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Collector's Library of the Unknown
The Interrupted Journey: Two Lost Hours Aboard a UFO: The Abduction of Betty and Barney Hill
TWO LOST HOURS ABOARD A UFO—THE ABDUCTION OF BETTY AND BARNEY HILL • One of the most extraordinary UFO tales of our time—a thrilling, otherworldly, and wildly entertaining adventure that enraptured America and stands as the quintessential extraterrestrial encounter
"True believers will see this as further evidence of the reality of UFOs" —The New York Times
On a summer night in 1961, Betty and Barney Hill were driving home through New Hampshire when a bright object appeared in the sky and began following them. When the couple finally pulled over to get a better look, the object vanished before their eyes. With nothing else to do, Betty and Barney returned to their car and kept driving into the night. The encounter left them rattled, but what came next was even more the following day, the Hills realized they couldn’t remember anything from almost two hours of their drive. Time itself had disappeared, so the couple began looking for help, hoping to uncover what happened that mysterious night.
Captivating and unputdownable, The Interrupted Journey is the complete story of those missing hours and the Hills’ nearly identical accounts, as revealed to doctors under psychotherapy and hypnosis. It stands as one of the most extraordinary UFO tales of our time. Thrilling, otherworldly, and wildly entertaining, The Interrupted Journey is an adventure that enraptured America and stands as the quintessential extraterrestrial encounter.
"True believers will see this as further evidence of the reality of UFOs" —The New York Times
On a summer night in 1961, Betty and Barney Hill were driving home through New Hampshire when a bright object appeared in the sky and began following them. When the couple finally pulled over to get a better look, the object vanished before their eyes. With nothing else to do, Betty and Barney returned to their car and kept driving into the night. The encounter left them rattled, but what came next was even more the following day, the Hills realized they couldn’t remember anything from almost two hours of their drive. Time itself had disappeared, so the couple began looking for help, hoping to uncover what happened that mysterious night.
Captivating and unputdownable, The Interrupted Journey is the complete story of those missing hours and the Hills’ nearly identical accounts, as revealed to doctors under psychotherapy and hypnosis. It stands as one of the most extraordinary UFO tales of our time. Thrilling, otherworldly, and wildly entertaining, The Interrupted Journey is an adventure that enraptured America and stands as the quintessential extraterrestrial encounter.
448 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1966
86 people are currently reading
1015 people want to read
About the author
John G. Fuller
33 books36 followersJohn Grant Fuller, Jr. (1913 - 1990) was a New England-based American author of several non-fiction books and newspaper articles, mainly focusing on the theme of extra-terrestrials and the supernatural. For many years he wrote a regular column for the Saturday Review magazine, called "Trade Winds". His three most famous books were The Ghost of Flight 401, Incident at Exeter, and The Interrupted Journey.
The Ghost of Flight 401 was based on the tragic Eastern Air Lines airplane crash in December 1972, and the alleged supernatural events which followed; it was eventually turned into a popular 1978 made-for-television movie.
Incident at Exeter concerned a series of well-publicized UFO sightings in and around the town of Exeter, New Hampshire in the fall of 1965 (see the Exeter incident). Fuller personally investigated the sightings and interviewed many of the eyewitnesses, he also claimed to have seen a UFO himself during his investigation.
The Interrupted Journey tells the story of the Betty and Barney Hill abduction. The Hills were a married couple who claimed to have been abducted in 1961 by the occupants of a UFO in the White Mountains of New Hampshire while returning home from a vacation. The book was the first to seriously claim that competent, reliable witnesses were being abducted by UFOs for medical and scientific experiments. The book remains one of the most influential in UFO history; and has been hotly debated since its publication. Like The Ghost of Flight 401, The Interrupted Journey was also turned into a made-for-television movie in 1975.
Fuller wrote The Great Soul Trial (1969) about the disappearance of Arizona Miner James Kidd and the later trial regarding his will, which left his fortune to anyone who could prove the existence of the human soul. The book was published prior to the final resolution of the case in 1971.
John was also married to a NorthWest flight Attendant who was the researcher mentioned in his book "Ghost of Flight 401" His book We Almost Lost Detroit deals with a serious accident at the Fermi nuclear power plant near Detroit. The book title was later the title of a song by Gil Scott-Heron on the No Nukes live album recorded by the Musicians United for Safe Energy.
He wrote two plays -- The Pink Elephant, which opened in 1953, and Love Me Little, which opened in 1958, both on Broadway.
His most important book was the fictional novel We Almost Lost Detroit. There is a song by Gil Scott-Heron, same title.
Fuller died of lung cancer in 1990.
The Ghost of Flight 401 was based on the tragic Eastern Air Lines airplane crash in December 1972, and the alleged supernatural events which followed; it was eventually turned into a popular 1978 made-for-television movie.
Incident at Exeter concerned a series of well-publicized UFO sightings in and around the town of Exeter, New Hampshire in the fall of 1965 (see the Exeter incident). Fuller personally investigated the sightings and interviewed many of the eyewitnesses, he also claimed to have seen a UFO himself during his investigation.
The Interrupted Journey tells the story of the Betty and Barney Hill abduction. The Hills were a married couple who claimed to have been abducted in 1961 by the occupants of a UFO in the White Mountains of New Hampshire while returning home from a vacation. The book was the first to seriously claim that competent, reliable witnesses were being abducted by UFOs for medical and scientific experiments. The book remains one of the most influential in UFO history; and has been hotly debated since its publication. Like The Ghost of Flight 401, The Interrupted Journey was also turned into a made-for-television movie in 1975.
Fuller wrote The Great Soul Trial (1969) about the disappearance of Arizona Miner James Kidd and the later trial regarding his will, which left his fortune to anyone who could prove the existence of the human soul. The book was published prior to the final resolution of the case in 1971.
John was also married to a NorthWest flight Attendant who was the researcher mentioned in his book "Ghost of Flight 401" His book We Almost Lost Detroit deals with a serious accident at the Fermi nuclear power plant near Detroit. The book title was later the title of a song by Gil Scott-Heron on the No Nukes live album recorded by the Musicians United for Safe Energy.
He wrote two plays -- The Pink Elephant, which opened in 1953, and Love Me Little, which opened in 1958, both on Broadway.
His most important book was the fictional novel We Almost Lost Detroit. There is a song by Gil Scott-Heron, same title.
Fuller died of lung cancer in 1990.
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November 3, 2024
3.5 stars
Probably one of the most publicized incidents of a (purported) alien abduction involved a married couple named Barney and Betty Hill.
Barney and Betty Hill with a newspaper account of their experience
On September 19, 1961 the Hills were returning from Montreal to their Portsmouth, New Hampshire home. At about 10:30 P.M., the Hills were on U.S. Route 3 in New Hampshire when they observed a strange object in the sky. The couple stopped to look at the object with their binoculars and to walk their dachshund Delsey. The Hills then resumed their trip while the unknown entity made erratic motions in the air. The Hills stopped to look at the object again, and Barney observed a 'flying saucer' with humanoid figures peering out the window. Barney became alarmed and quickly drove away.....after which the Hills experienced a loss of time, arriving home about two hours later than expected.
Betty and Barney Hill with their dog Delsey
Barney's sketch of the flying saucer containing aliens
The Hills reported the incident to Pease Air Force Base in New Hampshire and to the National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena (NICAP). UFO sightings in the area were not uncommon, and the Hills' were interviewed by a number of Air Force officers and NICAP officials.
Pease Air Force Base
Logo on NICAP T-shirt
Shortly after the September 19 encounter, Betty had a number of vivid dreams about being abducted by aliens, and Barney began experiencing chronic anxiety and stress. The Hills wanted to know exactly what happened on the night of the incident and eventually consulted Dr. Benjamin Simon, a Boston psychiatrist experienced with hypnosis. In January, 1964, Dr. Simon began therapy sessions with Barney and Betty, and while hypnotized the couple recalled aliens taking them from their car, bringing them to a UFO, and examining their bodies. Afterwards, the Hills were returned to their vehicle and allowed to go on their way.
Under hypnosis, Barney and Betty Hill recalled being abducted by aliens
In 1966, author John Fuller wrote a book about the Hills' experience. The book was re-released in 2022, and is available once again. The narrative contains transcripts of the couple's hypnosis sessions, so the reader can experience the (alleged) incident along with Barney and Betty.
Dr. Simon had no agenda with respect to the existence (or not) of UFOs, his sole aim being to free the Hills of their anxiety. However, Dr. Simon speculated that Betty's 'memories' of being abducted might have been a fantasy/dream that influenced Barney's 'recollections.' In any case, the Hills were freed of their distress, and were able to go on with their lives.
Fuller's book was adapted into a 1975 movie called 'The UFO Incident' starring James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons.
There's been much speculation over the years about whether or not the Hills really experienced an alien abduction. If you'd like to weigh in on the matter, I'd suggest you read the book.
For sightseers in New Hampshire, there's a historical marker designating the site of the Hills' first sighting of the UFO.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com
October 14, 2022
"I...was most impressed by the Betty and Barney Hill case when it was first introduced in the 1960's (The Interrupted Journey).This was the first so-called "abduction" case. There were many things in that report that convinced me that the Hills had a true experience. For example the apparent telepathic communication and the non-hostile intent of the aliens, seemed to me perfectly plausible".
Dolores Cannon in "The Custodians"
Barney under hypnosis: "He's a Nazi...his eyes are slanted...those eyes...I feel like a rabbit...it's the cat in Alice in Wonderland..."
Nuclear Physicist Stanton Friedman :"They [aliens] don't understand how Barney's teeth come out and hers don't" Hahah
(Barney had dentures)
Paul Devereux "...driving hours upon hours...they go into trance...miraculously floating into a spaceship ...out of the body experience...lucid dreaming experience...,sleep disorders that fit in absolute detail" (the abductee description)
"Tectonic Strain Theory
(Michael) Persinger [a cognitive neuroscience researcher] has also come to public attention due to his 1975 Tectonic Strain Theory (TST) of how geophysical variables may correlate with sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) or Marian apparitions. Persinger argued that strain within the Earth's crust near seismic faults produces intense electromagnetic (EM) fields, creating bodies of light that some interpret as glowing UFOs or The Virgin Mary. Alternatively, he argued that the EM fields generate hallucinations in the temporal lobe, based on images from popular culture, of alien craft, beings, communications, or creatures".
From Wiki
This is one of earliest* reported cases of abduction. I would highlight two, at least, important features, common to many other abduction cases. They’re the “missing time”** and the “intensity of the emotions” associated with the encounter; the latter obtained via hypnotic regression. In fact, the title of the book is the Interrupted Journey: two lost hours aboard a flying saucer.
Basically, the story told in the book involves a couple: a white woman and a black man who, back in September 19th, 1961, are travelling from Canada (border) to their home in Portsmouth, USA.
He’s a bright civil-rights activist and post officer, called Barney. She’s a social worker, by the name of Betty; her true name being Eunice.
They had had the warning of an upcoming hurricane while heading south. After the restaurant break for a meal, they left the place at around 10:05 p. m. . While on the way home she was the first one to spot “another star” (above a known planet).
Soon they both concluded that the star was moving: “the object would disappear behind the trees”. They will report: “strange sounds” ….and “missing time”...at 11 p.m. when passing by the “Cannon mountain”. The "star" had entered a “crazy course”.
:::
Upon arriving they get to this conclusion: the trip took 2 hours longer than expected. Past few days, Betty started having nightmares of the couple being taken onboard a spacecraft and "medically examined".
In December of 1963 they sought help from Doctor Benjamin Simon, because Betty had developed health problems (ulcers, namely).
The book gives detailed accounts of the sessions the couple went through. Of special (somewhat terrifying) interest are the examinations they were subjected to, by aliens. Some of these examinations left physical marks in the body of Barney.
Betty had access to maps that led to the identification of the place in the galaxy where from these aliens came.
The couple was separated while in the hypnotic sessions. Thereafter “amnesia” was induced.
Someone commented that the emotional [fear and terror] intensity reported was "greater" than any of the war traumas reported by military people.
The movie based in the book, The UFO Incident by Richard A. Colla (1975), is fairly good, regarding the story.
---
*Maybe the earliest is the case of Antonio Villas Boas in Brazil, 1957.
**Missing Time, by Budd Hopkins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g93Y...
The Lost Betty Hill Interview,October 2009.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzUWf...
(Betty and Barney Hill case with regressive hypnosis)
Dolores Cannon in "The Custodians"
Barney under hypnosis: "He's a Nazi...his eyes are slanted...those eyes...I feel like a rabbit...it's the cat in Alice in Wonderland..."
Nuclear Physicist Stanton Friedman :"They [aliens] don't understand how Barney's teeth come out and hers don't" Hahah
(Barney had dentures)
Paul Devereux "...driving hours upon hours...they go into trance...miraculously floating into a spaceship ...out of the body experience...lucid dreaming experience...,sleep disorders that fit in absolute detail" (the abductee description)
"Tectonic Strain Theory
(Michael) Persinger [a cognitive neuroscience researcher] has also come to public attention due to his 1975 Tectonic Strain Theory (TST) of how geophysical variables may correlate with sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) or Marian apparitions. Persinger argued that strain within the Earth's crust near seismic faults produces intense electromagnetic (EM) fields, creating bodies of light that some interpret as glowing UFOs or The Virgin Mary. Alternatively, he argued that the EM fields generate hallucinations in the temporal lobe, based on images from popular culture, of alien craft, beings, communications, or creatures".
From Wiki
This is one of earliest* reported cases of abduction. I would highlight two, at least, important features, common to many other abduction cases. They’re the “missing time”** and the “intensity of the emotions” associated with the encounter; the latter obtained via hypnotic regression. In fact, the title of the book is the Interrupted Journey: two lost hours aboard a flying saucer.
Basically, the story told in the book involves a couple: a white woman and a black man who, back in September 19th, 1961, are travelling from Canada (border) to their home in Portsmouth, USA.
He’s a bright civil-rights activist and post officer, called Barney. She’s a social worker, by the name of Betty; her true name being Eunice.
They had had the warning of an upcoming hurricane while heading south. After the restaurant break for a meal, they left the place at around 10:05 p. m. . While on the way home she was the first one to spot “another star” (above a known planet).
Soon they both concluded that the star was moving: “the object would disappear behind the trees”. They will report: “strange sounds” ….and “missing time”...at 11 p.m. when passing by the “Cannon mountain”. The "star" had entered a “crazy course”.
:::
Upon arriving they get to this conclusion: the trip took 2 hours longer than expected. Past few days, Betty started having nightmares of the couple being taken onboard a spacecraft and "medically examined".
In December of 1963 they sought help from Doctor Benjamin Simon, because Betty had developed health problems (ulcers, namely).
The book gives detailed accounts of the sessions the couple went through. Of special (somewhat terrifying) interest are the examinations they were subjected to, by aliens. Some of these examinations left physical marks in the body of Barney.
Betty had access to maps that led to the identification of the place in the galaxy where from these aliens came.
The couple was separated while in the hypnotic sessions. Thereafter “amnesia” was induced.
Someone commented that the emotional [fear and terror] intensity reported was "greater" than any of the war traumas reported by military people.
The movie based in the book, The UFO Incident by Richard A. Colla (1975), is fairly good, regarding the story.
---
*Maybe the earliest is the case of Antonio Villas Boas in Brazil, 1957.
**Missing Time, by Budd Hopkins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g93Y...
The Lost Betty Hill Interview,October 2009.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzUWf...
(Betty and Barney Hill case with regressive hypnosis)
March 25, 2022
The Interrupted Journey is one of the better books addressing claims of encounters with alien beings. It tells the story of Betty and Barney Hill, an interracial New Hampshire couple who spotted a UFO, piloted by sinister-looking humanoids, following their car home one night in 1961. After arriving back at their home and noting they'd experienced missing time, they began talking with friends and associates. They also started having strange nightmares in which aliens prominently featured. Soon they were in touch with the relevant researchers and UFO advocates. Eventually they found themselves a psychiatrist, who hypnotised them with a view towards identifying and healing the psychological issues triggering their fears and near-hysteria. It is in these hypnosis sessions that the full story came out. Not only did Betty and Barney Hill witness a UFO event, they were also abducted by aliens, who subjected them to a series of medical tests. One of the most famous alien abduction stories was born.
You don't have to believe that the Hills' story of being abducted by men from beyond the moon is true in order to enjoy The Interrupted Journey. Built around the hypnosis sessions they underwent, it does a great job of laying out their original story without neglecting alternate explanations such as that of their hypnotist, who believed their encounter and subsequent hysteria were a manifestation of paranoia and insecurity over the Hills' interracial marriage during the Civil Rights era -- in which Betty and Barney, good people, were committed activists. This approach has its drawbacks, of course. For example, it doesn't go into Betty Hill's second career as an especially silly UFO believer who eventually struggled to differentiate between streetlights and flying saucers. She wasn't crazy at the time her and her husband's abduction experience went public (against their wishes) but she wasn't all there by the end.
If you're looking for a book that addresses a famous case of alleged alien abduction without succumbing to sensationalism or silliness, The Interrupted Journey is a good option. It's grounded and sufficiently sceptical when compared to, say, Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience , written by the supremely smug Stanton Friedman and the Hills' piggybacking niece. Still one of the best books of its kind.
You don't have to believe that the Hills' story of being abducted by men from beyond the moon is true in order to enjoy The Interrupted Journey. Built around the hypnosis sessions they underwent, it does a great job of laying out their original story without neglecting alternate explanations such as that of their hypnotist, who believed their encounter and subsequent hysteria were a manifestation of paranoia and insecurity over the Hills' interracial marriage during the Civil Rights era -- in which Betty and Barney, good people, were committed activists. This approach has its drawbacks, of course. For example, it doesn't go into Betty Hill's second career as an especially silly UFO believer who eventually struggled to differentiate between streetlights and flying saucers. She wasn't crazy at the time her and her husband's abduction experience went public (against their wishes) but she wasn't all there by the end.
If you're looking for a book that addresses a famous case of alleged alien abduction without succumbing to sensationalism or silliness, The Interrupted Journey is a good option. It's grounded and sufficiently sceptical when compared to, say, Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience , written by the supremely smug Stanton Friedman and the Hills' piggybacking niece. Still one of the best books of its kind.
June 15, 2023
It's interesting how, in my reading experience at least, that two of the best UFO books are also two the of the earliest (the other being USAF Captain Ruppelt's The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects. What makes both so attractive is that both approach the subject of UFOs in a cautious and measured manner. Both seek to anchor the issue, as much as possible, in facts. Fuller's account of the Bettie and Barney Hill sighting of a UFO, and later reported abduction in the mountains of New Hampshire in 1961, runs up against various filters of, and resistance to, recovered memories via hypnosis administered by Dr. Benjamin Simon, a highly regarded psychiatrist. Barney Hill was the more resistant of the two. He was obviously frightened by whatever happened during the two missing hours.
Well, SOMETHING happened. Betty, the more imaginative and more fearless of the two, seems more accepting to whatever happened. But her account, possibly influenced by her sister's sighting of UFO years before, is also, at least initially, with its chatty conversations with English speaking aliens, the sketchier account. But that will change as the sessions continue. The initial sessions present fragmented accounts of alien abduction, and later examinations on the alien ship. The entire experience, from the Hills' car being flagged down by the aliens, to their release and return to the car, is bracketed by a series of beeps (something Dr. Simon cannot explain). Many of the details firm up as the sessions continue. Simon's skepticism regarding the abduction (not the initial UFO sighting) is rooted in his belief that the Hills' shared a dream or fantasy that was possibly influenced by anxieties stemming from their interracial marriage. That's pretty thin. If you watch the old 1975 movie based upon the book ("The UFO Incident" (currently available on Youtube)) you can see how the doctor was grasping for some sort of traction to explain what the Hills had experienced. (I believe Betty Hill and Dr. Simon had some involvement with the movie account. Barney had passed away by 1975.) The Hills were not lying, they were sincere, but even Barney wonders, at about the midway point in the book, if the memories he had of the abduction were themselves implanted by the aliens. Betty is told by the leader that she and Barney will not remember what happened, but if they do, their accounts will differ in such a way to as cast doubt on their experience. Well, all these years later their voices ring true to me, but what does that mean? The reader is left with the haunting memory of the Hills and their little dog Delsey driving into the New Hampshire night, heading for an unwanted encounter with Something.
Well, SOMETHING happened. Betty, the more imaginative and more fearless of the two, seems more accepting to whatever happened. But her account, possibly influenced by her sister's sighting of UFO years before, is also, at least initially, with its chatty conversations with English speaking aliens, the sketchier account. But that will change as the sessions continue. The initial sessions present fragmented accounts of alien abduction, and later examinations on the alien ship. The entire experience, from the Hills' car being flagged down by the aliens, to their release and return to the car, is bracketed by a series of beeps (something Dr. Simon cannot explain). Many of the details firm up as the sessions continue. Simon's skepticism regarding the abduction (not the initial UFO sighting) is rooted in his belief that the Hills' shared a dream or fantasy that was possibly influenced by anxieties stemming from their interracial marriage. That's pretty thin. If you watch the old 1975 movie based upon the book ("The UFO Incident" (currently available on Youtube)) you can see how the doctor was grasping for some sort of traction to explain what the Hills had experienced. (I believe Betty Hill and Dr. Simon had some involvement with the movie account. Barney had passed away by 1975.) The Hills were not lying, they were sincere, but even Barney wonders, at about the midway point in the book, if the memories he had of the abduction were themselves implanted by the aliens. Betty is told by the leader that she and Barney will not remember what happened, but if they do, their accounts will differ in such a way to as cast doubt on their experience. Well, all these years later their voices ring true to me, but what does that mean? The reader is left with the haunting memory of the Hills and their little dog Delsey driving into the New Hampshire night, heading for an unwanted encounter with Something.
September 15, 2019
I am a believer in UFO s, or I should say I KNOW they exist as I saw one many years ago along with my entire family. This book is about the abduction of Betty and Barney Hill by aliens from a UFO that they had spotted while driving home from a short vacation. Most of the book was verbatim text from their hypnosis sessions that were done as a way for them to recover lost memories of a 2 1/2 hour period of lost time during the trip home. The book itself was very well organized and written, leaving it up to the reader to believe or not believe. The psychiatrist who did the hypnosis was extremely skeptical, believing it may have all stemmed from a nightmare that Betty had, and somehow transferred to Barney’s sub conscience. But, you have to keep in mind that this not only took place in the 1960’s before UFO sightings became common place, but they were also one of the first if not the first to come forward. I read this book because I wanted to find out more about the aliens and their agenda. Do I believe the Hill story? Yes I do. I am currently on a kick to try to learn all that I can about this topic of UFO’s and aliens, and I have about a foot and a half stack of books more to read on the topic.
December 16, 2024
Book club pick. Did not finish.
May 2, 2021
In September, 1961, Betty and Barney Hill were returning from a trip to Montreal, Canada, to their home in Portsmouth, NH. They arrived home hours later than they should have and they couldn’t seem to recall why the trip had taken them so long, but they felt like something must have happened. Soon Betty began having nightmares and Barney began having a lot of anxiety. Betty believed they had seen a UFO while driving through the White Mountains. Barney wasn’t so sure, but Betty contacted Pease Air Force Base and Walter Webb, an astronomer and member of NICAP. While visiting Webb he suggested they see a psychologist. Dr. Simon put them both under hypnosis and recorded their therapy sessions. They both recalled being stopped by several small men in the road and taken aboard a UFO and examined. Although Dr. Simon did not believe they were lying, he couldn’t decide whether or not the event had really happened. The Hills believed it had happened. I didn’t learn about the Hills’ experience until I saw The UFO Incident in 1978. I was totally convinced that they had really had this experience (and it wasn’t because of the great acting). One reason I believed their story is that they tried to keep the whole incident secret for years and had only told a few close friends and relatives. They weren’t seeking publicity. The second reason is that I just couldn’t imagine anyone relating something like this unless it had really happened. I think it’s a lot easier for more people to believe their story now, sixty years later. I remember hearing about Betty Hill’s death on the radio in 2004. Although she had continued to search for the landing sight, she had never found it.
September 29, 2025
Probably the best alien abduction story out there. A classic.
May 12, 2024
THE ACCOUNT OF THE BETTY AND BARNEY HILL ABDUCTION INCIDENT
John Grant Fuller, Jr. (1913-1990) was an American author of several nonfiction books and newspaper articles, and well as a former columnist for the Saturday Review magazine. Although many of his books focus on UFOs or other ‘supernatural’ topics, he also wrote an important anti-nuclear power book, ‘We Almost Lost Detroit.’
The Introduction to this 1966 book by psychiatrist Benjamin Simon explains, “On December 14, 1963, Mr. Barney Hill presented himself at my office .. for a consultation… At the time I knew nothing of Mr. Hill’s problems, but when he introduced his wife… I wondered, fleetingly, if their interracial marriage might be involved in Mr. Hill’s disturbance.. [I] soon realized that both needed help… At the time there was no indication that either the interracial marriage or the UFO experience bore more than a tangential relationship to the central problems which Mr. and Mrs. Hill presented---crippling anxiety, manifested by … Mrs. Hill … in the form or repetitive nightmarish dreams… the UFO experience … presented for both Mr. and Mrs. Hill the focal point of the anxiety which had apparently impeded the psychiatric treatment Mr. Hill had been undergoing for some time… They were constantly haunted by a nagging anxiety centering around this period of several hours---a feeling that something had occurred, but what? A treatment program was outlined, and it was decided first to try to unlock … the amnesia, and that for this aspect of therapy, hypnosis would be used… I had no indication of the developing storm until the late summer of 1965 when I received a telephone call from a newspaper reporter who … [was] aware of the Hill story… and my part in it—including the use of hypnosis; he requested an interview with me---which I refused… during … 1965… [came] a series of articles in a Boston newspaper… written by the reporter to whom I had refused the interview…
“Mr. John Fuller had been investigating UFO phenomena in the New Hampshire area and was working on a book … The Hills… asked me to make available to Mr. Fuller… the tape recordings of their treatment… The decision to release the recordings created a corollary problem for me… my participation could cause me to be identified with certain statements and conclusions by the reporter about the Hills’ experiences, with which I strongly disagree. The mystique of hypnosis and my position … seemed to give them the quality of an authenticity quite at variance with the facts… The charisma of hypnosis had tended to foster the belief that hypnosis is the magical and royal road to TRUTH… The truth is that [the patient] believes to be the truth, and this may or may not be consonant with the ultimate nonpersonal truth…”
Fuller recounts that, during the fateful drive, the Hills pulled off to the side of the road. Betty said, “‘it’s still up there, and it’s still following us, and if anything it’s coming right toward us.’ … [Barney] was getting irritated … because she was refusing to accept a natural explanation. At one time … in 1957, Betty’s sister and family had described seeing clearly an unidentified flying object… Barney neither believed nor disbelieved… If anything, he was more skeptical of flying objects after hearing her story.” (Pg. 12-13)
He continues, “the huge object---as wide in diameter as the distance between three telephone poles along the road, Barney later described it---swung in a silent arc directly across the road, not more than a hundred feet from him. The double row of windows was now clear and obvious. Barney was fully gripped with fear now… he knew it was as big or bigger in diameter than the length of a jet airliner… Behind the clearly structured windows he could see the figures, at least half a dozen living beings…. They were, as a group, staring directly at him. He became vaguely aware that they were wearing uniforms… Betty, now nearly two hundred feet away, was screaming at him from the car, but barney has no recollection of hearing this… His memory at this point is blurred. For a reason he cannot explain, he was certain he was about to be captured… With all his energy … [he] ran screaming back… to Betty and the car… Barney was near hysteria. He jammed the car into first gear, spurted off down the road, shouting that he was sure they were going to be captured… Then suddenly a strange electronic-sounding beeping was heard… They each began to feel an odd tingling drowsiness come over them. From that moment, a sort of haze came over them.” (Pg. 15-17)
He goes on, “Some time later, how long they were not sure, the beeping sound repeated itself… They were still in the car---and the car was moving, with Barney at the wheel… Betty remembers faintly saying to her husband, ‘NOW do you believe in flying saucers?’ And he recalls answering: ‘Don’t be ridiculous. Of course not.’ But neither can remember much detail… until they had driven on to the new throughway… it was nearly full daylight when they reached home… the kitchen clock read shortly after five in the morning. ‘It looks,’ said Barney, ‘like we’ve arrived home a little later than expected.’” (Pg.17-18)
The next day, “Betty went to the phone and caller her sister… Betty recounted the story of the night before. [Her sister], who had no reservations about the possibility of a UFO sighting … grew very excited and confirmed Betty’s growing feeling that the car or their clothes might… have been exposed to radiation…” (Pg. 22-23) At Betty’s urging, they called the Air Force Base… she skipped the details of seeing the double row of windows… She did, however, report the fins apparently separating at the sides of the craft, with the two red lights on either side… Barney was extremely reluctant to come to the phone… he sheepishly avoided mentioning the figures he had clearly observed on the craft…” (Pg. 25-26)
During one of Barney’s hypnosis sessions, he told Dr. Simon that in 1957, “We talked about flying saucers… Betty said she believed in them… I didn’t believe in them… I listened---and I did not criticize… But I have not talked about flying saucers since 1957, when we were talking about Sputnik. And this was 1961.” (Pg. 84-85) Fuller comments, “All through the account under hypnosis, Barney had indicated his deep-set resistance to the idea of Unidentified Flying Objects. As Barney later said, the likelihood of the object being a product of wishful thinking on his part seemed very slim, indeed. His strong objections to the existence of the phenomenon were deeply set, although his ambivalence about the experience was puzzling.” (Pg. 107)
He acknowledges, “Both Betty and Barney maintained under the stiffest questioning that their memories for these experiences were immediately wiped out after they left the vehicle…until hypnosis restored them.” (Pg. 188)
He recounts, “The doctor now begins to test the extent of Betty’s influence over Barney… ‘BARNEY: She said that she had a dream and that she had been taken aboard a UFO. And that I was also in her dream and taken aboard. DOCTOR: How did she tell you this? BARNEY: Usually when someone was visiting. And I just told her it was a dream and nothing to be alarmed about… She would tell me that she had gone into the UFO and talked to people there on board. And she was told that she would forget. And she told these people in the UFO that she would not forget. And I told her they were only dreams and that I can’t believe that, whatever these things are. But she says no. That somehow she feels there is a connection between these dreams and what happened.” (Pg. 195)
He continues, “DOCTOR: Could she have planted all these thoughts about the UFO in your mind? You said that she wanted to hypnotize you. BARNEY: I know Betty did not hypnotize me. I wanted to think she had hypnotized me. I wanted to think that the object wasn’t there. And that’s why I said, ‘What are you doing, Betty? Trying to hypnotize me?’ And since I kept saying it was a plane, I wanted her to say, ‘Yes, it’s a plane.�� … But it kept following us and I did not like that.” (Pg. 205)
Later, “BARNEY: Could I after 1961 have dreamed of a UFO, and then under hypnosis my dream is coming out?... the only part of my dream that I had recently that made any sense was the structure and walking up to the object. It was just a distorted dream, but the physical structure of the craft itself fitted in with my conscious attitude of what a craft like this would look like. And, last night, I dreamed again of being on a UFO…” (Pg. 233)
Of Betty, “DOCTOR: When you had all these experiences with your dreams---why would you have dreamed all these things? The dreams were the same as the experiences that you felt you had. BETTY: I figured that in my dreams, I remembered what actually happened.” (Pg. 274-275)
This book will be “must reading” for anyone interested in this case, or other purported abductions. (Fuller is, it should be noted, a much more capable WRITER than many others writing on this topic.)
John Grant Fuller, Jr. (1913-1990) was an American author of several nonfiction books and newspaper articles, and well as a former columnist for the Saturday Review magazine. Although many of his books focus on UFOs or other ‘supernatural’ topics, he also wrote an important anti-nuclear power book, ‘We Almost Lost Detroit.’
The Introduction to this 1966 book by psychiatrist Benjamin Simon explains, “On December 14, 1963, Mr. Barney Hill presented himself at my office .. for a consultation… At the time I knew nothing of Mr. Hill’s problems, but when he introduced his wife… I wondered, fleetingly, if their interracial marriage might be involved in Mr. Hill’s disturbance.. [I] soon realized that both needed help… At the time there was no indication that either the interracial marriage or the UFO experience bore more than a tangential relationship to the central problems which Mr. and Mrs. Hill presented---crippling anxiety, manifested by … Mrs. Hill … in the form or repetitive nightmarish dreams… the UFO experience … presented for both Mr. and Mrs. Hill the focal point of the anxiety which had apparently impeded the psychiatric treatment Mr. Hill had been undergoing for some time… They were constantly haunted by a nagging anxiety centering around this period of several hours---a feeling that something had occurred, but what? A treatment program was outlined, and it was decided first to try to unlock … the amnesia, and that for this aspect of therapy, hypnosis would be used… I had no indication of the developing storm until the late summer of 1965 when I received a telephone call from a newspaper reporter who … [was] aware of the Hill story… and my part in it—including the use of hypnosis; he requested an interview with me---which I refused… during … 1965… [came] a series of articles in a Boston newspaper… written by the reporter to whom I had refused the interview…
“Mr. John Fuller had been investigating UFO phenomena in the New Hampshire area and was working on a book … The Hills… asked me to make available to Mr. Fuller… the tape recordings of their treatment… The decision to release the recordings created a corollary problem for me… my participation could cause me to be identified with certain statements and conclusions by the reporter about the Hills’ experiences, with which I strongly disagree. The mystique of hypnosis and my position … seemed to give them the quality of an authenticity quite at variance with the facts… The charisma of hypnosis had tended to foster the belief that hypnosis is the magical and royal road to TRUTH… The truth is that [the patient] believes to be the truth, and this may or may not be consonant with the ultimate nonpersonal truth…”
Fuller recounts that, during the fateful drive, the Hills pulled off to the side of the road. Betty said, “‘it’s still up there, and it’s still following us, and if anything it’s coming right toward us.’ … [Barney] was getting irritated … because she was refusing to accept a natural explanation. At one time … in 1957, Betty’s sister and family had described seeing clearly an unidentified flying object… Barney neither believed nor disbelieved… If anything, he was more skeptical of flying objects after hearing her story.” (Pg. 12-13)
He continues, “the huge object---as wide in diameter as the distance between three telephone poles along the road, Barney later described it---swung in a silent arc directly across the road, not more than a hundred feet from him. The double row of windows was now clear and obvious. Barney was fully gripped with fear now… he knew it was as big or bigger in diameter than the length of a jet airliner… Behind the clearly structured windows he could see the figures, at least half a dozen living beings…. They were, as a group, staring directly at him. He became vaguely aware that they were wearing uniforms… Betty, now nearly two hundred feet away, was screaming at him from the car, but barney has no recollection of hearing this… His memory at this point is blurred. For a reason he cannot explain, he was certain he was about to be captured… With all his energy … [he] ran screaming back… to Betty and the car… Barney was near hysteria. He jammed the car into first gear, spurted off down the road, shouting that he was sure they were going to be captured… Then suddenly a strange electronic-sounding beeping was heard… They each began to feel an odd tingling drowsiness come over them. From that moment, a sort of haze came over them.” (Pg. 15-17)
He goes on, “Some time later, how long they were not sure, the beeping sound repeated itself… They were still in the car---and the car was moving, with Barney at the wheel… Betty remembers faintly saying to her husband, ‘NOW do you believe in flying saucers?’ And he recalls answering: ‘Don’t be ridiculous. Of course not.’ But neither can remember much detail… until they had driven on to the new throughway… it was nearly full daylight when they reached home… the kitchen clock read shortly after five in the morning. ‘It looks,’ said Barney, ‘like we’ve arrived home a little later than expected.’” (Pg.17-18)
The next day, “Betty went to the phone and caller her sister… Betty recounted the story of the night before. [Her sister], who had no reservations about the possibility of a UFO sighting … grew very excited and confirmed Betty’s growing feeling that the car or their clothes might… have been exposed to radiation…” (Pg. 22-23) At Betty’s urging, they called the Air Force Base… she skipped the details of seeing the double row of windows… She did, however, report the fins apparently separating at the sides of the craft, with the two red lights on either side… Barney was extremely reluctant to come to the phone… he sheepishly avoided mentioning the figures he had clearly observed on the craft…” (Pg. 25-26)
During one of Barney’s hypnosis sessions, he told Dr. Simon that in 1957, “We talked about flying saucers… Betty said she believed in them… I didn’t believe in them… I listened---and I did not criticize… But I have not talked about flying saucers since 1957, when we were talking about Sputnik. And this was 1961.” (Pg. 84-85) Fuller comments, “All through the account under hypnosis, Barney had indicated his deep-set resistance to the idea of Unidentified Flying Objects. As Barney later said, the likelihood of the object being a product of wishful thinking on his part seemed very slim, indeed. His strong objections to the existence of the phenomenon were deeply set, although his ambivalence about the experience was puzzling.” (Pg. 107)
He acknowledges, “Both Betty and Barney maintained under the stiffest questioning that their memories for these experiences were immediately wiped out after they left the vehicle…until hypnosis restored them.” (Pg. 188)
He recounts, “The doctor now begins to test the extent of Betty’s influence over Barney… ‘BARNEY: She said that she had a dream and that she had been taken aboard a UFO. And that I was also in her dream and taken aboard. DOCTOR: How did she tell you this? BARNEY: Usually when someone was visiting. And I just told her it was a dream and nothing to be alarmed about… She would tell me that she had gone into the UFO and talked to people there on board. And she was told that she would forget. And she told these people in the UFO that she would not forget. And I told her they were only dreams and that I can’t believe that, whatever these things are. But she says no. That somehow she feels there is a connection between these dreams and what happened.” (Pg. 195)
He continues, “DOCTOR: Could she have planted all these thoughts about the UFO in your mind? You said that she wanted to hypnotize you. BARNEY: I know Betty did not hypnotize me. I wanted to think she had hypnotized me. I wanted to think that the object wasn’t there. And that’s why I said, ‘What are you doing, Betty? Trying to hypnotize me?’ And since I kept saying it was a plane, I wanted her to say, ‘Yes, it’s a plane.�� … But it kept following us and I did not like that.” (Pg. 205)
Later, “BARNEY: Could I after 1961 have dreamed of a UFO, and then under hypnosis my dream is coming out?... the only part of my dream that I had recently that made any sense was the structure and walking up to the object. It was just a distorted dream, but the physical structure of the craft itself fitted in with my conscious attitude of what a craft like this would look like. And, last night, I dreamed again of being on a UFO…” (Pg. 233)
Of Betty, “DOCTOR: When you had all these experiences with your dreams---why would you have dreamed all these things? The dreams were the same as the experiences that you felt you had. BETTY: I figured that in my dreams, I remembered what actually happened.” (Pg. 274-275)
This book will be “must reading” for anyone interested in this case, or other purported abductions. (Fuller is, it should be noted, a much more capable WRITER than many others writing on this topic.)
June 7, 2021
Outstanding, Sobering UFO & Abduction Account
The Interrupted Journey, written in 1966, holds up brilliantly after 55 years— just as the Pentagon prepares to release a 2021 study of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP is currently the U.S. government’s preferred official term for UFO.)
The Interrupted Journey is a serious, carefully researched account that assiduously avoids sensationalism and leaves judgments about the veracity of reported events up to the reader. A reading or rereading of John Fuller’s seminal study is a worthwhile accompaniment to the 2021 Pentagon report, if only to remind us of the length of time that UAP/UFOs have baffled scientists, the military and ordinary observers.
The Interrupted Journey tells the story of Betty and Barney Hill, a New Hampshire couple who sighted a UFO while driving from Canada to Portsmouth, NH on the night of September 19-20, 1961. While both Hills recalled the sighting, about 2 hours in their trip remained unaccounted for, as did 35 miles of their journey.
In the two years following the trip, the Hills experienced substantial and increasing anxiety. Betty Hill’s anxiety was accompanied by vivid and disturbing dreams. Barney Hill’s anxiety was accompanied by insomnia, worsening ulcers and increasing blood pressure. Both felt that the UFO episode was central to their anxiety, although neither could account for the lost 2 hours and their inability to recall 35 miles of their drive.
After conventional psychotherapy failed to alleviate Barney Hill’s anxiety, the couple sought a highly qualified psychiatrist who could uncover their missing memories through hypnosis. They eventually entered treatment with Dr. Benjamin Simon, a highly credentialed psychiatrist who had led the U.S. military’s post World War II treatment of service members with shell shock (now described as PTSD/post-traumatic stress disorder), using hypnosis and therapeutic drugs to uncover and treat trauma.
The Interrupted Journey, written with the consent and participation of Simon and the Hills, is drawn substantially from Simon’s tapes of his treatment sessions with Barney and Betty Hill, a substantial number of which were conducted under hypnosis. Despite the controversial nature of the subject matter, what stands out are the Hills’ honesty and intelligence, as well as Simon’s careful therapeutic guidance. This is a sober account of the Hills’ experiences, not a sensationalized one.
Highly recommended for those interested in well-researched accounts of UFOs and their alleged occupants. Which raises a question: can John Fuller’s Incident at Exeter, a study of the Exeter, NH UFO sightings, be reissued electronically as well?
The Interrupted Journey, written in 1966, holds up brilliantly after 55 years— just as the Pentagon prepares to release a 2021 study of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP is currently the U.S. government’s preferred official term for UFO.)
The Interrupted Journey is a serious, carefully researched account that assiduously avoids sensationalism and leaves judgments about the veracity of reported events up to the reader. A reading or rereading of John Fuller’s seminal study is a worthwhile accompaniment to the 2021 Pentagon report, if only to remind us of the length of time that UAP/UFOs have baffled scientists, the military and ordinary observers.
The Interrupted Journey tells the story of Betty and Barney Hill, a New Hampshire couple who sighted a UFO while driving from Canada to Portsmouth, NH on the night of September 19-20, 1961. While both Hills recalled the sighting, about 2 hours in their trip remained unaccounted for, as did 35 miles of their journey.
In the two years following the trip, the Hills experienced substantial and increasing anxiety. Betty Hill’s anxiety was accompanied by vivid and disturbing dreams. Barney Hill’s anxiety was accompanied by insomnia, worsening ulcers and increasing blood pressure. Both felt that the UFO episode was central to their anxiety, although neither could account for the lost 2 hours and their inability to recall 35 miles of their drive.
After conventional psychotherapy failed to alleviate Barney Hill’s anxiety, the couple sought a highly qualified psychiatrist who could uncover their missing memories through hypnosis. They eventually entered treatment with Dr. Benjamin Simon, a highly credentialed psychiatrist who had led the U.S. military’s post World War II treatment of service members with shell shock (now described as PTSD/post-traumatic stress disorder), using hypnosis and therapeutic drugs to uncover and treat trauma.
The Interrupted Journey, written with the consent and participation of Simon and the Hills, is drawn substantially from Simon’s tapes of his treatment sessions with Barney and Betty Hill, a substantial number of which were conducted under hypnosis. Despite the controversial nature of the subject matter, what stands out are the Hills’ honesty and intelligence, as well as Simon’s careful therapeutic guidance. This is a sober account of the Hills’ experiences, not a sensationalized one.
Highly recommended for those interested in well-researched accounts of UFOs and their alleged occupants. Which raises a question: can John Fuller’s Incident at Exeter, a study of the Exeter, NH UFO sightings, be reissued electronically as well?
June 7, 2022
This is a powerful story. I first learned of Betty and Barney Hill when I was in third or fourth grade. Their abduction story was in one of the many books I read about UFOs. They always fascinated me. I was happy to hear this book had been reissued. I listened to the audiobook.
This was an audiobook that I couldn't wait to listen to day after day. The story absolutely captivated me. Nothing has been changed in the book since it was first issued (i.e. no new foreword). You hear the story of the abduction repeatedly: what Barney and Betty could remember, and then their half a dozen or so sessions under hypnosis. The hypnosis sessions are relayed as transcripts. You hear Barney's story, then Betty's story.
I don't see how this event could NOT have happened. Barney and Betty's separate hypnosis sessions revealed the same exact information. The psychiatrist was never able to trip them up. The consistency of their separate stories never changed, and their stories supported each other. Also, this couple wanted to live in anonymity. They did not tell anyone except a close circle of friends about their experience. They only went to the psychiatrist because they were suffering from PTSD symptoms, and this was more than two years after the abduction. They went public with their story in 1965 because of a newspaper report that was written without their cooperation. They saw no choice but to relay their side of the story.
The story of what was revealed after hypnosis is extremely fascinating. You won't be able to put this book down (or stop listening).
This was an audiobook that I couldn't wait to listen to day after day. The story absolutely captivated me. Nothing has been changed in the book since it was first issued (i.e. no new foreword). You hear the story of the abduction repeatedly: what Barney and Betty could remember, and then their half a dozen or so sessions under hypnosis. The hypnosis sessions are relayed as transcripts. You hear Barney's story, then Betty's story.
I don't see how this event could NOT have happened. Barney and Betty's separate hypnosis sessions revealed the same exact information. The psychiatrist was never able to trip them up. The consistency of their separate stories never changed, and their stories supported each other. Also, this couple wanted to live in anonymity. They did not tell anyone except a close circle of friends about their experience. They only went to the psychiatrist because they were suffering from PTSD symptoms, and this was more than two years after the abduction. They went public with their story in 1965 because of a newspaper report that was written without their cooperation. They saw no choice but to relay their side of the story.
The story of what was revealed after hypnosis is extremely fascinating. You won't be able to put this book down (or stop listening).
August 24, 2022
This is a classic UFO text from the 1960s and republished. I seem to recall reading it when I was a teenager... very long ago. It consists largely of the transcripts of interviews of Betty and Barney Hill under hypnosis who experienced something that agitated them greatly, but could not remember in detail. They sought the help of a trained hypno-psychiatrist. They worked through their issues, but soon became the center of a controversy over what they saw. This book is an answer to the many questions and misunderstandings that people have had about their abduction by a UFO and subsequent memory loss of the incident until brought to the surface under hypnosis.
My impression is that they were a normal couple with their own problems, but nothing unusual until this incident. Whether they actually were abducted by aliens is up to the reader to determine. I'd say no, but they certainly experienced something very strange.
Parts of the interviews were rather frightening. I stopped reading at night and only read during the day. Silly, I know, but that is what I did.
I'm not sure if I will read this book again, but it has made me interested in reading old UFO books again as I did when I was younger. I wouldn't mind reading "Incident at Exeter" again if I could find a copy.
My impression is that they were a normal couple with their own problems, but nothing unusual until this incident. Whether they actually were abducted by aliens is up to the reader to determine. I'd say no, but they certainly experienced something very strange.
Parts of the interviews were rather frightening. I stopped reading at night and only read during the day. Silly, I know, but that is what I did.
I'm not sure if I will read this book again, but it has made me interested in reading old UFO books again as I did when I was younger. I wouldn't mind reading "Incident at Exeter" again if I could find a copy.
March 2, 2015
This book is a classic for ufologists, being the first popular researched account of what has become to be known as the alien abduction phenomenon. Fuller, a journalist already known for some work on UFO sightings, covers the story on several levels. The first is what the Hills immediately recalled of their automobile trip, a remembrance with two unaccountable hours and some other oddities, including vague, but increasing anxiety. This led them to individual counselling, their independent sessions being recorded, and much expanded accounts filling the lost time with extraordinary recollections of an alien craft and alien beings. Finally, the author attempts to reconstruct events by correlating their accounts.
An introduction is provided by the psychiatrist who treated the Hills. While not endorsing the objective reality of extraterrestrials, he does vouch for the record and for the honesty of his analysands.
An introduction is provided by the psychiatrist who treated the Hills. While not endorsing the objective reality of extraterrestrials, he does vouch for the record and for the honesty of his analysands.
April 10, 2016
I read this book many, many years ago. Lest anyone think I'm a crackpot, I maintain an open yet skeptical mind in regard to UFOs. The thousands of reported sightings seem to argue against extraterrestrials or "space brothers", whether of the beneficent or malevolent kind. How likely is it that we'd be visited so frequently by a highly advanced extraterrestrial civilization? In the cosmic scheme, are we really all that interesting? I think not. Yet I don't dismiss all sightings as bogus reports or perceptual anomalies or atmospheric disturbances (ball lightning, aurora borealis, rare cloud formations, etc.). None of the theories I'm familiar with seem to adequately explain this phenomenon.
January 19, 2012
I read this book when I was about 11 years old, and it scared the crap out of me, especially the sketches of the aliens. This is a classic must read book for ufologists and one of the few that I actually believe.
Read
March 5, 2023I'm DNFing at 78%. The interview style of the story has been really repetitive for awhile now, and I've made up my mind to the point where continuing just won't add anything to my opinion.
March 19, 2024
Well constructed
I was able to procure an original copy of this book from the library (published in 1966). The book was in very good condition. Given this particular copy was close to 60 years old, it's obvious not many people had checked this book out of the library. I'm sure most people feel this story is pure fantasy.
The author John G Fuller, was a New England based author of nonfiction books which focused on extraterrestrials and the supernatural. He wrote another title "Incident at Exeter" (another New Hampshire UFO sighting(s)).
This volume includes an introduction written by Dr Benjamin Simon. Dr Simon was a practicing psychiatrist in the Boston area in the early 1960s. Simon was at the peak of his career when he saw the Hills. He was recommended to the Hills from another psychiatrist the Hills had been seeing to deal with the Hills anxiety over a close encounter which occurred in the White Mountains in the Fall of 1961.
This introduction by Dr Simon is very telling. Neither the Hills nor Dr Simon wanted publicity from this story. Apparently, a reporter got wind of this story from a church meeting the Hills attended. Reports of close encounters were very popular at the time and people were encouraged to talk about them. After the story was reported (probably by the Boston Globe), the Hills wanted to get their story told accurately. It was at this point they contacted John Fuller.
Dr Simon's participation in this book is only in critical oversight of the medical data. From Simon's final paragraph referring to the author John G Fuller:
I was very much into the details of this story.
After some rumination, I have come to the conclusion that the sighting may have been real but the encounter, if it happened, could not have transpired in the way reported by Betty and Barney Hill under hypnosis.
What did Betty and Barney Hill report? Barney kept his eyes closed during the entire abduction but Betty willed herself awake and interacted with the aliens. The dialog related by Betty Hill just doesn't seem plausible to me. The encounter is very happenstance. In other words it was not planned by the aliens. The Hills were not selected because of their mixed marriage but because they were the only car out that late at night in the White Mountains.
Let's say that the aliens communicated by telepathy. The meaning of things between humans and these aliens on basic things would be accurate, especially in regards to time. Betty states under hypnosis that the aliens had no concept of time nor what age was. Time is a universal constant in the universe. Betty describes a probe during her exam that entered her umbilicus which the alien said was a pregnancy test. I personally believe that the Greys have been visiting Earth for hundreds if not thousands of years and possibly longer. Given all of that time and their ability to communicate with man, they would know that a probe of the umbilicus would be fruitless. Given the Greys advanced technology, I also find it implausible that their space craft would have windows and if they did, they wouldn't need struts to act as structural supports. Also, their technology would allow them to perform an exam without needles and probes. The only samples they would need to probe for would be special cells such as eggs. Betty Hill was infertile.
All the other stuff although possible such as the aliens walking down the road at night without lights, the dog hiding under the seat of the car, etc seem contrary to logic. For example, as opposed to no light, I would think there would be a blinding light which would cause Betty and Barney to avert their eyes. The dog would be barking. All dogs, especially little dogs bark because of fear aggression.
I'm happy I read this book. I felt it was well put together. I especially appreciated the transcripts of the hypnosis sessions of Betty and Barney Hill with Dr Simon.
I was able to procure an original copy of this book from the library (published in 1966). The book was in very good condition. Given this particular copy was close to 60 years old, it's obvious not many people had checked this book out of the library. I'm sure most people feel this story is pure fantasy.
The author John G Fuller, was a New England based author of nonfiction books which focused on extraterrestrials and the supernatural. He wrote another title "Incident at Exeter" (another New Hampshire UFO sighting(s)).
This volume includes an introduction written by Dr Benjamin Simon. Dr Simon was a practicing psychiatrist in the Boston area in the early 1960s. Simon was at the peak of his career when he saw the Hills. He was recommended to the Hills from another psychiatrist the Hills had been seeing to deal with the Hills anxiety over a close encounter which occurred in the White Mountains in the Fall of 1961.
This introduction by Dr Simon is very telling. Neither the Hills nor Dr Simon wanted publicity from this story. Apparently, a reporter got wind of this story from a church meeting the Hills attended. Reports of close encounters were very popular at the time and people were encouraged to talk about them. After the story was reported (probably by the Boston Globe), the Hills wanted to get their story told accurately. It was at this point they contacted John Fuller.
Dr Simon's participation in this book is only in critical oversight of the medical data. From Simon's final paragraph referring to the author John G Fuller:
I have no doubt given him sleepless nights and many moments of despair. I am sure there have been times when he felt I was taking the life of his child; but he has always taken my criticism with good grace and has managed to remove the objectionable or restore the missing in a manner which would be acceptable to me, so that even I, who have lived through much of it, find the book good reading indeed.
I was very much into the details of this story.
After some rumination, I have come to the conclusion that the sighting may have been real but the encounter, if it happened, could not have transpired in the way reported by Betty and Barney Hill under hypnosis.
What did Betty and Barney Hill report? Barney kept his eyes closed during the entire abduction but Betty willed herself awake and interacted with the aliens. The dialog related by Betty Hill just doesn't seem plausible to me. The encounter is very happenstance. In other words it was not planned by the aliens. The Hills were not selected because of their mixed marriage but because they were the only car out that late at night in the White Mountains.
Let's say that the aliens communicated by telepathy. The meaning of things between humans and these aliens on basic things would be accurate, especially in regards to time. Betty states under hypnosis that the aliens had no concept of time nor what age was. Time is a universal constant in the universe. Betty describes a probe during her exam that entered her umbilicus which the alien said was a pregnancy test. I personally believe that the Greys have been visiting Earth for hundreds if not thousands of years and possibly longer. Given all of that time and their ability to communicate with man, they would know that a probe of the umbilicus would be fruitless. Given the Greys advanced technology, I also find it implausible that their space craft would have windows and if they did, they wouldn't need struts to act as structural supports. Also, their technology would allow them to perform an exam without needles and probes. The only samples they would need to probe for would be special cells such as eggs. Betty Hill was infertile.
All the other stuff although possible such as the aliens walking down the road at night without lights, the dog hiding under the seat of the car, etc seem contrary to logic. For example, as opposed to no light, I would think there would be a blinding light which would cause Betty and Barney to avert their eyes. The dog would be barking. All dogs, especially little dogs bark because of fear aggression.
I'm happy I read this book. I felt it was well put together. I especially appreciated the transcripts of the hypnosis sessions of Betty and Barney Hill with Dr Simon.
June 3, 2022
*Thank you to Knopf Doubleday, John Fuller, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*
Previously published at https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/th...
“I’d bet almost anything that life from another planet, if formed independently from life on Earth, would be more different from all species of Earth life than any two species of Earth life are from each other.”
–Death By Black Hole, Neil De Grasse Tyson
In September 1961, Betty and Barney Hill, an interracial couple living in Portsmouth, NH, are on their way home from Montreal when they see a strange aircraft with double windows following them on a dark mountain road. By the time they return home, they have lost two hours with no memory of what happened. Betty is positive that something happened, but Barney sticks to reality, downplaying the nightmares she has been having since they returned home. She believes that what they saw on that mountain road is a UFO. Barney insists she is being dramatic and shouldn’t rely on her dreams for reality.
Betty contacts Pease Air Force Base, in Newington, New Hampshire, and Walter Webb, at NOUFORS Northern Ontario UFO Research, an astronomer and member of NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena). While visiting Webb, he suggested they see a psychologist. Dr. Simon put them both under hypnosis but separately and recorded their therapy sessions. Both Barney and Betty’s stories under hypnosis are exactly the same. They both recalled being stopped by several small men in the road and taken aboard a UFO and examined separately. Dr. Simon remains skeptical throughout the book about whether the event really happened, or their description was based on the nightmares Betty was having. He didn’t think they were lying, but he just felt he didn’t have enough evidence to be convinced the event had happened.
The Interrupted Journey fascinated me. I will admit that I had not heard of Barney and Betty Hill until the book was sent to me. There are parts of the book that are rather dry and sometimes repetitive, but overall, it is a fascinating recap of an event in history that cannot be made up. I can only imagine how this story rocked America in the early ‘60s. The Hills had nothing to gain by telling their story. They are described in the book as a very private interracial couple who went almost a year before deciding to go forward with this story because they were worried about the attention it would bring to them. After reading the book, I was able to delve into some links that the publisher sent me, and it is almost eerie to listen to the tapes of the Hill’s hypnosis. The horror in Barney’s voice is terrifying while his brain is telling him this is not possible. It is the extreme reaction that seals the deal for me. This is a must read for all the skeptics out there. You might just end up a believer.
Previously published at https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/th...
“I’d bet almost anything that life from another planet, if formed independently from life on Earth, would be more different from all species of Earth life than any two species of Earth life are from each other.”
–Death By Black Hole, Neil De Grasse Tyson
In September 1961, Betty and Barney Hill, an interracial couple living in Portsmouth, NH, are on their way home from Montreal when they see a strange aircraft with double windows following them on a dark mountain road. By the time they return home, they have lost two hours with no memory of what happened. Betty is positive that something happened, but Barney sticks to reality, downplaying the nightmares she has been having since they returned home. She believes that what they saw on that mountain road is a UFO. Barney insists she is being dramatic and shouldn’t rely on her dreams for reality.
Betty contacts Pease Air Force Base, in Newington, New Hampshire, and Walter Webb, at NOUFORS Northern Ontario UFO Research, an astronomer and member of NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena). While visiting Webb, he suggested they see a psychologist. Dr. Simon put them both under hypnosis but separately and recorded their therapy sessions. Both Barney and Betty’s stories under hypnosis are exactly the same. They both recalled being stopped by several small men in the road and taken aboard a UFO and examined separately. Dr. Simon remains skeptical throughout the book about whether the event really happened, or their description was based on the nightmares Betty was having. He didn’t think they were lying, but he just felt he didn’t have enough evidence to be convinced the event had happened.
The Interrupted Journey fascinated me. I will admit that I had not heard of Barney and Betty Hill until the book was sent to me. There are parts of the book that are rather dry and sometimes repetitive, but overall, it is a fascinating recap of an event in history that cannot be made up. I can only imagine how this story rocked America in the early ‘60s. The Hills had nothing to gain by telling their story. They are described in the book as a very private interracial couple who went almost a year before deciding to go forward with this story because they were worried about the attention it would bring to them. After reading the book, I was able to delve into some links that the publisher sent me, and it is almost eerie to listen to the tapes of the Hill’s hypnosis. The horror in Barney’s voice is terrifying while his brain is telling him this is not possible. It is the extreme reaction that seals the deal for me. This is a must read for all the skeptics out there. You might just end up a believer.
May 21, 2023
The novel “The Interrupted Journey” gives the details of the events of the evening of September 19, 1961, a span when an unassuming interracial couple — the Hills — saw their weekend drive in New England interrupted by a…flying saucer. When they were returned from their UFO experience they went back to their normal life activities but felt something was missing. Then they started to remembered in small glimpses. They wanted to know what they forgot. The Hills were aided in this endeavor by a reputable, rock-solid psychiatrist, Dr. Benjamin Simon, who utilized hypnosis to excavate the Hills’ buried (or blocked?) memories of the close encounter on September 19th 1961. Their stories — told separately in marathon individual sessions — matched one another’s very closely. Husband and wife both spoke of an alien visitation that featured missing time, medical exams and so on. These thorough hypnosis sessions — which often read as decisive cross-examinations — are featured in “The Interrupted Journey” in the form of transcripts. These word-for-word accounts make for absorbing and anxiety-provoking reading. Fuller does well with the remainder of the text too, his prose devoid of unnecessary drama, hysteria, or silliness. Fuller downplays everything in a just-the-facts writing-style that disarms the inner skeptic and generates a fair bit of, uneasiness. The idea of alien visitation is made entirely believable. The Hills don’t seem like attention-seekers. They waited for years to come forward in the public square to tell their version of the story, and then only after a journalist with no morals published their story without permission from them.
In The Interrupted Journey, when Barney first sees the alien leader’s inhuman black eyes glaring down at him it seemed so real that I believed their story. UFOs have been a controversial subject in that many do not believe in them. Those that do believe in them are still considered “crazy.” I myself think that are UFOs as I believed I saw one but did I? I had been so far away from it, I was sure it was one by the way it flew and didn’t fly staying in one spot for several minutes. This book is a fascinating read. Read it if you dare.
I received an arc of this book from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I wasn’t obligated to write a favorable review or any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
In The Interrupted Journey, when Barney first sees the alien leader’s inhuman black eyes glaring down at him it seemed so real that I believed their story. UFOs have been a controversial subject in that many do not believe in them. Those that do believe in them are still considered “crazy.” I myself think that are UFOs as I believed I saw one but did I? I had been so far away from it, I was sure it was one by the way it flew and didn’t fly staying in one spot for several minutes. This book is a fascinating read. Read it if you dare.
I received an arc of this book from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I wasn’t obligated to write a favorable review or any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
May 28, 2021
The first famous alien abduction story is told with understatement and neutrality by Fuller in this quite riveting 1960s bestseller. Whatever one believes (and the evidence is at least confronting) this is an eerie tale filled with strange subtle detail, all orbiting around the sheer horror experienced by skeptic Barney Hill as he witnesses something that his brain keeps telling him is outside the realm of possibility. It’s this extreme reaction and cognitive dissonance that keeps returning and haunts the narrative (‘I felt like the eyes had pushed into my eyes’), one centred around lost time, memory and space hidden within multiple frames of remembering. At one point Barney and Betty listen and react to a recording of themselves relating what happened during this lost time while under hypnosis - a recall that in itself they have no memory of and in which they hear themselves liken the lost time to also being under hypnosis. At the same time, within their hypnotic recall - a vivid reliving of the past as if it were the present with full recall of details - they go back to earlier memories recalled in association. It’s an experience of the present detached from any coordinates. Outside hypnosis they keep physically returning to the road where they sighted the UFO, trying to locate the supposed point of abduction - a dark lonely side road neither can fully recall in the daytime - and the dreams of both filter into their experience, although it’s unclear which is influencing which. It’s a unique aesthetic, one I don’t think has been fully captured in film aside from say parts of Close Encounters or The X Files.
June 1, 2019
I know I read this book a looooong time ago, in fact not long after its original publication, back in the golden time in the 1960's.
In my teens this book was another very strange thing emanating from the U.S. However, I couldn't punch a hole in it. I still can't. All these decades later Barney and Betty Hill's 'Interrupted Journey' with their alien abduction joins the very many other weird UFO reports from credible witnesses who themselves can't be described as weird.
I remain okay to live with the certainty that not everything has an explanation, no matter how sophisticated the human bean thinks he is.
I recall thinking at the time that it was strange that so many UFO happenings were taking place in the U.S. and occurring during the Cold War, soon after the end of WWII. If any government knew what was behind this phenomenon, they sure weren't telling.
In my teens this book was another very strange thing emanating from the U.S. However, I couldn't punch a hole in it. I still can't. All these decades later Barney and Betty Hill's 'Interrupted Journey' with their alien abduction joins the very many other weird UFO reports from credible witnesses who themselves can't be described as weird.
I remain okay to live with the certainty that not everything has an explanation, no matter how sophisticated the human bean thinks he is.
I recall thinking at the time that it was strange that so many UFO happenings were taking place in the U.S. and occurring during the Cold War, soon after the end of WWII. If any government knew what was behind this phenomenon, they sure weren't telling.
May 3, 2022
I remember watching the movie about Betty and Barney Hill when I was a child. There seems to be a resurgence in interest of their story of late. That being said, I find it hard to believe that the two would have concocted a story when they clearly must have had a difficult life being an interracial couple in the 1960’s and bringing more strife to their lives.
The book is written in a style much like a reporter and at times it’s tough to follow. But I give kudos to the author for all of the investigative work that they undertook to bring fresh eyes and information to the Hills’ story. I think humanity does itself a huge disservice thinking that we are the only intelligent beings created by the Almighty.
*I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and Netgalley*
The book is written in a style much like a reporter and at times it’s tough to follow. But I give kudos to the author for all of the investigative work that they undertook to bring fresh eyes and information to the Hills’ story. I think humanity does itself a huge disservice thinking that we are the only intelligent beings created by the Almighty.
*I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and Netgalley*
September 22, 2023
3.5
“I felt very weak. I felt very weak, but I wasn’t afraid. And I can’t even think of being confused. I am not bewildered, I can’t even think of questioning what is happening to me. And I am being assisted. And I am thinking of a picture I saw many years ago, and this man is being carried to the electric chair. And I think of this, and I think I am in this man’s position. But I’m not being carried to the electric chair. And I think of this, and I think I’m in this man’s position. But I’m not, but I think my feet are dragging, and I think of this picture. And I am not afraid. I feel like I am dreaming”
“I felt very weak. I felt very weak, but I wasn’t afraid. And I can’t even think of being confused. I am not bewildered, I can’t even think of questioning what is happening to me. And I am being assisted. And I am thinking of a picture I saw many years ago, and this man is being carried to the electric chair. And I think of this, and I think I am in this man’s position. But I’m not being carried to the electric chair. And I think of this, and I think I’m in this man’s position. But I’m not, but I think my feet are dragging, and I think of this picture. And I am not afraid. I feel like I am dreaming”
August 14, 2024
This is essential reading if you want to do a deep dive into the case of Betty and Barney Hill's alleged alien abduction but it isn't a great book. It's not a surprise, for ufology and for the time, that the author fails to ask the questions that seem obvious to me. There's so little skepticism when it comes to asking people at nearby military installations for help (and experienced UFO buffs will be aware of how that worked out for Paul Bennewitz). The most captivating facet of this text is the transcriptions of Barney's hypnosis sessions, which come across as a heartbreaking depiction of anxiety about the racism of his neighbors.
July 9, 2024
Nah. A belabored recounting of a New Hampshire couple who were having some amnesia after a trip to Montreal. They go to a hypnotherapist who helps them uncover a pretty non-believable story of alien abduction and experimentation (the aliens didn't understand the husband's dentures!). It's real repetitive. Most of it is tape transcriptions from hypnosis sessions. It almost seems like it was sponsored by the American Hypnotherapy Association, if that's a thing. I don't know what I was expecting. Something wilder for sure. Stinky dink.
October 11, 2023
This was an interesting one to listen to at night. Creates a nice believable atmosphere to the events. I have my doubts about the account if only because she was an avid believer in such things and he, although not a believer, was suffering with various health problems and may have been dragged along in her fervour for it all. Still, it is one of those where there is a chance it could be the real deal.
December 17, 2024
Es una lectura bastante documentada, que raya en mucho tecnicismo, llega un momento que embota tanta descripción, de una suceso que solo ocurrió en dos horas (Tal vez fue mucho más), el tema de los ovnis me fascina aunque llevarlo este extremo me da un poco de fastidio.
Me fascino saber que alguien haya tenido un encuentro cercano con seres de otra galaxia, pero creo que todavía no estamos preparados para este acercamiento.
Me fascino saber que alguien haya tenido un encuentro cercano con seres de otra galaxia, pero creo que todavía no estamos preparados para este acercamiento.
February 18, 2025
This book just was not it for me, probably bc it was written in the 60’s. Started off super boring with way too much specific facts about cities and geographies. Finally got to dialog and it just seemed to repeats its self over and over and over. We got it, they were abducted and don’t remember. Ending is basically “and no one knows what really happened”. Nothing juicy happened and you were left filled with anticipation
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 4, 2025
Mostly a transcript of the hypnosis sessions that Betty and Barney Hill did to recover 2 hrs of missing time after a UFO sighting. Was written in the 60s so has an old-timey reporter kind of writing style. It's interesting to me that Barney was black and what stood out to me was his legitimate anxiety about experiencing racism on his travels. Whether this factored into the UFO experience, I'm not sure. The experience itself is kind of tame.
August 12, 2023
"Interrupted Journey" recounts the tale of a couple's travels from Canada to New Hampshire, only to be abducted by aliens. This inevitably raises the question: "Should the statements made by individuals under hypnosis be regarded as truth, a distorted rendition of truth, or simply dreams?"
A good read, though.
A good read, though.
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