The True Story of the Worlds First Documented Alien Abduction: The Occupants
There has been a great deal of confusion regarding the Hills’ description of the physical characteristics of the spacecraft’s occupants. This seems to stem from the paucity of information available from the descriptive literature. It is a common misconception that Barney observed the humanoid occupants only during a brief interval from his position in the field. In fact, Barney had a conscious, continuous recollection of observing humanoid forms wearing glossy black uniforms and black caps. Barney stated in his initial report to NICAP Investigator Walter Webb that the experience so jolted his reason and sensibilities that his mind evidently could not make the adjustment. A mental block occurred when he attempted to remember the facial characteristics of the humanoids standing in the window peering out at him. However, he noted the expressionless face of the “leader” and the smiling face of the occupant who looked over his shoulder from a control panel.
On February 22, 1964, Dr. Simon probed Barney’s recollection of this event while under deep regressive hypnosis. Barney stated, “He’s friendly looking and he’s looking at me over his right shoulder. He’s smiling. His face is round. I think of a redheaded Irishman.” This reminded Barney of someone who projected warmth instead of the prejudiced hostility that Barney was accustomed to receiving from the Irish. He did not literally see a redheaded Irishman. This threatening figure merely reminded him of a past experience with the Irish. Moments prior to this hypnosis sequence, Barney was experiencing extreme emotional duress, punctuated by intermittent shrieks, whining, and heavy breathing. He did not want to penetrate the mental block that he had erected nearly two and a half years earlier. His subjective description was conceived in Barney’s precathartic emotional state, and should not be understood as a literal portrayal of a redheaded Irishman.
The second humanoid creature that Barney observed from the field reminded him of an evil-faced German Nazi. Again, this was his subjective emotional response based on an earlier World War II era experience. However, augmented by hypnosis, his conscious recall became more detailed than it was during his 1961 interview with NICAP’s Walter Webb.
He was able to fill in the voids caused by his mental block. He had never noticed that the humanoid standing at the window, the one he called “the leader,” was wearing a black scarf. As he focused in on the leader, he described his appearance as follows: “His eyes were slanted. I see it so…his eyes were slant-e-d…[hauntingly], but not like a Chinese.”1 Barney suddenly became terrified when he realized that he was observing unearthly eyes.
In addition to his observation from the field, Barney saw the physical characteristics of the aliens on at least two other occasions: once when they approached his vehicle on foot at the point of abduction, and again when he opened his eyes during his examination. These periods of observation gave him the opportunity to absorb details about the humanoid creatures’ facial features, body structure, comparative size, language, and gait—descriptive elements that were partially recalled during hypnotic regression. However, Dr. Simon never asked Barney for a detailed narrative of these characteristics: They were a mixture of memories that Barney recalled consciously prior to hypnosis and details that flowed forth as he remembered additional information after the hypnosis.
Often, in skeptical literature, we will read that Betty described the aliens as being 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-4, with large chests and larger, longer Jimmy Durante noses. Their complexions were of a gray tone with bluish- colored lips and very dark, possibly black hair and eyes. These human- appearing men were dressed alike in grayish-blue uniforms with short slip-on boots. This description is actually based on Betty’s nightmares, and does not conform to her hypnotically induced memories of the humanoid creatures. Under hypnosis, she was so emotionally distressed by their appearance that she panicked and later experienced nightmares. How- ever, the passage of time tempered Betty’s fear, and she later recalled detailed information about the aliens. As we shall see, Betty’s post- hypnotic descriptions were remarkably similar to Barney’s.
The late David Baker, a prominent New Hampshire watercolor artist, was the first to bring a precise forensic drawing of the aliens’ physical characteristics before the public. A casual friend and fellow NICAP member, Dave shared Barney’s interest in jazz music. In the months following the publication of The Interrupted Journey, the men and their wives occasionally met to attend jazz concerts in the White Mountains or to listen to jazz records. It was in September of 1967, during dinner at the Baker’s home, that Dave asked Barney if a forensic artist had ever attempted to make a detailed sketch of the humanoid creatures who had abducted him. When Barney replied in the negative, Baker suggested that he would be willing to complete charcoal sketches of the humanoids based upon Barney’s descriptions. During the next few hours, Baker completed 10 rough forensic drawings of the leader, examiner, and crew members, while Betty conversed in a separate room with Mrs. Baker.
Baker reported that Barney reacted with visible emotion as he eyed the sketches that the artist was completing. Then, later that night, when Betty viewed them for the first time, Baker commented, “She went walking down to the other end of the room, and just walked in tight circles and stayed by the window, very much upset.”2 Then, on October 2, 1967, from his Jackson, N.H. home, Baker typed a letter of inquiry to Betty and Barney as a precursor to the completion of his watercolor paintings. He endeavored to put the Hills’ detailed facial descriptions into a possible anatomical arrangement following known laws of bone structure.
The Hills supplied the following information:
- The captors’ enlarged eyes were slanted, and extended around the sides of their faces, indicating peripheral vision reminding one of cat’s eyes, rather than Oriental eyes.
- They appeared to have a wide-cheeked, weak-chinned appearance suggestive of a Mongoloid face.
- They had an enlarged cranial structure. Hypothetically, this would be anatomically necessary to compensate for the loss of space that a normal-sized brain would require to accommodate such enlarged eyeballs.
- 138 b Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience
- They gave the impression of immobility of oral muscle control. Barney realized that although from a distance he consciously recalled a smile by the humanoid who reminded him of a “redheaded Irishman,” his captors, upon closer inspection, did not seem to register the human emotions of sadness or joy.
- A membrane was observed near the captor’s mouth-opening when it was parted slightly. This membrane appeared to flutter when the humanoid creatures communicated with each other in a humming type of language not understood by the Hills.
- Although the iris seemed to fill up most of the creature’s eyes, the small white area observed had a yellowish cast. The blinking of eyes was not apparent, suggesting the possibility that a membrane served to keep air and impurities out of the eyes, making lubrication of the orbs unnecessary.
- No ear cartilage was noted; only ear holes, possibly covered by a membrane.
- No hair was observed.
- Skin color was aluminum gray.
- Legs were spindly and chests were enlarged
Baker conjectured that a tight, colorless membrane covering an alien’s entire body could have served as protective gear for clinical or climatic reasons. He demonstrated the effect by pulling a tight silk stocking over his face in the Hills’ presence. Later, he mentioned his great concern over the Hills’ emotional reaction to the simulated effect.
Using his assumptions, a few weeks later, Baker produced a series of watercolor portraits, simulating to a degree the entities Betty and Barney encountered. He met Betty and Barney at the home of Dr. Simon, where he was able to question Barney under hypnosis to clarify the minute details about previously undisclosed characteristics of the alien’s appearance.
Using an original process that he developed called the vitreous flux watercolor technique, Baker was able to complete four paintings on Masonite board, by applying several coats of paint to create texture be- fore an image emerged. He completed fairly accurate, detailed paintings of “The Capture,” “The Leader,” “The Examiner,” and the “Fiery Orb.” Betty later purchased three of the paintings—two of which are among the “Hill UFO Collection” at the University of New Hampshire. The third, the painting of “The Examiner,” was mysteriously purloined from Betty’s house prior to her death by an unknown thief. Recently, artist Patrick Richard produced a forensic painting of “The Examiner,” using photographs of Baker’s original as a guide.”
In the mid-1970s, James Harder, Ph.D., director of research for the now-defunct Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) based in Tucson, Arizona (a nonprofit scientific and educational group dedicated to the eventual solution of the mystery of unidentified flying objects), began to work with Betty to gain additional information regarding the appearance and social characteristics of her abductors. Harder was a professor of hydraulic engineering with responsibilities in bioengineering at the University of California at Berkeley. A specialist in close-encounter cases, Harder was a trained hypnotist. He gained Betty’s trust and was instrumental in documenting a more detailed description of the humanoid abductors after questioning Betty under hypnosis on January 19, 1976. Prior to this, Betty’s intense fear of her captors’ appearance prevented her from providing a detailed description. Over time, through posthypnotic suggestion, Dr. Harder conditioned Betty to become less frightened and to remember more.
Betty revealed that she saw eleven 11; 10, she thought, closely resembled each other with normal individual differences, but at least one was physically different from the rest. He was diminutive in size, approximately 3 1/2 feet tall. His head resembled a basketball, with an enlarged cranial structure, but a flat, large-eyed face. The vertical measurement of his ocular orbit was longer than wide, and the eye extended slightly beyond the human eye to the sides of the face. Either the iris was very dark or the pupil was extremely large, as it filled up most of the visible portion of the eye leaving very little white or yellowish-white showing. The nose was broad, flat, and small, with a thin, wide slit for a mouth. He had a very sturdy build with a thick neck, broad shoulders, and barrel chest. His hands had at least four short, stubby fingers and a thumb, but no visible fingernails. She said, “His fingers were sort of spread out. It is like two fingers are together, as if they grew together with a ridge between them. There is a little tiny short finger and a thumb. They are not like the leader’s fingers. It looks like someone cut the tips of his fingers off. I don’t know if he has three or four fingers.”
Betty sensed hostility from this humanoid creature as he waited in the darkened hallway outside her examining room. She stated, “He keeps staring at me, glaring. I want to kick him because of the way he is looking at me. He makes me afraid. If I kick him he’ll know I’m not afraid of him.” At one time, he approached the door and she could perceive sounds unlike any she had ever heard before. When she was leaving the craft he exhibited an angry appearance. His voice was raised as if in an argument, and the book that was to be her proof of the abduction was taken from her. His authoritative behavior caused Betty to rethink her prior interpretation of the social structure of the group. She suspected that perhaps he was the real leader or the military representative, and the occupant she and Barney referred to as the leader was actually an interpreter. One thing seems clear: His behavior indicated that he filled a supervisory role.