 1985. (page 199) "Hal (Puthoff) and I had a lot to talk about... There was a meeting on frontier subjects in Washington recently. When Hal arrived he discovered the topic was UFOs, and the overall project was structured in multiple layers, like an onion. The meeting was classified above top secret, under a codeword. Fifteen attendees reviewed cases like Kirtland AFB, Cash-Landrum and Tehran. They included Howell McConnell and John Tyler. Kit (Green) had been invited but couldn't attend. Two aspects of the meeting were ironic, Hal said. First, attendees were there because they ran programs that were impacted by unidentified signals but they were not necessarily interested in the UFO phenomenon itself. Second irony: they came to the conclusion there must be a secret UFO project, somewhere else!"' Vallee provided a more detailed description of Alexander's ATP in the endnotes ('Notes and References' section for Part Eleven: Dark Science, pages 480-481): 'It has become known that the key meetings took place under DoE supervision on May 20-25, 1985 in the secure facility of the BDM Corporation in McLean, Virginia. The group called itself the "Advanced Theoretical Physics Conference" or ATP. Alleged participants were Samuel Finch, Oke Shannon and John Kink of Los Alamos National Laboratory; Bill Wilkinson from CIA; Howell McConnell from NSA (whom I had met in October 1972); Hal Puthoff and Jack Houck; Ed Speakman of INSCOM (Army Intelligence); Bill Souder and Bob Wood of McDonnell Douglas; Jake Stewart of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering; Bert Stubblebine of BDM; Ron Blackburn, Milt Janzen and Don Keuble of Lockheed; Ralph Freeman, Gary Bright, radiologist Paul Tyler, Ed Dames and Lt. Col. Mike Neery. Ron Pandolfi of CIA also claims to have been involved.' In Jacques Vallee's entries on the ATP over the years, it is clear that the project never received funding or became an official government program. Dr. Kit Green 'refused to take part in the meetings as long as no budget had been allocated to give it an official status.' (Forbidden Science Volume III, 18 May 1986. P. 243) John Alexander described ATP in June 2018, EdgeScience #34, 'The Department of Defense and UFOs Redux,' comparing his 1980s group with the AATIP effort from 2007: '(AATIP) was just another in a series... of inadequate efforts to investigate one of the most perplexing issues to ever confront humanity... from 1984 through 1988, long before Senator Harry Reid was able to earmark funding for the DIA project, I ran a similar, albeit unfunded, effort... the name we employed for this project was Advanced Theoretical Physics (ATP).' Dr. Alexander briefly discussed the group's interest in the C-L incident: 'One disturbing case ATP looked into became known as Cash-Landrum, named for the victims, two women and a boy, who were inexplicably exposed to high levels of radiation. The source was an unidentified craft that appeared to be in trouble above a desolate country road just north of Houston. We explored the Cash-Landrum case in depth because of lawsuits initiated against the U.S. Government under the assumption that the incident was caused by an experimental craft of ours that had caused the serious injuries. The case was later dismissed.' In a 1993 lecture at MUFON's Albuquerque, New Mexico, group, Dr. Tyler discussed his work with the ATP. The NM MUFON News # 12 (Jan. 1994) featured an article summarizing his talk: 'Dr. Tyler was a consultant for the CIA and other agencies. "There were always people who were unofficially interested in UFOs... Was someone really looking at this? No one knew." Dr. Tyler has a degree in radiology and was head of Aerospace Medicine for the Bureau of Medicine Surgery. He ran the program on electromagnetic radiation. He personally investigated the Cash-Landrum case in which UFO witnesses were burned by some kind of radiation. He studied the hospital records and concluded that it wasn't microwaves but had to be some sort of ionizing radiation. What was it? "Nothing that we have or had at the time." Also, the reported helicopters didn't "fit into the military pattern." There were not enough helicopters in Houston at the time nor people there to pilot them (it was Christmas week) - it wasn't a military operation. How does Dr. Tyler explain this case? "UFOs can do things we can't. Maybe they use holograms. If they want to confuse us they could put holograms into systems that we have."' Dr. Tyler's conclusions on the Cash-Landrum incident were in sync with what Alexander presented in UFOs: Myths, Conspiracies, and Realities, where he said it was 'a very solid case, in which the observations and facts just don't make sense or support any prosaic hypothesis.' Alexander also speculated the helicopters were not physical, in a discussion of his precognitive sentient phenomena hypothesis, or PSP: '"One possibility would be that the UFO could employ holographic technology to create the UFOs. Another alternative is that the UFO was able to project that imagery directly into the brains of the observers, thus actually manipulating their perception of reality. It is interesting to note that the phenomenon would allow substantial physical injuries to the observers. Based on this case, and a number of others in which physical injuries have occurred, the PSP must not be mistaken as benign."' Dr. Alexander's ATP dissolved in 1988 after finding that no agency wanted to fund the project as an official government project. However, that didn't exactly mean the end, as Alexander and many of the members remained interested in the UFO topic and moved on to other things. Dr. Alexander and Dr. Hal Puthoff went to become a player in Robert Bigelow's National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS). In 2004, NIDS was closed, but later replaced by Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS), with Puthoff and some of the team remaining. In 2007, AATIP contracted BAASS, with Puthoff directing the scientific studies. In 2018 Puthoff and Colm Kelleher of BAASS went on to join Tom DeLonge's To The Stars Academy (TTSA). Before ATP, Dr. Hal Puthoff was one of the original SRI (Stanford Research Institute) team members and creators of the Remote Viewing program, which takes us to a final bit of trivia. The Cash-Landrum case was the subject of a remote viewing exercise documented in CIA files. In his article, Remote Viewing & UFOs at ATS, researcher Isaac Koi noted: 'As some of you know, the CIA released over 92,000 pages of material relating to "Star Gate" (and various other official remote viewing projects in the USA, such as "Gondola wish", "Grill flame", "Center Lane" and "Sun Streak") in around 2004... it should of course be recognised that most of the documents in the Stargate archive do not relate to UFOs.' However, a few did, and one of the remote viewing documents recorded a session on 26 January 1988 looking into the 'Cash-Landrum Object,' where the remote viewer was 'GP,' Gabrielle Pettingell, and the interviewer was 'ED,' Ed Dames, who was part of Alexander's ATP. The 'Secret Onion' nickname used by Jacques Vallee for ATP referred to the metaphor 'peeling the onion,' which means getting a deeper understanding of something by examining it layer by layer. The irony is that the only thing behind the layers is more onion. John Alexander's ATP group found no evidence that there was still a secret UFO investigation. His colleague Dr. Paul Tyler revealed in his 1993 Albuquerque, NM, lecture that the ATP searched, but, 'In every agency, I ran into people interested in UFOs. But it wasn't their job and there was no money to look into it, so tidbits got filed into personal file cabinets!' The government was not interested in fielding reports from civilians, just in sightings that could be military or national security matters. They shut down Blue Book, and what seems to have happened since is that any UFO incidents have been handled by the agency involved, from NORAD to the CIA. Whatever the US government may be doing in regards to UFOs, they are not interested in duplicating the public relations disaster problem of the Air Force's Project Blue Book. The Cash-Landrum UFO case is unique in that it has involved the US government at several levels, from Congressmen to the Federal Court, and official investigations by two military branches, as well as an informal study involving the Intelligence Community. Unfortunately, the investigations shed no light on UFOs, but there's much that can be learned about the Government's response to the case. It harkens back to the early days of confusion about flying saucer sightings. The military branches assumed the UFOs were something real, and were asking each other, 'It wasn't us, but is this something you guys are up to?' The Cash-Landrum UFO incident, December 29, 1980. That's the name and date for the events near Huffman, Texas reported by Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum and her young grandson Colby Landrum. The case is amongst the most famous of UFO events, chiefly due to the man who primarily investigated it, John F. Schuessler. He was a contractor for NASA, working on the Space Shuttle program, and having a reputable scientist investigating the case gave its credibility a boost. However his involvement in the case stemmed not from his profession, but from his hobby. Schuessler was the deputy director of the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) and a member of several other UFO organizations, including leading his own, Project VISIT (for Vehicle Internal Systems Investigative Team). VISIT sought to examine the propulsion engineering of 'Unidentified Space Vehicles,' with 'a secondary interest in the physiology of the beings which occupy these vehicles.' The initial report filed by Schuessler on March 4, 1981 laid the foundation for the investigation of the Cash-Landrum UFO case. Original Case Report (35 pages) by John F. Schuessler unless otherwise noted: - 1 - 2: MUFON form: 'UFO Sighting Questionnaire- General Cases (Form 1)' with location, sketches of UFO and event data. Name of Investigator, 'John F. Schuessler,' 'Witness: Vicky Landrum.' Dated March 3, 1981 ('4-3-81'). 2 pages. - 3 - 13: Cash/Landrum Case 'On-Site Investigation Report, Date: 28 Feb 1981,' Interview with Vickie and Colby Landrum. Handwritten, 11 pages. (Page one on VISIT letterhead.) - 14: MUFON 'UFO Sighting Questionnaire - Computer Input (Form 2)' 'Vicky Landrum' (Basic information on location of sighting and witness data.) - 15: MUFON 'UFO Sighting Questionnaire - Computer Input (Form 2)' 'Betty Cash.' - 16 - 23: Report of meeting and interview with Betty Cash dated 22 Feb. 1981. Handwritten, 8 pages. (Page one on VISIT letterhead.) - 24 - 27: Alan Holt, report of (2/28/81) interview with Vickie and Colby Landrum. Handwritten, 4 pages. (On VISIT letterhead.) - 28: Al Holt memo: 'Conversation with Bill English,' undated. (English of APRO was the first investigator to speak to Vickie Landrum.) Handwritten, 1 page. (On VISIT letterhead.) - 29 - 30: Al Holt: 'Helicopter Investigation,' 3/10/81. Handwritten, 2 pages. (On VISIT letterhead.) - 31 - 33: 21 Feb. 1981, 1 pm: 'Betty Cash called collect from Dayton, TX' (Phone interview: first witness contact.) Typed, 3 pages. (Page one on VISIT letterhead.) - 34 - 35: 1st MUFON Cash-Landrum case contact: 20 February 1981, by phone from reporter Cathy Gordon. 'Caller: Kathy Gordon, Conroe Daily Courier...' Typed, 2 pages. (Page one on VISIT letterhead.) By the time John Schuessler became involved, eight weeks had passed since the incident. Based on the witnesses' account, they must have told their story at least a dozen times before Schuessler heard it from them: - BC told Wilma Emert (& 2 kids) Betty's son, Toby the night of the incident, 12/29/80. - VL told her husband Earnest 4 days later, supposedly when BC went to the hospital. - VL told Dr. Wilson, who did not want to get involved with in a UFO injury case. - CL, VL & BC told Dr. Shenoy, then other doctors attending at Parkway Hospital. - VL told Dayton police chief, Tommy Waring (Vickie's neighbor) - VL told Bob Gribble of NUFORC, making her first UFO report, Feb. 2. - VL told wild Bill English of APRO who contacted the tabloid news. - BC & VL recorded a tape for Bill English, forwarded to Weekly World News. - BC's Parkway Hospital written statement. Feb. 7, 1981 - BC, VL & CL told Weekly World News reporter and contract photographer. - VL made calls to news and law enforcement and a 2nd call to NUFORC on Feb. 17. - VL & BC told Cathy Gordon reporter for The Conroe Courier Texas newspaper. - Finally, John Schuessler heard Betty's story second-hand from Cathy Gordon. Cathy Gordon (Phone Call) - February 20, 1981 (Report pages 34 - 35): John Schuessler first heard about Betty Cash first from local newspaper reporter Cathy Gordon who had written a story for the Conroe, Texas Courier. (Although in his correspondence with Coral Lorenzen of APRO and his book, he claims Dr. Howard Sussman had given him UFO injury story without disclosing Betty's name - to avoid a violation of medical ethics). The chief reason John Schuessler became involved in the case was due to location. He worked at the NASA's Johnson Space Center near Houston, Texas. Betty Cash and Vickie Landrum lived in Dayton, about 30 miles from Houston. There is no mention of what is later termed the witnesses' 'secrecy oath,' just a sparse summary of the UFO story as reported in Gordon's story. The information came in bits, out of sequence, and Schuessler would later learn that at the end of January 1981, once the UFO story had been revealed to Betty's doctors, Vickie Landrum reported the story to her neighbor, Dayton Police Chief Tommy Waring. It took Waring two or three days to locate the number for the the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) in Seattle, Washington. Vickie reported the sighting on Feb. 2 to Robert Gribble, who passed the information on to APRO. All Schuessler knew at the time came from Cathy Gordon who told him: 'APRO's Bill English had assigned the investigation to Dick Donavon of the Weekly World News when first notified of it.' Betty Cash (Phone Call) - February 21, 1981 (Report pages 31 - 33): Betty Cash placed a collect call to John Schuessler the next day, February 21, 1981. (Cathy Gordon had suggested Betty call NASA, who in turn gave her JS's number.) This call by Betty Cash initiated Schuessler's investigation. In the conversation, she recounted the story of the UFO encounter, her health problems and emphasized the expense of her hospital stay and treatment, 'She said it has cost her about $10,000...' Schuessler wrote, 'Betty has been out of work since the incident... She had been operating a truck stop restaurant and grocery store. She worked the night shift... she has had to close her business.' This early claim is worth examining. Betty worked the night shift, and had other employees including a cook and Vickie Landrum, so why did she close her business? In some accounts, it's said that Betty had already closed the truck stop and was in the process of moving it to reopen in a new location. However, when Betty was given an interview on 8/17/81 at Bergstrom Air Force Base, she said something else entirely. She was asked if she worked at the time of the incident, and she said, 'No, no I wasn't... (that's) the reason we was just out tooling around.' Betty told the officers that she'd received the business in the divorce from her husband, James Cash, and had only operated it a few months before she 'Closed it up... couldn't make no money.' (Betty also mentioned that she had Medicare, but did not say what portion of her expenses were covered by it.) Another very interesting item is about Betty's automobile. Schuessler's report states: 'When the group met the UFO they stopped the car - it did not fail on its own.' Later, he gives the first claim of the UFO producing EMF effects: 'Her car now runs very rough - the engine misses. It was given a tune up just 4 months ago.' Regarding the car stopping and the later claims of the engine dying: Allan Hendry interview FUFOR 4/2/1981 talking about the motor stalling: BC: 'It just quit on its own...' Hendry made Schuessler aware of the discrepancy. In the undated interview quoted in The Cash-Landrum UFO Incident, pg 61, Betty was asked, 'when did you realize the engine was not running?' She replied, 'When I got back in the car and as soon as that thing lifted up, I was going to start the car up. I put on the gas and everything and it wouldn't move.' Betty elaborated further in her Bergstrom AFB interview 8/17/1981: 'I had not killed the motor on the car, I had put it park. The radio was playing on low, but the car completely went dead. I mean, it was like somebody had turned a switch off on it.' This discrepancy was not addressed in Schuessler's reports, but he deftly sidestepped the issue in his 1982 magazine article on the case: 'It is not clear whether Betty turned the car engine off, or whether it just died.' (The Unexplained UK Orbis Publishing Limited, Vol 9, Issue 107). The description of the UFO incident itself in the report is fairly sparse, but seemingly consistent with later retellings. Betty described the sights, sounds, and sensations associated with the experience, but makes no mention of Vickie's handprints left in the dashboard of the car. An interesting statement that vanishes from later accounts: 'She went back just last week to the sighting location but could not detect anything significant. Several trees were dead, but the reason was not obvious.' This is at odds with Schuessler's later accounts in his book that she'd first revisited the scene with him to identify the location, and another claim that she hadn't been back there until a recreation for a television show. Betty's statement should serve to discredit one of the conspiracy theories about the case, that the road was torn up and repaved immediately following the incident. The road, FM 1485, was in bad shape before the incident. It was repaved, but not so mysteriously and much later, in 1982. JS reports Betty saying of Vickie Landrum: 'Now she has lost sight in one eye and a little of her hair is falling out...' The part about Vickie's vision was exaggerated, and similar claims had been made elsewhere, with Omni magazine stating that she was blind in one eye. It was untrue, but Vickie did complain about her eyes and had been prescribed eyeglasses. Betty's comment about the hair loss was more realistic, but wasn't a medical diagnosis. Except for her optometrist, Vickie was not examined or treated by a physician. In the interview (as summarized by Schuessler) Betty did not describe Chinooks, just standard helicopters: 'She said they could see each helicopter and she counted 23. Each had little lights and a big rotor on top and a small one on the rear. She thought they were military but didn't actually see military markings.' As Schuessler homogenized the varying accounts of the witnesses' story into a single narrative, some of the early details like this were rewritten, and in time the witnesses used his version instead of their own. However, they were not always consistent. In the Bergstrom interview, for some reason Betty changed her story. When asked if the helicopters had markings, she said: 'Yes, they sure did.' Asked to describe them, she said, 'They had “United States Air Force”.' The first hint of the 'secrecy pact' comes in Betty Cash's discussion of her cardiologist, Dr. Shenoy: 'She didn't tell him about the object when she went in for the first time. He just thought she had a burn of some kind, perhaps chemical. On a later visit, Vicky told him of the cause.' Schuessler was interested in learning more, and arranged to meet with Betty in person the next day at her brother's apartment in Houston for an interview. Betty told Schuessler the story again, with some further details emerging. She mentioned the trio searching for a bingo game, then describing the sighting, Betty says she was the first to see the UFO as a bright light in the sky, but in some later versions, it is Colby who spots it first. Betty describes the UFO's fiery discharge: 'Flames periodically shot downward from a point on the bottom of the glowing mass.' The description is lacking on precise details, like the proximity of the UFO to the witnesses: 'They stopped the car in the road a short distance from the bright thing.' As to the UFO itself, 'Because the light was so bright Betty couldn't see details of the object.' She was better able to describe the associated sounds and sights, the beeping noise and, 'Flames showered downward. Each time it happened they could hear a swoosh – swoosh like a flame thrower. The whole area had a great sound – a roar.' The UFO was described as lighting up the whole sky: 'Betty thinks air controllers at Houston Intercontinental Airport must have seen the bright thing – also all the helicopters.' At the Bergstrom AFB interview she insisted that the brilliance had been witnessed, but didn't say by just who: 'it was seen as far as fifty miles away from where we were.' Betty describes the trip home and onset of symptoms. Schuessler reports that Betty said 'the day after the incident' Vickie reported the incident to 'Mr. Ward, a Dayton Policeman.' Vickie gave the same name of Ward later (conference 3/15/81), but she had it wrong. It was actually Dayton Police Chief Tommy Waring, and it's odd that both Vickie and Betty would mistake the of one of the most prominent public figures in their small town. The other big error was in stating that the UFO was reported the next day, but we can't tell if that was Betty's mistake or from Schuessler misunderstanding her. It's documented that Vickie told Chief Waring about the incident at the end of January, a full month after the incident, a day or so after Dr. Shenoy was first told about the UFO. Betty gave general information about her hospital stay, care and tests, her prescriptions, and her mother's address in Alabama where she'd be moving. Schuessler noted her appearance and took photographs. 'Betty is constantly tired, has a continuous headache, and cannot work. Her hair still remains patchy, but appears it will grow back.' There was no mention of Schuessler examining the car or having Betty act out the sighting in these notes (as stated in his book). All that's mentioned is that: 'Betty's car is a 1980 Cutlass Supreme lic. no. VAS-217 (Texas)' The report ends with an odd fact, another that was dropped from later accounts. Upon her release, Betty's cardiologist, Dr. Shenoy urged her to see the UFO movie, Hangar 18. 'All she got out of the movie was the government conspiracy aspect.' After the interview with Betty, Schuessler called Vickie Landrum and set up an appointment to meet her at her residence the next week. It's worth noting here that shortly after this interview with Schuessler, Betty Cash permanently moved back to Alabama. Despite her health problems she frequently returned to Texas for during the early 1980s, and other than on those occasions, follow up interviews were conducted by telephone. Vickie Landrum continued to live in Dayton, and as a result he developed a closer relationship with her. Consequently, Schuessler relied more heavily on Vickie's version of the events. John Schuessler and fellow MUFON and Project VISIT member Alan Holt met Vickie and Colby Landrum, then traveled with them to the FM 1485 in search of the sighting location. The report records Vickie's description of the restaurant stop in New Caney, however, there's no mention of them searching for a bingo game. Schuessler's description of the sighting area has a passing reference to the interview of a potential witness: 'The site of the incident is near the lake, so there are businesses, trailers, cabins, etc. periodically throughout the area, however it is sparsely settled. Near the incident site is an occupied trailer home, but the lady living there said they were in bed by 8 PM, about an hour before the sighting.' That non-witness testimony is perhaps one of the most valuable pieces of evidence in the case. The couple were not disturbed by the UFO lighting up the whole sky or the noise from it and the roar of the overflight of twenty or more military helicopters. 'As the object hung above the road Vicky could hear a roar "like a hurricane." Then when the flames would belch out the noise would be a woosh.' The report contains a drawing of Vickie's fingernails labeled: 'Vicky's fingernails, left hand only are damaged. That hand was on top of the car... Each nail has an indentation, line-like, across from side to side – now partially grown out.' Supposedly, these were photographed, later fell off and were sent off for analysis, but none of that evidence is contained in the files or subsequent case literature. The fingernails were once considered by Dr. Peter Rank to be the strongest evidence to show that Vickie had been exposed to ionizing radiation, but nothing came of it. There was some disharmony over the number of helicopters and when they first arrived: 'Vicky and Betty only saw object during the close encounter – no helicopters. As it rose and flew away there were more than 20 helicopters, although Vicky admitted that they moved around a lot and a few might have gotten more than once. Even so, she is positive that there were 10–12 or more – no doubt about it.' 'Colby says he saw helicopters all during the event, even when the object was low over the road. He is quite sure of that.' Vickie described the helicopters, among them Chinooks (CH-47s): 'Vicky says there were two kinds of helicopters involved – maybe more. One kind was large and smooth running with a very large rotor on top. Another had two rotors on top, but one was above the other slightly.' (Illustration: Sketch of overlapping rotors.) Vickie's description of the sighting indicates that the flock of helicopters must have flown over the entire town of Huffman: 'They could still hear the roar of helicopters at 4 (the stop sign on the far edge of Huffman, by FM 1960).' There's mention of another fiery UFO in the area: 'Vicky truly feels that this was not anything unnatural. She believes the U.S. government was transporting and escorting something dangerous through the area. (Her son mentioned a similar incident near the lake about 6 months earlier where a fiery object landed and burned 300 ft of grass).' The report does not definitely state they found the exact sighting location: 'The location of the close encounter was on Huffman New Caney road near the Inland road intersection. We parked along the road and walked as a group to the spot where Vicky believed they stopped their car on 29 Dec 80.' There's no mention of any landmarks at the scene like a UFO burn to the road, a claim that would later surface in 1982 as part of the legend of road being repaved to destroy evidence. Schuessler drew a map based on the spot she chose, measuring the driving distance from it to the edge of Huffman at FM 1960, where they last counted the helicopters at the stop sign. The total distance was over seven miles. Alan Holt filed a separate set of handwritten notes about the interview, but he recorded many of the same points, but also some that Schuessler had missed or omitted. Holt also noted that Vickie: 'Had the impression that the "helicopters were transporting something".' This phrase is very interesting, as it mirrors something said to Betty by Dr. Shenoy. From Allan Hendry's report: 'Oddly, he told Betty a story about the government working on "something" in North or South Carolina that is being transported across the U.S.' There's an interesting bit of trivia regarding the aftermath: 'Colby had a dream about a little spaceman, "man inside it, little bitty, 2 ft. tall"' Holt also noted the claim of an earlier UFO and provides further details: 'Near Sire Lake 6 months ago a UFO sighting occurred- grass was burned off.' Holt briefly described the visit to the sighting locations. Again, there's no mention of a UFO burn to the road: 'Visited 3 sites where object was sighted. – nothing observed as far as evidence. – road well traveled in daytime.' A later addition to Holt's report was a memo describing his undated 'Conversation with Bill English' of APRO who claimed to have located the story of 3 other witnesses to the UFO in a Liberty newspaper. However the name of the paper English gave did not exist, and the story was not located. There's also the notation, 'Vickie Landrum's doctor refused to treat her.' That makes little sense in context, but in Allan Hendry's report, Vickie told him that while searching for a doctor to help Betty, 'She told a Dr. Wilson about the UFO and claims the doctor didn't want to deal with her... presumably, she feels because of the UFO aspect.' That's interesting, because if true, has Vickie violating the 'secrecy pact' within days of agreeing to it. Holt's other addendum was 'Helicopter Investigation,' dated 3/10/81. He called military bases within range, but none had flights of copters during the date of the sighting. The most interesting comment came from Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. They did have Chinooks, but less than 20, and were not flying during the holiday period between Christmas and New Year's. The representative told him about the only time they'd have that many helicopter flying, which was during scheduled massive field exercises. Holt jotted down: 'Robert Gray Field – exercise in the local area where 100 helicopters come in from the field all at one time "for effect".' This quote would later surface, famously twisted into evidence the military had admitted, then denied a helicopter operation the night of the incident. In 1982, John Schuessler told Lt. Col. Sarran about the '100 helicopters' during a phone conversation briefing him for the DAIG investigation into the incident. Sarran's documents of the investigation later surfaced in a FOIA response, and among his notes from the Schuessler conversation were the words, '- 100 helicopters- Robert Grey airfield, came in, for effect.' It was the smoking gun that never was. The case file shows that the basic story of the UFO encounter remained fairly consistent over the years. The stop by the fishing bridge and the sighting during the drive through Huffman may have been de-emphasized from later versions, possibly to avoid questions about why people in these more populated areas didn't report the light or sounds from the UFO and helicopters. It was only the claims about the hospital stay and injuries that seemed to be exaggerated over time. That, and associated other rumors like the road being hauled away and repaved in the dark of night. What always stayed the same was the story of what they saw over the road that night. After the initial report, Schuessler continued investigating the case and took on a role as an advocate for the witnesses, and also helped them publicize their story in the news media, appearing with them on television shows like Good Morning America and That's Incredible! Schuessler also used their media appearances to appeal to the public to come forward with information about the case, and several new witnesses to the UFO or the helicopters were recruited in this way. The National Enquirer helped fund the first hypnosis session of Vickie Landrum, from which new details were produced that Schuessler considered genuine, like the odor of 'lighter fluid' imagined to be helicopter fuel, and 'little blue lights,' which became attached to the UFO description. Most of the other leads produced in the case came from the news media reporters covering the story, or in military sources during the Pentagon-directed DAIG investigation. Some of the most significant developments came from the witnesses themselves, by taking the initiative to write their Senators and to travel to Bergstrom Air Force base to pursue answers and resolution. That led to the legal effort, and although it failed, the resulting publicity presented the chance that it would prompt someone to come forward with tangible evidence. Schuessler continued to report on the case, but none of the information that surfaced in the years that followed matched the substance of what was contained in the original 1981 report of the sighting by Betty Cash, Colby and Vickie Landrum.