User reviews

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.

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!

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!

This made-for-television film made quite a splash when it aired on NBC in 1975, right in the midst of a UFO-mania currently sweeping the country. Chronicling the landmark alleged UFO-abduction case of Betty and Barney Hill on the night of September 19, 1961, the film recounts the turmoil they both suffered for years after experiencing "two lost hours aboard a flying saucer" while returning home to Portsmouth from Montreal.

Adapted from John G. Fuller's 1966 book "The Interrupted Journey", the teleplay cleverly utilizes transcripts of the Hills' hypnosis sessions (which commenced the following year and continued for several months) to frame the retelling of their ordeal. Peppered throughout the recreated hypnosis sessions are intriguing flashbacks of the abduction itself, composed of moodily shot and fleeting glimpses of the confrontation, abduction and examination of the Hills by their alien captors. The presentation of their story is remarkably told in a straightforward, balanced and non-exploitive manner. In the last scene there is even room for doubt in the viewer as expressed by the Hills' doctor's attempt to explain that their experience may have been anxiety-induced and/or subconsciously suggested due to stresses related to their marriage.

Yet the element that makes "The UFO Incident" uncommonly excellent, particularly for a movie made for television, are the two tour-de-force performances by leads James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons. Their three-dimensional, full-bodied characterizations cover the full emotional spectrum from beginning to end. They exhibit utterly convincing turmoil, not only during and after their abduction, but in the several scenes displaying their personal doubts and fears about their interracial marriage and the potentially negative perceptions to their plight by friends, family and strangers. Therefore, it's really on an emotional level that "The UFO Incident" succeeds so well. Rather than concentrating merely on the facts of the abduction (a la "Fire In the Sky"), this film enhances the alleged incident by indelibly personalizing its victims.

Kudos should go to director Richard Colla, as well, for utilizing minutes-long takes during a few of Jones and Parsons' scenes together, allowing both of these top-drawer actors to build toward beautiful and natural emotional crescendos. Best watched without commercial interruption, "The UFO Incident" is easily one of the fifty best TV-movies ever made.

Adaptation of John G. Fuller's book (the uncredited "The Interrupted Journey") gets into the intense emotional reaction of a close encounter with aliens, and has the solid performances and direction needed to draw us in. Fact-based story of Barney and Betty Hill, an interracial, middle-class married couple in 1960s New Hampshire, who were thought to have been the victims of double amnesia after claiming they'd had contact with a flying saucer while driving from Niagara Falls into Montreal. Psychological portrait of two people, married just one year--both deeply disturbed by an unfathomable circumstance--has been given an intimate, respectful treatment (particularly for television) by director and executive producer Richard A. Colla. As the couple who first sought help from the US Air Force before undergoing hypnosis with a doctor, James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons deliver remarkably open, candid performances (they turn this into a first-rate acting piece). A small-scaled film rather than a sensational TV event, yet a good dramatization of the psychological aspect of an other-worldly encounter. **1/2 from ****

The UFO Incident was one of the hardest movies for me to see. I remember when it first aired, I had to be at a Boy Scout meeting, so I missed it (back in those pre-VCR days). The second chance I had to see it had the station broadcasting it go off the air for a half-hour, and then come back on with a completely fuzzed out picture, so again I couldn't watch the film. I procured a copy last month, and then I lost the bloody tape. I managed to finally get another and FINALLY got to watch the damn thing.

Well, it really was worth the wait. James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons give very believeable and very moving performances as a married couple beset by completely strange and frightening circumstances. Even if you don't believe in the alien abduction phenomenon that has become so widespread after the big-budget version of Whitley Streiber's Communion, you've got to admire the acting abilities of both stars in this movie. You can definitely feel the pain and confusion that Barney and Betty Hill went through in their performances (particularly Jones, who I think accurately encapsulates all of the pent-up frustrations that Barney Hill was reputed to have, though he did so in a decidedly non-stereotypical way - Barney wasn't your average "Angry Black Man" of the seventies).

I suppose because of Communion (and the recent Signs) one might chuckle a bit at the alien visitors in this movie, but one has to remember that this was a made-for-TV movie and I think the production values put it on a par with any of the contemporary science fiction or horror films of the time period. One also has to remember this movie was made before that famous cover of Communion was published, so the aliens don't quite look like the willowy Greys that most folks have come to associate with the phenomenon.

This is a film definitely worth searching out. Sci-Fi Channel apparently shows it now and again, so that's your best bet, outside of the internet trading circles (which is where I got my copy).

Never having heard about this 1975 movie titled "The UFO Incident" from writers Hesper Anderson and S. Lee Pogostin, I opted to sit down and watch it as I had the opportunity to do so here in 2022. Now, I can't say that I was harboring any particular expectations or hopes for the movie, given its age. But still, I opted to give it a fair chance.

Well, "The UFO Incident" wasn't exactly my cup of tea, as it was mostly all about Barney Hill (played by James Earl Jones) and Betty Hill (played by Estelle Parsons) sitting around in therapy and talking about an incident involving an encounter with a UFO. Not exactly stellar material here, and I found it to be a somewhat dull and uneventful storyline.

This movie from director Richard A. Colla was a swing and a miss in terms of entertaining me. And I don't feel that I have been missing out on anything spectacular here.

My rating of "The UFO Incident" lands on a three out of ten stars.

I saw this on TV when it came out- It was one of those stories that really affected me because somehow, I could feel the truth of it. This was probably the very first abduction story that I felt had any validity. Compared to other UFO stories I have read or seen movies of. I highly enjoyed "fire in the sky", but that movie was more Hollywood than actual. And, it has been partially remade in the recent movie "The Recall", which has a scene inside of the UFO craft which mirrors what was done for fire in the sky. there were other movies, "communion", but that story did not affect me as much as this one.

20 years after I watched that TV movie in 1975, I was in a halfway house. With nothing much to do, I rummaged through a library of old books and I came across something that was called "the interrupted journey". And when I touched that book- before I even opened it, I knew that this must be the book that told that original story. I had never heard of it before even though I had seen a film based upon it.

I think "the interrupted journey" is a much better name than "the UFO incident"

The film is your basic made-for-television fare, kind of the same quality as those NBC (was it NBC?) "movies of the week", or anything else that fits into the approximate One hour and 32 minutes allotted for a "two hour" television movie.

And even though it had been 20 years since I had seen this movie, I had remembered all of the details of the movie and I was very surprised that the book had been honored and that they kept to the basic story.

The book had documents and images so I was able to get a real face for the Hills. And there were things that Betty Hill had drawn and I was able to look at those.

I have not seen this movie since 1975, I hope that I am able to find it somewhere.

Similar to the loss of time the Hills encountered, this movie magically zaps over an hour and a half from your life, leaving very little in the way of recollection. The filmmakers spend the majority of their time focusing on the therapy sessions in order to tell the story from a first person perspective. Unfortunately, this creates a pacing problem that plagues the film far more than the terrible special effects and costumes do. The other issue is the need to make a seventies television suitable film from a horrific event. The result is a lack of clarity and a sense of missing information. It seems that all of the most interesting details and information from the encounter have been omitted in favor of giving the audience more banal exposition about the Hills and their relationship history, as well as the ways in which their friends reacted to their claims. Again, this would have been ok if we could have had a better understanding of what their claim was in the first place. Ultimately, the audience is left confused by not only what the Hills are claiming occurred and for what reason, but also about the purpose for the making of the film.

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.

Its often said the film was not released for home video, but it was and i have a genuine copy cat number,vha 1376. James Earl Jones gives a truly memorable preformance in acting the part of Barney Hill , Estelle Parsons is simply exellent as Betty. I believe the events happened , view this film and then say its not true , you will find that very hard after watching this splendid tv movie.

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.

A TV movie based on Betty and Barney Hill, who claim to have encountered aliens. The film mostly involves the couple consulting psychiatrist Barnard Hughes who gets the full story out of them via hypnosis. While James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons put in unsurprisingly good performances, the movie's really not very good. Their story is unbelievably silly and not helped by dime store alien costumes. The film kind of stays neutral about the veracity of their story, but I don't really think it deserves even that much credence.

This film is a classic. James Earl Jones` performance is powerful as we get to see the big man cry,yell,scream,and more! Estelle Parsons put on a great performance as well as the other fine actors.The film is very good and even though not much happens it is not boring at all because it is very interesting.I am aware this film is hard to find on tv or on video but If you ever a have a chance of seeing this film don`t miss it because you will not regret it!

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

James Earl Jones gives a memorable, highly sympathetic performance as Barney Hill, and Estelle Parsons as his wife Betty matches him, moment for moment.

This is a harrowing tale, based on a true story (one which heralds the modern era of alien abduction accounts). Barnard Hughes is entirely believable as the psychiatrist who tries to help the couple. The "special effects" are refreshingly not-so-special, the absolutely outrageous events depicted un-hysterically in flashbacks. I loved the entities' eyes: human-seeming, with pupils and whites but magnified, as if covered with big lenses--highlighting one distinction between the Hills' descriptions and all those more recent "grays" with their huge, oval, entirely black eyes. The treatment is intelligently grounded in the reality of the couple's seeking help for their anxieties and sleeplessness ( their initial focus) rather than the "sci-fi" elements of the story.

And not since Edna Mae Oliver bawled the name of her dead husband Barney in "Drums Along The Mohawk" (1939) has there been heard anywhere a more New Englandy pronunciation of that name than Ms. Parsons delivers here!!

Had this movie storyline been fiction it would be among the best SiFi entertainments ever. But it depicts a REAL event! There are always the nay-sayers who try to debunk anything out of the ordinary. Yet the evidence of the Hill's experience is so well documented and compelling that it stands on its own merits.

The casting for this TV docudrama was first-rate throughout, and glimpses of the aliens and their procedures as reenacted during the hypnotic regression sequences is as frightening and spellbinding as it was back in 1975 when the movie first broadcast.For anyone wishing to pursue the event, this is amplified by hearing the actual voices of the Hills under hypnosis as recorded by Dr.Simon.

And adding to the validity of The UFO Incident as shown is the overwhelmingly convincing testimony of countless others who have reported similar experiences. Mike Palmiter, Williams, IN.

As a young boy in northern NH, I saw this TV movie 48 years ago on a cold New Hampshire night, iThe Hills were part of the culture of "strange" that New England is famous far. Where the incident happen, I discovered about 15 years ago was near our secluded mountain cabin. The film for me as a kid was ground breaking and all so inspirational. Having read all the best parts of Fuller's book I was ready for a movie. Betty and Barney were heroes for so many reasons, telling their story on their own terms was first.. Now in my late 60's I have become a writer and my novels are centered around the interesting characters of New Hampshire. Betty: A Life Interrupted is nearly ready..

I first vievved this movie several years ago on a Cable television channel. I vvas so pleased vvith the acting abilities of James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons vvho play Betty and Barney Hill that I sought the movie to tape record it. I am still trying to catch it. The impression it made on me vvas a strong one. It vvas full of highly emotional drama. And it made me respect James Earl Jones all the more. Estelle Parson did a vvonderful job playing the vvife. Both characters vvere stretched and there vvas a lot of dialogue. Not too much action. But there really vvasn't need for action vvhen your glued to the screen vvaiting to hear vvhat the characters vvill say next of their tramatic experience. The dialogue and outpouring emotions vvas the action. This is a vvonderful movie. I'd really like to see it again.

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.

I knew all the players and they did a great job of portraying their perspective roles. Even if they had not, this story would still stand out as the most important UFO and Alien abduction event ever experienced on Earth.

I say that because with every other story of Alien abduction there is never a moment of concrete, undeniable proof; so the skeptics always rip the story's to pieces! However! This abduction was given proof positive 8 years after the event. That proof came in the discovery of 3 planets by scientists in 1969, unheard of until Betty drew them on a star map from memory (whilst under hypnosis) in 1963.

Anyone who still disbelieves in the existence of other species on some far away planets is, quite simply put, a foolish idiot! Being scared of the knowledge is no reason to deny the truth. The one thing that has ticked me off all my life is that I have never been lucky enough to be taken!