Encounters at Indian Head: The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Abduction Revisited [ペーパーバック]

Encounters at Indian Head is a must-read for UFO abduction aficionados, but much of it will upset True Believers in the ET hypothesis. Those who are not familiar with the literature will find this too specialized, but for those up on the subject it's a dash of cold water, in a good way. Closely involved with the book are hardcore skeptics like Martin Kottmeyer and Peter Brookesmith. Kottmeyer's piece unflinchingly looks at possible mass media influences on the Hill case. The use of hypnosis is also questioned in this volume. The book is based on an informal, closed-doors conference held in New England as part of a gathering in which Betty Hill herself (now deceased) participated. I'm not sure she would like this book. But since ufology insists on going over its classic cases (like Roswell and this one) again and again and again, this is probably the most useful and dispassionate analysis of "the original UFO abduction" yet.

Nearly everyone has heard of certain events in the "UFO" world: Kevin Arnold. Roswell. Betty and Barney Hill (the first 'abduction' case). Even if the names are unfamiliar, a quick recap of events will spark a light in even the most disinterested person who 'remembers reading about that.'

"Encounters At Indian Head" gathers several prominent UFOlogists/writers and takes the reader through a lively debate regarding not only the nature of the Betty and Barney Hill case (and, by extension, UFO abductions in general), but raises the question 'did it really happen?'

There is a recap of the case with all the salient details, followed by essays by both believers and skeptics alike. Walter Webb, the original investigator of the case is represented here, and helps us relive the novelty and the newness of the case when it first came to light. Karl Pflock, one of the editors of this volume, argues that the Hills were abducted, but there have been none proven since.

The skeptics are well represented here as well. Peter Brookesmith, Robert Sheaffer, and Martin Kottmeyer present the skeptical view that (either) nothing happened or that events were misconstrued. Of the three, Brookesmith is the most thorough in his reasoning, Sheaffer the most condescending, and Kottmeyer the most entertaining. It's worth noting that all three present different points.

One thing that no one disputes is that Betty and Barney Hill truly believed that something had happened, and that this case is not, and has never been, a hoax or an elaborate prank.

By presenting their arguments through the focusing lens of what is widely regarded as the first abduction scenario, the authors present a variety of speculation and argument over the nature of UFOs themselves, of abductions and abductees, and whether or not something is going on. It's to be noted that all of the authors steer clear of folkloric faerie 'abduction' tales and confine themselves strictly to the UFOlogical world. I imagine that's an argument for another book.

I was intrigued throughout, found myself challenging assertions of both the believers and the skeptics. At one point, after quoting Betty Hill's statement that her dreams served to help rationalize her experience, Kottmeyer asks 'Dreams as rationalizations! Am I the only person who feels this is simply bizarre?' Well, yes, maybe you are. Dreams serve to filter the subconscious and often help us deal with stress by presenting events in a way we can deal with. I'd say that dreams can and do serve as rationalizations. However, that's not to say that Kottmeyer's contribution doesn't make a number of strong points regarding the role of culture in these abduction scenarios. I'm simply illustrating one of my reactions to his essay. (As I stated above, some of the believers caused me to arch an eyebrow more than once.)

In the end, what seems to be agreed upon is that something happened.

"Encounters At Indian Head" is an excellent review not just of the Hill case, but of abduction in general and the arguments that surround it.

Fascinating.

In the vast body of work comprising UFO lore, the story of Betty and Barney Hill and their sighting at Indian Head, New Hampshire in 1961 stands out as one of the strangest and most frightening. The fact that a group of professionals felt compelled to gather, discuss and write about this incident 39 years after it occurred attests to the unusual nature and staying power of the case. The results of this meeting are recorded in Encounters at Indian Head.

The intrigue of missing time, hypnotic recovery of lost memories, the sighting of a large hovering craft with entities at the windows staring at you while you stare at them, capture, abduction, examination... The entire story is so strange that a cursory reading of the event leaves you wondering: Does anyone have a good enough imagination to make something like this up?

This book doesn't attempt a definitive answer to that question. That's an impossible task since no physical evidence exists to analyze. Instead, you are presented with a collection of essays from skeptics and believers that reexamine the known facts of the case. In the end, you are left to decide which side presented the most believable argument.

The original chronicle of the Hill UFO encounter was written by John G. Fuller. Happenstance found Fuller in New Hampshire investigating another UFO event when he was told about the Hill sighting. Published in 1965, four years after the event, The Interrupted Journey became a bestseller.

If you haven't read The Interrupted Journey and are new to the Hill story the first chapter of Encounters at Indian Head presents an excellent 40 page overview of what allegedly happened on a September night in the isolated wilderness of the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

The discussion of the psychological state of the Hills before, during and after the sighting provides some of the most interesting and insightful writing in the book. Much of this information was new to me. It never surfaced in Fuller's telling of the story due to the sensitivities of the times. These insights provide a possible path to answering the question I posed earlier: Does anyone have a good enough imagination to make a story like this up?

The cultural impact of the event is also discussed at length. You have to remember that this happened in 1961. This was decades before alien abduction stories became so common that people could read about them while standing in the check out line of the grocery store. The Hill case really provided the seminal structure for most of the abduction stories that followed. It was historic in that sense.

Chapter six--There Were No Extraterrestrials--presents a convincing, point-by-point rebuttal of the Hill story. Chapter seven is a point-by-point rebuttal of everything presented in chapter six. And on it goes.

The final chapter is composed by Walter Webb. In his role as a part-time investigator for NICAP (The National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena) he was the first to conduct an interview with the Hills about a month after the sighting occurred. He frankly points out many shortcomings in his investigative process including missing the significance of the mysterious beeps which signaled the onset of an amnesic period for Hills. He also overlooked the "missing time" aspect of the incident. That was left to other interviewers to discover. Still, Mr. Webb's dialog with the Hills remains among the most significant since it was conducted so close in time to the actual event.

Encounters at Indian Head also includes a section of black and white illustrations. Some of these I have not seen before such as Walter Webb's photos of Barney Hill reenacting the close encounter with the flying craft. These photos were taken in 1964. A more detailed map of the Hill's journey through New Hampshire with significant points of interest is also included. This is much improved over the version appearing in Fuller's book. Candid shots of the symposium participants are also displayed as Betty Hill shows them a possible landing site for the craft.

Finally, the cover illustration for the book is superb. It's the result of a commission given to artist Thomas Allen by Look magazine to illustrate the Betty and Barney Hill story that appeared in the October, 1966 edition of that magazine. In my mind it perfectly captures the most startling moment of the Hill's narrative.

For me this book successfully answers nearly all the questions I have had about this puzzling story since I was first exposed to it in 1965. Maybe the authors hoped their readers would come to a similar conclusion when they assembled this assortment of essays discussing one of the most peculiar UFO sightings on record.