The novel “The Interrupted Journey” gives the detail the events of the evening of September 19, 1961, a span when an unassuming interracial couple — the Hills — saw their weekend drive in New England interrupted by a…flying saucer. When they were returned from their UFO experience they went back to their normal life activities but felt something was missing. Then they started to remembered in small glimpses. They wanted to know what they forgot. The Hills were aided in this endeavor by a reputable, rock-solid psychiatrist, Dr. Benjamin Simon, who utilized hypnosis to excavate the Hills’ buried (or blocked?) memories of the close encounter on September 19th 1961. Their stories — told separately in marathon individual sessions — matched one another’s very closely. Husband and wife both spoke of an alien visitation that featured missing time, medical exams and so on. These thorough hypnosis sessions — which often read as decisive cross-examinations — are featured in “The Interrupted Journey” in the form of transcripts. These word-for-word accounts make for absorbing and anxiety-provoking reading.
Fuller does well with the remainder of the text too, his prose devoid of unnecessary drama, hysteria, or silliness. Fuller downplays everything in a just-the-facts writing-style that disarms the inner skeptic and generates a fair bit of, uneasiness. The idea of alien visitation is made entirely believable. The Hills don’t seem like attention-seekers. They waited for years to come forward in the public square to tell their version of the story, and then only after a journalist with no morals published their story without permission from them.

In The Interrupted Journey, when Barney first sees the alien leader’s inhuman black eyes glaring down at him it seemed so real that I believed their story. UFOs have been a controversial subject in that many do not believe in them. Those that do believe in them are still considered “crazy.” I myself think that are UFOs as I believed I saw one but did I? I had been so far away from it, I was sure it was one by the way it flew and didn’t fly staying in one spot for several minutes. This book is a fascinating read. Read it if you dare.

3.5 stars

Probably one of the most publicized incidents of a (purported) alien abduction involved a married couple named Barney and Betty Hill.

On September 19, 1961 the Hills were returning from Montreal to their Portsmouth, New Hampshire home. At about 10:30 P.M., the Hills were on U.S. Route 3 in New Hampshire when they observed a strange object in the sky. The couple stopped to look at the object with their binoculars and to walk their dachshund Delsey. The Hills then resumed their trip while the unknown entity made erratic motions in the air. The Hills stopped to look at the object again, and Barney observed a 'flying saucer' with humanoid figures peering out the window. Barney became alarmed and quickly drove away.....after which the Hills experienced a loss of time, arriving home about two hours later than expected.

The Hills reported the incident to Pease Air Force Base in New Hampshire and to the National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena (NICAP). UFO sightings in the area were not uncommon, and the Hills' were interviewed by a number of Air Force officers and NICAP officials.

Shortly after the September 19 encounter, Betty had a number of vivid dreams about being abducted by aliens, and Barney began experiencing chronic anxiety and stress. The Hills wanted to know exactly what happened on the night of the incident and eventually consulted Dr. Benjamin Simon, a Boston psychiatrist experienced with hypnosis. In January, 1964, Dr. Simon began therapy sessions with Barney and Betty, and while hypnotized the couple recalled aliens taking them from their car, bringing them to a UFO, and examining their bodies. Afterwards, the Hills were returned to their vehicle and allowed to go on their way.

In 1966, author John Fuller wrote a book about the Hills' experience. The book was re-released in 2022, and is available once again. The narrative contains transcripts of the couple's hypnosis sessions, so the reader can experience the (alleged) incident along with Barney and Betty.

Dr. Simon had no agenda with respect to the existence (or not) of UFOs, his sole aim being to free the Hills of their anxiety. However, Dr. Simon speculated that Betty's 'memories' of being abducted might have been a fantasy/dream that influenced Barney's 'recollections.' In any case, the Hills were freed of their distress, and were able to go on with their lives.

Fuller's book was adapted into a 1975 movie called 'The UFO Incident' starring James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons.

There's been much speculation over the years about whether or not the Hills really experienced an alien abduction. If you'd like to weigh in on the matter, I'd suggest you read the book.

For sightseers in New Hampshire, there's a historical marker designating the site of the Hills' first sighting of the UFO.

Imagine two hours of your life just gone. You can’t account for them, as you have no recollection of losing time. Then we’ll imagine the awful nightmares and other strange happenstance going on to you/around you. This was the life of The Hill family.

I found this book highly intriguing as we do live in a world where anything is possible. Even if you struggle with believing, it’s silly to think we live in an infinite galaxy on a floating ball with no one else around us. The Interrupted Story presents the facts true to the couple living this experience, which is plausible and super interesting.

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone with an open mind.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting look and story concerning a UFO meeting and abduction. The facts are well presented and makes a strong case for the validity of their story. A great read.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Definitely not what I expected out of a memoir, but it does the individuals justice in showing their personal truth, no matter how fantastical the reader may find it.

A staple to read for those in the UFO/Alien believer community! One of the most famous abductions explained more within this book!

I really enjoyed this! It's about the Betty and Barney Hill abduction, one of the most famous UFO abduction stories of all time. The book did orginally come out decades ago but I've not come across it before and found it gripping.

*Thank you to Knopf Doubleday, John Fuller, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Previously published at https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/the-interrupted-journey/


“I’d bet almost anything that life from another planet, if formed independently from life on Earth, would be more different from all species of Earth life than any two species of Earth life are from each other.”
–Death By Black Hole, Neil De Grasse Tyson

In September 1961, Betty and Barney Hill, an interracial couple living in Portsmouth, NH, are on their way home from Montreal when they see a strange aircraft with double windows following them on a dark mountain road. By the time they return home, they have lost two hours with no memory of what happened. Betty is positive that something happened, but Barney sticks to reality, downplaying the nightmares she has been having since they returned home. She believes that what they saw on that mountain road is a UFO. Barney insists she is being dramatic and shouldn’t rely on her dreams for reality.

Betty contacts Pease Air Force Base, in Newington, New Hampshire, and Walter Webb, at NOUFORS Northern Ontario UFO Research, an astronomer and member of NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena). While visiting Webb, he suggested they see a psychologist. Dr. Simon put them both under hypnosis but separately and recorded their therapy sessions. Both Barney and Betty’s stories under hypnosis are exactly the same. They both recalled being stopped by several small men in the road and taken aboard a UFO and examined separately. Dr. Simon remains skeptical throughout the book about whether the event really happened, or their description was based on the nightmares Betty was having. He didn’t think they were lying, but he just felt he didn’t have enough evidence to be convinced the event had happened.

The Interrupted Journey fascinated me. I will admit that I had not heard of Barney and Betty Hill until the book was sent to me. There are parts of the book that are rather dry and sometimes repetitive, but overall, it is a fascinating recap of an event in history that cannot be made up. I can only imagine how this story rocked America in the early ‘60s. The Hills had nothing to gain by telling their story. They are described in the book as a very private interracial couple who went almost a year before deciding to go forward with this story because they were worried about the attention it would bring to them. After reading the book, I was able to delve into some links that the publisher sent me, and it is almost eerie to listen to the tapes of the Hill’s hypnosis. The horror in Barney’s voice is terrifying while his brain is telling him this is not possible. It is the extreme reaction that seals the deal for me. This is a must read for all the skeptics out there. You might just end up a believer.

I remember watching the movie about Betty and Barney Hill when I was a child. There seems to be a resurgence in interest of their story of late. That being said, I find it hard to believe that the two would have concocted a story when they clearly must have had a difficult life being an interracial couple in the 1960’s and bringing more strife to their lives.
The book is written in a style much like a reporter and at times it’s tough to follow. But I give kudos to the author for all of the investigative work that they undertook to bring fresh eyes and information to the Hills’ story. I think humanity does itself a huge disservice thinking that we are the only intelligent beings created by the Almighty.
*I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and Netgalley*

A "classic" in the UFO / alien abduction genre, The Interrupted Journey is the tale of Betty and Barney Hill's supposed encounter with visitors from another planet in what would eventually become the very first and most widely publicized close encounter story. Originally written in 1966, John G. Fuller recounts the Hill's "full story" based on interviews, therapy, and recollections gleaned while under hypnosis of their "abduction."

While this is a book I admittedly wouldn't normally read, my interest and foreknowledge of the Hill's story comes as a New Hampshire native. The Hills lived in Portsmouth and the sighting took place in the White Mountain area. There are still historical markers to this day in the supposed area where the Hills saw the spacecraft. It is hard not to drive through some of the more desolate, lonely areas of the White Mountains and not wonder a bit, especially at night. Unfortunately this doesn't change the fact that Fuller's account of the incident borders on comical, especially given the 60+ years in between. The Hills account was the inspiration for many of the UFO clichés we're familiar with, such as the "cigar-shaped" craft, the missing time, "probes", and the "grey" style alien body types. The aliens. naturally, speak and understand perfect English, have humanoid bodies, use paper maps, and hover and twiddle around in their spacecraft without being seen by anyone but the Hills.

Interesting as a relic of the UFO "true believer" movement, but hard to take seriously beyond that.

**I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and Netgalley**

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Vintage for an advanced copy of this extraterrestrial first contact classic.

Everything has a beginning, even stories of alien abduction. Less than 20 years after Kenneth Arnold spotted a group of saucers in the skies of Washington state, setting off the modern UFO phenomena that has continued steady since, came the first book about contact with strange beings in the sky. The book was the template that all stories, movies and book followed. The Interrupted Journey: Two Lost Hours Aboard a UFO: The Abduction of Betty and Barney Hill written by John G. Fuller is our beginning to a whole new idea of our place in the universe.

In 1961 Betty and Barney Hill are returning from an impromptu vacation in Canada to the their home in New Hampshire. A happily married interracial couple, which was rare for the time, Barney was a postal worker and Betty was a social worker, with stong ties to civil rights and church groups. Along the way home they spot strange lights in the sky. Soon the lights come closer, and a strange feeling comes over both of them. Soon they notice that quite a bit of time has passed and they have been driving quite a while without passing another car, or even remembering the drive. Arriving home, they find that the ride has taken them much longer that expected, and a vague sense of unease hangs over both of them. Reporting to the Air Force about their encounter does not help, nor does discussing their night with investigators and those involved in UFO phenomenon. Only under hypnosis does the story of what happened that night come to the surface for both of them.

The book was written by John G. Fuller in 1966, a reporter who came across the Hill's strange night, and wanted to report more on the subject. Written in a very reportorial style, the book starts with a brief history of Fuller's interest, the Hills account, semi- transcripts of the Hills under hypnosis. The book is like, I wrote earlier a template of first contact, bright lights, gray aliens, telepathy, missing time, medical examinations. At the time this must have been startling stuff, why would anyone make this kind of stuff up. Now it just seems like every movie, every tv show about aliens. And the technology seems dated too, though if human technology can change so much in 60 years, I guess alien technology could change just as much too. Their is still a sense of wonder, but too much Close Encounters and X- Files might have weakened the story.

The Hills case has been debated and in many ways debunked over the years. Many things just seem strange and wrong in the encounter, the aliens use telepathy, but paper maps and books. However the book is strangely gripping and suspenseful, if dated and does have a lot of things that makes one go, hmmm. If you want to believe, you will believe, if you want to see why people believe then start here.

A unintentionally comical recounting of alien abduction by a pleasant-enough married couple, Betty and Barney Hill. The pair became famous in the late 60s for being the first widely publicized alien abduction case. I went into this with an open mind (I have had two UFO sightings- one of which just happened in Feb 2022 and that I reported to the official national database of UFO sightings) but the whole thing read like a bad Star Trek episode. The aliens are the exact same type of aliens that were popular in science fiction movies and comic books of the time. Ditto the "flying saucer" which is pancake flat and whizzes around with aerodynamic marvels. The spaceship is so technologically advanced that it has managed to figure out how to penetrate our orbit and snatch humans up and experiment on them all without anyone seeing it, or catching human-borne viruses they would have no immunity to, but when Betty asks the "leader" where his solar system is .... he takes out a paper map! I'm sure this made sense in 1966, and if it was written today he would have called up Google Maps on his iPhone. And yes all the aliens speak perfect English.

I give it three stars because it's a rather amusing read. I suggest also reading the Wikipedia entry on the couple, whose story has been rather thoroughly debunked.

I just reviewed The Interrupted Journey by John Fuller. #TheInterruptedJourney #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Interrupted Journey.

I've never heard of Barney and Betty Hill but they were one of the first people to recount an alien abduction in the early 1960s in a rural part of New Hampshire.

It began as a regular day; the Hills were returning home from a long weekend, traveling late at night to avoid traffic, when they spotted something unusual in the sky.

It wasn't a bird. It wasn't a plane. It definitely wasn't Superman. It was something...else.

Not long after seeing the unidentified flying object, the Hills found themselves back in their car, headed home, but feeling somewhat disoriented.

Bad dreams and uneasiness plagued the couple in the weeks after their trip and with the help of close friends and a respected doctor and hypnotist, they discovered two hours of their trip was unaccounted for.

The Interrupted Journey details the Hills' journey to discovering what happened during those missing hours, and their close encounter with the third kind.

I was a fan of the X-Files as a teenager, and I'm intrigued by UFO sightings and abductions so this was a fascinating read.

Do I believe something happened to the Hills? Definitely.

Do I believe it was extraterrestrial in origin? Absolutely.

The Interrupted Journey consists of the audio recordings the doctor made when the Hills were under hypnosis, the memories their brains have repressed/blocked or were told to repress.

Their accounts are both amazing and frightening, surreal and bizarre, but the biggest takeaway for me, after reading this, is how acceptance of the events gave them a better perspective on life.

In fact, they were happy and satisfied once they understood what had transpired during those two hours, knowledge that this incredible encounter had occurred, and their perspectives about their world and outlook on life broadened and reached a understanding that not many people would understand or ever have.

My only issue was that UFOs was constantly written in the possessive: UFO's,

The plural is UFOs. How hard is that for an editor to catch? Seriously.

This is my biggest pet peeve, when people think plural and possessive are interchangeable. They're not!