Betty and Barney Hill abduction

Barney and Betty Hill were an American couple who were allegedly abducted by extraterrestrials in a rural portion of New Hampshire from September 19 to 20, 1961.

The incident came to be called the "Hill Abduction" or the "Zeta Reticuli Incident" because the couple stated they had been kidnapped for a short time by a UFO. It was the first widely publicized report of alien abduction, adapted into the best-selling 1966 book The Interrupted Journey and the 1975 television movie The UFO Incident.

Most of Betty Hill's notes, tapes, and other items have been placed in the permanent collection at the University of New Hampshire, her alma mater. In July 2011, the state Division of Historical Resources marked the site of the alleged craft's first approach with a historical marker.

The Hills lived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Barney (1922–1969) was employed by the United States Postal Service, while Betty (1919–2004) was a social worker. Active in the local Unitarian congregation, the Hills were also members of the NAACP and community leaders, and Barney sat on a local board of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. They were an interracial couple at a time when it was particularly uncommon in the United States; Barney was African American and Betty was white.

According to a variety of reports given by the Hills, the alleged UFO sighting happened on September 19, 1961, around 10:30 p.m. The Hills were driving back to Portsmouth from a vacation in Niagara Falls and Montreal. There were only a few other cars on the road. Just south of Lancaster, New Hampshire, Betty claimed to have observed a bright point of light in the sky that moved from below the moon and the planet Jupiter, upward to the west of the moon. While Barney navigated U.S. Route 3, Betty reasoned that she was observing a falling star, only it moved upward. Since it moved erratically and grew bigger and brighter, Betty urged Barney to stop the car for a closer look, as well as to walk their dog, Delsey. Barney stopped at a scenic picnic area just south of Twin Mountain. Worried about the presence of bears, Barney retrieved a pistol that he kept in the trunk of the car.

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