Barney and Betty Hill saw a dark lenticular object, about 80 feet across, with a double row of portholes and half-a-dozen dark figures working at control panels inside. The beings were five-feet tall and wore dark coveralls. When the couple stopped to investigate a light following their car. They became afraid and drove away. A "beeping sound" enveloped the car, and they felt a prickling sensation before losing consciousness. When they came to, they were driving near Ashland and had lost three hours of time. A series of nightmares and medically controlled hypnosis brought back what apparently was the memory of their abduction by the occupants of the object. Nearby Pease AFB had an unidentified radar contact at 2:14 am (explained as a mirage).

Hynek summarizes his investigation and interviews under hypnosis:

Returning along a lonely road late at night from a Canadian vacation, Betty and Barney Hill espied a descending UFO. Eventually it landed and constituted a roadblock to the progress of their journey. The couple was approached by humanoids.

Some two hours later the Hills found themselves 35 miles farther along on their journey but with no recollection of what had happened during those two hours. This amnesia continued to bother them, leading to physical and mental disorders, and they finally were referred to Dr. Simon, whose success with amnesia cases is well known.

Under repeated hypnosis they independently revealed what had supposedly happened. The two stories agreed in considerable detail, although neither Betty nor Barney was privy to what the other had said under hypnosis until much later.

Under hypnosis they stated that they had been taken separately aboard the craft, treated well by the occupants, rather as humans might treat experimental animals, and then released after having been given the hypnotic suggestion that they would remember nothing of that particular experience. The method of their release supposedly accounted for the amnesia, which was apparently broken only by counter-hypnosis.

The medical experiments involved inserting a needle into Betty Hill's navel and collecting nail parings and skin shavings. In one "amusing" incident Barney's false teeth were removed; the attempt to do the same with Betty, who has her own teeth, of course failed miserably. Shortly after the publication of Fuller's book he and I were invited to dine with the Hills at the home of Dr. Simon, outside Boston. By previous agreement of all parties, Dr. Simon put the Hills into a hypnotic trance and allowed me to question them while they were under hypnosis. This proved to be quite an experience for me, for as Barney described the abduction aboard the craft he became emotionally disturbed, and Dr. Simon had difficulty in keeping him calm.

The emotional content of the Hills' experience came through "loud and clear," but all things considered, the information content of the one and one-half hour session was minimal. Part of this inadequacy was undoubtedly due to my inexperience in questioning anyone under hypnosis. At times both Betty and Barney spoke haltingly except at emotionally charged moments. Direct questions were often answered gropingly, reminding me at times of the difficulty of obtaining information from persons who are seriously ill; there were long pauses. However, at no point did I gain the impression that there was any deliberate attempt to avoid giving information. Later at dinner, the Hills were spritely, charming, and talkative. There was no question of their normalcy and sanity.

A few excerpts from my hypnotic session with them will illustrate both the intensity of the emotional experience revealed by hypnosis and the very apparent sincerity of the subjects.

Dr. Simon: All right, now we're coming back in time to the end of that trip to Niagara Falls, when you're coming back and had the experience with the unidentified flying object. What is your feeling now? Were you abducted or weren't you?

Barney: I feel I was abducted.

Dr. Simon: Were you abducted?

Barney: Yes. I don't want to believe 1 was abducted, so I say I feel because this makes it comfortable for me to accept something I don't want to accept that happened.

Dr. Simon: What would make it comfortable?

Barney: For me to say I feel.

Dr. Simon: I see. Why are you uncomfortable about it?

Barney: Because it is such a weird story. If anyone else told me that this had happened to them, I would not believe them, and I hate very badly to be accused of something that I didn't do when I know I didn't do it.

Dr. Simon: Now what is it you are accused of?

Barney: If I am not believed that I have done something and I know I have done it.

Dr. Simon: Well, suppose you had just absorbed Betty's dream.

Barney: I would like that.

Dr. Simon: You would like that; could that be true?

Barney: No. . . .

Barney (shouting): I didn't like them putting that on me! I didn't like them touching me!

Dr. Simon: AH right, all right. They're not touching you now, they're not touching you at all. We'll let that go. Now Dr. Hynek is going to talk to you, and Mr. Fuller may talk to you, and you wilt both carry out their instructions as if they were mine for this time. You'll answer all the questions that may be put to you and carry out any instructions given by the three of us while you're in this trance. But after this you will respond only to me.

Hynek: Barney, you will remember everything clearly, and I want you to tell me what is happening; you have just heard the beep-beep-beep; I want you to tell me what it sounded like, and then each of you just relive and tell me what is happening as you are driving down the road.

Barney: Betty, it's out there — it's out there, Betty! Oh God, this is crazy, I'm going across a bridge — I'm not on Route 3. Oh, my! Oh, my! Oh, my! Oh, I don't believe it. There are men in the road. I don't believe it. I don't want to go on. It can't be there. It's the moon.

Dr. Simon: Go on, Barney. You remember everything clearly — everything's clear.

Barney: I'm out of the car, and I'm going down the road into the woods. There's an orange glow; there's something there. Oh, oh, if only I had my gun; if only I had my gun. We go up the ramp. I'd love to lash out, but I can't. I'd love to strike out, but I can't. My emotions — I got to strike out — I got to strike out! . . . My feet just bumped, and I'm in a corridor. I don't want to go. I don't know where Betty is. I'm not harmed; I won't strike out, but I will strike out if I'm harmed in any way. I'm numb. I have no feeling in my fingers. My legs are numb. I'm on the table!

Dr. Simon: It's all right. You can stop there. You're on the table, but you're quiet and relaxed and you just rest now until I say, "Listen, Barney." You won't hear anything I'm saying for a little while. Betty, what's going on?

Betty: We're riding — Barney puts on the brakes, and they squeal, and he turns to the left very sharply. I don't know why he's doing this. We're going to be lost in the woods. We go around a curve. Barney keeps trying to start it — it won't start. In the woods now they come up to us. There's something about the first man who's coming up. This is when I get frightened, and I gotta get out of the car and run and hide in the woods.. ..

Dr. Simon: Stop, Betty, stop for a moment. You don't want to hear anything I say….Betty, you can hear me now.

Betty: Yes.

Dr. Simon: Go on.

Betty: I want to open the car door now and get out and run and hide in the woods. .. .

Hynek: Have you ever seen anything before that even resembled this?

Betty: No.

Hynek: Was the moon shining down on it? Could you see the moon at the same time?

Betty: It was a very moonlit night. It wasn't quite as clear as daylight, but I could see. It was on the ground, and there was like a rim around the edge.

Hynek: Was it resting on legs or was it flat on the ground? Betty: The rim was a little bit above the ground, and there was a ramp that came down.

Hynek: How big was it, Betty? Compare it to something you know, Betty, in size.

Betty : I tried to think it

Hynek: How about a railroad car? Was it bigger than a railroad car or smaller than a railroad car?

Betty: I can't picture the size of a railroad car. I would say if it landed out here on the street — let's see, it would go from the corner by the front of the house and it would go beyond the garage.

Hynek: What were your thoughts as you came closer and closer to it?

Betty: To get the h out of there if I could.

Hynek: And why couldn't you?

Betty: I couldn't seem to. I — their man was beside me. All I could say was, "Barney, Barney, wake up." He asked me if his name was Barney. I didn't answer him 'cause I didn't think it was any of his business. And then when we got — I saw fins — I knew they were gonna want us to go on it. I didn't want to go. I kept telling them I'm not gonna go — I don't want to go. And he said for me to go ahead, go, that they just wanted to do some simple tests. As soon as they were over with, I'd go back to the car.

Hynek: Did they tell you where they were from?

Betty; No.

Hynek: What kind of sounds did they make?

Betty: They were like — words — like sounds of words.

Hynek: English words?

Betty: No.

Hynek: But you understood them?

Betty: Yes.

Hynek: How do you explain that?

Betty; It was -- all can think if is -- learning French.

Hynek: Learning French?

Betty: Yes.

Hynek: Do you think it was French?

Betty: No, but it was like learning French. When you first hear the French word, you think of it in English,

Hynek; I see. So you heard these sounds in some language, and you understood them as if they were English, is that it?

Dr. Simon: I touch your head now, and you'll be resting and relaxed, and you'll not hear anything further until I touch your head again. You won't hear anything further….Barney, you can hear me now, you're comfortable and relaxed. You have told me that you have gone into the vehicle, is that right?

Barney: Yes.

Dr. Simon: They had taken you in, and they had put you on a table.

Barney: Yes.

Dr. Simon: And they talked to you, is that right?

Barney: Yes.

Dr. Simon; Tell us how they talked; answer Dr. Hynek on that.

Hynek: Did you see them, Barney, open their mouths and, if so, how wide did they open their mouths?

Barney: Their mouths moved, and I could see them.

Hynek: Try to tell me what the sounds were or if they represent anything you know. Is there any animal that you can think about that makes a sound like what they were making.

Barney: No.

Hynek: What were the sounds like?

Barney: Ohlohlohl

Hynek: What did you think about them, or did you think about them at all?

Barney; I thought if only I could haul my fists up ... .

Hynek; This is while you were on the table?

Barney: Yes. I wanted to fight. I didn't know where Betty was, and yet every time I would move or struggle this bright light in my head would keep me calm.

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