Do aliens exist?
Yes, according to author and researcher Kathleen Marden whose aunt and uncle were at the centre of one of the most famous alien abduction stories of the last 60 years.
Mrs Marden was 13 when Barney and Betty Hill reported their experience of seeing a UFO while out driving in rural New Hampshire.
Many years later she began researching what happened for a biography of the Hills.
She calls them credible witnesses.
The Florida-based writer, speaking in Britain for the first time, spoke to the Examiner at the UFO Truth magazine conference in Holmfirth at the weekend.
“I believe there was an abduction,” she says.
“When I began the investigation I was as unbiased as I could be.
“I did analysis of Betty and Barney’s statement when they were on the (alien) craft, being taken and then released.
“My analysis is that the experience was real.”
Mrs Marden, who describes herself as a Ufologist, said that her aunt and uncle hadn’t wanted their story to become public; it was picked up by a newspaper reporter due to a breach of confidence, she says.
Mrs Marden, 69, says several pieces of physical evidence added weight to what her aunt and uncle told her in 1961, including a pink substance on Betty Hill’s dress and spot marks on the boot of their car.
Further information about what happened emerged after the couple went under hypnosis.
They described a disc shaped craft and eight to 10 individuals which Barney described as “somehow not human.”
“They were dressed in black shiny uniforms...Barney believed they had a plan to capture him. Something started to drop down out of the craft. He ran back screaming to Betty that they had to get out of there or they would be captured.”
The couple sped away from the scene but later found themselves 35 miles further south with little memory of what had happened in the interim period.
But was it all just made up?
Mrs Marden doesn’t think so.
“The scientists who investigated the case said Betty and Barney were honest and mentally healthy. They were upstanding members of their community.”
She added: “I think people should look at the evidence instead of speculating.
“But if it makes people terribly uncomfortable to think that this did actually occur then maybe they shouldn’t. Maybe they should remain in their comfort zone.
“I’m not trying to convince anyone who doesn’t want to believe that this is real.
“I only want the truth. And I want to separate fact from fiction because a lot of fiction has been built around what happened to Betty and Barney.”
