The Alien Abduction of Betty and Barney Hill

Betty and Barney Hill were an ordinary American couple who alleged they were abducted by aliens in the year 1961, between September 19 to 20 in a rural area of New Hampshire. It was the first widely published report in the United States of an alien abduction.

The two were traveling back to Portsmouth following a trip to Montreal, Canada, when they noticed lights approaching from the sky in the middle of the night. What happened next is the first well-documented, perhaps authentic UFO abduction in US history.

Betty and Barney Hill
Betty and Barney Hill

The pair claimed they observed bipedal humanoid aliens through the glass of a giant spacecraft that landed in a field and had no recollection of the next two hours. They returned to Portsmouth, unable to explain the two hours that passed.

How did Aliens Abduct Betty and Barney Hill?

As Barneys drove, an unusual light in the sky gave yet another incentive to hurry. At first, it appeared to be a falling star, but it became more prominent and brighter with each mile. Barney, an expert aviation watcher, and WWII veteran was confident they had nothing to worry about. He told Betty that it was merely a satellite. It most likely deviated from the intended path.

As Barney drove down the winding mountain road, the light seemed to move with him. The light moved, disappearing behind woods and mountain ranges before reappearing moments later. It appeared to be playing cat and mouse with them at times. They reasoned that it had to be a trick of the light. Perhaps the movement of the car caused the light to appear to move as well.

couple photo of barney and betty hill
Betty and Barney Hill couple photo

The item was hovering about 100 feet over the treetops about 70 miles past the diner. Barney abruptly came to a halt, leaving the engine running. He fled into a dark field, leaving Betty in the car, clutching a revolver he’d hidden behind the seat. He saw something as huge as a jet yet round and flat as a pancake.

Gray uniformed individuals behind rows of windows stared right at him, Barney recalled. He attempted to raise his hand to his revolver but could not do so. He was ordered not to put down his binoculars by a voice.

He got a frightening realization: we’re about to be apprehended. He hurried back to the car, yelling furiously, and barreled down the road, Betty craning her head outside the car window, tracking the craft. The car’s trunk emitted loud, rhythmic beeps without explanation. The couple became tired and unconscious almost immediately.

When they arrived home, there were strange scratches on their automobile, and the zipper on Betty’s dress was damaged and discolored. The strap on Barney’s binoculars had come undone.

Barneys explaining the abduction
Barneys explaining the abduction – Credits Bettmann Archive

The couple kept the incident a secret for the most part. Still, after enduring nightmares and anxiety, they tried hypnosis to see if there were any buried memories of the event.

There appears to have been. Betty and Barney Hill describe boarding a saucer-like aircraft and being led into separate rooms to be physically assessed, which the hypnotist videotaped. Betty was scared by the monsters, and the encounter was captured on tape.

A Boston reporter eventually picked up the couple’s story, and readers were eager to learn more.

What Happened Following the Incident

Betty began having intense dreams ten days following the reported UFO encounter. They went on for five nights in a row. Never before had she remembered a dream in such detail and intensity. They unexpectedly stopped after five nights and never returned. During the day, they occupied her mind. When she told Barney about them, he was empathetic but unconcerned, and the topic was abandoned. Betty never mentioned them to Barney again.

Betty began writing down the events of her dreams in November 1961. In one dream, she and Barney came upon a roadblock and were encircled by men. She lost consciousness and had to fight to regain it. Then she realized she was being forced to travel in a forest at night by two small men, and she noticed Barney following after her. However, when she shouted to him, he appeared to be in a trance or sleepwalking.

Alien space ship drawn by alleged alien abductee Betty Hill
Alien space ship drawn by alleged alien abductee Betty Hill – Credits University of New Hampshire

The men were roughly five to five feet four inches tall and wore matching blue uniforms with military cadet helmets. They resembled humans, having black hair, dark eyes, large noses, and bluish lips. Their skin was a light grey tone.

Betty and Barney Hill, with the guys climbed up a ramp into a disc-shaped craft with a metallic look in their dreams. Barney and Betty were separated once inside. She objected and was told by a man she referred to as “the leader” that if she and Barney were examined jointly, the exams would take significantly longer to complete. She and Barney were then separated and put in different rooms.

Betty then dreamed that a freshman, like the others before him, had arrived to conduct her exam with the leader. Betty referred to the newcomer as “the examiner,” and described him as friendly and quiet. Although both the leader and the examiner spoke English to her, the examiner’s command of the language appeared inadequate, and she had difficulties understanding him.

The inspector informed Betty that he would do a few tests to distinguish between humans and the craft’s passengers. He sat her in a chair and placed a bright light on her. The man hacked off Betty’s hair. Her eyes, ears, lips, teeth, throat, and hands were all examined. He saved her fingernail trimmings.

After examining her legs and feet, the man scraped part of her skin onto what looked like cellophane with a dull knife akin to a letter opener. He next tested her neurological system by inserting a needle into her navel, causing Betty excruciating pain, which was relieved when the commander waved his palm in front of her eyes.

Betty hill's star map
Betty hill’s star map

Betty engaged in conversation with the “leader” after the examiner left the room. She chose a book with rows of weird symbols that the “leader” stated she might keep. She also inquired about his origins, and he produced an educational map dotted with stars.

In Betty’s dream, the men were escorting the Hills from the ship when a fight broke out. The leader then told Betty that she couldn’t keep the book since the other men didn’t want her to recall the incident at all. Betty insisted that no matter what they did to her memory, she would remember the events one day.

Conclusion

For many, the Betty and Barney Hill incident is the best proof that extraterrestrials exist. There are probably more plausible possibilities than that aliens abducted Betty and Barney Hill.

It’s worth noting that much of the supposed evidence was revealed under hypnosis. Modern psychologists and psychiatrists no longer use hypnosis to uncover the truth. 

Betty and Barney  Hill grave stones
Betty and Barney Hill grave stones

People in hypnotic states are perfectly capable of generating stories and reacting to the ideas and directions offered by their therapists while awake. Although this prevalent misconception persists, we now know that hypnosis cannot and does not reveal forgotten memories.

Not to mention the star map Betty made while hypnotized. For whatever reason, Aliens appear to prefer to travel solely from one star to another in the same plane.

Certain community members reluctantly admit that many of Betty Hill’s experiences and stories are likely the imaginative dreams of an honest but disturbed woman. With little or no supporting evidence and no eyewitnesses to back up their incredible story,

There is one certainty. If Betty Hill’s map is validated, and if half of what Betty and Barney hill said was true, it will provide compelling evidence that we are not alone in the Universe.

References

https://library.unh.edu/find/archives/collections/betty-barney-hill-papers-1961-2006