BETTY HILL, 85 As one of the first, if not ...

85 As one of the first, if not the first, and most "sane" abductee of the mid 20th century, Betty Hill parlayed her experience into a life of extra-terrestrial activism and fact-finding. Often called the Grandmother of UFOlogy, Hill was a remarkable woman. Daughter of a mayor and human-rights advocate, Hill felt called to a progressive, open-minded life. She adopted many children and was a serious proponent of civil rights legislation. Indeed, her husband and fellow abductee Barney (who died in 1976) was an African-American; their interracial marriage was a scandalous affair in their New England community.

In 1969, there was to be more controversy still.

Driving through the White Mountains of New Hampshire on a return trip from a vacation in Canada, the Hills spotted lights in the sky outside the town of Thornton. At first, they thought it might have been an asteroid or a military airplane. As the object landed, the Hills stopped their car, and Barney went out to investigate; he saw a "craft with strange beings looking at him from windows." Barney ran back to the car, screaming that they wanted to "grab him." Loud beeping noises ensued and the Hills drove furiously on. A mile or so down the road, they encountered nine humanoid entities; according to the Hills' published accounts, the car then came to a stop on its own and Betty and Barney were taken aboard the craft and examined. Betty apparently engaged the entities in conversation, was shown a "star map" and presented with a book the aliens later decided not to let her keep.

Two hours later the Hills were returned to their car and drove home; the next day they contacted the authorities, and their remarkable story, uncovered under a rigorous program of hypnosis, became known to the world.

Betty Hill spent the rest of her life traveling the world, giving her testimony during lie-detector tests (most famously on F. Lee Bailey's short-lived tv show), lecturing and listening to the experiences of fellow-abductees. Her fact-finding missions-according to her website often accompanied by military officials, medical doctors and religious advisers-brought her to Russia, South America and for a while made her a fixture on Japanese television. The dress she was wearing on the day of her abduction became the first relic of the UFO age; to this day the "pink powdery substance" staining its hem apparently baffles scientists. As for the star map, Hill drew it from memory while under hypnosis, and her friend the psychic and UFO-researcher Marjorie Fish subsequently identified the star Zeta Reticula as the probable home of the alien visitors.

ETs continued to visit Hill, though clandestinely, until the late 1990s, when she decided to retire from the UFO life; her last years were spent granting interviews in her modest home, and battling cancer, which she believed her heavenly visitors would one day cure.