What Happened During NH's Betty And Barney Hill's UFO Experience?

If you are from New Hampshire, at some point, you must have heard about the alien abduction of Portsmouth residents, Betty and Barney Hill.

According to bostonmagazine.com, it happened in 1961, although they said it happened in 1963. The couple was returning to the Seacoast from a vacation in Niagara Falls. Betty noticed a bright light in the night sky, then Barney pulled the car over to get a better look. (I wonder if they ever thought 'if only we just kept driving...')

The couple went on to describe what we all think of when we think of an alien spaceship. A huge hovering disc that they claim abducted them. Their memory of the actual abduction was not great, but they did remember that the aliens took them to the Zeta Retuculi system This is a real star system in our skies which you can read more about here.

A Movie Was Made About This New Hampshire Couple's Alien Abduction

The article goes on to say that their experience was, not surprisingly, made in to a book. There was also a movie made starring James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons.

Along Route 3, just North of Lincoln, NH, you can find a marker where the abduction took place. It reads as follows:

On the Night of September 19-20, 1961, Portsmouth, NH couple Betty and Barney Hill experienced a close encounter with an unidentified flying object and two hours of "lost" time while driving South on Route 3 near Lincoln. They filed an official Air Force Blue Book Report of a brightly lit cigar shaped craft the next day, but were not public with their story until it was leaked in the Boston Traveler in 1965. This was the first widely-reported UFO abduction report in the United States.

There are many YouTube videos about this story, including this one. Please forgive the narrator who pronounces Portsmouth, Ports-MOUTH. Just for reference in case you don't know the difference, the correct pronunciation is PORTS-mith.

This must have been terrifying for the couple. I'm sure there were many people who didn't believe them, but why would they make up such a story and why would they have the same experience? They tell the story the same over and over again. Spooky stuff.