Betty and Barney Hill report a close encounter and missing time in New Hampshire
September 19, 1961 – September 20, 1961 · U.S. Route 3 near Indian Head, New Hampshire · Sighting · Secondary sources only
On a night in September 1961, driving home to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, from Montreal, Betty and Barney Hill saw lights approaching in the White Mountains. They later said they saw humanoid figures in the window of a large craft, and had no memory of the next two hours. They kept Betty's torn and stained dress, Barney's scraped shoe and a broken binocular strap. About a year later they sought hypnosis, and the sessions became John G. Fuller's book The Interrupted Journey. Their papers, including NICAP reports and a Project Blue Book folder, are held by the University of New Hampshire.
Why it matters (4/5)
First widely publicized alien-abduction account; shaped later abduction narratives.
Caveats
The abduction memories came out under hypnosis, which skeptics say can create false memories, and no physical evidence confirms the account. The library's finding aid lists the papers but does not describe Blue Book's conclusion.
Sources
- Betty and Barney Hill Papers, 1961-2006 (MC 197) (University of New Hampshire Library), context