A Genealogy of the Extraterrestrial in American Culture

The shift from contact to abduction marks among other things the shift from a narrative that put
forward a clear utopian vision—marked by long held political ideals and a recognizably human
future--to a narrative that offers neither a clear utopian outcome nor a recognizable future self.
The chapter begins with a discussion of the Hill case then moves on to examine the role of
hypnosis in the emergent abduction narrative that was established by this case. Lastly I examine
the way that abduction presents a utopian scenario that, unlike earlier moments of the displaced
utopian imaginary that imagined a future utopia predicated upon the maintenance of both the
individual personality and the broader sense of the human, imagines a post-human future. In
short, I argue that abduction, as an iteration of the displaced utopian imaginary, offers a
postmodern vision of utopia.
BETTY AND BARNEY HILL
The case of Betty and Barney Hill is highly illustrative, if not paradigmatic, of the abductee
narrative, both in terms of the narrative of their encounter and the ongoing reverberations of that
encounter. It thus constitutes a reasonable starting point for our discussion. The Hills were a
Boston area interracial couple actively involved in the civil rights movement. Barney served
both on the New Hampshire Civil Rights Commission and the Rockingham Community Action
Program. Given the tropes of hybridization and the unassimilable Other that would emerge out
of tales of abduction, the Hills status as mixed race couple (Barney was African American and
Betty Caucasian) is notable. Barney’s initial therapist following his experience, Dr. Duncan
Stephens, suggested that the emotional difficulties Barney was experiencing were largely the
result of the stresses of maintaining a mixed marriage in a racist culture. Jodi Dean points out
that John G. Fuller’s account of the Hill case tends to efface Barney’ struggle as an
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