Virtual Lecture: "Three Ways of Thinking about the UFO: Betty Hill, Barney Hill, and UFO Culture in America"

The abduction tale of Betty and Barney Hill is one of the most significant elements of UFO culture in the United States. After an encounter with a strange light that followed their car down Route 3 through Franconia Notch in September 1961, the Hills began to experience nightmares and anxiety—symptoms that were relieved through hypnosis. Although they were cautioned that any “memories” that emerged were likely manifestations of emotional truth alone, the Hills were convinced they had been taken aboard an alien craft by extraterrestrials, examined, and then released. For years afterward, they struggled to understand what had happened to them, and their quest for answers illustrates in microcosm broad trends in mid-century American culture: a decay of trust in authority, the emerging prominence of the New Age movement, and the political turbulence of the 1960s and 1970s. The modern UFO movement in the United States was born out of these changes, and this presentation by Matthew Bowman, professor of religion and history at Claremont Graduate University, will demonstrate that the Hills’ experience, whether or not real, was central to this movement. Bowman’s most recent book, which delves into this topic, will be available for sale at the event and through the New Hampshire Historical Society’s online store at nhhistory.org. This program, which is free, is being offered both in-person and virtually.