Driving home from their holiday along an isolated road, Betty and Barney Hill observed what they believed to be a shooting star in the sky.
An Unidentified Flying Object
After speculating as to what the disc shaped aircraft in the sky could be, Betty urged her husband to pull over. Whilst Barney was walking their pet dog, Betty continued to watch the object in the sky.
After continuing their journey, the couple noticed the strange craft seemed to come closer to their car and retreat, causing Barney to stop in the middle of the highway.
Viewing Extra Terrestrials
Grabbing his binoculars, Barney stepped out on to the road and moved closer. The object was now only about 100 feet above the couples’ car. After claiming to see several humanoid figures, Barney ran back to the car and drove off at speed.
Upon arriving home, the couple began to notice strange things, Betty noticed a pink powdery substance on her dress while Barney realised he had scuffs on his shoes and that the strap on his binoculars was broken.
UFO Investigation into Betty and Barney Hill's Incident
Within two weeks of the incident, Betty started having vivid nightmares about being subjected to physical examinations by humanoid creatures. After writing to Major Donald E. Keyhoe, head of National Investigators Committee on Aerial Phenomenon, the couple were interviewed by Walter N. Webb in October 1961, an astronomer and NICAP member, who was sceptical of their claims.
In another interview conducted by two other NICAP members, C.D. Jackson and Robert E. Hohman in November 1961, it was noted that the couple had taken nearly seven hours to complete what should have a four hour journey; neither one could account for the missing time.
Hypnosis was suggested as a possible solution for the memory block.
Hypnosis of Betty and Barney Hill
At the beginning of 1964, Betty and Barney Hill visited Dr. Benjamin Simon to undergo hypnosis. Dr. Simon worked with each of them separately to ensure neither one could influence the other.
Under hypnoses, Barney recounted driving the car off the road into a wooded area, and being met by six humanoid figures that were about five feet tall with very large eyes that wrapped around the sides of their heads.
Barney recounted having bodily fluid samples taken and being thoroughly examined. Betty’s recollections were very similar to the nightmares she had previously experienced, however, she remembered having a long needle injected into her abdomen, which Betty was told was a pregnancy test.
Betty reported having a conversation with her captors, asking where they were from and being shown a star map in explanation, which has been identified by some as the Zeta Reticuli star system.
Dr. Simon did not believe the events described actually occurred and theorised that Barney’s memories could have been fantasies created as a reaction to his wife’s nightmares.
Analysis of the Hills' Alien Abduction Story
A number of explanations have been put forward regarding the events described by the Hills’. It has been noted that the aliens described were similar to those featured in an episode of TV show The Outer Limits broadcast about two weeks before the couple started hypnotherapy.
Another explanation claimed the couple experienced an hallucination brought on by the stress of being a mixed race couple (Betty was Caucasian and Barney African American) at a time when this was controversial.
Barney Hill passed away in 1969, having become convinced that he had experienced an alien abduction. Betty became active in UFO and abduction research, holding to her version of events up until her death in 2004.
Sources:
- Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience: The True Story of the World’s First Documented Alien Abduction, Stanton T. Friedman & Kathleen Marden (New Page Books, US 2007).
- Interrupted Journey, John G. Fuller (Berkley Publishing Group).
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