On evening of Monday, December 29, 1980, Betty, Vickie and Vickie’s seven-year-old grandson, Colby Landrum were traveling in Betty’s Oldsmobile Cutlass, looking for a bingo game. They had been to a few likely spots in several small towns in the area, near Houston and found that all bingo games had been cancelled for the holidays. Failing to find a game, they decided to stop to get a meal at a roadside restaurant in New Caney, Texas, about thirty-five mile north of Houston. It was around 8:25pm when they left the restaurant to make the return trip to Dayton.

They were traveling east on farm-to-market road FM1485 at about 9pm when Colby spotted a bright light above the trees. It was assumed that it was an aircraft lining up for a landing at Houston Intercontinental Airport about thirty-five miles to the south.

FM1485 was a two-lane blacktop road that wound its way through the east Texas pines, running generally east/west from New Caney to a point several miles away where it met FM 2100. At that time, it was sparsely settled with long stretches of almost no traffic.

A few minutes after the initial sighting, they saw the light again. This time it was barely above the treetops and much brighter. The bright light according to Cash, Landrum and her grandson was coming from a huge diamond-shaped object that was positioned in the air, at a very low altitude directly in front of them. The object was expelling flames downward with a tremendous heat. It seemed as the flames became more intense, the craft rose a bit.

Cash stopped the car immediately, fearing they would be burned if they drove any closer. She considered backing up and turning around, but the road was dark and narrow and the shoulders were soft from an earlier rain.

After a few moments, the three got out of the car to get a better view of the object. Vickie Landrum stood next to the open passenger door with her left hand resting on the top of the car. The object was only an estimated 60 meters away, with its light illuminating the trees. Had the object not been over the narrow paved road, the flames that shot from its underside would have set fire to the forest. It appeared to have been constructed from a dull-looking aluminum that glowed brightly. There were blue spots, possibly lights, around the center of the object.

Vickie Landrum was a religious lady and as her grandson became more and more frightened, she comforted him by explaining that it was Jesus, returning as he had promised. And she added that Jesus would not hurt them.

Regardless, Colby begged his grandmother to get back in the car. After being out of the car for about three minutes, Vickie got back in the car to comfort Colby.

As Vickie comforted Colby, she noted that Betty had walked around to the front of the car, in the direct light emitted by the object. As Vickie screamed at her to get back in the car, Betty stood there staring in awe at the object. Helicopters arrived on the scene. Eventually, the object rose and moved out of the area as did the helicopters. The heat had burned Betty’s skin; she returned to the car. The exterior of the car was so hot that she had to use her leather coat as protection for her hand when she grabbed the door handle.