The Hill Abduction Story

The Interrupted Journey ~ The Hill’s Hypnotic Sessions

Two years after the events of September 19, 1961, Betty and Barney Hill were set up with an appointment with Doctor Benjamin Simon of Boston. While the meeting was set up for them by members of the UFO investigation group NICAP, they had chosen Dr. Simon precisely because he was a skeptic of the UFO phenomena and it was hoped that the data retrieved would not be considered contaminated by leading questions.

The hypnotic regression sessions lasted from January to June of 1964. In order to avoid having the Hill’s statements influence each other, Dr. Simon interviewed each of them separately. He began first with Barney Hill. Mr. Hill’s sessions were often punctuated with bouts of rage, tears and fear. The trauma of these sessions was such that Dr. Simon gave Barney post-hypnotic suggestions to not remember them after waking up so as to reduce the possible psychological damage they could cause.

Barney told of running back to his car after his last memory of getting out to look more closely at the object. He tried to drive away but soon felt compelled to leave the road and drive into the surrounding woods where they were joined by three entities with very large eyes that took them into a disk shaped craft. He said they kept looking into his eyes and the thoughts kept pushing in to not be afraid. Barney referred to it as “thought transference as he was unfamiliar with the term telepathy. Once inside the craft, the Hills were separated and Barney described being given a full and rather invasive medical examination.

Betty Hill’s sessions were not as traumatic as they revealed much the same information as had been plaguing her for years in recurring dreams of the event. While Barney had reported that the beings conversed in a muttering language he could not understand, Betty recalled that they talked to her in faulty but understandable English. She was told that they needed to separate her and her husband to expedite the examinations.

Betty was also subjected to a thorough medical exam and was given a “pregnancy test” via a needle through her navel. She said the pain was agonizing until the “doctor” placed his hand on her head and the pain vanished. At one point in the process another being entered the room and spoke quickly to her examiner who left the room for a short time. When he returned, he examined Betty’s mouth and started pulling on her teeth. It was finally determined that what had caused the excitement was Barney’s dentures.

After the medical examination, Betty stated she began talking to the doctor who had examined her and asked for an artifact of some sort as a remembrance of the event. He gave her a large book filled with strange writing oriented in columns. She had asked them where they were from since she had determined they were not from Earth. The information she was shown marks one of the most unusual aspects of the “abduction”.

The examiner showed her what appeared to be a star map which had a number of lines connecting various stars and planets. The lines were explained as showing various commercial trade routes and areas of exploration. When asked if she could identity her own star on the map, Betty admitted that by being unfamiliar with such things she could not. She was then told rather abruptly that if that was so then there was no way they could explain where they were from.

Under hypnosis, Betty recreated the star map to the best of her ability. Over the course of several years various researchers tried to figure out what stars were displayed in the map. The most likely identification was made by an amateur astronomer and school teacher from Ohio. Marjorie Fish had used several three dimensional models of the surrounding space around our star system and ultimately determined that the beings had most likely originated from the double star system of Zeta Reticuli. There have since been many more studies made on the star map drawn by Betty Hill during hypnosis. Even such notable scientists as Carl Sagan and Dr. David Saunders, formerly a statistician for the Condon UFO study, have studied the map and weighed in with their opinions of its accuracy. While there has been no absolutely conclusive proof of the Zeta Reticuli hypothesis, it is still determined to be the best guess.

After having looked at the map, Betty and Barney were reunited and the beings lead them off the ship. An argument developed between the ship’s crew and finally Betty’s examiner took the book he had given her back. He stated that he did not care that people knew of them but that other members of the crew insisted that the Hills not be allowed to even remember the encounter. They were taken back to their vehicle which was now beside the road although Barney had formerly driven it into the woods. As the started back onto the highway, a white light once more illuminated the road and Barney anxiously cried out “Oh, no, not again!”, but the craft was gone and they made their way home, inexplicably not remembering the events of the past few hours.

There is still a raging debate as to the accuracy and effectiveness of hypnosis as a method of recovering lost memories and many will say that the entire tale was a fabrication. That does not explain the strange markings on Barney’s leg or the fine pink powder on Betty’s skirt. It does not explain why two average people would have such extreme reactions to an unremembered event that they felt they needed help with the anxiety and fright they were feeling. The events described by the Hills under hypnosis are very similar to other reports from people who feel they have been “abducted” and taken aboard alien space craft. If these “aliens” are capable of a form of mental manipulation to make their victims forget, can we do less than attempt to use our own mental manipulation to discover what it is these visitors want with us?