Report Summary	Betty and Barney Hill were returning from a vacation in Montreal, driving through the White Mountains of New Hampshire, in the vicinity of Cannon Mountain, when they observed a bright moving light in the sky. Initially dismissed as an aircraft or satellite, the couple noticed the light appearing to become brighter and get closer. Observation through binoculars showed the object as being apparently similar to an aircraft fuselage in shape, but there seemed to be a blinking series of lights around the fuselage, which actually looked like "pencils" of colored light rotating around a cigar shaped core in red, amber, green, and blue. Their dog seemed upset and would not leave the car. They drove on, and as they passed Cannon Mountain they observed that the object seemed to be moving with them and still getting closer. The object seemed to move to a position directly ahead of them on the road, at an estimated altitude of only a few hundred feet. It appeared to be "huge". It was now exhibiting a steady white glow. Through binoculars, Betty observed that the white glow was emanating from a double row of windows. As she watched, a red light emerged from each side of the object. Barney stopped the car and took the binoculars. He got out, and as he did so, the object swung in a silent arc across the road at an estimated distance of 100 feet. The double row of windows was clearly visible. The red lights were on two triangular projections which seemed to be continuing to extend from the disk. When Barney stepped out into a field to observe the object through binoculars, he could see a half dozen beings behind the windows. The object tilted toward him and the occupants seemed to be looking at him. Then all but one occupant stepped back from the window, and the object began to drop still lower, and an appendage seemed to emerge from the bottom. Barney ran back to the car and they drove away, with Barney in near hysteria. The object seemed to have disappeared, but when they looked out the window, the stars above seemed blocked by darkness. Then the Hills heard a strange electronic-sounding beeping that vibrated the car with an irregular rhythm. Some time later, the beeping repeated, and they realized they were still driving but did not know where they were until they reached Concord. When they arrived home, Barney noticed that the tops of his shoes were scuffed, and he was unable to understand how that happened. The next day, Betty found polished circles on the trunk of the car. When she placed a compass near the circles, the needle spun wildly. Ten days after the sighting, Betty began to have vivid dreams and nightmares for five days. In those dreams, which she wrote down, she experienced their car being stopped by the occupants of the object, and her and Barney being taken on board the object, where they were subjected to a medical examination. After they reported their sighting, investigation indicated that there was a period of time of at least two hours which could not be accounted for. The Hills experienced some psychological stress, at least partly attributed to the sighting. After some time, they sought psychological counseling and were eventually placed in touch with clinical hypnotherapist Dr. Benjamin Simon. Dr. Simon, a skeptic on the subject of UFOs, but recognizing the very real component of stress generated by the Hills sighting decided to use hypnotic regression techniques to help unlock the mystery of what happened during the sighting and the subsequent missing time. According to the information provided under hypnosis, the Hills made a turn onto a side road for an unknown reason. They were stopped by several "people" at a darkened roadblock. Barney attempted to keep a tire wrench near his hand, but somehow became convinced that it would be dangerous to think of the object as a weapon. He became weaknened and his eyes closed. In a strange sort of haze, the Hills were then seemingly compelled by these beings through some sort of mental force to enter a landed metallic disk. The Hills were then separated and taken to separate rooms. Betty Hill was undressed and was examined. The examination included touching with needles which seemed to be attached to a monitor which presented abstract patterns, skin scrapings, an apparent microscopic skin examination, and the insertion of a long needle into her abdomen through the navel. This final procedure was painful, and when Betty cried out, the apparent "leader" seemed able to cause the pain to abate. Betty was told that the long needle was necessary for a "pregnancy test". After her examination, Betty had a conversation with the "leader", during which she found difficulty in making it understand certain basic concepts. The leader showed her a map, claiming it was a star map, and asking her if she knew where she was on the map. The leader also allowed her to look at a book, which seemed to consist of printing with a variety of thin lines and dots. In the meantime, Barney was also undergoing an examination, but, possibly due to his fear, his perception of the experience was much narrower, and he did not interact with the leader. He remembered being dragged with support under his arms up some sort of ramp and into the object. He is made to lie on a table and feels an area of cold on his groin (a location which later developed a circle of warts which diminished, and then became inflamed again when the Hills underwent hypnotherapy). He also recalled a skin scraping test, and the outline of his spine being traced by a finger or instrument. His mouth was opened and examined. However, while Betty remembers the beings tugging at her teeth and commenting that hers did not "come out", Barney did not remember his dentures being removed. Barney is brought out at the end of the leader's conversation with Betty. His eyes are still closed. The leader tells Betty that they can find the Hills again - "We always find those we want to." As they are about to descend the ramp, the leader informs Betty that he has to take back the book, because the others won't allow her to keep it. She is angry, but the leader tells her that they won't remember the experience, and even if they do, they will remember it differently. Then they are escorted back to the car. Barney starts to become more conscious as the beings return into the woods. A bright orange light shines through the woods, then it seems to roll, dip, and zoom away. The Hills get into their car and start driving, and then there is a sound of the remembered beeping...[footnote 1] According to Peter Brookesmith[footnote 2], Pease AFB had an unidentified radar contact at the time of the encounter.
Hynek Classification	CE-IV
Original Vallee Classification	Type I a/c/d
Current Vallee Classification	CE4
Minimum Distance	Contact
Object Appearance	Flat disk with band of double tiered windows across front (image below shows only one tier); red lights at tip of extensible "fins". At a distance, the object appears to have a system of circulating lights.
Object Behavior	Object first seen in distance, approached car within a few hundred feet. Occupants were visible. Object apparently paced car above, and then landed in a clearing. After abduction, became luminous and departed rapidly. (Note this common pattern - in slow flight, an object shows circulating rim lights; it becomes fully luminous prior to high speed flight).
Occupant Appearance	Much shorter than Barney, slightly enlarged heads, oddly slanted eyes. Mouth is like a thin line with a break on either edge. Occupants are dressed in black.
Physical Effect	Sound, circles on the trunk which affect compass. A later report indicates that an unidentified radar trace occurred during the time of the sighting.[footnote 3]
Medical Effect	Circle of warts on Barney's groin. Removed by electrolysis.
Comments / Conclusion	This case represents the first widely known abduction case, though it occurred several years after the Villas-Boas case. It is an especially credible case because of the reliability of the primary witnesses and the skeptical predisposition of the hypnotherapist.

Footnotes

1. The Interrupted Journey, Fuller, LC# 66-27393

2. UFO: The Complete Sightings, ISBN 1-56619-795-3

3. No reference available. Please contact the author if you have information on the radar trace..