Some UFO witnesses report eye pain, swelling, or temporary blindness after looking at a very bright light. Bright light from any source can cause this, so the reports do not by themselves point to anything unusual.
Term: Flash blindness: a temporary loss of vision after a sudden, very bright light. It usually clears in minutes but can last longer.
Term: Photokeratitis: a painful burn of the eye’s surface from ultraviolet light, known as welder’s flash. Pain often starts hours after exposure.
Can a UFO Blind You?
Some UFO witnesses report eye pain, swelling, or temporary blindness after looking at a very bright light. Bright light from any source can cause this, so the reports do not by themselves point to anything unusual. The Cash-Landrum case of 1980 is the best-known example. Whether the light in such cases came from an unknown object is not settled.
What witnesses report
In the Cash-Landrum case, Betty Cash and Vickie Landrum reported eye pain and vision problems after looking at the brilliant object, and Betty’s eyes swelled shut in the following hours. Other witnesses have described a flash of white light so intense that they could not see for minutes or, in some accounts, hours. Some say their eyes were sensitive to light for days.
What ordinary bright light can do
A sudden, intense light can cause flash blindness, which usually clears within minutes. Ultraviolet light can burn the surface of the eye, a condition called photokeratitis, and the pain often begins several hours after exposure. Looking at the sun can also damage the retina. So reports of eye pain and vision loss after a bright light are consistent with ordinary causes.
Why the question stays open
The ordinary explanations do not tell us what produced the light. In a case like Cash-Landrum, the witnesses said the light was accompanied by heat. Those reports rest on the witnesses’ statements, and no one measured the light.
An older parallel
In Acts 9:3 to 9, Saul of Tarsus was traveling to Damascus when a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and could not see for three days. The passage presents this as an encounter with the risen Christ. It is a different kind of event from a UFO report, and the comparison is only about the effect of a bright light.
What is solid and what is not
Bright light causes temporary blindness and eye pain, and witnesses in several cases reported both. What made the light in those cases is not established. Temporary blindness is among the nine effects in my book Disclosure: They Are Not Extraterrestrials. Disclosure is available on Amazon. You can find more of my work at ckqbooks.com.
Sources
Wikipedia, Cash-Landrum incident. Standard ophthalmology references on flash blindness, photokeratitis, and solar retinopathy. Acts 9 (King James Version).
CK Quarterman. CK Quarterman is a USAF veteran, independent author, and publisher at CKQbooks (ckqbooks.com). He writes nonfiction under the Malaterrestrials brand. The concept of malaterrestrials describes evil earthbound non-human intelligences, as distinct from the holy angels of heaven. Truth · History · Scripture.
Topics
Related CKQ Book
Disclosure
They Are Not Extraterrestrials
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