The Abduction of Betty and Barney Hill

Alien Encounters, Civil Rights, and the New Age in America

By: Matthew Bowman

Narrated by: Asa Siegel

In the mid-1960s, Betty and Barney Hill became famous as the first Americans to claim that aliens had taken them aboard a spacecraft against their will. Their story—involving a lonely highway late at night, lost memories, and medical examinations by small gray creatures with large eyes—has become the template for nearly every encounter with aliens in American popular culture since.

Historian Matthew Bowman examines the Hills' story not only as a foundational piece of UFO folklore but also as a microcosm of 1960s America. The Hills, an interracial couple who lived in New Hampshire, were civil rights activists, supporters of liberal politics, and Unitarians. But when their story of abduction was repeatedly ignored or discounted by authorities, they lost faith in the scientific establishment, the American government, and the success of the civil rights movement.

Bowman tells the fascinating story of the Hills as an account of the shifting winds in American politics and culture in the second half of the twentieth century. He exposes the promise and fallout of the idealistic reforms of the 1960s and how the myth of political consensus has given way to the cynicism and conspiratorialism and the paranoia and illusion of American life today.

©2023 Matthew Bowman (P)2023 Tantor

A Fascinating story of Racism & Culture in the USA

Betty and Barney Hill were an interracial couple involved in the early days of the USA Civil Rights movement. They claimed that in 1961 they were kidnapped by aliens. What happened to them? How did racism and the culture of the USA in the 1950's and 60's influence their beliefs and perceptions of what happened to them? This book is a fascinating exploration of what was occurring in the USA in the 50's and 60's as people wrestled with the fears related to changes in science, technology, fears of what the government was doing, and the fight for civil rights. I highly recommend this book.

The Audiobook is very well narrated, an all around excellent job.

Fascinating dive into the fringe—but not so fringe world of UFOs

Matt knows his history well and much is learned about a number of disciplines as well as cultural events that help shaped the lives of Betty and Barney and the effects of those events that continue to shape current culture. So much to think and wonder about.

Not worth buying

So I could get my time back that I spent most of this it would be worth it was a waste of time.