find any evidence that the helicopters the witnesses claimed to have seen belonged to the U.S. Armed Forces. Sarran stated that "Ms. Landrum and Ms. Cash were credible ... the policeman and his wife [who claimed to have seen 12 helicopters near the UFO encounter site] were also credible witnesses. There was no perception that anyone was trying to exaggerate the truth." (quoted in Clark, 177) In 1998, journalist and UFO skeptic Philip J. Klass, found a few reasons to doubt the story by Cash and Landrum: In 1994, UFO skeptic Steuart Campbell suggested that the witnesses may have observed a mirage of Canopus, which lay exactly in line with the road, although it was 26° below the horizon at that time and location. Other UFO researchers point out that high-energy ionizing radiation of the kind that can cause damage to human beings, such as gamma radiation, does not induce radioactivity in objects and would not have left behind any residual radioactivity in the area. Similarly, skeptical British ufologist Peter Brookesmith writes, "Sceptics have always asked a blunt and fundamental question: What was the trio's state of health before their alleged encounter?" Brookesmith also wrote: "To ufologists, the case is perhaps the most baffling and frustrating of modern times, for what started with solid evidence for a notoriously elusive phenomenon petered out in a maze of dead ends, denials, and perhaps even official deviousness." In December 2018, Brian Dunning investigated the case and reported his findings on the Skeptoid podcast. He found that Cash's doctor's notes attribute her hair loss to the autoimmune disease alopecia areata, that her other symptoms could be caused by illness that started before the incident, and that Landrum's only documented illness is developing cataract in one eye. Dunning concludes: According to Texas Monthly, "To this day, there is no conclusive explanation of the night’s events." See also List of reported UFO sightings Unidentified flying object References Further reading Clark, Jerome, The UFO Encyclopedia: The Phenomenon from the Beginning, Volume 1: A–K (second edition); Detroit: Omnigraphics, 1998; Corpus Christi Caller – Texas Scripps Newspapers, L.P. A Scripps Howard newspaper. External links Transcript of Bergstrom AFB Interview of Betty Cash, Vickie and Colby Landrum August 1981 (part 1 of 2) Transcript of Bergstrom AFB Interview of Betty Cash, Vickie and Colby Landrum August 1981 (part 2 of 2) Close Encounters of the Lone Star Kind, 1980: Dayton,