“As a scientist I must be mindful of the past; all too often it has happened that matters of great value to science were overlooked.” – J. Allen Hynek
The Case That Defined Alien Abduction
This story has never conformed to a standard narrative. Every attempt to package it neatly collapses under the weight of its depth and detail.
From the radar confirmation at Pease Air Force Base [NICAP] to decades of follow-up investigations, the Hill case remains one of the most studied, and hotly debated, encounters in the history of UFO research. It’s a story that evolves with each new discovery, each new perspective brought by researchers, experiencers… and skeptics alike.
The recently resurfaced 1999 interview with Betty Hill (found in 2009. Posted in 2023.) is an incredible time capsule. It’s also a revelation. Captured at her home in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, believed to be her last recorded interview, offers a rare, unfiltered look into the mind of a woman who lived through an event that reshaped how we talk about contact.
Betty is candid, sharp, and at times disarmingly funny. She talks about the encounter with striking clarity, sharing significant details that rarely make it into the headlines: the unreliability of cameras during sightings, the varying sizes of craft, some possibly acting as scouts, and her keen observations on the phenomena that followed her for years.
What makes this interview remarkable is the humanity Betty brings to it. It’s a reminder that beyond the headlines and theories, there are people at the center of these extraordinary events, navigating an experience that, even six decades later, still challenges the boundaries of what we know, and what we think we know.
The transcript details include insights that further validate why this case remains a cornerstone of UFO research and a touchstone for experiencers worldwide.
I love seeing the setting and how Betty conducts herself. She comes across as genuine and, at this point in her life, very comfortable telling her story. At the start of the session, we see her chain-smoking. By the conclusion, she laughs and says it was the longest time she had gone without a cigarette in years, a small but intimate glimpse into her personality.
Betty died of lung cancer. October 17, 2004. She was 85. She was known as the “first lady of UFOs,” the “grandmother of all abductions.” Source.
While there may be minor variations in phrasing due to the transcription and editing process, the essence of her story remains intact. What makes this interview particularly compelling are the specific, nuanced details Betty provides in her firsthand account, details that continue to offer valuable data for researchers studying the case.
She discusses subtle aspects that continue to be discounted, such as how a camera can be unreliable when trying to capture images of a sighting and the scale of the craft. She also notes the possibility that smaller “scout” craft may operate in tandem.
This rediscovered interview is not only a treasure for enthusiasts and researchers but also a validation of the enduring significance of the Hill case. Betty’s testimony is captivating, refreshing, and serves as a reminder of just how paradigm-shifting this encounter remains in the history of UFO and contact phenomena.
Source Credit and Background
Footage courtesy of @massufoshow: This is the lost interview of legendary abductee Betty Hill, presented in its entirety. She was interviewed by Emmy Award–winning New England folklorist and historian John Horrigan in October 1999 at her home in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
The conversation is believed to be the last recorded interview Betty gave. For years it was thought lost to posterity, until Horrigan rediscovered the original tape in his attic in October 2009. Then, a decade later, in February 2019, he found another tape, this one recorded on SVHS, capturing the interview from a different angle.
The Hill case, often regarded as the first widely publicized alien abduction event, remains one of the most influential and paradigm-shifting accounts in UFO history. Video link.
Highlights
1. The Initial Incident – Betty and Barney Hill’s experience begins during a late-night drive in 1961, when they notice a strange light following their car in New Hampshire. At first, they think it’s a plane, but it behaves erratically and seems to approach them directly. Barney uses binoculars and sees figures inside the craft before fleeing in fear.
2. The Encounter and Abduction – The craft blocks the road ahead, and a group of beings approaches, leading Betty and Barney into the woods. Communication includes telepathy and limited English with odd, almost childlike phrasing. The beings separate the couple and perform medical and physical examinations, including neurological tests and attempts to insert instruments, which cause Betty discomfort.
3. The Beings and Their Behavior – Descriptions vary. Betty says they are as unique and individual in their appearance as we are. They have large eyes, small noses and mouths, no visible ears or hair, and human-like forms. Roles include a “leader,” an “examiner,” and “crew members” who remain in the background. They show curiosity about human traits. Barney’s dentures puzzle them.
4. Dialogue and Reactions – Betty resists at first, even physically, but the beings assure her she will be returned safely. During downtime, Betty converses with the leader, jokes, and even invites them to visit again. She is shown a star map but cannot identify it; later researchers link it to Zeta Reticuli.
5. Aftermath and Evidence – Watches stop working, missing time is noted, and magnetic anomalies are detected on the car where the craft had hovered. Radar tracking from a nearby Air Force base reportedly confirms an unknown object. Betty later experiences dreams recalling details of the event, and hypnosis sessions further recover memories.
6. Publicity and Research – Researchers like Walter Webb and Dr. J. Allen Hynek investigate; Hynek eventually becomes convinced the case is authentic. The Hills maintain that the experience was not traumatic but enlightening and spiritually significant.
Overview of the Narrative
The Night of the Encounter – a recreation
In 1961, my husband Barney and I were driving home from a trip to Canada when I first noticed a bright light in the night sky. At first, I thought it might be a new kind of star or planet, but then it started to move, not like a star should move.
As we drove through New Hampshire, the light seemed to follow us. It wasn’t frightening, not yet, just puzzling. Barney thought it might be a plane. We stopped the car, got out, and looked up, trying to make sense of it. That’s when the light changed direction and began to move toward us.
By the time we reached the Lancaster area, the craft had followed us for nearly thirty miles. Its movements were erratic, darting and pausing in ways we couldn’t explain. It was 1961, long before people casually talked about UFOs. We had no framework for what we were seeing, only curiosity.
The Close Encounter
When we reached the Indian Head area, I rolled down the window, calling out to the craft, “Come on in! Who are you?” The craft moved closer, then stopped, hovering about fifty feet above the road.
Barney got out with the binoculars. He saw a row of windows with bright light behind them, and, surprisingly, figures standing inside, looking down at him. When the craft began to descend, he got scared. He ran back to the car, shouting that “they” were trying to capture us.
We sped off, desperate to get away. That’s when we heard the strange beeping sounds, felt the car vibrate, and realized something beyond our control was happening.
The Abduction
The next thing we knew, we were no longer driving. Two groups of beings approached, took us from the car, and led us into the woods to where the craft sat on the ground.
The communication was… strange. Not exactly words, but thoughts like telepathic impressions, combined with a halting form of English. They talked like someone visiting another country and picking up common phrases.
Inside, Barney and I were separated. He was taken into another room; I was guided to what appeared to be an examination area. I fought back at first. My dress was torn. I didn’t want to go inside, but they reassured me: they just wanted to do some tests and would return us safely.
Inside the Craft
The room was small, with a narrow table, a stool, and walls with sliding panels. They checked my eyes, ears, nose, throat, hands, and feet, then had me lie down while they examined my nervous system with instruments I didn’t recognize. At one point, they tried to insert a needle-like instrument into my navel. The sharp pain startled me, and when I protested, they stopped immediately.
In the other room, Barney underwent a similar series of tests. He later recalled that they seemed very interested in the structure of his spine and bone density. Unlike me, he couldn’t move, they had somehow paralyzed him during the examination.
The Beings
Physically, they looked human-like but with notable differences:
Larger eyes than ours.
Small noses and mouths.
No visible ears or hair.
Smooth, almost childlike features.
We gave them informal names to keep them straight in our minds: “the Leader,” “the Examiner,” and the rest as “the crew.”
At one point, they seemed fascinated when they realized Barney’s teeth were removable. He wore dentures from an old injury, and they couldn’t comprehend how one person could have removable teeth, and another could not. The moment was almost humorous, like they were genuinely puzzled by the mechanics of being human.
The Star Map
After my exam, the Leader showed me what I can only describe as a star map, a network of points connected by lines, some solid, some dotted, indicating trade or travel routes. I didn’t recognize it at the time. Years later, researcher Marjorie Fish studied my recollection and identified the pattern as matching the Zeta Reticuli star system, leading to speculation that the beings may have originated there.
Aftermath
When we were released and got back into the car, we were dazed and confused. Hours had passed, but we couldn’t account for all of them. Our watches had stopped working. Later, we discovered unusual, shiny spots on the trunk of the car that made a compass spin erratically, a sign, perhaps, of a magnetic disturbance.
In the days that followed, we tried to return to normal life, but within ten nights, I began having vivid dreams, five nights in a row, each revealing fragments of what happened. Those dreams, and later hypnosis sessions, helped recover what had been suppressed.
Investigations and Insights
As word spread, researchers became involved. Walter Webb from NICAP interviewed us several times. Eventually, Dr. J. Allen Hynek, who had been skeptical at first, came to believe we were telling the truth. For us, the experience was never about fear. It was profound, transformative, spiritually uplifting, even. We couldn’t be convinced that life elsewhere didn’t exist. We had seen too much to ever doubt it again.
Reflections on the Lost Interview
This narrative segment is from the opening portion of the video. Additional material from the edited transcript includes fascinating details, insights that highlight Betty’s wit, clarity, and the depth of her experience.
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of interviewing Betty’s niece, Kathleen Marden, several times, the most recent, in connection with the 60th anniversary reissue of Captured!: The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience. Link.
Kathleen, herself an experiencer, offers a unique perspective on the family’s extraordinary legacy. A lot has changed in the six decades since Betty and Barney Hill’s encounter. Advances in science and technology have reshaped the conversation, and more experiencers coming forward to share their stories.
It might be that Betty’s persistent efforts to initiate and maintain contact with these intelligences helped open a door that others, including her niece, have since walked through. Hearing the story directly, especially from Betty herself, is an absolute treasure and a reminder of how this case continues to captivate and inform the field of UFO research.
Quoting the LA Times Obit
In regard to Betty Hill, “She was very strong-willed. She was feisty. And she was kind to a fault,” said Peter Geremia, director of the New Hampshire chapter of the Mutual UFO Network, an organization devoted to the scientific study of UFOs.
Hill knew that some people considered her crazy. After all, here was a woman who would turn her face to the heavens and wave or say hi to mysterious beings she could not see but believed were up there. She thought of them as little different from Magellan, Columbus or other explorers from bygone eras.
“Don’t be afraid,” she once wrote reassuringly. “They don’t hurt anybody. If they wanted to conquer us, they could.” Source.
J. Allen Hynek – A Few Words
An interesting footnote from the CIA.gov reading room regarding the Betty and Barney Hill UFO case. Link.
The file includes an article from John G. Fuller, author of the book, The Interrupted Journey. What I find more interesting is the final entry, a letter from J. Allen Hynek. In it, he presents several examples of what he considers “frequently made misstatements” about UFOs and resulting misconceptions.
In summary, Hynek says, “I cannot dismiss the UFO phenomenon with a shrug. The “hard data” cases contain frequent allusions to recurrent. kinematic, geometric, and luminescent characteristics. I have begun to feel that there is a tendency in 20th-century science to forget that there will be a 21stcentury science, and indeed, a 30th-century science, from which vantage points our knowledge of the universe may appear quite different.
For all who are curious, I’ll include more details from the interview transcript. There is a wealth of information in this lost conversation that underscores the importance of firsthand data provided by experiencers.
Simply fascinating.
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