What Barney saw next both amazed and frightened him? Looking through the binoculars, Barney could see a pancake-shaped craft of some kind. There were flashing lights around its edge. And from inside the craft, a group of sinister-looking figures stared down at him. “Hey, I can see a row of windows. There are figures inside!” reported Barney to his wife. “They’re looking at us, watching us!” Betty and Barney looked at each other in silent terror. Then Betty burst out; “I’m scared. Let’s get away from it.”
There hearts pounding, the Hills got back into their car and drove off at top speed, leaving the strange craft far behind them in the night. When they got back home, though, their troubles really began. The Hills figured out that their journey had taken an extra two hours, but the car’s odometer showed the trip had been 35 miles shorter than usual. Barney’s shoes were badly scuffed and the paint on his car was marked with dark blotches. What had happened in the missing two hours?
Betty began having nightmares about aliens. She was certain the dreams were linked to the strange craft they’d seen. The Hills found a doctor who agreed to use hypnosis to help them remember more about what happened that night. Under hypnosis, the Hills recalled being kidnapped by short, gray creatures with large heads and huge, dark eyes. The aliens floated Betty and Barney into their spacecraft and began to examine them.
At first the aliens were quite friendly and Betty was not afraid. They carefully took samples of the couple’s hair and skin. Then they pushed a long needle into Betty’s stomach near her navel. The aliens seemed particularly fascinated by Barney’s false teeth. Betty asked the creatures where they were from, and they showed her a star map displaying what they said was their home planet. Under hypnosis, Betty drew the star map. Many people have tried to identify the star system shown. Some researchers have suggested it show's a group of stars called Zeta Reticuli. Other people have since said they have met aliens from this group of stars.
The Hill’s story has become one of America’s most famous UFO cases. It was one of the earliest examples of a “spacenapping,” which is now called an alien abduction. When the news of their abduction hit the headlines, many doctors and scientists questioned Betty and Barney about their mysterious encounter with aliens. Some thought the Hills’ story was a fantasy or a nightmare, perhaps brought on by being hypnotized. Others believe that something unusual really did happen to the Hills on that lonely stretch of highway. Betty and Barney stuck to their story and swore it was true for the rest of their lives.
