The True Story of the Worlds First Documented Alien Abduction: Canada to Colebrook
As they drive on, the roads become narrower, and they are finally in a country setting. It is early in the evening and they are hungry, so they stop at a roadside stand for hamburgers and hot dogs, potato chips, and coffee. Barney relates, “They do not speak any English and they think my wife is French.” Betty concurs with Barney’s assessment of the situation, as evidenced by her statement that the woman at small drive-in restaurant spoke to her in French, adding that she thought Betty was French. They both speak of removing Delsey from the car while they eat at a picnic table. Barney, a frequent watch-checker, noted that it was about 5:30 in the evening, and he wanted to be on his way.
The couple continued their drive through Quebec en route to New Hampshire, but decided stop for a snack and coffee at a restaurant in Coaticook, approximately a 75-minute drive from Colebrook. Betty explained to Dr. Simon, “It was dark and we got into this town and stopped to eat and, oh, the restaurant was all right. It wasn’t too good. The waitress could only seem to speak a little English.”
In his initial interview, Barney skipped over his stop in Coaticook, but later returned to this point in time as he quietly thought about it 72 miles south in New Hampshire. Barney testified, “I stop in Coaticook, Canada, and we decide to eat and we go into…I cannot get close to the restaurant, so I park on the street and we must walk to the restaurant.” Barney goes on guard when he sees men sporting duck-tail haircuts, suspecting they might be hoodlums. He anticipates hostility, but is pleased to find “there is no hostility there.” To the contrary, it is a “pleasant restaurant” with “friendly” people. A language barrier is the only difficulty he experiences.
It is not clear whether or not the Hills actually consumed a full meal at the French-speaking restaurant in Coaticook. We know only that they had to point to what they thought they wanted on the menu, but their lack of familiarity with the French language caused them to order potato chips when they anticipated French fries. They were served, but Betty mentioned her dissatisfaction with the food, stating, “It wasn’t too good.”
A careful analysis of the hypnosis tapes can only derive the fact that they stopped briefly before continuing on the last leg of their trip through Canada and on into New Hampshire. This episode differs from John Fuller’s account of the suspected hoodlum encounter. He morphed the Coaticook incident into the Colebrook incident, although they were actually two entirely different restaurants and experiences. He simply passed over some of the Coaticook restaurant testimony.
The Hills’ dialogue is equivocal concerning their drive from Coaticook to the New Hampshire border. It suggests that they may have lost their route again after they left the restaurant, but it is not entirely clear. They had intended to follow Route 147 to the border, crossing in Norton, Vermont. Then they would travel east on Route 114 for approximately 23 miles to the New Hampshire state line. However, we suspect that they turned onto Route 141 and entered Vermont at Canaan/Hereford near the New Hampshire border. Barney interjects the somewhat confusing statement, “114. It’s dark….It’s not a good road but it’s a short distance to New Hampshire and I see signs for Colebrook.” Betty fills in the missing piece of the puzzle by explaining, “And I think that we got off from the main road somehow because we went to the Customs…and stopped at the Customs….And, he asked us how…well, he said that they didn’t get many tourists at this Customs because it was out of the way. Most people went to a better-traveled highway and I don’t know how we made the mistake and got onto this road.” It is impossible to ascertain whether or not Barney took Route 141 when he exited Coaticook, rather than continuing on Route 147 to Route 114, but it is a possibility. Did Betty simply anticipate that they would travel along a larger highway than Route 114 proved to be, or did Barney transpose the route numbers 114 and 141 and take the smaller route? We know only that it turned into a well-maintained gravel road lined with prosperous dairy and vegetable farms.
Today, near the U.S. border, a resort area with a beautiful lake is lined with attractive cottages and an inviting chateau accommodation. The structures appear old enough to have been there in 1961. Barney spotted a resort of this description and contemplated stopping for the night, but decided that, because his energy level was high, he would drive into New Hampshire. Although he was apprehensive about traveling through a desolate mountainous area during the off-season, due to the possibility of an automotive breakdown, he decided to continue on and perhaps stop at one of New Hampshire’s motels or cabins.
We will never know for certain that Barney followed Route 141 into Canaan, but the question is inconsequential. Route 141 is a more direct route to Colebrook, but was nevertheless a smaller road in 1961. John Fuller deleted this portion of the hypnosis from The Interrupted Journey, probably because it only would have added confusion. The time factor would have been comparable, regardless of which route they took.
It would seem fortuitous if Barney confused these two routes be- cause he was concerned about going through U.S. Customs, and a less traveled entry point, perhaps, facilitated his journey into New Hampshire.
He explains to Dr. Simon:
I have a gun in the car. It’s a .32 pistol and it is hidden in the well of the trunk of the car, with the trunk mat over it. I left Portsmouth in the morning…about five o’clock. It was dark and I secreted the gun in the trunk. The Canadian official of the Customs building did not look at my car…just the dog and we had papers proving that we had brought the dog into Canada. And he waved us on pleasantly. But the American Customs asked me to open the trunk and he looked at our equipment and he said, “What is this?” and I said that many times when we are on the highway we would stop and cook our food. This is our cooking equipment. He said, “A good idea, and I hope that your trip was pleasant.” And he waved us on.
Later, Dr. Simon asked Betty if she had any concerns about anything at Customs. She replied, “No, except the trunk of the car was so untidy and somewhere we heard a weather report, and this is what made us decide to go back to Portsmouth, rather than stay overnight.” She, as did Barney, mentioned that the border guard seemed curious about their reason for entering the United States at this small, less-traveled crossing.
Betty seemed to be ignorant of the fact that Barney had hidden her hand- gun in the trunk of her ’57 Chevy Bel Air. Although she became aware of the pistol’s presence later that evening, she seemed unconcerned about it at this juncture.
On the morning of September 17, 1961, Barney thought about a trip he had taken to Detroit and Niagara Falls, Canada, with his first wife and children. When Barney became tired, they had been forced to spend the night in their vehicle, and at that time he wished that he had taken a gun for protection. It was this memory that prompted him to take along Betty’s gun this time. (Betty owned a gun because she enjoyed participating in target practice on her parents’ farm.)
As stated earlier, Betty found her food at the Coaticook restaurant to be unsatisfactory, so she and Barney were anxious to find a restaurant where they could consume a late-night snack and cup of coffee before they began the last leg of their trip. They seemed relieved to find them- selves in the familiarity of New Hampshire, on a route they were accustomed to traveling, and in a comfortable environment with people who spoke English.
Their brief stop at a Colebrook restaurant was both relaxing and refreshing. Barney wondered why the dark-skinned waitress was not very friendly, whereas the others in the restaurant seemed “friendly” or “pleased.” He told Dr. Simon, “I wonder if she is Negro and she is wondering if I know she is passing for white.” Barney quickly finished a ham- burger while Betty savored a piece of chocolate cake and coffee. He stated the he felt “welcome and alert,” albeit “somewhat impatient with Betty to finish her coffee.” He noted that the restaurant clock and his watch both indicated that it was 10:05 p.m., and estimated that they would arrive at home in Portsmouth by approximately 2 a.m. Betty independently con- firmed his statement by reporting to Dr. Simon, “There was a clock above the door of the ladies’ room and it was 10 o’clock and we finished eating and left.” In 1961, facilities in New Hampshire’s North Country closed at 11 o’clock, so this would have been their last chance to recharge for their trip south. Today, most travelers take Interstate Routes 89 or 91 through Vermont, but these highways had not been constructed in 1961. Route 3 through Colebrook was the major north–south route. Today, Colebrook restaurants close by 10 o’clock, and earlier on week nights.
Kathy, while researching the Hills’ journey, visited Colebrook to investigate the route the Hills followed and to measure their time sequence. An investigation of Colebrook’s restaurants was undertaken to check the validity of their memory of a clock above the ladies’ room door. The Wilderness Restaurant, located in Colebrook’s downtown area, has nail holes above the entrance to the toilet facilities, suggesting that a clock once hung in that location. Fully 46 years have passed since the Hills snacked in Colebrook, so many restaurants may have come and gone. However, this restaurant exhibited evidence that would confirm the Hills’ statement that they checked the time on the clock above the ladies’ room.