Fine TV film from 1975 stars James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons as real-life interracial couple Barney and Betty Hill, who claim they were abducted by aliens in 1961 after driving home from a vacation. Two years later, they undergo regression hypnosis to help them overcome their ordeal and get on with their lives.

Both actors are superb, really making them fully realized human beings rather than ciphers or victims. One of the first of its kind to take the subject matter seriously is also one of the best, certainly more grounded than say "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind" (1977), though of course less spectacular in comparison.

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.