Betty and Barney were returning home from an extended weekend vacation in Niagara Falls and Canada. They had planned to spend the night in Montreal, but as they were searching for a motel on the outskirts of the city, Barney decided to drive on to New Hampshire. At some point along the route they heard that a hurricane was coming up the coast so they felt it was important to arrive home before the hurricane hit. This meant that Barney would have to drive during the night. But they agreed that if he became tired they would stop at a motel.

He’d had a good night’s sleep the previous night and a pleasant day in Montreal. Because he felt refreshed and energetic he continued to drive on through New Hampshire’s Wilderness and White Mountain regions. In the Groveton/Lancaster area Betty spotted what, at first glance, appeared to be a satellite or a shooting star, only it shot upward. As she watched it, the perplexing light increased in size and seemed to slowly descend in her direction. Finally, she told Barney about her observation and requested that he stop the car for a closer look.

Just south of Twin Mountain, through binoculars, she observed its unconventional appearance as it passed in front of the moon flashing long points of multicolored light. When Barney viewed it through binoculars, it reminded him of a large aircraft coming in for a landing, only it was silent. Returning to their vehicle they traveled on through the 10 miles, or so, of Franconia Notch, a narrow cut through the mountains. Over the next several minutes, the object descended to a position just above the mountain tops; and sometimes it dropped down in front of the mountain peaks.

Barney halted the car momentarily from time to time to get a better look at the enigmatic craft, and once, pulled to the side of the road for an unencumbered observation. It was then that he was able to notice the stair-step flight pattern—the rotation—the blue-white lights—and the fact that it was completely silent, although it descended to approximately 1000 feet. Betty’s description was identical to Barney’s, allowing for individual differences in phraseology.

Then, only three miles south of the Franconia Notch, the object suddenly stopped spinning and shifted ahead of Betty and Barney. Barney stopped the car directly in the middle of the road and jumped out to look at the craft. The elliptical object was now hovering only 80-100 feet above the car and a red right parted from each side of it. Almost immediately, it left its position and in a gliding motion, it shifted to an adjacent field. Fascinated, Barney walked toward it and through his binoculars he observed 8-11 humanoid figures peering down at him.

Suddenly, with military precision, all but one moved toward what Barney thought was a control panel. Next, short bat-like wings began to slide out from each side of the craft and something dropped down its bottom. At that moment the figure in the window communicated a frightening message to Barney to stay there and just keep looking. He seemed to be losing the ability to carry out self initiated action and this loss of control frightened him immensely. But he managed to pull the binoculars down from his eyes, breaking the strap in the process, and flee toward his vehicle, where Betty awaited his return. As the object shifted overhead, the couple heard a series of code-like buzzing or electrical beeping sounds that caused the car to vibrate.

Betty craned her neck upward through the open passenger seat window in an attempt to locate the craft, but all she saw was blackness. The stars were blotted out and the bright sky had suddenly grown dark. Reasoning that she would see the lighted UFO if it were overhead, she informed Barney that it had disappeared. Relieved that they were no longer in danger, Barney drove south on U.S. Route 3.

Near Plymouth, NH, the couple saw a fiery red-orange ball that Betty reasoned was the setting moon. Then, near Ashland, they heard a second series of buzzing/beeping sounds. Betty turned to Barney and asked, “Now do you believe in flying saucers?” He replied, “Don’t be ridiculous.” Barney stopped the car, and then, maneuvered it erratically in a futile attempt to recreate the peculiar sound.

Betty and Barney were surprised to see that dawn was streaking the sky when they arrived home in Portsmouth, NH. Their watches had stopped, but they noted that their arrival time was later than anticipated, even allowing for slow driving and three observational stops.