About Betty and Barney Hill incident
The Betty and Barney Hill incident occurred on the night of September 19–20, 1961, along U.S. Route 3 in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
- Also known as
- Hill abduction, Zeta Reticuli incident
- Date
- Night of 19–20 September 1961
- Place
- U.S. Route 3, White Mountains, New Hampshire
- Witnesses
- Barney Hill (1922–1969) and Betty Hill (1919–2004)
- Investigators
- Walter N. Webb (NICAP), Dr. Benjamin Simon (hypnosis)
- Book
- The Interrupted Journey by John G. Fuller (1966)
- Location
- near Lincoln, New Hampshire
- Coordinates
- 43.9086, -71.6639 ↗
The full story, section by section
The story of Betty and Barney Hill incident in 9 parts. Tap any part to read it in full.
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The HillsBarney Hill (1922–1969) was a Second World War veteran who worked for the U.S.Read this part →
Market Square in downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the Hills' home town. · Photo: AlexiusHoratius, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons -
The sightingAt about 10:30 p.m. on 19 September, just south of Lancaster, New Hampshire, Betty noticed a bright point of light in the sky moving upward from below the Moon and the planet Jupiter to the west of the Moon.Read this part →
Franconia Notch, looking south from Profile Lake. · Photo: User:BIYM, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons (resized copy) -
The aftermathThe Hills got home at about dawn feeling dirty and uneasy.Read this part →
The main gate of Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire, in 1987. Betty Hill reported the sighting to the base the day after. · Photo: Master Sgt. Dave Casey, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons -
The hypnosis sessionsIn 1964 the Hills began months of weekly sessions with Dr.Read this part →
A hypnotic regression session with a man who believed he had been abducted, conducted by the researcher Budd Hopkins in New York in 2003. The Hills began their own weekly sessions with Dr Benjamin Simon in 1964. · Photo: Becket01, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons (resized copy) -
PublicityThe Hills returned to their normal lives and discussed the encounter with friends and family, but did not seek publicity.Read this part →
The Boston Traveler newspaper building on Summer Street, Boston, in 1902. The Traveler first published the Hills' story in October 1965. · Photo: Current Advertising, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons -
The star mapIn 1968 Marjorie Fish, an elementary school teacher and amateur astronomer from Oak Harbor, Ohio, read The Interrupted Journey and set out to identify the stars on Betty's map.Read this part →
A redrawn version of Betty Hill's star map compared with the Zeta Reticuli system, as interpreted by Marjorie Fish. · Photo: K.i.f, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons (resized copy) -
Skeptical explanationsJim Macdonald, who lives in the area, reconstructed the Hills' journey in detail and concluded that they had mistaken an aircraft warning beacon on Cannon Mountain for a UFO: from their route, the beacon appears and disappears exactly when they described the object doing so.Read this part →
Interstate 93 and US Route 3 through Franconia Notch, the route the Hills drove that night. · Photo: SayCheeeeeese, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons -
Sociological interpretationsWriters such as Jodi Dean have noted that accounts of the case tended to play down the Hills' interracial marriage.Read this part →
A diagram of UFO folklore and fiction from 1940 to 1997, tracing how ideas about aliens developed in popular culture. · Photo: Feoffer, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons (resized copy) -
LegacyBefore the Hills, according to Bader, reported alien encounters were generally friendly; afterwards abduction accounts shared features such as medical examinations and missing time, and large-headed, big-eyed "greys" became staples of pers…Read this part →
The Old Man of the Mountain, the granite face in Franconia Notch near which Betty Hill said the object appeared, photographed in April 2003, shortly before it collapsed. · Photo: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Key people
The people at the centre of the story — witnesses, investigators, officials and sceptics:
- Stanton FriedmanStanton Terry Friedman was an American-Canadian nuclear physicist who became a professional ufologist after leaving physics in 1970. Operating mainly from the United States and Canada, he became best…
- Carl SaganCarl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, and science communicator who lived from 1934 to 1996. He played a major role in space missions, discovered Venus's high surface temp…
- Budd HopkinsElliot Budd Hopkins was an American abstract painter and sculptor who became a leading figure in the study of claimed alien abductions. Beginning in the 1960s after his own UFO sighting, he published…
- Jerome ClarkJerome Clark is an American writer, editor, and songwriter who specializes in UFOs and other anomalous phenomena. He is best known for writing The UFO Encyclopedia and has served on the board of the …
- Walter WebbWalter Webb is a Boston astronomer and UFO investigator who conducted significant research into reported UFO encounters. In 1961, he became the first investigator to interview Betty and Barney Hill r…
Programs, organizations & documents
The official programs, groups and papers involved:
🏢 Organization · 9 min readNICAPThe National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) was an American civilian UFO research organization active from 1956 to 1980. Directed for many years by Donald Keyhoe, the group campaigned for congressional hearings and argued that the govern…
🏛️ Program or study · 14 min readProject Blue BookProject Blue Book was the United States Air Force's official study of unidentified flying objects based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio from March 1952 until December 1969. The project collected and analyzed sighting reports to determine if UFOs th…
🏢 Organization · 13 min readU.S. Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the air service branch of the U.S. armed forces that became an independent service in September 1947.Books, films & documentaries
Where to read and watch more:
🎬 Book or film · 6 min readClose Encounters of the Third KindClose Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 American science-fiction drama written and directed by Steven Spielberg. The film tells the story of ordinary people drawn to a secret first meeting between humans and extraterrestrials at Devils Tower in Wyoming. …
🎬 Book or film · 5 min readThe X-FilesThe X-Files is an American science-fiction drama series created by Chris Carter that originally ran on Fox from September 1993 to May 2002. FBI agents Fox Mulder, a believer, and Dana Scully, a skeptic, investigate unsolved paranormal cases and uncover a gove…🎬 Book or film · 6 min readCommunion (book)Communion: A True Story is a 1987 non-fiction book by American author Whitley Strieber about being taken from his cabin in upstate New York by non-human beings on December 26, 1985. The book became a major best-seller, selling over two million copies and feat…
🎬 Book or film · 5 min readFire in the SkyFire in the Sky is a 1993 American science-fiction horror drama directed by Robert Lieberman and based on Travis Walton's book about his claimed alien abduction in November 1975 in northern Arizona. The film depicts a logger who disappears after encountering …
🎬 Book or film · 4 min readProject Blue Book (TV series)Project Blue Book is an American historical drama television series broadcast on History from January 2019 to March 2020. Created by David O'Leary, the show is loosely based on the U.S.Related topics & places
Ideas, terms and places that come up in the story:
📖 Term · 10 min readAlien abductionAlien abduction is the claim that individuals are taken against their will by non-human beings aboard a spacecraft to undergo physical and psychological procedures. Reports of these events occurred worldwide between 1952 and 1995, with the first widely public…
📖 Term · 13 min readGrey alienGrey aliens are purported extraterrestrial beings depicted as small, hairless humanoids with large heads and black eyes, becoming popular cultural icons through modern abduction reports and media. The image spread significantly following the 1961 Betty and Ba…
🧭 Topic overview · 7 min readTypes of aliensThe kinds of extraterrestrial beings described in UFO reports and lore: greys, Nordics, reptilians and more.🗓️ Betty and Barney Hill incident on the UAP timeline
- A disputed memo attributed to CIA Director Hillenkoetter calls for a presidential directive and scientific study of the discs. Read the article →
- An anonymous military source claims a UAP deliberately landed at Hill AFB. Read the article →
- Former CIA Director Hillenkoetter tells a newspaper UFOs are under intelligent control. Read the article →
- Former contractor Don Phillips claims Lockheed studies extraterrestrial technology. Read the article →
- Two alleged Hill AFB workers report a glowing disc above the flight line. Read the article →
🛸 UFO sightings near Betty & Barney Hill
21 sightings on ufos.dev were reported within 100 km. The most-upvoted:
Sightings that mention Betty and Barney Hill incident
More in the encyclopedia
Other articles that link to or mention Betty and Barney Hill incident:
- Hill AFB landing claim (1958)This article is about an unverified 1958 claim that a UFO deliberately landed at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. The claim originated from the "Project Aquarius" papers and an anonymous military source …
- Hill AFB glowing disc (2010)In December 2010, journalist Linda Moulton Howe published two unverified cell-phone photographs on her website that allegedly showed a brightly glowing disc over the flight line at Hill Air Force Bas…
- Lubbock LightsThe Lubbock Lights were formations of soft, glowing bluish-green lights seen by multiple witnesses over Lubbock, Texas, and surrounding areas between August and September 1951. The sightings were fam…
- Mystery airships of 1896-97The mystery airships of 1896–97 were a wave of thousands of reports involving lights and craft moving through the night sky. The sightings took place in California and western states starting in Nove…
- John Lennon UFO sightingJohn Lennon and May Pang watched a silent, saucer-shaped UFO glide past the terrace of their Manhattan penthouse on the night of August 23, 1974. The object was described as having flashing white lig…
- Lakenheath–Bentwaters incidentThe Lakenheath–Bentwaters incident was a series of radar and visual contacts with unidentified objects over RAF airbases in eastern England on the night of 13–14 August 1956, involving British and Am…
- Solway Firth SpacemanThe Solway Firth Spaceman is an anomalous photograph taken on May 23, 1964, by firefighter Jim Templeton at Burgh Marsh in Cumberland, England. The picture of his five-year-old daughter features an u…
- Nimitz Tic Tac encounterThe Nimitz Tic Tac encounter occurred in November 2004 off the coast of southern California, where U.S. Navy personnel from the USS Nimitz and USS Princeton tracked and observed an unidentified, wing…
Questions & answers
What is Betty and Barney Hill incident?
Betty and Barney Hill incident: The Betty and Barney Hill incident occurred on the night of September 19–20, 1961, along U.S. Route 3 in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Read: Betty and Barney Hill incident →
Where is Betty and Barney Hill incident?
Betty and Barney Hill incident is in near Lincoln, New Hampshire (about 43.909, -71.664). Read: Betty and Barney Hill incident →
What else is Betty and Barney Hill incident called?
Betty and Barney Hill incident is also known as Hill abduction, Zeta Reticuli incident.
Who is Stanton Friedman?
Stanton Friedman: Stanton Terry Friedman was an American-Canadian nuclear physicist who became a professional ufologist after leaving physics in 1970. Operating mainly from the United States and Canada, he became best known for reviving the modern Roswell incident through a 1978 interview and for investigating other prominent UFO and alleged alien visitation cases. Read: Stanton Friedman →
Who is Carl Sagan?
Carl Sagan: Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, and science communicator who lived from 1934 to 1996. He played a major role in space missions, discovered Venus's high surface temperature, co-created interstellar messages, and co-wrote and presented the popular television series Cosmos. He also worked extensively to study UFO reports scientifically while remaining a prominent skeptic of the extraterrestrial hypothesis. Read: Carl Sagan →
Who is Budd Hopkins?
Budd Hopkins: Elliot Budd Hopkins was an American abstract painter and sculptor who became a leading figure in the study of claimed alien abductions. Beginning in the 1960s after his own UFO sighting, he published books such as Missing Time and Intruders that popularized the idea of repeated alien abductions for genetic experimentation. Critics and skeptics heavily criticized his reliance on hypnosis and untrained practitioners to uncover these claims, noting the lack of any physical evidence. Read: Budd Hopkins →
What is NICAP?
NICAP: The National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) was an American civilian UFO research organization active from 1956 to 1980. Directed for many years by Donald Keyhoe, the group campaigned for congressional hearings and argued that the government was covering up UFO evidence. NICAP eventually declined following the negative Condon Report, published its final newsletter in 1980, and was dissolved. Read: NICAP →
What is Project Blue Book?
Project Blue Book was the United States Air Force's official study of unidentified flying objects based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio from March 1952 until December 1969. The project collected and analyzed sighting reports to determine if UFOs threatened national security or involved advanced technology. The Air Force ultimately concluded that no UFOs posed a threat, showed unknown technology, or were extraterrestrial vehicles, leading to the closure of the project in December 1969. Read: Project Blue Book →
What is Close Encounters of the Third Kind?
Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 American science-fiction drama written and directed by Steven Spielberg. The film tells the story of ordinary people drawn to a secret first meeting between humans and extraterrestrials at Devils Tower in Wyoming. Made for $19. Read: Close Encounters of the Third Kind →
What is The X-Files?
The X-Files is an American science-fiction drama series created by Chris Carter that originally ran on Fox from September 1993 to May 2002. FBI agents Fox Mulder, a believer, and Dana Scully, a skeptic, investigate unsolved paranormal cases and uncover a government plot involving extraterrestrial life. The highly rated and critically acclaimed series became a major 1990s pop-culture touchstone that helped bring conspiracy theories to a mainstream audience. Read: The X-Files →
What is Alien abduction?
Alien abduction is the claim that individuals are taken against their will by non-human beings aboard a spacecraft to undergo physical and psychological procedures. Reports of these events occurred worldwide between 1952 and 1995, with the first widely publicized case involving Betty and Barney Hill in 1961. While most scientists and mental-health professionals explain these experiences as false memories, sleep paralysis, or suggestibility, a small number of researchers and psychiatrists have taken the claims seriously. Read: Alien abduction →
What is Grey alien?
Grey aliens are purported extraterrestrial beings depicted as small, hairless humanoids with large heads and black eyes, becoming popular cultural icons through modern abduction reports and media. The image spread significantly following the 1961 Betty and Barney Hill case and later appeared in various books, films, and conspiracy theories. Psychologists and skeptics view the appearance as a cultural product shaped by science fiction, early literature, and human associations with intelligence. Read: Grey alien →
Have UFOs been reported near Betty and Barney Hill incident?
21 sightings on ufos.dev were reported within 100 km of Betty and Barney Hill incident, and 364 mention it by name. Sightings near Betty and Barney Hill incident →