Betty and Barney Hill
Driving home through the mountains at night, a couple watched a light follow their car, then arrived home two hours later than they should have.
What was reported
Late on 19 September 1961, Betty and Barney Hill were driving home to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, after a holiday in Canada. They said a bright light seemed to follow their car through the White Mountains, and that Barney stopped and saw figures through binoculars at the windows of a craft.
They reached home around dawn, about two hours later than expected. Years later, under hypnosis with a psychiatrist, both described being taken aboard and examined. It became the first widely publicised abduction account in the United States.
Explanations offered
Their psychiatrist, Dr Benjamin Simon, believed the abduction story was most likely a dream Betty had after the drive, which Barney had absorbed by hearing her tell it. Some researchers think the light was the planet Jupiter or a beacon on a nearby mountain. Supporters point to the couple's sincerity, and to the fact that they reported the light and the lost time before either was hypnotised.
- When
- 19–20 September 1961
- Where
- White Mountains, New Hampshire, USA
- Witnesses
- Betty and Barney Hill
- Status
- Disputed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.