On December 29, 1980, Betty Cash, her friend Vickie Landrum, and Vickie's seven-year-old grandson Colby were driving on FM 1485 in Huffman, Texas, when they encountered a large diamond-shaped object emitting intense heat and flames hovering above the road at treetop height. The craft was accompanied by 23 military CH-47 Chinook helicopters that appeared to be escorting or controlling it. The three witnesses exited the car and observed the craft for approximately 20 minutes — Cash, who had exited and stood in the road, received the most exposure. In the days following, all three developed symptoms consistent with radiation exposure: hair loss, nausea, vomiting, eye inflammation, blisters, and skin lesions. Betty Cash was hospitalized for weeks and received cancer treatment. She died in 1998 from what physicians described as radiation-induced illness. Vickie Landrum suffered similar but less severe symptoms; Colby suffered eye problems. The pair consulted radiation physicians, the US Army, and NASA. Unable to obtain acknowledgment or compensation through informal channels, Cash and Landrum filed a $20 million lawsuit against the US government — the only known federal lawsuit by US citizens claiming injury from a UAP escorted by US military aircraft. The case was dismissed in 1986 on the grounds that no branch of the government could be identified as owning the craft or the Chinooks, but the injuries were medically documented and never explained.