The UFO Incident

source: The UFO Incident

I liked the depiction of aliens in this film. The star map shown on board the craft was what Betty recalled under hypnosis. Her recollection has been the basis for the suggestion that the aliens originate in the Zeta Reticuli star system. Abut 25 years ago, I got THE ZETA RETICULI INCIDENT, an interesting analysis of the idea. On the one hand, Zeta 1 or 2 is Population II, and therefore much older than the sun and Earth. Any life on a much older world would have had much more time to progress to an advanced state. On the other hand, Population II worlds tend to be deficient in the heavier elements necessary for the origin of life, or civilization. I note, btw, that Kevin Randle dismissed the Travis Walton case as a hoax because his claim to have seen a star map aboard a UFO could have been influenced by the The UFO Incident movie, shown only a few weeks earlier.

This movie caught my eye because I remember reading about Betty and Barney Hill as a young UFO freak. They were the first famous case of alleged UFO abduction. This film is very well done, really effectively resting on the performances of the two leads. They believably portray real people under very unreal circumstances. I'd love to see it again if I could ever find it!

I remember as a teen watching this film with my best friend during the UFO craze of the 1970s. We were both starry eyed((pun intended)after watching and it convinced us both that indeed our planet was being visited by out of world beings. At very least at the end where they proclaim that under hypnosis Betty Hill had drawn a picture of a yet undiscovered star system from a chart in the alien ship wall sealed it for me. Once a passion, my fascination with UFOs faded fast as the reality that despite all of the books, movies and news stories alleging contact with aliens nothing close to definitive proof has come forth that aliens from other planets have visited earth. Even today videos and photos are never high quality and book deals, movie rights and other profit motives discount most if not all events. I believe that life could exist outside our planet and that there have been a few UFO incidents not yet fully explained that are not profit or mind altering substance driven. I allowed that the Betty and Barney Hill UFO encounter might fall in that category until on a whim one day I decided to research it a bit. It seems that rather than the naive lady depicted in the film, Betty was already well versed in the world of UFO incidents at the time of the alleged encounter and in the years after was seen as a bit of an eccentric even in the UFO community. Her drawing of a so called then undiscovered star system has been discounted as well. So from a science fiction perspective this is a decent film with good acting and an interesting topic but it is not an accurate depiction of real events. For me it was exciting and intriguing at the time I watched it and so a happy memory.

Worst movie ever. Just so bad. Its like watching a 2 hour therapy session. Dont watch this thinking it had anything to do with aliens

I saw this movie in the 70's and it blew me away! I've seen many documentaries about UFO's that include dazzling photographs, but this dramatic recreation of the abduction of Betty and Barney Hill in New Hampshire is even more convincing. It takes supreme conceit and a touch of ignorance to believe that we are the only life forms in the universe. I have a friend named Fred who claims he was abducted by UFO's a few years ago in Vermont. His story was authentic enough that he was featured at length on a major UFO documentary produced by the Turner network. He has told me the story in detail so I have to take the subject seriously! James Earl Jones gives a great performance. Remember, these were the days before he became an obnoxious mouthpiece for Verizon. Estelle Parsons is 47 at the time she made this and I was very attracted to her in this role when I saw it in my 20's. She has a pleasant inner beauty although she isn't really pretty. She also has the New England accent down pat and calls him 'Baaaaney.' I watched it again recently and it was just as gripping the second time. I think this is a very spiritual movie and it definitely had an influence on my life and my thinking. If you see it in the tv guide, grab a tape that has several episodes of CHEERS on it and wipe them out with this tremendous film. I consider it the best made for tv movie ever. Don't look for violence or great special effects.

This movie is very closely based on the true story. I can attest to this, because I have a unique relationship to it. I was 9 years old in October, 1965, when our 4th grade math teacher rolled in the 21" TV to our classroom abruptly one afternoon, and displayed a live interview on local Boston TV with the Hills. Betty Hill described, verbatim, what the movie depicts, except she was much more detailed in the TV interview, which lasted nearly an hour. What she said was so impressive, I never forgot it for the rest of my life. She is the rarest of abductees, in the sense that she had a lucid conversation with her abductors. I believed every word she said then, and I have believed it for 45 years since, without the slightest modicum of doubt. As to the movie itself, I cannot imagine more perfect casting than Estelle Parsons and James Earl Jones. They were made for these parts. If you have ever seen the real Hills in an interview, the resemblance is uncanny. The film pays strict attention to detail and is well made. It took guts for these people to go public, and even more to make a movie that didn't distort the story to the tastes of greedy Hollywood execs. For a low budgeted TV movie, this is more like a superb documentary.

First of all, even though I'm a "UFO buff" (depending on how you use that term), I'm tired of many sides of the whole subject, because it's been such a huge, huge pop culture subject for such a long while, and between the believers and the disbelievers (especially the latter, really), you can't get away from it. But, you don't have to like the subject A BIT (either as a believer or a disbeliever) to like this movie. You can watch it as a "docu-drama" (one that came along before the whole docu-drama craze), about how this couple dealt with the whole situation (regardless of what you believe that was). Or you can watch it as a regular "scary story" (it works entirely well as that). And of course, you CAN watch it for the UFO subject itself, especially since it's one of the most famous stories. One of the great things about the Betty and Barney story is that it sticks a pin in the whole "abducted hillbilly" idea (which, even if it weren't such a huge generalization, is such really, really overworked joke). Here's a "mixed marriage," in New England, both people intellectuals. And of course it has three very great actors (one a little less well-known by name than the other two). Estelle Parsons and James Earl Jones draw you completely into the whole thing, especially during the "regressions." And Barnard Hughes as the doctor (he'd played a few doctors already by then), was just right also.

I find the account of this incident very hard to deny. The characters are well acted and is worth waiting to see when it appears on tv again. I remember once seeing it on the Science Fiction Channel. The only draw-back was the commercials would break the mood of the movie. It is a shame that this movie is not available on VHS.

This was an amazing piece of work for the 1970's. James Earl Jones added such authentic terror to the role of a person discovering forgotten incidents in this life experience, that anyone who has ever forgotten ( and then remembered, realizing they had forgotten) will find this portrayal chilling and unforgettable. His description of the bunny is particularly remarkable...innocent enough to the mind of a child, or an impatient listener. The wife in the story, is played with such stamina and confidence that you could wish to be her in a time of crisis. the natural bravery and assuredness brings a sense of order to the story. Someone please report that this will be distributed for sale sometime somewhere!