Pseudo-Skeptical Science: Betty and Barney Hill Abduction Case

americanchronicle ^ | February 21, 2009 | Steve Bass

[JoeProBono]

In January 2009, I had the distinct pleasure to meet one of the greats of Ufology. Kathleen Marden is the niece of Betty Hill, who was involved with her husband Barney, in a highly publicized abduction on September 20, 1961. The factor that makes this unique is that the abductors brought their victims on board a spaceship, the likes of which defied imagination.

Betty and Barney Hills account is documented in the well written book CAPTURED! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience by Kathy Marden and Ufologist and original Roswell crash researcher, Stanton T. Friedman, MSc, so I will not try to duplicate efforts. Instead, I will refer you to their work for the historical account.

This abduction by alien entities originated several notable firsts. This would become the most publicized alien abduction in history to date, due in part to the amazing level of detail that has become known. This account also benefitted from the believability of Betty and Barney. Never were there two people who shunned the spotlight more than the Hills. The Hills were leaders in their community and well-respected. Betty was a social worker, and both were members of the NAACP. Barney was passionate about his civil rights work, having contributed to the movement as a member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission in his home state of New Hampshire.

Another first would be the use of hypnosis in the treatment of the Hills to uncover their hidden memories. Contrary to some claims, the Hills did not immediately remember everything that had occurred. The treatment was undertaken by Dr. Benjamin Simon, who was the first to theorize and later prove the validity of hypnotherapy in the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among war veterans. This was not the only factor that made Dr. Simon the perfect person to treat the Hills. Dr. Simon did not believe in the extraterrestrial hypothesis, the belief that some unidentified flying objects are in reality extraterrestrial spacecraft piloted by alien entities, what some derisively refer to as "little green men". By believing there to be another causal factor to their condition, the Hills were not "led" by the doctor into erroneous memory recollections. The introduction of Dr. Simon lent to the validity of the account of abduction by aliens.

[Quix]

100% wholesale blackwashing 100% of all hypnosis use in recovering some memories

is not very scientific, imho.

Regardless of all your study.

[word_warrior_bob]

I previously stated acceptable uses for hypnosis, recovering memories is decidedly NOT one of them.