AudioBlog: The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Abduction Story From Its Primary Sources

The story of the September 1961 case involving the possible
abduction of Betty and Barney Hill by UFO occupants has been
related and examined in numerous publications and formats. It’s an
intriguing case and was the first of the late 20th century UFO
abduction reports to receive serious consideration (and
publication) by investigators. This makes it a case worthy of
attention because the story told by the Hills couldn’t have been
influenced by previous abduction narratives. The main source for
the abduction story that is focused on by most researchers, such as
John Fuller who wrote the 1966 book about the case titled The
Interrupted Journey, is the tapes from the hypnosis sessions
the Hills went through in 1964 with Dr. Benjamin Simon. Before
that, the case was considered to be merely a sighting report.
That’s how it was presented by Walter Webb, the primary
investigator who submitted a report dated October 26,
1961, to the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena.
After news of the Hills possibly having been abducted got out, Webb
was moved to submit an updated report, dated August 30, 1965,
that contains the abduction account. Included in that report is a
copy of the letter Betty Hill wrote to NICAP Director Donald Keyhoe
dated September 26, 1961. This is the first document with a
complete version the Hill’s sighting as it was consciously
remembered. As for the abduction account, Webb included a copy of a
five-page document, written by Betty a little over a month after
the sighting, that shows that it actually originated in a series of
dreams Betty had on consecutive nights shortly after the encounter.
The letter and document are included in The Interrupted
Journey, but their significance as the first recorded accounts of
the Hills’ experience very close to the time of the event is not
emphasized by Fuller.    Read more