With both the existence of pure theory and applied evidence supporting the plausibility of the UFO extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH) – where the UFO remains a UFO after appropriate expert analysis has failed to find a more terrestrial explanation – lets look at a few snippets of the phenomena, this time the story of those first American UFO abductees, Betty and Barney Hill.
A Case Study: The Betty and Barney Hill Abduction
As a alien abduction case study, consider the alleged abduction of Betty and Barney Hill which is fairly well known even to the person only casually interested in the abduction phenomena. How can this case be explained?
In brief, the barebones of the details are that Betty and Barney Hill were returning to their home after holidays, driving their car. It was late at night. Both say a bright light which seemed to be pacing them. When they arrived home, they noticed that the trip had taken several hours longer than it should of. Also their car had some strange circular marks on it which affected a compass. The ‘missing time’ coupled with just a feeling of general unease over that trip finally led them to see a psychiatrist/neurologist, and under hypnosis, the story of their being taken on board a UFO by alien creatures (now called ‘the greys’) and subjected to an invasive medical examination by these creatures came to the fore. Betty Hill also, via hypnosis recalled seeing a star chart on board the alien’s ship, and was able to recreate it. An independent researcher was later able to match up the configuration of stars to actual stellar objects, but that interpretation has been controversial, as with so many stars to pick and choose from, its odds-on that sooner or later you’ll get a pretty close match.
Now IMHO, the Betty and Barney Hill UFO abduction case is a way more credible case than most. Why? Firstly, it was the first that attracted media attention. There was no prior contamination and media saturation with the subject could have influenced them. By that I mean there was no prior well known, splashed-across-the-media, abduction accounts, so they had nothing to draw on – no inspiration. This couldn’t be a copycat event.
Secondly, it’s unlikely a mature couple (The Hill’s weren’t teenagers or young adults), and an interracial middle-aged couple at that, with no particular interest in UFOs or sci-fi, they weren’t sci-fi addicts, would invent such an abduction tale detailing the same sorts of alien beings that we’ve come to know and love now – ‘the greys’.
Most telling of all, why on earth would an inter-racial couple, in the early 60’s, in conservative America (and New England) wish to draw undue attention to them with such a tall tale? They wouldn’t need that kind of trouble! It’s controversial enough being an inter-racial couple without also being an inter-racial couple who sees LGM (Little Grey Men). An interracial couple (this was the 60’s) wouldn’t need that sort of publicity, and they certainly didn’t make any fortune out of eventually going public.
They weren’t into hallucinatory drugs. They weren’t hardly young kids with wild imaginations, rather a quite mature adult couple. They had no prior record of being publicity seekers and desiring media exposure.
Their story first broke in a leaked series of newspaper articles, attracting the attention of research journalist John C. Fuller, who, then with the permission of the Hills, wrote up their story for “Look Magazine”, later expanded into book form by Mr. Fuller, with an introduction by the Hill’s psychiatrist/neurologist (Benjamin Simon, M.D.) who confirmed that Betty and Barney Hill weren’t ‘nuts’ or delusional or psychotic and honestly believed the story that came out. So we have two witnesses (Betty and Barney Hill) giving the same story, and the same story under hypnosis by a trained psychiatrist/neurologist.
Lastly, the alleged abduction didn’t happen in their bedroom which now seems to be more the norm with implications that abductions are something mentally related to sleeping and dream states. For the Hill’s, their abduction happened while they were driving their car back from holiday. It’s rare that you fall asleep behind the wheel of your moving vehicle for any length of time with both car and occupants remaining undamaged! The Hills and their car weren’t damaged!
In summary, the Betty and Barney Hill UFO abduction case is a way more credible case than most. Why? Firstly, it was the first – no prior contamination and media saturation with the subject could have influenced them. Secondly, it’s unlikely a mature couple (not teenagers or young adults), and an interracial middle-aged couple at that, with no particular interest in UFOs or sci-fi, would invent such an abduction tale detailing the same sorts of beings that we’ve come to know and love now – the greys. An interracial couple (this was the 60’s) wouldn’t need that sort of publicity, and they certainly didn’t make any fortune out of eventually going public. Lastly, the alleged abduction didn’t happen in their bedroom; it happened while they were driving their car back from holiday. So we have two witnesses giving the same story.
A deliberate hoax / unintentional but imaginary / psychological / pharmacology / medical explanation makes no sense. I personally find it a far simpler explanation to believe that their account is firmly grounded in reality. It happened, with all that that implies.
Further reading regarding Betty & Barney Hill:
Friedman, Stanton Franklin Lakes , New Jersey
Fuller, John G.: The Interrupted Journey: Two Lost Hours “Aboard a Flying Saucer”; Dial Press, New York
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