UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN

On October 5, 2015, here at Mysterious Universe, Micah Hanks wrote an article titled “The Cash-Landrum Incident: Was a Nuclear Aircraft Involved?” Micah’s article began as follows: “Of all the best-known and often reviewed UFO cases of the last few decades, many would contend that one of the most puzzling had been the Cash-Landrum incident, which occurred near Dayton, Texas on 29 December, 1980. The story, well known in UFO circles, involved two women: Betty Cash and Vicky Landrum, as well as Vicky’s grandson Colby, all of whom purportedly observed an unusual, very bright source of illumination over a country road on the night in question. After seemingly hovering above the highway for several minutes, the strange object was surrounded by a group of helicopters in tight formation, and removed from the area, according to the witnesses.”

As Micah’s feature demonstrated, there are good reasons to suspect that the cause of the still-controversial affair was not due to the presence of a UFO – as many people conclude (or who may want to believe). Rather, the vehicle may have been a prototype nuclear-powered vehicle built and flown by the U.S. military. Micah’s article focuses on a lot of thought-provoking data, all of which points in that specific direction. There is a good reason I mention all of this today: another source claimed to have been given information that also supported this particular down-to-earth theory. That source was the late Tom Adams, who spent a lot of time from the 1970s onward investigating matters relative to black helicopters and cattle mutilations. Adams’ connection to the December 1980 incident is not that well known, which is why I have decided to highlight it for you today.

It was while he was digging deep into stories of those aforementioned mutilations and strange helicopters that Adams came across an intrigue-filled story. On one occasion, Adams had the opportunity to speak with a man that Adams referred to as “Tony.” Yes, and before anyone quickly brings the matter up, I fully realize that relying on sources who use aliases is hardly something that can be said to be preferable or ideal. Sometimes, though, that is just how it goes. And particularly so when it’s the source who is calling all of the shots. That was exactly the case when it came to the matter of Tom Adams, Tony, and the 1980 Cash-Landrum incident. Tony – a military helicopter pilot – had spent time working at Fort Hood, Texas, and as a result had come across certain data on the infamous story.

According to the account told to Tom Adams by Tony, it all went down late one night, in December 1980. It was a night which Tony couldn’t fail to forget, as it was just a couple of days after Christmas 1980. Tony and his colleagues were quickly ordered to take to the skies and head out to Huffman, Texas. All of the crews were told to keep a careful look-out for what was described by Tony as an “unusual aircraft.” Rather significantly, the helicopter crews were also told to get as close to the craft as they possibly could, but without causing a disaster in the process. Incredibly, at one point the pilots were told that, if it came to it and there was no alternative, they should try and force the aircraft to the ground, using the weight of the helicopters to push it down. Which, surely, would have been an incredibly precarious situation for the men to find themselves in.

Tony continued with his story and told Tom Adams that as they closed in on Huffman, they couldn’t fail to see the strange thing in the sky. Tony stated that it was “throwing off sparks like a 4th of July sparkler.” For around seven to ten miles they “shadowed” the object, after which an order came through to abort and head back to base, which, Tony added, is precisely what they all did. Only a few days later, Tony was given the full story of what happened that night – from a colleague at Fort Hood. The UFO was nothing of the sort. It was a prototype, nuclear-powered vehicle that had malfunctioned and which was in danger of crashing to the ground. Fortunately, the glitch was eventually rectified and the craft continued on its original course – hence the reason why the helicopter pilots were told to abort.

There may still be those out there who yearn for the craft to have been an alien spacecraft. But, what’s more likely: a UFO from a faraway galaxy or an advanced craft of the military that malfunctioned at just about the worst time possible? My money is on the second scenario.

Just five months after Betty and Barney Hill’s late night encounter in September 1961, a similar incident occurred in the U.K. In this case, the witness was a man named Ronald Wildman. It was in the early hours of February 9, 1962 that Wildman had an extraordinary experience, one which led him to fully believe he had seen a UFO at very close quarters. So amazed, and even slightly unsettled, by what occurred, Wildman contacted the local police. It was via the police that the U.K.’s Air Ministry (today, called the Ministry of Defense) came to hear about the story. The press, who were tipped off by someone in the police, gave the story more than a bit of coverage, which led the U.K.’s UFO research community to descend on Wildman and pick his brains about what he saw, too.

Behind the scenes, the military was taking a very close watch of Wildman and his experience. That much can be proved: the old Air Ministry file on the man and his encounter has been released into the public domain and can be accessed in person at the National Archives, Kew, England. The Wildman file runs from 1962 to 1964 and is predominantly comprised of clippings taken from newspapers, from various issues of Flying Saucer Review magazine – which was a highly popular publication for UFO enthusiasts, particularly so in the 1960s and 1970s – and from other newsletters and journals on the issue of Flying Saucers. The file contains something else too, as you will now learn.

Exactly one week after the furor concerning Ronald Wildman’s encounter calmed down, an employee of the British Royal Air Force’s Provost and Security Services paid a quiet visit to the local police, to get all of the data they had in-hand. It should be noted that the P&SS was an elite arm of the Royal Air Force. Its employees typically got involved in the investigation of terrorist threats against the military. They were experts in the fields of disinformation and espionage, and are skilled in the domain of counterintelligence. That the Air Ministry felt it was important for Wildman’s case to be investigated by the P&SS speaks volumes for its credibility. With that all said, let’s take a look at the initial report prepared by P&SS officer Sergeant C.J. Perry. He wrote:

“At Aylesbury on 16^th February 1962, at 1530 hrs., I visited the Civil Police and requested information on an alleged ‘Flying Saucer’ incident. I was afforded every facility by the Civil Police authorities and although no official report had been made, details of the incident were recorded in the Station Occurrence book. The details are as follows: Mr. Ronald Wildman of Luton, a car collection driver, was traveling along the Aston Clinton road at about 0330 hrs. on 9^th February 1962 when he came upon an object like a hovercraft flying approximately 30 feet above the road surface. As he approached he was traveling at 40 mph but an unknown force slowed him down to 20 mph over a distance of 400 yrd., then the object suddenly flew off. He described the object as being about 40 feet wide, oval in shape with a number of small portholes around the bottom edge. It emitted a fluorescent glow but was otherwise not illuminated. Mr. Wildman reported the incident to a police patrol who notified the Duty Sergeant, Sergeant Schofield. A radio patrol car was dispatched to the area but no further trace of the ‘Flying Saucer’ was seen. It was the opinion of the local police that the report by Mr. Wildman was perfectly genuine and the experience was not a figment of imagination. They saw that he was obviously shaken. I spoke to Sergeant Schofield and one of the Constables to whom the incident was reported. Both were convinced that Mr. Wildman was genuinely upset by his experience.”

As interesting as the above report certainly is, a follow-up report from Sergeant Perry reveals something more. It’s something that is presented only as a passing reference, but which – from the perspective of the story you are reading – is incredibly important. Following a return visit to see Sergeant Schofield, Sergeant Perry wrote in his report that the police had failed to mention one particular thing in the initial discussion. At the time, the police didn’t feel it was too important. Namely, that when he spoke with the police, Ronald Wildman was “muddled about the time.” Regrettably, these four words are not expanded on, but as brief as they are, they suggest there was some degree of missing hours; that Wildman believed the time-frame of the encounter was very different to what it reallywas.

There is one more important factor in this story: copies of Sergeant Schofield’s report on the Wildman incident were copied to a division of the Air Ministry called A.I. (Tech) 5(b). The “A.I.” stands for “Air Intelligence.” Many years ago A.I. (Tech) 5(b) was absorbed into the Ministry of Defense’s Defense Intelligence Staff. For a case which involved a man whose car was briefly affected by a close encounter with a UFO, this is an extraordinary high degree of interest – all displayed by covert branches of the U.K.’s military and intelligence services.