Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience

by Stanton T. Friedman, Kathleen Marden

Today, 46 years after the UFO abduction of Betty and Barney Hill, more and more people are convinced that UFOs are real and their existence is being covered up by the government. If you have doubts or questions about the Hill case or alien experiences in general, Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience: The True Story of the World's First Documented Alien Abduction will give you the answers you're searching for.

The 1961 abduction of the Hills stirred worldwide interest, primarily because of the book The Interrupted Journey, the subsequent media coverage, and a 1975 TV movie, The UFO Incident. The case is mentioned in almost all UFO abduction books. It also became a target for debunkers, who still attack it today.

But the complete story of what really happened that day, its effect on the participants, and the findings of investigators has never been told ... until now.

In Captured! you'll get an insider's look at the alien abduction, previously unpublished information about the lives of the Hills before and after Barney's death in 1969, their status as celebrities, Betty's experiences as a UFO investigator, and other activities before her death in 2004.

Kathleen Marden, Betty Hill's niece, shares details from her discussions with Betty and from the evidence of the UFO abduction. She also looks at the Hills' riveting hypnosis sessions about their time onboard the spacecraft. The transcripts of these sessions provide insight into the character of the aliens, including their curiosity, their democratic discussions, and their desire to avoid inflicting pain.

In addition, co-author, physicist, and ufologist Stanton T. Friedman, the original civilian investigator of the Roswell Incident, reviews and refutes the arguments of those who have attacked the Hill case, including the star map Betty Hill saw inside the craft and later recreated.

Genres: Nonfiction, Paranormal, Aliens, History, Audiobook, Mystery, Ebooks

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Stanton T. Friedman was a nuclear physicist and professional ufologist who resided in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. He was the original civilian investigator of the Roswell incident. He worked on research and development projects for several large companies.

Reviews

[Evan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Driving home one night in 1961 through New Hampshire after a Canadian vacation, spouses Betty and Barney Hill spotted a point of light behaving strangely in the sky near the White Mountains. The light drew closer to them and through binoculars Mr. Hill could see humanoid figures arrayed in the windows of what appeared to be an alien craft. The couple tried to high-tail it out of the area but were followed by the craft and subjected to an odd buzzing noise. The couple drove on toward home and found to their bafflement that they'd arrived several hours later than they thought they would. The "missing time" nagged at them, but didn't overly concern them until they started having momentary flashbacks in their conscious thoughts and dreams of bizarre encounters. Under the guidance of a responsible and respected hypnotherapist, Dr. Simon, the two began to remember a traumatic abduction and medical examination experience at the hands of aliens.

The Betty and Barney Hill UFO abduction case is generally regarded as the first "true" abduction case in the UFO literature; it set the "template" for all abduction stories to come. It has been written about to death, and the appearance of yet another relatively new book at this late date would beg the question: Why?

The reason, according to co-authors Stanton Friedman (a nuclear physicist and one of the better and more scientifically adept UFO researchers) and Kathleen Marden (Betty Hill's niece, UFO expert and holder of the Hill's extensive personal papers and records) is that previous accounts did not tell the WHOLE story of the Hill's lives and experiences before during and after the famous incident, and that other accounts omitted key information resulting in their story becoming twisted and open to UFO abduction debunkers. This book, crammed with meticulous detail about the history of the Hill case and about the protagonists, attempts a step-by-step and point-by-point refutation of the arguments used by skeptics to debunk the case for abduction.

Is the attempt effective? Yes. Is it great reading? Not really.

The book is about as scintillating as a textbook, and yet I did enjoy learning more about the Hills themselves, who, apart for their UFO experience (and even there), were small heroes. As an interracial couple 50 years ago, they were brave just to be openly married (he was black and she was white). Barney had an exemplary record of service in community and state civil rights organizations and she did also as a conscientious and caring social worker. They pursued the truth of their own UFO case despite the personal sacrifices of doing so and in the face of hatred and criticism.

Even though I still have not read it, I suspect that the first and most famous book about this case, John Fuller's The Interrupted Journey, despite its many omissions and compressions, is probably a more readable and interesting entre into this case. This particular treatment by Friedman and Marden is probably best for people who are really into the case and are looking for a more "forensic" approach.

To be honest, that's not what I'm looking for; I like a good scary story tightly told without all the nitpicky details.

So, the book is good for what it is, as a "for the record" and "set the record straight" examination. It's probably something the cold and distant alien examiners, with their anal probes, would themselves appreciate. Unfortunately that's just not quite what I'm looking for. And I always have to demerit any book that makes an exciting story dull.

[Lori S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
An interesting biography of Betty and Barney Hills' lives and the remarkable events which caused them a good deal of tumult and unhappiness. A remarkable pair, they managed to live fully in spite of everything.

[Dan Proctor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why do I rate this book 5*? Excellent question.
I first became exposed to Stanton Friedman from various TV shows where is has been interviewed and appreciated what he had to say. While looking to read something different I found "UFOs Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go On The Record" by Leslie Kean (read this book too) and really enjoyed it. It caused me to realize that accepting that some (5%) of sightings seem to be "completely unknown flying machines with exceptional performances that are guided by a natural or artificial intelligence". But you ask, where's the evidence? Actually very easy to find. Looking farther afield I found various movies and documentaries on AmazonPrime including a really rough one on Stanton at a conference where he did a presentation. It was fascinating and I wanted more. I purchased his book "Flying Saucers and Science" and loved it. Now I've sought out his other books. "Captured" was my next read.
"Captured" covers the story from start to finish of the Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience. You realize that instead of a short headline, as you get on typical news coverage, here was an extraordinary story of two normal people and how they handled an extraordinary situation. They did not rush to the media, but reported it to the local military base out of a sense of civic duty. Their story grows from there. Clear evidence is presented.
Do yourself a favor and read this book.

[Juanita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this book! Started this read in 2013, but found other 'abduction/encounter' books of Stanton's & so jumped to them leaving Betty and Barney behind. The book was simply written - Mr. Friedman is an astrophysicist & can, at times, become too technical in his writings. Because Betty's niece co-authored, however, I think this book became readable even to a laymen.

Side note: I don't believe in aliens - I just can't fathom it; maybe my mind isn't expansive enough. I truly feel that belief in aliens, like belief in God, is based on faith and INTERPRETATION of evidence that such exists. Because I believe in God based on my own interpretation of Divine Proof, I respect those that believe we've had visitations because I understand their thought processes. I read these books because of the human stories they share & because I never come away without some update in my scientific knowledge. I'd NEVER read a scientific book by an astrophysicist in any other type of book genre because I would NEVER understand it. But books about aliens always hone in on what the universe is made of - what we're made of. And I like the discussions my son and I have once an 'alien' book is completed by me.

So in short, if you wanna read a good book, wanna find more interpretable proof that aliens exist, or wanna know the story about a mixed-race couple who dared to love each other openly (in the 60's y'all!!!), and stuck by each other when tragedy struck READ THIS BOOK!!!

[Nik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is quite a thorough read. The author did an exceptional job of analysing the famous BnB abduction case. Of course it happened!

[Dina Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last summer I had the pleasure of meeting the famous nuclear physicist, Stanton Friedman, and famous niece of Betty Hill, Kathleen Marden, at the Alien Museum in Roswell, New Mexico. They were selling several books. I bought Captured and had them sign the inside cover.


The book is the true story of America's first abductees, Betty and Barney Hill, in 1961. Perhaps others were at one time abducted in this country, but this interracial couple of 1961 were credible and had evidence of the visit.

Me with Marden and Friedman

The book is not written like a story, but rather like a documentary/persuasive essay in which Friedman and Marden set out to prove Betty's and Barney's story while refuting all those who have debunked the so-called abduction in the past. We learn about Betty's and Barney's interracial marriage which was frowned upon in the early '60s. They start their marriage off with an alien siting in New Hampshire. A UFO came down and studied both Barney and Betty. They were taken in the ship and medically examined. Afterward, they went home and were hazy about the events that took place. Their car had weird splotches on it, Betty's dress had a powdery residue and the zipper was torn, their watches stopped, and Barney's shoes were scuffed. Both oft the Hills could not remember what happened. Through dreams and then hypnosis, their memories came back. Pease Air Force base got involved.
Betty and Barney slowly revealed what they remembered aboard the spaceship. Both of them shared a similar story that seemed to suggest the aliens were studying their reproductive parts. Betty was shown a book they had written. The characters in the book were unrecognizable to her. The lead alien showed her a starmap of where they were from that was later on drafted by Marjorie Fish. Betty who was a social worker would not have had the knowledge of constellations to accurately make up a star map. The planets and stars she described really did exist by the Reticuli. Barney who did not want to make their siting public became active in civil rights. He later died of a cerebral hemorhage in 1969. After her husband's death, Betty continued looking for other abductees and alien sitings. There were a few times after the initial siting that the aliens seemed to come back, wanting to communicate with her.
My Review:
The story is fascinating. It could have been written in a more compelling way to read like a novel than the scientific proof style the authors preferred, but then maybe that was the point. They went out of their way to make it sound like a report rather than a story so that it remained credible. I loved how they included what people said about the Hills during the respective time era. There were several pictures, drawing, and documents to go along with the Hills' story. What if we were being watched by extraterrestrials? What if we were one big experiment? This is a must read for all alien believers. 5/5 Stars

[David Seals · Rating 4 out of 5]

When it comes right down to it, all we have is their word for it. No one else saw anything.

With the Travis Walton case, 6 other witnesses saw the Flying Saucer that injured Travis and probably took him away for 5 days. All 7 still maintain to this day, since 1975, they're telling the truth, and passed lie detector tests.

George Adamski also had eyewitnesses in 1953, and took excellent photographs which some scientists have supported as authentic (Alan Watts for instance, in 'The UFO Quest').

In 'The Roswell Incident' the US Air Force was the first to make public in the newspapers and on radio they had retrieved an 'Instrument' in 1947, or "Disc", and said so publicly, with eyewitnesses again going public and talking about actual physical debris.

In my book 'Abduction at Roswell' and stage play 'The Roswell Mysteries' my father was a B-29 pilot instructor in the AAF stationed at Roswell from 1944-47, proving the authenticity; and I was born then as a direct part of the story.

[Grumpus · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a big reader of anything UFO, there was not much new here for me. It’s written by the niece of Betty and Barney Hill, the first big profile UFO abductee case from 1961. While it does give a little “behind the scenes” from the book, The Interrupted Journey, I can’t help but get the feel that she is trying to profit from her relationship to Betty.

I knew the story of the Hill’s abduction but I did not know what happened with Betty later in her life. There is an apropos chapter entitled, “Betty’s fall from grace” with all the details. That was the most interesting part of the book for me; the most disappointing was the quality of the photo reproductions.

Most UFO buffs could skip this one but probably won't.

[Daniel Collison · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are two compelling details associated with the Hill incident: 1) physical evidence associated with Betty's dress, and 2) Betty's star map independently situated in the heavens by Marjorie Fish. The book would have presented a more compelling argument for the veracity of the Hill incident if it had delved into the issues associated with each of these details.

At best, the book is amateurishly written. No matter how many times the terms "science" and "scientific" are bandied about in the text, too much of the narrative prevents assumed truths in a vaguely sensational manner.

I look forward to someday reading a truly object and "scientific" account reviewing and analyzing various UFO incidents.

[Bryce Zabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back in 1961, when John F. Kennedy was a new president, a New Hampshire couple suffered a "missing time" experience in the White Mountains. Betty and Barney Hill were an interracial couple, a rare enough coupling in those days, but now they became the first major public story of abduction by aliens. Stanton Friedman and his co-author Kathy Marden (Betty's niece) have looked into the case over forty years later and find that it is even more solid now than it was then. This is probably the real deal, folks, and it happened before people could get the idea of alien abduction from movies and books.

[Ray Foy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1966, when I was ten years old, I read the excerpt of John Fuller’s book, The Interrupted Journey, in Look magazine. Precocious reading for a ten-year-old, I guess, but the excerpt made an impression on me and I’ve been interested in the UFO phenomenon ever since. And I have been especially interested in the story of Betty and Barney Hill, who were the subject of the Look magazine excerpt and of Fuller’s book. Famously, the Hills were the first widely publicized victims of alien abduction.

Mr. Fuller’s book concentrated on the story from Betty’s viewpoint and omitted a lot of material gleaned from the Hills’ hypnosis sessions. In Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience, Kathleen Marden (Betty’s niece) fills in the gaps, bringing out more of Barney’s experience and the Hills’ life before and after their UFO encounter.

THE ALIEN ABDUCTION INCIDENT

On the evening of September 19, 1961, Betty and Barney Hill were returning home to Portsmouth, New Hampshire from a holiday that had taken them into Canada. The hour was late, well after sunset, when they noticed a bright, star-like object that seemed to be following them. They would stop occasionally to look at the object through binoculars, then continue their journey. Finally, the object came much closer, almost directly in their path. They saw the object to be a “…circular disc, hovering silently an estimated 80 to 100 feet above their vehicle.”

Barney stopped the car and jumped out with the binoculars. Through them, he saw the disc to be a 60 to 80 foot diameter craft. It had “…a double row of rectangular windows extending across its rim.” Behind the windows, he saw “…a group of humanoid figures moving about with the precision of military officers.”

Overcome with terror and the feeling that he was about to be captured, Barney ran back to the car and sped away. “…rhythmic ‘buzzing’ tones seemed to bounce off the trunk of their vehicle as they drove, and they sensed a penetrating vibration.” Eventually, they heard another set of buzzing sounds. After that, they had vague memories of “…encountering a roadblock, of seeing a huge, fiery red-orange orb resting on the ground….” Finally, they made it home at daybreak--two or more hours later than they expected.

EXPANDING ON THE HILLS LIFE AFTER HYPNOSIS

In the first chapter, Ms. Marden provides a glimpse into the pre-UFO lives of Betty and Barney. They were an interracial couple, both previously married, and devoted to one another. Both were active in civil rights and social work. Then the UFO episode changed everything for them.

Ms. Marden relates the part of their experience that the Hills remembered initially. She recounts the report they filed with Air Force that was forwarded to Project Blue Book (the Air Force’s group that investigated UFOs). Their work with investigators led the Hills to seek professional help to relieve the fear and anxiety that had tormented them since the incident. Finally, they found Dr. Benjamin Simon, a hypnotherapist. In a series of sessions where he hypnotized the Hills, Dr. Simon was able to bring to the surface their repressed memories, which were the incredible details of the Hills’ abduction by aliens. They include Betty’s interview with the alien leader, the star map, and the physical exams.

Ms. Marden’s account of the Hills’ life after the hypnosis and how they gradually accepted what happened to them, was most interesting to me. I did not know that they worked with some leading UFO researchers of the time (J. Allen Hynek, Jacques Vallee) on experiments meant to communicate with the aliens. It seems these researchers had some confidence in Betty being able to make telepathic contact with her abductors.

I also did not realize that the Hills continued to sight UFOs after their abduction. They were (apparently) never abducted again, but they reported seeing the same craft again on several occasions. Being close to her aunt, Ms. Marden got a lot of this information directly from Betty. She talked with Barney as well, before he died in 1969 from a cerebral hemorrhage.


WELL WRITTEN ACCOUNT OF THE 1961 HILL ABDUCTION INCIDENT

Captured! is well written, telling the Hills’ story chronologically and expanding on John Fuller’s account. It brings an understanding of Betty and Barney, showing the trauma of their abduction turning into acceptance, then curiosity, then a desire to understand and relate the truth of their experience.

I especially like that Captured! contains a lot of pictures of the Hills at various times in their lives. Also it has photos of other people relevant to the Hills’ story. And what really endorses the book for me is that the story it tells agrees with Richard Dolan’s writeup of it in his book UFOs and the National Security State (volume I). So both of these books are must-read references for Betty and Barney’s case.

For anyone wanting to get into the UFO literature and gain an understanding of the UFO phenomenon, familiarity with the experience of Betty and Barney Hill is a must. It is a case that bridges the span between the “contactees” of the 1950s and the abductees of the 1970s and 1980s. Read John Fuller’s The Interrupted Journey for a contemporary account of the Hills’ abduction. Read Captured! for a complete description of that abduction incident and to learn the whole story of the two abductees.

[Trish Blackman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dude, if you like UFO stuff, check this out. I read it almost in one night! I could NOT put it down.

[Elliott · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ve been on a UFO kick recently and I’ve cleared out my local used bookstores of all the “good” ones not because I’ve become a true believer or anything but because they’re fun to read even as they’re all incredibly terrible. But, during one such excursion I found this gem- signed by Stanton Friedman himself.
In any case, I was interested in returning to the Betty and Barney Hill abduction which was a tale that scared me quite deeply as a child. For many years after reading about it I would only sleep on my side facing the wall away from my bedroom door with a heavy comforter wrapped tightly around me covering my face completely save my nose and mouth lest an alien see me- or I should see an alien.
Aside from personal significance the Betty and Barney Hill Abduction was among the first reported abductions and has proven, arguably, the most influential and therefore quite fascinating in that regard. Here you see the emergence of the two important features. The first is the “classic” extraterrestrial: short, grey skin, large bottomless eyes black as death that stare right into you… The second is the prototypical abduction case: a bright light prefigures a period of so-called “missing time” that cannot be accounted for except under hypnosis which then reveals that an individual was brought within an extraterrestrial craft and subjected to medical experiments before being released.
In corroboration to her story are three main pieces of “evidence.” The first piece is an alleged radar capture that tracked an anomalous object in the vicinity of the abduction. The second is a “star map” that Betty had drawn under hypnosis that depicts the extraterrestrial’s home world. The third is a torn dress with a stain of uncertain origin that Betty had stored away in a closet.
In opposition to these claims is Betty Hill herself. Her initial recounting of the “aliens” was that they were short, dark haired little men with big noses in contrast to her husband who described the now-traditional greys. Her descriptions changed to match her husband’s. Later anecdotes about Betty confirm that she never suffered a cognitive decline or anything of the sort- but are otherwise less than flattering. UFO investigator John Oswald stated that Betty could not tell the difference between a UFO and a streetlight while at a 1980 conference skeptic Robert Shaeffer reports that she was literally jeered offstage after the blurry images of lights against totally dark backgrounds failed to convince even the most gullible of attendees. (https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4124)
Further research into the radar contact picked up on the dates in question correspond to the behavior of a weather balloon that had been released in the same area at the same time. Her “star map” has not proven a good match for the Zeta Reticuli system as claimed by researchers as more accurate calculations of the distances have shown. Finally, while the dress was tested and said to contain “anomalous organic material” it had been shut away for nearly four decades in a closet which is hardly a sterile environment.
It’s my interpretation that she was just so interested in UFOs (she was apparently regaling her sister with stories of them four years before her abduction) and so wanted to have an encounter that she created one on her own and attributed it to that time her husband her had fallen asleep while driving. More or less that was the opinion of Dr. Benjamin Simon who had performed the hypnosis that “revealed” her encounter: “I am also sure that the abduction and examination' did not take place except as Betty’s dream.” (http://www.debunker.com/historical/Be...)

[Paul Sutter]

CAPTURED! THE BETTY AND BARNEY HILL EXPERIENCE is a book that you are going to love or hate. I doubt there is any wiggle room for “in the middle.” This incidentally is the 60th anniversary edition of the tale about one of the most famous UFO abductions of all time. Many had their first taste of aliens and flying saucers thanks to the famous supposed crash of a saucer in Roswell New Mexico in the late 1940’s.
Speculation has run rampant as to whether we are alone in this universe and there have been peak levels of interest when flying saucer sightings were as common as winter snow. The granddaddy of them all involved Barney and Betty Hill in 1961 when they were returning home from Canada and happened upon an alien craft. According to them they were taken aboard the ship and analyzed most extensively. Part of their bodies were probed, and they were checked out as if the aliens had never seen any humans before. Their case became an interesting phenomenon as movies were made based on it and the interracial couple became the poster children so to speak for alien abducting us and studying us.
The co-author of the book Kathleen Marden is the niece of Betty Hill, and while the book is heavy on fact, one still has to take it all with the proverbial grain of salt. I must admit that I am not a doubter in alien life, but I do ponder the plausibility of such an abduction and why them? Yes they answered questions under hypnosis and drew a star map like supposedly seen on the alien craft. A dress that Betty wore that night that had traces of elements from the UFO, was put in her closet and forgotten about until years later, then extensively studied.
There have been many claims of alien abductions, including noted author Whitley Strieber. What always causes controversy is the fact that night a massive craft landed and no one else saw it. While the book is rich with so-called facts and speculation, and was entertaining reading, this personal jury is still on what was fact and what was fiction.

[Ryan Diederich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Apologia on the Barney Betty Case.

The question is: were Betty’s dreams a post-traumatic response that mimiced reality, distorting as necessary to protect her from the horror, or dream materials she incorporated into a fantasy to fill the missing time of dissociative amnesia? It took them longer to get home than expected; longer than a turn off the highway should have delayed them. Scuffed shoes, rubbed spots with reversed magnetic fields on the car, the broken camera strap, the torn dress are the physical evidence.

The gotcha fact checking gets absurd at some points; they reference a point in The Interrupted Journey where Fuller states that Barney wanted “someone to reassure him that he is not a fugitive from the Twilight Zone”. Friedman/Marden say that Barney had never seen the Twilight Zone! Of course Fuller is writing that line to make a point to a popular audience, not quoting Barney.

I take exception to the narrative that there’s some foulness to disbelief, at least in regard to belief. The authors come across as sticks in the mud — it’s less interesting to say duh, of course it was aliens, they’re from Zeta Reticuli, and they collected medical samples from the Hills. In justifying their belief in the abduction, all the wonder that the story bears is stripped away.

Sympathetic renderings of grief; Betty claims to have been visited by a UFO after Barney’s death and pointed “in the general direction of his grave”, reporting harassment and break ins and pranks. She organized UFO sighting groups to flash their headlights to attract flying saucers. She took photos of spheroids and discoids, printing them to slides and giving presentations. She referred mentally-ill supposed abductees to ill-reputable hypnotists. I wish, if the authors goal were to be true, they had really reckoned with the second half of her life rather than brush it under the rug.

Towards the end Friedman gives his haughty, whiny jeremiad toward disbelievers, mostly an angsty attack written in the third person on those who criticize his work with Marjorie Fish on star maps.

[Dan Zarfati · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this one is a very, very positive surprise. The John Fuller contribution, "Interrupted Journey" is an excellent book, still it was a sanitised version of the whole occurrence, we were simply not ready for the whole packaged as it was in 1966, so sexual content was repressed by the sources (Barney and Betty Hill), and the whole paranormal events that followed or were intertwined between. The Betty's niece had a lot of material, and she had personal experience with the couple, was present in a lot of the situation, so now we know that the couple tried contact with the UFOs and were very successful, Betty became an interesting UFO researcher, and the case developed in ways that only now have been tackled, so Betty was a ground breaker in many respects. This book has very good information, I suggest you to read it.

[Charles Witham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know I’ve rated this book rather high, however, it is an important read to give additional perspective to the book, “The Interrupted Journey” and all the behind scenes which took place other than the details of the abduction and aftermath. Also, the death of Nuclear Physicist Stan Friedman, who in my opinion, was a great representation of the Flying Saucer community; (he liked calling them that, instead of U.F.O.’s because to him, it was coined that in the forties and described what Keneth Arnold had saw…and it simply stuck.) Also, Kathleen Marden does a great job filling in about her famous Aunt Betty and offers her take on the effect it had on Betty Hill in the latter years of her life. Well worth the read folks.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5

This is a mostly interesting rundown of the Betty and Barney Hill case... until it gets into the rather tedious and all too boring (but understandably essential) fallout of their experience, whatever it was.

Naturally, this book believes that they encountered a UFO and had an alien abduction experience. That's for you to believe, but the book does act as if you're already on board and does very little to sway you if you're on the fence.

I believe that they certainly experienced something unexplainable that evening. It's quite likely - as some suggest outside of this book - that it was a racially motivated experience, but I don't really buy into that.

Ultimately, this is more of a curio than a mind shifting experience. For alien/UFO enthusiasts only.

[Cal Brunsdon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always loved UFO/alien tales, and Betty and Barney Hill's abduction is arguably the most famous AND original - the one that really brought 'true' abduction tales and UFO sightings into the zeitgeist, where it's held firm for decades.

I came to this book as more of a refresher than anything, and while I did learn some new information here and there, (mostly around Betty's personal background), it was an incredibly dry retelling, especially considering the out-there story. How aliens stopping a car on the highway and picking up a 1960's inter-racial couple on the backroads of New Hampshire could be made so clinically dull is beyond me.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been wanting to read this book for quite some time. I was very familiar with this "abduction" story but wanted to hear it as directly as possible.
The source material is from Betty and Barney themselves and other officials involved.
I found a few sections of the book a little lengthy and dragged a bit.
For the most part I feel like I have a more complete view of people, a couple who had their whole lives changed forever and how they negotiated that.

[Brent Pinkall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-researched, but quite dull. Moreover, while I believe such "abductions" happen (though I believe aliens to be conniving, demonic creatures), and while I think the Hills were likely abducted, this case in particular does not serve well as linchpin evidence of such phenomena simply because their experiences were recounted only through hypnosis. The author tries to allay objections to such methods, but I don't find them very compelling, so I don't suppose skeptics will either.

[Cherilyn Pearson-guerrero · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first significant and documented alien abduction account. Probably a mandatory read for any of those interested in the history of ufology. This book is chilling and heartbreaking given the accounts of both Betty and Barney. It affected them in ways I do not believe they ever fully recovered from. This is a heavy read, so be mentally prepared.

[Geni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Needed an Editor

This is a very interesting story. The writing is good, the research was great, but the constant, constant repetition of the abduction is too much. There is too much repetition over the entire book. The whole thing could have probably been told succinctly in a 100 pages.

[Margot Hypnos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Similar to other UFO abductee stories or straight out of an X-files episode. It does not mean I don't believe Betty and Barny's abduction. I just did not learn anything new. I think reading about George Adamski or the Missing 411 books might give me some more insight and excitement.

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked reading about this abduction experience. I remembered it when it happened, and I enjoyed learning more details about the case. I was disappointed that an error or two crept in the anniversary edition--I would have thought that would have been corrected.

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

If anyone doesn't believe in UFO abductions, they should read this book. Well researched and very convincing. The only real drawback was I read the soft-cover version and the photos were extremely poor quality. I don't know if the hardcover versions are any better.

[Appsii Lute · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I thought this was too long and was inpatient for the details of what Betty and Barney experienced but after reading it, I get why there was so much detail around how information was gathered and the social context that this event happened within.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you have followed this case at all then you know the basics, and while this book fills in some holes and refutes some criticism, it doesn't add a whole lot. Also there is a bunch of unrelated info and repetition.

[Mario Bergeron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good detailed account of the event. The latter part of the book drags in speculation.

[Mike Hatfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and accurate account f alien abductees!