The Interrupted Journey
The Interrupted Journey tells the story of Betty and Barney Hill, who underwent hypnosis and discovered they had been abducted by space aliens. The story was more important for its racial and cultural implications than as a narrative of an abduction.
As Aura Raines reminds us, Clarians do not abduct. Although some assert that the government allows various aliens to have an abduction quota, it is forbidden under the Treaty of Coachella.
Even of it were allowed, Rusty, Aura’s ship and science officer, would complain about having to carry extra passengers. It likes to remind Aura they are not a taxi service and dealing with geocachers is hard enough without adding other factors short of a true emergency
Aura came here to look at lights of a nearby observation tower that the Hiills likely misinterpreted. She points out that the story collapses under the most basic Clarian operational standards.
The ‘Star Map’: Betty claimed she was shown a map pointing back to Zeta Reticuli. No Clariani pilot, or even a Raptor trainee, navigates with a static 2D star projections or gives guided astronomy lessons to people pulled off the highway.
The Hypnosis Factor: Clarians don’t use hypnosis to discover truth or recover a memory. When high-orbit craft are in the area, you either remember a bright flash and a strange hum, or you don’t notice anything because they are busy monitoring geological survey markers or checking on a geocache.
Flight Protocols: Stopping a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air in the middle of the White Mountains just to examine a couple of tired drivers? That’s not interstellar research; that’s just absurdly inefficient light-show dramatics.
Aura sympathizes with Betty. She ended up seeing a space person around every corner. But Aura thought it best not to meet her.
