Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum, and her 7 year-old grandson Colby Landrum were driving home to Dayton (near the city of Houston, TX) on the evening of December 29, 1980. At around 9:00 PM, they were traveling on highway FM1485 when Colby sighted a bright light moving through the trees ahead of them. As they drove closer, the light got brighter until they could feel the heat emanating from it. They described this object as "a diamond of fire".

Betty, who was driving the car, hit the brakes very hard. The UFO hovered about 180 feet above the road but descended to about 25 feet. The three witnesses were beginning to feel the heat at an extreme temperature and it was burning their skin. Mrs. Landrum opened the door and got out of the car. She noticed that even the asphalt was being heated at such a high degree that it was softened. At this range, she could make out certain details of the flying craft. She said it appeared to be made of some sort of "dull aluminum". The heat was becoming so great that, by this time, Colby began begging his grandmother to get back into the car. The car was so hot that she could not touch the door handles with her hands. She was trapped outside of the car.

All of the sudden, a crowd of helicopters appeared in every direction. They seemed to be trapping the UFO. Mrs. Landrum did manage to get back into the car after this event. They drove a few miles down the road where they could only see the UFO from a distance and they counted a total of 23 different aircraft that engaged this mysterious object in the sky.

That was only the beginning. All three of the witnesses were severely sick within the next few hours of the encounter. They developed painful swellings of the eyes, stomach trouble, and sunburn-like rashes on their skin. Doctor reports indicate the symptom they received were consistent to exposure to intense electromagnetic radiation.