No vehicle similar to it has been declassified or discovered, and the only (known) things remotely similar were built several years later after the incident.
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The Galaxy Invader Moviecraft Entertainment
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The UFO
The Cash-Landrum UFO's size is not precisely known, but we do have estimates from the witnesses. It was compared in size to the tank of a water tower, but their guesses of figures varied: |
| Early sketch approved by the witnesses. |
Vickie Landrum: Height: 25 ft Diameter: 12ft (1981)
Betty Cash: Height: 50 ft Diameter: 25ft (1981)
Colby Landrum: Height: 100 ft Diameter: 50ft (2013)
To try reaching a better understanding of the size, mass and flight characteristics of the UFO, below are a few estimates of identified flying objects for caparison, not to suggest them as suspects.
The Space Shuttle
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| The US Space Shuttle |
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| (Columbia weighed 178,000 pounds.)
The Space Shuttle must be launched by a booster or another craft, and is not capable of independent vertical flight. It provides the best example of 1980 technology to produce a space vehicle.
Harrier V/STOL Aircraft |
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| Harrier Jet |
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| Wingspan: 30 feet 4 inches Length: 46 feet 4 inches Height: 11 feet 8 inches Weight: 31,000 pounds |
Hot Air Balloon
A typical hot air balloon is 63 feet in height and 55 feet in diameter.
The weight is 214 pounds for the envelope and 450 pounds for the entire system including fuel and passengers.
Hot air balloons lift off vertically, but horizontal flight depends on reaching a favorable wind current in the desired direction.
DC-X, The McDonnell Douglas Delta Clipper
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| The McDonnell Douglas Delta Clipper |
For comparison, here are the specifications on the Delta Clipper:
DC-XA; Delta Clipper-Experimental; Delta Clipper Experimental; SX-1; Clipper Graham.
Status: Retired 1996.
Gross mass: 16,320 kg (35,970 lb).
Height: 14.00 m (45.00 ft).
Diameter: 3.05 m (10.00 ft).
Span: 4.10 m (13.40 ft).
Thrust: 223.00 kN (50,132 lbf).
Apogee: 3.00 km (1.80 mi).
First Launch: 1993.08.18.
Last Launch: 1995.07.07.
The DC-X came many years too late to be a plausible candidate, but provides an interesting comparison because it is a close match to the average of the sizes reported and should approximate the mass of the UFO. If it was something the size of the Delta Clipper, that reduces the chances of it being a manned craft to near zero.
The DC-X film below provides an interesting visualization of what a real craft might have looked like in flight.
If the UFO was a man-made secret US military project as the witness believed, it is unlike anything produced at the time or since. That takes us back to the big question:
What was it, and just where did it came from?
