John Fuller - The Interrupted Journey: Two Lost Hours Aboard a Ufo: The Abduction of Betty and Barney Hill

On December 14, 1963, Mr. Barney Hill presented himself at my office to keep his appointment for a consultation. It was like any other day. The appointment had been made in advance, and Mr. Hill had been referred for the consultation by another psychiatrist. At the time I knew nothing of Mr. Hills problems, but when he introduced his wife, who is white, I wondered, fleetingly, if their interracial marriage might be involved in Mr. Hills disturbance. At his request I saw the couple together and soon realized that both needed help.

A month after the sighting the Hills had been interviewed by Walter Webb, a lecturer at Bostons Hayden Planetarium and a scientific adviser to the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena. With a copy of Mr. Webbs report to NICAP as a basis, Mr. and Mrs. Hill unfolded the story that follows in Mr. Fullers book.

At the time there was no indication that either the interracial marriage or the UFO experience bore more than a tangential relationship to the central problems that Mr. and Mrs. Hill presentedcrippling anxiety, manifested by him in fairly open fashion and by Mrs. Hill more in the form of repetitive nightmarish dreams. Aside from its topical interest, the UFO experience was important because it presented for both Mr. and Mrs. Hill the focal point of the anxiety which had apparently impeded the psychiatric treatment Mr. Hill had been undergoing for some time. This point appeared to be a period of time in the course of their trip home from Canada in September 1961. They were constantly haunted by a nagging anxiety centering around this period of several hoursa feeling that something had occurred, but what?

A treatment program was outlined for the Hills, and it was decided first to try to unlock the door to the hidden room (the amnesia), and that for this aspect of therapy, hypnosis would be used. Plans were made to begin treatment after the coming Christmas holidays, the first treatment session being set for January 4, 1964.

Apart from the unique quality engendered by the UFO story, treatment proceeded apace as might be expected with two very anxious and cooperative patients, and continued regularly until terminated at the end of June 1964. During this time there was no portent of the unfolding drama which began on December 14, 1963, and which was to extend back in time for two years and to extend forward to this moment exactly two and a half years later when I would be writing an introduction to the book which was to revive the whole dramathe unfolding of events of which I had had no hint during the whole period of treatment. It was a drama that culminated in Mr. Fullers book and my introduction, which is rather unique in being an apologia for my presence onstage as a reluctant member of the dramatis personae.

The formal treatment program was terminated on June 27, 1964, and from then until late summer 1965, the Hills and I maintained contact through reports of their progress by visits and telephone calls. I had no indication of the developing storm until the late summer of 1965, when I received a telephone call from a newspaper reporter who appeared to be aware of the Hills story, their treatment, and my part in itincluding the use of hypnosis; he requested an interview with mewhich I refused, informing him that I would not discuss the Hills case without their written consent and that even with their written permission any discussion would have to depend on my judgment of its potential effect on their emotional health. A month or two later Mr. Hill, in considerable distress, called to say that the reporter had approached them for an interviewwhich they had refused. He (the reporter) claimed to have data on the case, which he would publish without an interview with them if they refused to comply. It appeared to me that there was nothing that could be done on this basis. The question of giving an interview would be a matter for them to decide, perhaps with legal advice.

While I was attending professional meetings in Washington during the week of October 25, 1965, my office called that All hell had broken loose. There were calls from Mr. Hill and calls from a great many strangers. All seemed to be connected with the appearance of a series of articles in a Boston newspaper. These were written by the reporter to whom I had refused the interview and, apparently, without permission from Mr. and Mrs. Hill. My associates and our office staff did the best they could with the calls pending my return. On my return Mr. Hill telephoned and expressed their great distress over this series of articleswhich I had not yet seen. He felt that they distorted the truth and considered them a violation of his right of privacy. He wanted my advice, and I suggested that he seek legal advice. From Mr. Hill I also learned that I had been named in the articles, which explained the large number of calls coming to my office.