890 segments
New Hampshire September 19th 1961, approximately 1030 pm.
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A middle aged couple are driving an alone rural area when they notice a striking irregularity
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It looks like a bright star, but it moves in an unusual way.
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The husband suggests that it is most likely a satellite or a plane, but the more they
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watch it, the less certain they become.
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Curious, they eventually decide to stop the car and get out to get a better look at the
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object using binoculars.
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The fears in the back of their minds are soon confirmed.
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In their words, it was not a plane, nor a satellite, nor any other object familiar to
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More concernedly, it soon became clear, whatever it was, it was heading in their direction.
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The events that were about to unfold received attention from millions around the world
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when the victims' account was, contrary to their wishes, leaked to the public.
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The Vettian-Varney Hill incident would go down as one of the first and one of the most
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important claims in history of encounters was not merely a craft allegedly from another
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world, but the beings said to pilot it.
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It was fundamental towards drawing attention to and shaping public conceptions about alien
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Ladies and gentlemen, hello and welcome to Fire Learning.
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This is the Campfire series.
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Join us as we tell and examine the story of the abduction of Vettian and Varnie Hill.
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Varnie Hill Jr. aged 39, his wife Eunice Elizabeth Hill, who went by Vettian aged 41,
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and their dog, a daxon named Delcy, were traveling along state route 3, making their way to their
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home in Port Smouth, New Hampshire.
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They were on their way home from a brief, spontaneous vacation they had taken to Canada.
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Concerned by reports of an incoming hurricane, they planned to travel late into the night
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and reach home by 3am at the latest.
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The was storm was on the way, they said their sky was clear on this night.
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The area in which they were traveling was a rural, forested, and mountainous area.
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Though it wasn't completely in the middle of nowhere, the area certainly wasn't populace.
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No other cars had passed them on the highway at all that night.
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As night fell, they made a brief stop at a restaurant in Colbrooke, which they left
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The hills were just south of Lancaster-Win at about 10.30pm.
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Mrs. Hill noticed a bright light appearing the southwest sky near the moon and what she
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believed to be the planet Jupiter.
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She wondered if it were a shooting star.
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However, she had doubts from the beginning, namely because the so-called shooting star
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was shooting upward.
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Mr. Hill assumed it was a satellite that had gone off its course.
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As they continued along their journey, the objects seemed to become larger and brighter.
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Eventually, Betty suggested they stop and try to get a better look at the object.
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They would stop multiple times to do so, trying to view it through a pair of 7x50 binoculars.
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As they confirmed that it was not only moving, but observed it change its course erratically,
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Barney began to think, mad in fact insist, that it was a plane or a helicopter, but uncertainty
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began to grow in the back of his mind as well.
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When they stopped near Cannon Mountain, the object was now to their right and they were
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moving in opposite directions.
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Then, they observed it turn around and began moving in their direction.
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Betty believed it was following them.
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At another stop, the object passed in front of the moon and Betty observed what she claimed
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was a wingless, cigar-shaped craft, flashing a series of red, amber, blue, and green lights
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She immediately suspected that the object was a flying saucer.
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Not only had she, like most Americans at the time, heard of the topic before, but her
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sister had actually claimed to have seen UFOs a few years earlier on two separate occasions.
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Barney, however, remained determined that it was an aircraft of some sort, becoming
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frustrated with his wife at the implication of alien spaceships.
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However, details such as the strange movement of the craft and the total lack of sound
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puzzled Betty and, privately, Barney as well.
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Barney began to get the feeling he was being watched.
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The dog began to whine as if it were afraid.
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At some point, Barney grabbed a 32-calibre pistol from his trunk.
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They resumed driving.
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They observed a light on the top of Cannon Mountain go off as the object flew behind the
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The object then reappeared by a rock feature called the Old Man of the Mountain and began
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flying in the same direction as the car.
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As they continued traveling, the hills passed a motel, but made the decision to continue driving
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back into the empty, lonely darkness.
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Not long after, the object, now only a few hundred feet in the air, moved in front of them.
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Betty, who could see it better as Barney was driving, said the object now appeared to have
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a steady white glow and appear to be spinning and moving in an unusual step-like pattern.
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She looked through the binoculars and was startled to see what looked like a huge craft
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of some kind with two rows of windows on it.
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She watched as red lights then appeared on the sides of the object.
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Betty told Barney to stop the car and look.
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He stopped in the middle of the road near an area called Indian Head, got out, and looked.
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The object had, as they described it, swung towards them not more than a short city block
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away and not more than two tree tops high, then began hovering silently in the air.
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Barney equated the shape of the object to a large, glowing pancake, the object which
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he estimated to be larger than a jet airliner, then swung in what was described as a perfect,
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silent arc across the road a few hundred feet in front of him.
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The details of the object, including the row of windows that wrapped around the craft,
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were now plain to see.
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The craft stopped over a field to his left.
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He began walking towards it, while Betty remained in the car.
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He now noticed that the red lights on the sides of the object belonged to two fin-like
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projections that were extending outwards.
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The object remained silent.
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Strangely, though the light of the craft was brilliant, no light fell on the ground.
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The craft slowly descended in his direction as he walked towards it.
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Betty started calling out to him, but he did not hear her.
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He looked through the binoculars again.
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It was then that Barney claimed he saw somewhere around ten figures staring at him from out
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of the object's windows.
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He said the figures were humanoid in appearance, but that they seemed somehow not human.
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They appeared to be wearing glossy black uniforms and black caps with bills on them.
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Then all at once, all but one of the figures moved away from the windows towards the back
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They started operating what looked like levers on what appeared to be some kind of control
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The craft moved in closer.
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The fins extended further out, and some sort of structure compared to something like
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a ladder began to descend from the craft.
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Barney claimed his memory of this part was blurry, but he recalled the slanted eyes of
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the figure remaining at the window, whom he assumed to be the leader, staring at him,
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practically feeling the figure's intense concentration.
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Terrified, Barney took off running back towards the car, hopped in, and took off as fast
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as he could, repeatedly yelling to Betty, quote, they're going to capture us.
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Barney was practically hysterical.
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Betty looked out the window as they drove off, trying to watch the object, but she couldn't
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Although, strangely, she couldn't see any stars in the sky either.
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Then they heard a series of irregular beeping noises, which they said sounded like they were
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bouncing off the trunk of the car.
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They compared the noises to the sound of someone dropping a tuning fork.
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The car vibrated with each beep, and they felt an unusual tingling sensation throughout
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their bodies as it did so.
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A kind of drowsiness came over them, and their awareness of things began to dull.
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Moments later, they weren't quite sure how long, they then heard a second series of
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Their awareness started returning, though such a fog still lay over their minds that they
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were not exactly processing what was happening.
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Barney was still driving.
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They remained silent for a few moments as they tried to figure out where they were.
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Soon they realized they were near Ashland, about 35 miles from where they had encountered
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However, they had very little memory of having driven those 35 miles.
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Their consciousness fully returned to them sometime after that, once they reached state
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route 93, though they were still fairly groggy and disturbed.
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They didn't speak much for the rest of the ride, apart from agreeing not to discuss what
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had just happened with others.
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The craft was nowhere to be seen.
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The hills returned home around 5am, a few hours after they had expected.
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Immediately, the couple noticed and felt a great many abnormal things.
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Neither of them felt right.
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They both felt disturbed, strange, and uncomfortable in a very vague way.
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Both of their watches had stopped and would never run again.
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The strap to their binoculars was inexplicably broken.
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Betty felt a strange compulsion to leave her luggage out of the house and throw the
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food they had taken on the journey away.
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Betty changed her clothes and noticed her new dress, which wasn't good condition before,
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had been torn in a few different locations and had a stain on it.
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She put it away and would not retrieve it for three years.
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The tops of Barney's shoes were scuffed and he had a strange compulsion to examine
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The couple sat down and tried to discuss their experiences, but found that they still had
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difficulty recounting much of it, especially the period between the two series of beeps
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in which they had travelled 35 miles, which was almost completely blank.
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Betty recalled Barney making a sharp turn somewhere, but she wasn't sure where.
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Barney recalled the roadblock of some kind somewhere along their journey.
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They both remembered a, quote, large, luminous moon shape which seemed to be sitting on end
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underneath some pines.
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End quote, however, little more could be recalled, thus they went to bed.
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The incident still haunted them when they woke that afternoon.
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Betty was intensely curious about what had happened.
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Once awake, she would not exactly hold the commitment of keeping it private for more
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She called her sister to talk about the incident that day.
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Barney, however, was not interested in speaking about it.
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In fact, he had entered into a kind of state of denial about it, in which he would persist
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He wasn't sure what had happened, but felt it best to shove it out of his mind and convince
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himself it was nothing.
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Naturally, they were frustrated by each other's opposite approach.
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Upon hearing the story, Betty's sister, called a physicist they knew, asking for advice
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on how to identify any potential evidence.
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The physicist said that if there were any radiation contamination present on the car from the
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craft, a compass might react to it.
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Betty took a compass and went out to the car.
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Upon examining it, she found over a dozen shiny circular spots on the trunk.
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The spots were about half dollar sized and looked like the trunk had been polished in those
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It occurred to her that this was where the beeping noises had come from the night before.
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The compass had not reacted unusually anywhere else on the car, but when she placed it there,
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the needle began to move abnormally.
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Soon, after discussing the incidents with others, it was suggested that they inform a nearby
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Air Force space which was taking UFO sighting reports at the time.
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They did so, however, they left out some of the more bizarre details in their Air Force
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report to avoid appearing like lunatics.
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Regardless, the individual they spoke to took a great interest in their story and passed
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the report on to officials involved in Project Blue Book, the Air Force's study of UFOs.
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After hanging up, they decided to go to separate rooms to draw sketches of what they believed
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had happened in a way to determine what was true and to avoid influencing each other's
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The sketches they produced were very similar.
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Ten days after the incident, Betty had, for five or six nights in a row, a series of
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very intense, realistic dreams.
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She discussed them with some friends from work, one of whom suggested that the dreams
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could be more than just dreams, but in fact repressed memories and convinced Betty to write
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Thankfully, she did, as the dreams would become crucial pieces of the story later on.
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Betty remained very uncomfortable by the topic and continued to try to ignore it, but Betty
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She set off to research as much as she could about UFOs and contacted individuals who were
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involved with the information she found, namely officials involved in the National Investigations
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Committee on Aerial Phenomena, or NICAP.
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NICAP found her story fascinating.
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They sent it to Walter N. Webb, a lecturer at the Hayden Planetarium in Boston, who
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served as one of NICAP's science advisors.
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Webb drove to interview the Hills in person in October.
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Webb was open, but skeptical.
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His interview was extremely thorough, and he even made an effort to try to make the
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Hills slip up to make a flawed or inconsistent claim.
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However, the Hills account of things remained, as he said, iron clad throughout a more than
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A month after that, scientists Robert Homan and C.D. Jackson, along with a major James
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McDonald of the Air Force, sat down at their home for an extraordinarily thorough interview,
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which would end up lasting 11 hours.
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Like Webb, they found the story to be consistent and fascinating, though there were some details
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that did not make sense.
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The most major of the inconsistencies identified was the length of time it took them to get
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From where they left the diner in Colbrook at 10.05pm to their home in Port Smouth, was,
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according to Mr. Hill himself, less than a four-hour drive.
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Accounting for their stops to look at the object, they should have been home around 2 or 3am
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at the latest, but instead got home around 5am.
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Where were the missing 2 or 3 hours?
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The Hills didn't have an answer.
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They had realized that their memory was very hazy for part of their experience, especially
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during a period in between the two series of beeps, that there was something about it
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that didn't quite add up.
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But it was now, as they focused on it in this interview, that they began to realize the
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seriousness and potential great length of what they had lost.
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This period of time soon became a focus of the investigation.
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Major McDonald suggested that their memories could possibly be retrieved using medical hypnosis.
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The Hills were open to this idea, even Barney, who was becoming more open to the conversation
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after being taken seriously by intelligent officials.
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However, a psychiatrist whom they later consulted advised them to hold off on hypnosis, as forcing
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memory retrieval could be harmful.
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In the meantime, the Hills revisited the areas in which their encounter had taken place
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numerous times, trying to recall whatever they could.
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During this, however, would unfortunately be a very little help to their memories.
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The couple would also share the story with more friends and even their church group as
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However, the Hills still avoided going public with their story.
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Still desperate for answers, with Barney especially suffering from what was believed to
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be post-traumatic stress disorder.
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In December of 1963, over two years after the incident, the Hills finally sat down with
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the prominent psychiatrist Dr. Benjamin Simon, an expert in hypnosis.
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Dr. Simon was not interested in UFOs, but he found their case fascinating all the same.
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His main goal, though, was to relieve the anxiety associated with the incident, so he maintained
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neutrality on the existence of extraterrestrials.
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On February 22, 1964, he began to explore their story under hypnosis, with a particular
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focus on the period which they said they could not remember.
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They would meet with Dr. Simon every Saturday until June 27th of that year.
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The Hills would be separately hypnotized each time, recounting their stories with the other
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Dr. Simon directed them not to remember anything they brought up during hypnosis after they
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were brought out of it, unless he informed them otherwise, which, due to the nature of
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The incident wanted to keep the memories repressed until it was over to prevent communication
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between the couple that would disrupt their memories and assess the full emotional effect
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of the story before risking bringing it up to surface.
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These sessions were recorded on 11 hours of tape.
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What they were about to tell Dr. Simon is what made this case famous.
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It was while standing in the field at Indian Head, seeing the craft up close, that Barney's
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conscious memory began to become vague.
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Under hypnosis, he was able to elaborate more on what he saw.
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The beings visible through the windows, referred to as men throughout the discussion, were
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black uniforms, with what seemed like scarves over the shoulders.
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He said that, as he observed the figures running to the back wall, one of them turned
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his head around, and, looking over his shoulder, smiled at him.
[0:18:14 - 0:18:19] ▶
However, this was very vague, and he later said that he could not remember their mouths
[0:18:19 - 0:18:23] ▶
very well, and that the eyes only moved in a way that he interpreted as a smile.
[0:18:23 - 0:18:28] ▶
The figure who remained at the window, whom he assumed to be the leader, also wore what
[0:18:28 - 0:18:32] ▶
he described as a shiny black jacket.
[0:18:32 - 0:18:35] ▶
The eyes of the leader had a profound impact on Barney.
[0:18:35 - 0:18:39] ▶
He felt them looking at him even when the figure was not present.
[0:18:39 - 0:18:43] ▶
Barney said that he believed this figure was somehow communicating with him, encouraging
[0:18:43 - 0:18:47] ▶
him to stay there, stay where you are, and keep looking, over and over.
[0:18:47 - 0:18:53] ▶
Barney had difficulty explaining how exactly this communication was happening.
[0:18:53 - 0:18:57] ▶
The way he described it suggested it was some form of telepathic communication, where
[0:18:57 - 0:19:02] ▶
he did not hear a voice, but meaning was somehow conveyed to him.
[0:19:02 - 0:19:06] ▶
Terrified, Barney ripped the binoculars away from him, tearing a strap in the process,
[0:19:06 - 0:19:11] ▶
and took off running.
[0:19:11 - 0:19:13] ▶
This was when Barney ran back to the car, and drove off.
[0:19:13 - 0:19:16] ▶
They then began to reach the part of the story that was nearly completely blank in both
[0:19:16 - 0:19:20] ▶
The period following the first series of beeping noises.
[0:19:22 - 0:19:26] ▶
Barney and Betty became much more vague and profoundly emotional when retelling this
[0:19:26 - 0:19:30] ▶
Under hypnosis, they were not only remembering, but reliving the experience.
[0:19:32 - 0:19:36] ▶
As they recounted these events to Dr. Simon, both of them began to cry, yell, and panic.
[0:19:36 - 0:19:43] ▶
After hearing the beeping noises, Barney braked suddenly, then turned off the highway down
[0:19:43 - 0:19:47] ▶
a few roads that led into a lonely forested area.
[0:19:48 - 0:19:51] ▶
Barney recalled he couldn't understand why he had turned off Rauctery, and later attributed
[0:19:51 - 0:19:55] ▶
it to the voice in his head.
[0:19:55 - 0:19:58] ▶
This was the sharp turn Betty had vaguely consciously recalled.
[0:19:58 - 0:20:02] ▶
They drove to a point where there was a great orange glow in the road coming from the woods.
[0:20:02 - 0:20:07] ▶
In the road stood between six and twelve figures and dark uniforms.
[0:20:07 - 0:20:13] ▶
Then the car stalled, and the man in the road began approaching the car.
[0:20:13 - 0:20:18] ▶
Betty became terrified and had a powerful urge to get out of the car and run.
[0:20:18 - 0:20:22] ▶
However, because of their days to drowsy state neither of them were able to react.
[0:20:22 - 0:20:27] ▶
Barney felt weak but not necessarily afraid at this moment.
[0:20:27 - 0:20:31] ▶
They would later equate how they felt then to how they felt during hypnosis.
[0:20:31 - 0:20:36] ▶
They opened their doors, and the beings began escorting them down a path to their ship.
[0:20:36 - 0:20:41] ▶
Barney and Barney both walked.
[0:20:41 - 0:20:43] ▶
Barney's eyes were closed for much of the portion of the story, feeling that the leader
[0:20:43 - 0:20:47] ▶
encouraged him to keep them closed.
[0:20:47 - 0:20:50] ▶
Barney was carried by the men.
[0:20:50 - 0:20:52] ▶
His feet dragged as they walked, which he later believed to be the origin of his scuffs'
[0:20:52 - 0:20:56] ▶
Barney had no recollection of what happened to Betty.
[0:20:57 - 0:21:00] ▶
Betty however was much more lucid throughout this portion of the story.
[0:21:00 - 0:21:04] ▶
She became angry and turned behind her and called out to Barney, who she said appeared
[0:21:04 - 0:21:08] ▶
to be dazed, almost sleepwalking.
[0:21:08 - 0:21:11] ▶
Whatever she did so, one of the beings near her said,
[0:21:11 - 0:21:14] ▶
Barney, is that his name?
[0:21:14 - 0:21:17] ▶
She did not respond to them.
[0:21:17 - 0:21:19] ▶
The being then told her not to be afraid, instead they were only going to perform some
[0:21:19 - 0:21:23] ▶
tests and assured her that they would not be harmed and would be safely returned.
[0:21:23 - 0:21:28] ▶
Betty said the men who spoke was very business like and spoke with an accent, though she
[0:21:28 - 0:21:32] ▶
could never recognize the accent.
[0:21:32 - 0:21:35] ▶
Like Barney, the way the beings communicated would later be a subject of confusion for
[0:21:35 - 0:21:39] ▶
They both described the men as short, five feet or 152 centimeters at most.
[0:21:40 - 0:21:45] ▶
Their skin was described as an almost metallic looking gray.
[0:21:45 - 0:21:49] ▶
Betty thought the leader may have been taller and of a slightly different skin color, but
[0:21:49 - 0:21:53] ▶
Barney believed they were all the same.
[0:21:53 - 0:21:55] ▶
Their bodies seemed disproportionate, with large chests and slender hips.
[0:21:55 - 0:22:00] ▶
They had odd shaped heads with a large cranium that diminished in size as it got to the
[0:22:00 - 0:22:05] ▶
Their eyes were slanted and larger than a human's.
[0:22:06 - 0:22:09] ▶
Their eyes had pupils.
[0:22:09 - 0:22:10] ▶
Betty had a vague memory of the eyes reminding her of cat's eyes.
[0:22:10 - 0:22:14] ▶
The clothing they wore seems to have been recounted in contradictory ways.
[0:22:14 - 0:22:18] ▶
Neither of them recalled any hair or headgear on the creatures, apart from the black cap,
[0:22:18 - 0:22:23] ▶
which Barney, now under hypnosis, claimed only the leader wore.
[0:22:23 - 0:22:28] ▶
Likewise, he said only the leader wore a black leathery looking jacket, while the others
[0:22:28 - 0:22:32] ▶
wore light colored shirts when seeing them in the ship window and dark uniforms off
[0:22:32 - 0:22:37] ▶
Their mouths, which again were one of the more difficult details to remember, were described
[0:22:38 - 0:22:42] ▶
as thin and delipless.
[0:22:42 - 0:22:45] ▶
The two were escorted up a kind of ramp into the craft, though Betty tried to resist
[0:22:45 - 0:22:49] ▶
and may have even kicked them.
[0:22:49 - 0:22:51] ▶
She later believed this may have been part of the origin of her torn dress.
[0:22:51 - 0:22:55] ▶
The man who had spoken to her told her to stop wasting time.
[0:22:55 - 0:22:59] ▶
The interior of the craft was lit up with a kind of blue fluorescent light that cast
[0:22:59 - 0:23:03] ▶
It turned left into what appeared to be a long hallway that encircled the craft with
[0:23:05 - 0:23:09] ▶
various rooms along the interior of the hallway.
[0:23:09 - 0:23:12] ▶
Barney and Betty were taken to separate rooms.
[0:23:12 - 0:23:14] ▶
Barney recalled being taken into a room and placed on a low metallic table resembling
[0:23:14 - 0:23:18] ▶
He vaguely recalled the look of the room, saying it was pie-shaped, except with the tips
[0:23:20 - 0:23:25] ▶
of the pies cut off.
[0:23:25 - 0:23:26] ▶
The walls were a kind of sky blue in color, smooth, and spotlessly clean.
[0:23:26 - 0:23:31] ▶
He said the room was brightly lit and mostly empty, with nothing in it or on the walls,
[0:23:31 - 0:23:37] ▶
apart from the examining table on which he was laid and a cabinet.
[0:23:37 - 0:23:41] ▶
Betty agreed with most of this, but said that the room in which she was led was less
[0:23:41 - 0:23:45] ▶
barren, noticing other pieces of furniture such as a metallic white stool, some equipment
[0:23:45 - 0:23:50] ▶
in the corner, and what she called gadgets on the walls.
[0:23:50 - 0:23:54] ▶
She added that everything seemed made of metal or plastic, but with a white tone to it.
[0:23:54 - 0:23:59] ▶
Barney's recollection of this portion was still vague, though, with his eyes closed for
[0:24:00 - 0:24:04] ▶
He said he believed there were about three others in the room, but only one was interacting
[0:24:05 - 0:24:09] ▶
He recalled them examining his body, running their hands along his back, opening his mouth,
[0:24:10 - 0:24:15] ▶
and scratching his left arm with something like a stick.
[0:24:15 - 0:24:18] ▶
He also recalled a cup being placed around his groin.
[0:24:18 - 0:24:22] ▶
Betty's description, again, was much more detailed.
[0:24:22 - 0:24:25] ▶
She was led into a room and seated on a metallic white stool.
[0:24:25 - 0:24:29] ▶
There were multiple beings in the room with her, including the one who had spoken to her
[0:24:29 - 0:24:33] ▶
before and a figure whom she referred to as the examiner.
[0:24:33 - 0:24:37] ▶
Like Barney, the beings, specifically the examiner, examined her body.
[0:24:37 - 0:24:42] ▶
They took samples of her skin, earwax, hair, and fingernail.
[0:24:42 - 0:24:47] ▶
Rapped these samples in what was described as a plastic or cellophane appearing bag,
[0:24:47 - 0:24:51] ▶
and then put them in a drawer of some kind.
[0:24:51 - 0:24:54] ▶
They seemed to speak to each other as they worked.
[0:24:54 - 0:24:56] ▶
Although their communication with the beings was a subject of confusion, they both agreed
[0:24:56 - 0:25:00] ▶
that the way the beings communicated with each other was totally unintelligible.
[0:25:00 - 0:25:05] ▶
Barney described it as opening their mouths slightly and making a kind of mum, mum,
[0:25:05 - 0:25:10] ▶
Next, they informed Betty that they wanted to examine her nervous system.
[0:25:12 - 0:25:16] ▶
They undressed her, struggling with the zipper, thereby tearing the dress further, then
[0:25:16 - 0:25:20] ▶
laid her onto the table in the middle of the room.
[0:25:20 - 0:25:23] ▶
When they brought over a device, described as something that looked like a cluster of
[0:25:23 - 0:25:27] ▶
needles, with each needle having a wire coming from it.
[0:25:27 - 0:25:30] ▶
They placed them on her very gently.
[0:25:30 - 0:25:33] ▶
She could not remember everywhere it was placed, but said she felt it moving around her whole
[0:25:33 - 0:25:37] ▶
body, even inside her head.
[0:25:37 - 0:25:40] ▶
Finally, the examiner approached her with a needle about five inches in length, which
[0:25:40 - 0:25:45] ▶
was attached to a tube.
[0:25:45 - 0:25:47] ▶
She asked him what he was going to do with it.
[0:25:47 - 0:25:49] ▶
He said it wouldn't hurt, and that it was a simple pregnancy test.
[0:25:49 - 0:25:53] ▶
She then inserted it into her navel.
[0:25:53 - 0:25:55] ▶
She protested dramatically as the needle was quite painful at first, but then the one they
[0:25:55 - 0:26:00] ▶
believed to be the leader came over and placed his hand over her eyes.
[0:26:00 - 0:26:05] ▶
The pain then went away.
[0:26:05 - 0:26:07] ▶
The leader apologized, saying they would not have performed the navel test if they knew
[0:26:07 - 0:26:11] ▶
After this, she said her physical examination was over.
[0:26:13 - 0:26:16] ▶
They helped her sit up and get dressed.
[0:26:16 - 0:26:19] ▶
All of the figures then left the room except for the leader, to whom Betty began talking.
[0:26:19 - 0:26:24] ▶
She was much more comfortable at this point, feeling fairly sure that she was not going
[0:26:24 - 0:26:28] ▶
She told the leader that it had been quite the experience, but that it was unbelievable
[0:26:30 - 0:26:36] ▶
and requested some sort of proof of this to take back with her.
[0:26:36 - 0:26:39] ▶
The leader suggested she look around the room for something to take back.
[0:26:39 - 0:26:44] ▶
On top of one of the cabinets, she found a large book.
[0:26:44 - 0:26:48] ▶
She opened it and found that it was written with writing with which she was completely unfamiliar.
[0:26:48 - 0:26:53] ▶
The writing consisted of sharp lines of varying thickness, curved lines, and dots, which
[0:26:53 - 0:26:58] ▶
appeared to go up and down.
[0:26:58 - 0:27:00] ▶
She asked if she could take the book with her and he agreed.
[0:27:00 - 0:27:03] ▶
She then asked where he was from.
[0:27:03 - 0:27:05] ▶
The leader retrieved an oblong map with dots all over it.
[0:27:05 - 0:27:09] ▶
Betty would later try to redraw the map for memory.
[0:27:09 - 0:27:12] ▶
Some of the dots were like pinpoints, others were as large as a nickel.
[0:27:12 - 0:27:17] ▶
One large circle that had many lines coming from it which went to another circle which
[0:27:17 - 0:27:21] ▶
was quite close but not quite as big.
[0:27:21 - 0:27:24] ▶
She asked what the lines meant.
[0:27:24 - 0:27:26] ▶
He informed her that the heavy lines were trade routes, the lighter lines were places
[0:27:26 - 0:27:31] ▶
they occasionally went, and the broken lines were expeditions.
[0:27:31 - 0:27:35] ▶
She asked where his home port was.
[0:27:35 - 0:27:37] ▶
He replied by asking her where Earth was.
[0:27:37 - 0:27:41] ▶
She laughed and said she did not know, to which she responded, quote, if you don't know
[0:27:41 - 0:27:45] ▶
where you are, then there isn't any point in my telling where I am from.
[0:27:45 - 0:27:49] ▶
He then put the map away.
[0:27:50 - 0:27:52] ▶
Soon thereafter the examiner and some other figures entered the room holding Barney's
[0:27:52 - 0:27:57] ▶
They did not seem to understand why Barney's teeth could come out but her as would not.
[0:27:58 - 0:28:02] ▶
She replied that Barney had dentures which were fake teeth because he had lost his originals
[0:28:02 - 0:28:07] ▶
from an injury and explained that many people were them as they get older.
[0:28:07 - 0:28:12] ▶
Then the examiner asked what older meant.
[0:28:12 - 0:28:15] ▶
She explained that as people age they begin to break down.
[0:28:15 - 0:28:20] ▶
The examiner asked what age was.
[0:28:20 - 0:28:22] ▶
She answered that it was the length of time people lived.
[0:28:22 - 0:28:26] ▶
He asked how long this was.
[0:28:26 - 0:28:28] ▶
She said about 100 years at most but most people died before that.
[0:28:28 - 0:28:32] ▶
He continued asking a series of questions which each time resulted only in a new question.
[0:28:32 - 0:28:38] ▶
What are vegetables?
[0:28:40 - 0:28:41] ▶
Finally she told them that she did not know how to answer all these questions but that
[0:28:44 - 0:28:48] ▶
there were other people in her country who could explain these things to them if they
[0:28:48 - 0:28:52] ▶
would come back to whom she could introduce them.
[0:28:52 - 0:28:55] ▶
Then she noted that if they did come back she wouldn't know where to meet them.
[0:28:55 - 0:29:00] ▶
To this the examiner left and replied, we always find those we want to.
[0:29:00 - 0:29:05] ▶
Meanwhile Barney was being released from his portion of the examination.
[0:29:05 - 0:29:09] ▶
He was reunited with Betty who said that he still had his eyes closed.
[0:29:09 - 0:29:13] ▶
The beings informed Betty that they could leave and escorted them halfway to their car.
[0:29:13 - 0:29:18] ▶
The hills believed they were in the craft for around 30 to 40 minutes.
[0:29:18 - 0:29:23] ▶
They felt a rush of air and a temperature change as they exited the craft.
[0:29:23 - 0:29:27] ▶
However before parting ways the leader took the book from Betty.
[0:29:27 - 0:29:31] ▶
She said this infuriated her and tried to argue about it.
[0:29:31 - 0:29:35] ▶
She explained that the others did not want her to have proof or to remember the incident.
[0:29:35 - 0:29:40] ▶
She told him she would not forget.
[0:29:40 - 0:29:42] ▶
The leader conceded that this was possible but explained that it would be better if they
[0:29:42 - 0:29:47] ▶
As they parted ways the leader suggested to Betty that they watched them leave.
[0:29:48 - 0:29:53] ▶
Barney entered the car ahead of her and found their dog Delcy under the seat curled up
[0:29:53 - 0:29:58] ▶
in a tight ball, trembling with fear.
[0:29:58 - 0:30:01] ▶
Betty went over to Barney, picked up Delcy and invited him to come watch them leave
[0:30:01 - 0:30:05] ▶
Barney had no idea what she was talking about as by this point he had completely forgotten
[0:30:06 - 0:30:11] ▶
what had just happened.
[0:30:11 - 0:30:12] ▶
However he came to watch the craft leave with her all the same.
[0:30:12 - 0:30:16] ▶
They said the object became a glowing orange ball which started getting brighter and brighter.
[0:30:16 - 0:30:22] ▶
Later they would realize that the image of the craft leaving was the vague memory they
[0:30:24 - 0:30:28] ▶
had in their minds of a moon at the time of night in which the moon had set.
[0:30:28 - 0:30:33] ▶
It flew away, disappearing within seconds, leaving them alone and darkness.
[0:30:33 - 0:30:39] ▶
At this point the couple both described feeling great happiness, elation in fact.
[0:30:39 - 0:30:45] ▶
Barney started the car and began driving back towards Route 3.
[0:30:45 - 0:30:49] ▶
Then the couple heard the second series of beeps and they reached the point of the story
[0:30:49 - 0:30:53] ▶
where they had a better conscious memory.
[0:30:53 - 0:30:56] ▶
As mentioned, Barney had an urge to go home and examine his groin, thinking at the time
[0:30:56 - 0:31:00] ▶
that it was proof that something had happened to him.
[0:31:00 - 0:31:03] ▶
He would remember to do so when he got home but by the time he had, he had forgotten why
[0:31:03 - 0:31:09] ▶
and noticed nothing out of the ordinary.
[0:31:09 - 0:31:11] ▶
About four months later though, in almost geometrically perfect circle of warts would develop
[0:31:11 - 0:31:17] ▶
around Barney's groin.
[0:31:17 - 0:31:19] ▶
It became inflamed again a few years later during the interviews with Simon which was verified
[0:31:19 - 0:31:24] ▶
by a dermatologist he saw who removed them with electrolysis.
[0:31:24 - 0:31:29] ▶
By April, Dr. Simon had heard their stories fully and soon allowed them to begin remembering
[0:31:29 - 0:31:34] ▶
things from their hypnosis and to even hear their own recordings.
[0:31:34 - 0:31:38] ▶
The experience was quite profound to them.
[0:31:38 - 0:31:41] ▶
Though they ran through what he called a gamut of emotions while listening to the tapes
[0:31:41 - 0:31:45] ▶
and though the tapes remain difficult for them to listen to for years, the predominant
[0:31:45 - 0:31:49] ▶
feeling upon hearing them for the first time was one of chains being lifted from their
[0:31:49 - 0:31:54] ▶
Dr. Simon was not sure what to make of their story.
[0:31:55 - 0:31:59] ▶
He was struck by the fact that the stories seemed to be quite consistent with each other.
[0:31:59 - 0:32:03] ▶
He did not believe it to be a hoax nor a product of some kind of mental illness.
[0:32:03 - 0:32:07] ▶
However, he was not convinced that the incident had really happened as they had claimed either.
[0:32:07 - 0:32:13] ▶
He focused on the fact that their stories were almost identical to Betty's dreams, with
[0:32:13 - 0:32:18] ▶
only some differences here and there.
[0:32:18 - 0:32:20] ▶
His main hypothesis soon became that the portion of the story recovered under hypnosis may
[0:32:20 - 0:32:25] ▶
have developed in their minds in the days after seeing an unexplained object in the sky.
[0:32:25 - 0:32:31] ▶
Rather than Betty's dreams being a recollection of an experience, he believed they may have
[0:32:31 - 0:32:36] ▶
been only dreams that they became convinced were reality.
[0:32:36 - 0:32:41] ▶
When Betty's dreams were recalled around Barney multiple times, Barney may have picked
[0:32:41 - 0:32:46] ▶
up on the details, convincing himself of it as well, and even subconsciously inventing
[0:32:46 - 0:32:51] ▶
However, as will be explored later in this video, there were quite a few problems with
[0:32:52 - 0:32:56] ▶
this explanation, which Dr. Simon himself was the first to admit.
[0:32:56 - 0:33:02] ▶
Confusing a dream for reality was something Betty and Barney both admitted they could not
[0:33:02 - 0:33:06] ▶
rule out, but they never favored this explanation.
[0:33:06 - 0:33:09] ▶
Betty was fairly adamant that this was a reality, and that she could tell that her dreams
[0:33:09 - 0:33:13] ▶
were as she put it, somehow different from the reality.
[0:33:13 - 0:33:18] ▶
Barney vassally did more between different explanations, but leaned towards feeling that
[0:33:18 - 0:33:22] ▶
this was something that had truly happened.
[0:33:22 - 0:33:25] ▶
Furthermore, he had said that he had made a lot of effort to try to prevent Betty from
[0:33:25 - 0:33:28] ▶
By early June, the doctor was beginning to feel that they were reaching an end to their
[0:33:30 - 0:33:34] ▶
There was still no clear explanation as to what had happened, but Simon's goal as a doctor
[0:33:35 - 0:33:40] ▶
was to alleviate the anxiety associated with the event which he had now accomplished.
[0:33:40 - 0:33:45] ▶
Furthermore, Simon's ultimate conclusion was that he and hypnosis could not solve the
[0:33:45 - 0:33:51] ▶
Thus, the hypnosis sessions ended.
[0:33:52 - 0:33:56] ▶
The hills began to ease back into a more normal life, but it would never return to how it
[0:33:56 - 0:34:01] ▶
They would never forget the experience, nor would they try.
[0:34:02 - 0:34:06] ▶
For the rest of their lives, they would pursue their case in the study of UFOs in general.
[0:34:06 - 0:34:12] ▶
They asked Dr. Simon to preserve the recordings of their sessions and provide them with copies.
[0:34:12 - 0:34:17] ▶
However, they were not prepared to publicize them.
[0:34:17 - 0:34:20] ▶
Indeed, they continued to actively avoiding publicity.
[0:34:20 - 0:34:24] ▶
Clearly, given that we are here, they were not successful.
[0:34:24 - 0:34:28] ▶
They had forgotten that in 1963, they had told their church group about their experience.
[0:34:28 - 0:34:34] ▶
One of them, their talk with their church group, was recorded.
[0:34:34 - 0:34:39] ▶
In 1965, a reporter working for the newspaper The Boston Traveler named John H. The Trell
[0:34:39 - 0:34:46] ▶
had somehow been given access to these recordings.
[0:34:46 - 0:34:49] ▶
He reached out to the hills and even Dr. Simon for information.
[0:34:49 - 0:34:53] ▶
None of them were willing to discuss anything, and the hills even requested that their story
[0:34:53 - 0:34:57] ▶
However, the trail was able to obtain information intended to be confidential from UFO
[0:34:59 - 0:35:04] ▶
investigators to whom the hills had spoken.
[0:35:04 - 0:35:07] ▶
On October 25th of that year, The Boston Traveler began publishing articles about their experience.
[0:35:07 - 0:35:14] ▶
To the hills frustration, these articles became very popular, receiving attention from
[0:35:14 - 0:35:19] ▶
More frustrating though, was that their story was being reported in a sensationalist
[0:35:20 - 0:35:25] ▶
Emerging into the public eye, whether they liked it or not, they decided to publicly
[0:35:27 - 0:35:31] ▶
tell their story themselves and try to correct the inaccuracies.
[0:35:31 - 0:35:36] ▶
Betty and Barney gave public talks on their incident and even appeared on radio and television
[0:35:36 - 0:35:41] ▶
Eventually they felt their full story should be recorded, perhaps in the form of a book.
[0:35:42 - 0:35:46] ▶
In 1966, they, and Dr. Simon, sat down with John G. Fuller to be interviewed for the
[0:35:46 - 0:35:52] ▶
book that would become The Interrupted Journey.
[0:35:52 - 0:35:55] ▶
The hills were not the first people in the world to claim to have been abducted by aliens,
[0:35:55 - 0:36:00] ▶
or even the first Americans.
[0:36:00 - 0:36:02] ▶
However, their case was the first abduction case to receive widespread attention, and indeed
[0:36:02 - 0:36:08] ▶
was the one which made the concept of valine abduction's famous.
[0:36:08 - 0:36:12] ▶
Similarly, their case was not the first to describe extraterrestrials as they did, but
[0:36:12 - 0:36:17] ▶
it was the one which brought fame to the group referred to as the Graze, also known as the
[0:36:17 - 0:36:23] ▶
Zeta reticulans, named after the star which some people have suggested as their home on
[0:36:23 - 0:36:28] ▶
Barney Hill died from a stroke in 1969, aged 46.
[0:36:32 - 0:36:37] ▶
Betty outlived him for decades, never remarrying.
[0:36:37 - 0:36:40] ▶
She unwaveringly stuck to their story and pursued it for the rest of her life.
[0:36:40 - 0:36:44] ▶
She became active in, and a celebrity in, the UFO community.
[0:36:44 - 0:36:48] ▶
In 1995, she published her own book, A Common Sense Approach to UFOs.
[0:36:48 - 0:36:54] ▶
Betty Hill died of lung cancer in 2004, at the age of 85.
[0:36:54 - 0:36:59] ▶
Her niece, Kathleen Martin, published another book on the subject in 2007, captured
[0:36:59 - 0:37:05] ▶
the Betty and Barney Hill UFO experience.
[0:37:05 - 0:37:10] ▶
Being one of the most important UFO cases in history, practically every detail of this
[0:37:14 - 0:37:18] ▶
complex case has been extensively discussed, analyzed, and contested at some point over
[0:37:18 - 0:37:24] ▶
the course of six decades.
[0:37:24 - 0:37:26] ▶
Naturally I will try to provide a good summary of these things, but of course there are links
[0:37:26 - 0:37:30] ▶
to further reading in the description if you are interested.
[0:37:30 - 0:37:34] ▶
Typically, potential explanations for these types of incidents fall into four broad categories,
[0:37:34 - 0:37:39] ▶
which are not mutually exclusive.
[0:37:39 - 0:37:41] ▶
Hoaxes, misidentifications of normal phenomena, delusions, and reality.
[0:37:41 - 0:37:48] ▶
A good place to start in determining the likelihood of each is to look at the backgrounds and
[0:37:48 - 0:37:52] ▶
reputations of the witnesses involved.
[0:37:52 - 0:37:55] ▶
Who were the hills before this happened?
[0:37:55 - 0:37:58] ▶
Barney Hill was a veteran of the Second World War, who worked as an assistant dispatcher
[0:37:58 - 0:38:03] ▶
for the Boston Post Office.
[0:38:03 - 0:38:05] ▶
He seems to have been a sincere and straightforward person, not given to running off with fantasies.
[0:38:05 - 0:38:11] ▶
However, he was an anxious person, described by his wife as a bit of a warrior.
[0:38:11 - 0:38:16] ▶
He was also noted by Fuller to have scored remarkably high on an intelligence assessment.
[0:38:16 - 0:38:21] ▶
Barney Hill worked as a child welfare worker for the state.
[0:38:21 - 0:38:25] ▶
She was also considered to be intelligent and pragmatic, and seems to have been much
[0:38:25 - 0:38:28] ▶
more carefree and a bit more outgoing than Barney.
[0:38:28 - 0:38:32] ▶
As we have seen, throughout the interviews, she was much more descriptive.
[0:38:32 - 0:38:36] ▶
Walter Webb described her as quote unquote, dominating and possessive, which he contrasted
[0:38:36 - 0:38:42] ▶
with Barney's quote unquote passive and highly suggestible personality.
[0:38:42 - 0:38:47] ▶
Both of them were social activists who held prominent positions in numerous community
[0:38:47 - 0:38:51] ▶
and civil rights organizations.
[0:38:51 - 0:38:53] ▶
Betty was also the United Nations envoy for the Unitarian Universalist Church of which
[0:38:53 - 0:38:58] ▶
the couple were both actively apart.
[0:38:58 - 0:39:00] ▶
They were each divorced from prior marriages and had met each other in 1956, marrying
[0:39:00 - 0:39:05] ▶
They had an interracial marriage in a period in which such marriages were not generally considered
[0:39:07 - 0:39:11] ▶
Barney being black, Betty being white.
[0:39:12 - 0:39:14] ▶
Dr. Simon believed this may have been relevant, and stated that ostracization may have triggered
[0:39:14 - 0:39:19] ▶
However, the hills denied this, saying that their marriage did not cause them many problems.
[0:39:20 - 0:39:25] ▶
The couple never had children together, though Barney had two sons from a prior marriage.
[0:39:25 - 0:39:30] ▶
Betty was unable to have children.
[0:39:30 - 0:39:32] ▶
Their work lives were moderately stressful at the time, but neither were suffering from
[0:39:32 - 0:39:36] ▶
any kind of intense abnormal stress that one would expect to be associated with some kind
[0:39:36 - 0:39:41] ▶
of delusional experience.
[0:39:41 - 0:39:43] ▶
Neither of them had much interest in UFOs before the incident, though Betty, again, had had
[0:39:43 - 0:39:48] ▶
family who had seen UFOs before, and so she was superficially familiar with the subject.
[0:39:48 - 0:39:54] ▶
Barney of course knew about this, but said he had never given the subject much serious
[0:39:54 - 0:39:58] ▶
thought, leaning towards believing that UFOs were probably all nonsense.
[0:39:58 - 0:40:03] ▶
This was part of why he was reluctant to pursue the story.
[0:40:03 - 0:40:07] ▶
He, in his own words, did not want to look foolish.
[0:40:07 - 0:40:11] ▶
Was this all a hoax?
[0:40:11 - 0:40:13] ▶
A story, they invented.
[0:40:13 - 0:40:15] ▶
This seems unlikely, and was not the favorite explanation of the government officials or
[0:40:15 - 0:40:20] ▶
scientists involved in this area, nor the multiple psychiatrists whom they consulted.
[0:40:20 - 0:40:25] ▶
For something this complex to have been a hoax, it would have required a great amount
[0:40:25 - 0:40:29] ▶
of planning, discussion, rehearsal, and persistence.
[0:40:29 - 0:40:33] ▶
Furthermore there is a lack of a clear motive.
[0:40:33 - 0:40:36] ▶
They did not get rich off this scheme, and in fact spent $1200 plus transportation and
[0:40:36 - 0:40:41] ▶
a half years worth of Saturdays on these hypnosis sessions.
[0:40:41 - 0:40:46] ▶
Did they do it for fame?
[0:40:46 - 0:40:47] ▶
Well you can't say they didn't achieve that, but there, especially Barney's desire
[0:40:47 - 0:40:52] ▶
to remain out of the limelight, and there, especially Betty's obsession with the topic,
[0:40:52 - 0:40:57] ▶
seems to have been genuine.
[0:40:57 - 0:40:59] ▶
The hoax explanation cannot be ruled out, but it does not seem to be the most likely explanation.
[0:40:59 - 0:41:04] ▶
I think the hills genuinely believed that this happened to them.
[0:41:04 - 0:41:08] ▶
No one involved in the investigation, including various psychiatrists, believed the hills
[0:41:10 - 0:41:15] ▶
suffered from any form of mental illness that would cause them to lose touch with reality.
[0:41:15 - 0:41:19] ▶
They had no other indications of mental illness, and had no other known incidents like this
[0:41:19 - 0:41:24] ▶
It was considered that something in their environment may have triggered hallucinations.
[0:41:25 - 0:41:30] ▶
Multiple influences, like a nitrate fertilizer stored in their car, were considered, but
[0:41:30 - 0:41:35] ▶
the lack of any other reported symptoms is a problem for any explanation relying on
[0:41:35 - 0:41:40] ▶
the presence of any mind-authoring substance in the environment.
[0:41:40 - 0:41:44] ▶
They were sober, and there was no evidence of the use of anything else apart from caffeine
[0:41:44 - 0:41:48] ▶
Dr. Simon believed that their sighting of the unidentified object was probably real,
[0:41:50 - 0:41:56] ▶
and that it probably did have a profound emotional impact on them, though he didn't venture
[0:41:56 - 0:42:01] ▶
to try to explain exactly what they had seen.
[0:42:01 - 0:42:04] ▶
Again, he believed the more adventurous parts of their story were the products of what
[0:42:04 - 0:42:08] ▶
were likely disturbing dreams inspired by the sighting that were recalled as false memories.
[0:42:08 - 0:42:14] ▶
Ten days after the incident, Betty had intense dreams that were strikingly similar to what
[0:42:14 - 0:42:20] ▶
she recalled under hypnosis.
[0:42:20 - 0:42:23] ▶
She informed a coworker about the dreams who convinced her that they might be real, repressed
[0:42:23 - 0:42:28] ▶
memories, and that she should record them.
[0:42:28 - 0:42:31] ▶
This suggestion from her coworker he believed encouraged her along this line of thinking.
[0:42:31 - 0:42:36] ▶
As Betty recalled her dreams to the investigators with Barney overhearing her do so time after
[0:42:36 - 0:42:41] ▶
time, Simon argued they may have convinced their subconscious minds that these events were
[0:42:41 - 0:42:47] ▶
She was a very headstrong person, and could have potentially convinced the much more
[0:42:48 - 0:42:52] ▶
suggestal Barney of these things.
[0:42:52 - 0:42:54] ▶
Then, hypnosis may have brought these dreams more to surface in a very life-like way,
[0:42:54 - 0:43:00] ▶
thereby solidifying these false memories and convincing them that they were true.
[0:43:00 - 0:43:05] ▶
Simon was encouraged in this conclusion by the fact that Betty's experience was
[0:43:05 - 0:43:09] ▶
a much more thorough than Barney's.
[0:43:09 - 0:43:11] ▶
He also argued that the incident had many dream-like qualities, such as its bizarre nature
[0:43:11 - 0:43:16] ▶
which included certain contradictions.
[0:43:16 - 0:43:18] ▶
For example, one big question he had is how the beings knew English, or at least how
[0:43:18 - 0:43:24] ▶
to communicate meaning to humans telepathically, but not very basic things about our world,
[0:43:24 - 0:43:29] ▶
like what years or colors or vegetables were.
[0:43:29 - 0:43:32] ▶
Another contradiction was how it seemed that they did not understand human units of time,
[0:43:32 - 0:43:37] ▶
but as Barney himself pointed out, they used phrases like, wait a minute.
[0:43:37 - 0:43:42] ▶
It is entirely possible that they came from a world that is extraordinarily different
[0:43:42 - 0:43:46] ▶
from ours and even that they conceptualize the universe very differently, and so these
[0:43:46 - 0:43:50] ▶
things were not immediately obvious.
[0:43:50 - 0:43:52] ▶
But they clearly did know enough about our world to abduct Betty and Barney without
[0:43:52 - 0:43:57] ▶
witnesses in an almost perfect way, and yet the concept of false teeth seemed beyond
[0:43:57 - 0:44:03] ▶
Another important point made by Martin Cotmeyer was that while Betty didn't know much
[0:44:04 - 0:44:09] ▶
about UFOs before the incident, she did start reading about them before she had her dreams.
[0:44:09 - 0:44:16] ▶
A question many probably are wondering is how legitimate is hypnosis.
[0:44:16 - 0:44:21] ▶
There definitely is something to it, but it's a complex topic which is not well understood,
[0:44:21 - 0:44:26] ▶
and most of it, especially how it pertains to memory recall, is a subject of debate.
[0:44:26 - 0:44:32] ▶
As Simon himself conceded, it is not a truth serum, nor any kind of mental glasses that
[0:44:32 - 0:44:37] ▶
help a patient distinguish reality from fiction.
[0:44:37 - 0:44:40] ▶
Though altered, the mind is still aware of what it's being asked, and will lie or maintain
[0:44:40 - 0:44:45] ▶
a fiction of which the person has convinced themselves if it really wants to.
[0:44:45 - 0:44:50] ▶
It is not proven that hypnosis actually helps people recall things more accurately,
[0:44:50 - 0:44:54] ▶
and while it may be able to recover memories which were blocked under hypnosis, it also
[0:44:54 - 0:44:58] ▶
has a concerningly strong ability to strengthen or even create false memories.
[0:44:58 - 0:45:05] ▶
Hypnosis is sent innocent people to jail by reinforcing false memories in crime victims.
[0:45:05 - 0:45:11] ▶
Long story short, the hypnosis sessions cannot be considered the end of the story, and as
[0:45:11 - 0:45:17] ▶
professional and cautious as Dr. Simon was, it is possible that they created an even bigger
[0:45:17 - 0:45:22] ▶
Simon was fairly convinced of his explanation, even saying on national television quote,
[0:45:24 - 0:45:29] ▶
it was a fantasy, the abduction did not happen.
[0:45:29 - 0:45:33] ▶
However, there are very obvious problems with this explanation which Dr. Simon himself admitted.
[0:45:34 - 0:45:41] ▶
Firstly, the hills had conscious memories of profoundly unusual things the morning after
[0:45:41 - 0:45:47] ▶
the incident, before they had gone to sleep, including close up memories of the craft and
[0:45:47 - 0:45:53] ▶
the beings in the window.
[0:45:53 - 0:45:54] ▶
They also had very vague memories of some kind of glowing orange roadblock and a moon
[0:45:54 - 0:45:59] ▶
Furthermore, even if we accept that the dreams were fictional, false memories that filled
[0:46:01 - 0:46:07] ▶
in the missing two hours and 35 miles, then how did they lose those two hours and 35
[0:46:07 - 0:46:14] ▶
Secondly, while hearing about Betty's dreams may have influenced Barney's memory, he
[0:46:15 - 0:46:19] ▶
also had a number of experiences that Betty did not.
[0:46:19 - 0:46:23] ▶
At no point under hypnosis, did Barney recall a detail that Betty shared of which she
[0:46:23 - 0:46:28] ▶
should not have been aware because he was not present or vice versa?
[0:46:28 - 0:46:32] ▶
They each recalled their own story from their own perspectives, in a way that would be consistent
[0:46:32 - 0:46:38] ▶
with it being something that had actually happened.
[0:46:38 - 0:46:41] ▶
Walter Webb pointed out that their experience connected like puzzle pieces to the periods
[0:46:41 - 0:46:45] ▶
they remembered before and after the blackout.
[0:46:45 - 0:46:48] ▶
Furthermore, while their personality differences could have led to Betty transferring her dreams
[0:46:48 - 0:46:52] ▶
onto Barney, it is also worth considering that, if it were real, because of these same personality
[0:46:52 - 0:46:58] ▶
differences you would expect Betty to remember more because she wanted to, while Barney
[0:46:58 - 0:47:04] ▶
tried to block it all out.
[0:47:04 - 0:47:06] ▶
Thirdly, there was some physical evidence, like the torn dress, the stopped watches, the
[0:47:06 - 0:47:11] ▶
warts, and the spots on their car.
[0:47:11 - 0:47:14] ▶
Although not all, but most of this evidence was not very well documented or clearly presented
[0:47:14 - 0:47:19] ▶
to be fair, and none of it was anything along the lines of a smoking gun.
[0:47:19 - 0:47:24] ▶
Indeed, the story I have just told is a tough nut to crack.
[0:47:24 - 0:47:29] ▶
The question is, however, how accurate is this story?
[0:47:29 - 0:47:34] ▶
Among the prominent critics of the case was the writer and skeptic Robert Schaeffer.
[0:47:34 - 0:47:38] ▶
In 1980, he published the book The UFO Verticked, examining the evidence, providing many details
[0:47:38 - 0:47:45] ▶
within which very much shook things up.
[0:47:45 - 0:47:48] ▶
Firstly, the timeline of events is not as substantial as it is presented.
[0:47:48 - 0:47:53] ▶
In the main story, they claim they saw the UFO a little after 10 pm.
[0:47:53 - 0:47:58] ▶
In one of their initial reports to remember of Nycap, however, they claimed it happened
[0:47:58 - 0:48:02] ▶
During a radio interview, noted in the book The Edge of Reality, they said the UFO started
[0:48:04 - 0:48:09] ▶
moving towards them at 3 in the morning.
[0:48:09 - 0:48:12] ▶
Regardless of whether this happened shortly after 10 pm or not, as James D. McDonald, a
[0:48:12 - 0:48:17] ▶
researcher from the area who meticulously retraced their journey, pointed out they were probably
[0:48:17 - 0:48:22] ▶
overestimating their speed in certain parts and underestimated the time it took to travel
[0:48:22 - 0:48:27] ▶
to different points along the journey and to their home.
[0:48:27 - 0:48:31] ▶
The book called the UFO Verticked, and it was a very big problem.
[0:48:31 - 0:48:35] ▶
Because of how important the last two hours are to this case, it is a very big problem
[0:48:35 - 0:48:40] ▶
that they don't appear to have been sure about when exactly these things took place, especially
[0:48:40 - 0:48:47] ▶
given that they said they only fully realized they had lost time after they were grilled
[0:48:47 - 0:48:52] ▶
on the question by researchers.
[0:48:52 - 0:48:54] ▶
Just to note, this James D. McDonald to retrace their journey is separate from the major James
[0:48:54 - 0:48:59] ▶
D. McDonald who interviewed them.
[0:48:59 - 0:49:02] ▶
Regarding the light in the sky, McDonald pointed out that there is an aircraft warning beacon
[0:49:02 - 0:49:07] ▶
on top of Cannon Mountain, which actually resembles what the hills described very closely.
[0:49:07 - 0:49:12] ▶
Looking through binoculars, the beacon light may have illuminated part of the roof of the
[0:49:12 - 0:49:17] ▶
lookout tower, which could resemble a craft.
[0:49:17 - 0:49:20] ▶
This may be one of, or the main object which they mistook for UFO.
[0:49:20 - 0:49:25] ▶
Furthermore, he pointed out that it says in their book that the hills could not tell
[0:49:25 - 0:49:30] ▶
it first if it or they were the ones moving.
[0:49:30 - 0:49:34] ▶
Confusingly, the couple did mention a beacon on top of Cannon Mountain in interrupted
[0:49:34 - 0:49:39] ▶
journey, but they were referring to the light of a restaurant.
[0:49:39 - 0:49:42] ▶
The restaurant was closed, but the lights to the soda machines were still on.
[0:49:42 - 0:49:47] ▶
Thus, we can account for two man-made lights in a scene in which the hills described
[0:49:47 - 0:49:52] ▶
seeing only two lights.
[0:49:52 - 0:49:54] ▶
There is also a billboard advertisement for the Jackal Lantern Resort and a giant Jackal
[0:49:54 - 0:49:59] ▶
Lantern built on top of the hotel which the hills would have passed present at the time.
[0:49:59 - 0:50:05] ▶
McDonald proposed one of these may have been the large orange moon shape they saw.
[0:50:05 - 0:50:11] ▶
But could people really mistake such simple things for UFOs?
[0:50:11 - 0:50:15] ▶
Okay, but this was not a mere sighting of a light in the sky.
[0:50:17 - 0:50:22] ▶
Consciously, before sleeping they recalled the craft moving, they saw lights flashing
[0:50:22 - 0:50:27] ▶
along it, they saw it up close, they saw men in the windows.
[0:50:27 - 0:50:32] ▶
Could these things really have been the trigger of the fantastic experiences which followed
[0:50:32 - 0:50:37] ▶
the initial sighting?
[0:50:37 - 0:50:39] ▶
I have stated multiple times that there was nothing in the hills background prior to
[0:50:39 - 0:50:44] ▶
the incident that would have suggested that they were excitable or imaginative people
[0:50:44 - 0:50:49] ▶
whom one would expect to run off with fantasies.
[0:50:49 - 0:50:52] ▶
However, it must be said that there were many things after the incident that drew there
[0:50:52 - 0:50:58] ▶
specifically Betty's reliability as a witness into question.
[0:50:58 - 0:51:03] ▶
Barney passed away in 1969.
[0:51:03 - 0:51:05] ▶
Betty continued to share her experience and investigate the case for decades after this
[0:51:05 - 0:51:10] ▶
However, according to Martin, she turned away from skeptical and cautious analysis of
[0:51:11 - 0:51:17] ▶
the UFO subject after Barney's death.
[0:51:17 - 0:51:20] ▶
She claimed to have had numerous, possibly hundreds of UFO sightings and encounters throughout
[0:51:20 - 0:51:26] ▶
the rest of her life, some of which rivaled her own initial incident.
[0:51:26 - 0:51:30] ▶
In the late 70s, Betty claimed to have found the UFO hotspot in East Kingston to which
[0:51:30 - 0:51:36] ▶
she often ventured to spot UFOs, seeing so many that she categorized them into different
[0:51:36 - 0:51:41] ▶
She claimed that the extraterrestrials had become much less friendly by the 70s.
[0:51:42 - 0:51:47] ▶
In one incident, she claimed they chased her and even blistered the paint of her car
[0:51:47 - 0:51:52] ▶
after shooting a laser beam at her.
[0:51:52 - 0:51:55] ▶
In another incident, she asserted that she had witnessed extraterrestrials land, get
[0:51:55 - 0:51:59] ▶
out of their craft, do calisthenics, then reenter and leave.
[0:51:59 - 0:52:04] ▶
These are only some of the very bizarre claims she made over the years.
[0:52:04 - 0:52:09] ▶
UFO researchers, many of whom believed her story, accompanied her on her UFO hunting trips.
[0:52:09 - 0:52:15] ▶
However, when they, as was often reported, found her labeling everything she saw, including
[0:52:15 - 0:52:21] ▶
streetlights as alien ships, the belief they had in her stories started to fade.
[0:52:21 - 0:52:27] ▶
In one incident in 1980, Betty gave a presentation to the conference in New York City in which she
[0:52:27 - 0:52:32] ▶
presented pictures of UFOs she had taken over the years.
[0:52:32 - 0:52:36] ▶
They were scores, possibly shaffer, who attended the events said, hundreds of pictures, most
[0:52:36 - 0:52:42] ▶
of them being blurry and difficult to make out.
[0:52:42 - 0:52:45] ▶
Her claims and photographs were reportedly so unbelievable that she was, as he put it,
[0:52:45 - 0:52:51] ▶
jeered off the stage by other UFO enthusiasts.
[0:52:51 - 0:52:56] ▶
These incidents are obviously not recalled to mock or insult Mrs. Hill they are undoubtedly
[0:52:56 - 0:53:01] ▶
In the eyes of many, they destroyed her credibility.
[0:53:02 - 0:53:05] ▶
She certainly isn't the only person to make such bold claims, but the problem is she
[0:53:05 - 0:53:10] ▶
was actually witnessed making severe errors in judgment, and not just by skeptics, but by
[0:53:10 - 0:53:16] ▶
people you could call believers.
[0:53:16 - 0:53:18] ▶
This is a major issue, because so much of the story depends on the position that the hills
[0:53:18 - 0:53:24] ▶
were reliable, pragmatic, cautious witnesses.
[0:53:24 - 0:53:27] ▶
Betty's health had begun declining not long after the abduction.
[0:53:27 - 0:53:31] ▶
Her declining health may very well have influenced her escalation of unusual claims, but it is
[0:53:31 - 0:53:37] ▶
worth considering that this had begun by 1961.
[0:53:37 - 0:53:41] ▶
At the same time, however, Martin noted that towards the end of her life, Betty expressed
[0:53:41 - 0:53:46] ▶
frustration with the UFO community for its lack of cautiousness and skepticism, and turned
[0:53:46 - 0:53:51] ▶
away from the more improbable areas of the subject, point being it's not as if she had
[0:53:51 - 0:53:56] ▶
no regard for any caution whatsoever.
[0:53:56 - 0:53:59] ▶
For the case, it is true that these points apply mostly only to Betty, not clearly
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Yes, but this provides much more weight to the point that Betty was the source of the false
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interpretations and memories, and that she transferred them onto Barney.
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While Barney may have been much more cautious, he did suffer from anxiety, according to his
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psychiatrist, and it is a simple fact that things like anxiety and depression can alter
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perception and even increase the likelihood of hallucinating a kind of supernatural experience.
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That alone doesn't discount his experience, but it is an important detail.
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Consider that a panic attack was triggered in Barney by Betty's excitement, that his
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reluctance to pursue the subject was a subconscious way of avoiding that anxiety, and that his
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vacillation between not being sure of whether or not it happened was not only a product
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of him trying to block it out, but of some subconscious awareness that it did not.
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But it was argued that Barney had no history of reacting to stress like this.
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This may be true, but ultimately there is no such thing as a perfectly reliable witness.
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All of us are vulnerable to the tricks our minds play on us, especially when encouraged
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by the perspective of another.
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Adding to this, it is worth noting, McDonald pointed out that the hills had been driving
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for around 21 hours at the time of the sighting, throwing in the possibility of sleep deprivation
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and exhaustion influencing their perception.
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During lost memories, McDonald also pointed out, the hills remembered every major town
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in landmark they would have passed.
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The rest of it, he said, was dark, monotonous countryside, easily forgettable to a drowsy
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However, the hills were both very adamant that they did not fall asleep or even come near
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But what about the physical evidence?
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There was not much physical evidence left, and most of it does not seem to have been
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examined professionally.
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There were a few exceptions, however.
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One was Betty's dress.
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As I mentioned, the morning after the incident, Betty took her stained and torn dress off,
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put it away, then forgot about it.
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Three years later, after hypnosis, she recalled it and brought it out again.
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There was an odd pink powder on her dress and her dress alone.
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The dress was most deeply saturated with the substance in the areas in which she claimed
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the had touched her.
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The powder blew away when she hung it on a clothesline, but the stain remained.
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Five different laboratories conducted chemical and forensic analysis on the dress.
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They detected a substance that was considered to be biological in origin, but which should
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not originate from her or Barney.
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It was declared anomalous and never identified.
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Another element of the case that was the subject of quite a bit of debate was Betty's
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star map, the recreation of the one which the leader had shown her.
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In 1968, an elementary school teacher named Marjorie Fish began working to identify
[0:56:49 - 0:56:55] ▶
the stars on the map using a 3D model of nearby sun-like stars she constructed.
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She argued that if this star here represents our sun, then this, the busiest and biggest
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circle on the map, must be the Zeta Reticuli system.
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Her proposed solution was published, but it was not convincing to everyone.
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Carl Sagan demonstrated in his documentary series Cosmos that if you remove the lines
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from Betty's star map and Fish's star map, the resemblance between the two is largely
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Later, it was demonstrated by people like Charles W. Adderberg that other star patterns could
[0:57:28 - 0:57:34] ▶
be considered as well.
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In fact, Adderberg found a star pattern that fit more closely with Betty's and Fish's.
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Betty's star map included 26 stars.
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Fish identified 15 and ignored the other 11.
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Adderberg identified 25.
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In the 1990s, it was revealed that some of the stars that Fish considered were much further
[0:57:50 - 0:57:54] ▶
away than scientists knew at the time.
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With this new information, the map no longer worked and Fish retracted her hypothesis.
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Betty and Barney Hill case endures, 60 years later, as one of the most mysterious and captivating
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reported encounters with extraterrestrials ever publicized.
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It's a lure of course rests in the fact that there remains a possibility that these
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things truly happened.
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It must be said that the counterarguments made against it are quite substantial.
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However, it must also be said that there are certain mysterious elements of the story
[0:58:25 - 0:58:30] ▶
for which there is not a satisfactory counter-explanation.
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It must be admitted, if it were only something like a dream, then their dream-inspired false
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memories were impressively consistent and well put together.
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However, the fact of two stories are consistent does not make them true, and the fact that
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something cannot be disproven does not make it true either.
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The hills were only two people, and the evidence they produced was very limited in vague.
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Almost everything is based on the claims made in their story, as witnesses they, specifically
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Betty, had a habit of seeing spectacular fantasies in what other witnesses said were
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ordinary things, and the story they present, while consistent in many ways, does also have
[0:59:09 - 0:59:15] ▶
a number of holes in it.
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Regardless, real or not, memory of the incident, I think, is worth preserving.
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The story paved the way for thousands and thousands of such stories to emerge, making it
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either a central piece of what could be regarded as an American UFO mythology, or one of the
[0:59:28 - 0:59:34] ▶
first steps towards discovering that we are being visited by people from elsewhere.
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I hope you enjoyed this video.
[0:59:40 - 0:59:42] ▶
If so, I invite you to come check out the rest of Fire of Learning, especially my other
[0:59:42 - 0:59:47] ▶
campfire videos, such as my video on Kelly Hopkinsville, which I personally think wasn't
[0:59:47 - 0:59:52] ▶
even more a mysterious story, and to subscribe to see more videos like this in the future.
[0:59:52 - 0:59:56] ▶
To support the channel, you may make a donation on Patreon, the link to which is in the description.
[0:59:56 - 1:00:00] ▶
A special thanks to my current patrons listed here.
[1:00:00 - 1:00:03] ▶
I also run a science channel much like this called Lucinox, so be sure to check that
[1:00:03 - 1:00:08] ▶
Thank you for watching, and be sure to join us next time around the campfire.
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