In 1965, Betty and Barney Hill, a Portsmouth couple, were made famous by the publication of John Fuller’s book The Interrupted Journey. It reported on their belief that they had been abducted by creatures from a flying saucer in September 1961. They were the first Americans with such a story, and it became the template for hundreds of abduction stories that followed. This virtual presentation will ground their story in the culture of 1960s America, showing how the different ways people interpreted it reflected different cultural trends—conspiracy theory, belief in the supernatural, distrust of government—that are still with us today.

About the Presenter
Matthew Bowman is Associate Professor of Religion and History at Claremont Graduate University, and was appointed the Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies, with a joint appointment in history and religion, in 2019. He is a specialist in American religious history, with particular interests in Mormonism, new religious movements, and the development of the concept of “religion” in the United States. He teaches courses on North American religions and Mormonism in the department of religion, and on the history of the United States in the department of history.

Prior to his arrival at CGU, Bowman held positions at Hampden-Sydney College and Henderson State University. He received his PhD from Georgetown University in 2011, and has regularly appeared in the national media to comment on Mormonism and American religion. He has written for the Washington Post, Slate, The New Republic, and the Huffington Post, and has appeared on MSNBC and NPR.