By nameBy date
 

953 State Street
Portsmouth, N.H.
March 9, 1968

Dear Dr. Velikovsky,

Since 1950 I thought that some day I would write to you, for at that time I discovered your “Worlds in Collision.” At that first reading, my emotional experience was one of shock, but I accepted your theories quickly, for they answered many of my own questions: If man has been in existence for so many ages, where has he been and what has he been doing? These theories helped me to solve this riddle.

Also it seemed to me that mankind has a fear of the world coming to an end. My father told me that when he was a young boy he saw Halley’s comet, but the thing that surprised him was the reaction of the people in the small country town in which he lived. Some people went up the highest hill in the area and prayed to be saved. Others went to bed and stayed there waiting for “the end.” Many crowded into churches. My grandfather, who was a school teacher, went among the people and told them that their fears were only superstitions.

Today we find many people who are afraid of watching the skies. They tell us that they never look up; several months ago some atmospheric tests were done which created large moon-size “lights” in the sky. Although many people watched them, others refused to look and hurried to their homes.

Your “Worlds in Collision” had the most profound effect on me of any book I have ever read. Almost daily something will occur in my life that reminds me of some part of this. Also in later years, it has been a source of strength to me, in that you “dared” to differ with the popular thinking of the times. Since my husband and I had our experience in 1961—we are the subjects of the book, “The Interrupted Journey,” published by Dell—I have questioned every scientist we have met about your book. It makes my task easy now that your paperback is on the market. Five years ago I had difficulty finding anyone who was acquainted with this, but now everyone is reading this. So I have been having fun with many of the scientific community, in the hopes that I might stimulate some of their thinking. Several have met you, or have attended your lectures. And some have asked me why I defend your thinking, when they know that you do not believe in UFOs, which actually has no bearing on your theories.

I do not know if you are acquainted with our book or not; or your opinions about this. And it is not important really. You might be interested in knowing that on our trip, we visited an area called the Devonian Sea area and picked up some fossils. When we had our experience, they were on the front seat of the car, and we wonder if any interest was shown in them.

Another purpose of writing is to acquaint you with the works of Charles Hapgood, if he is not known to you now. He teaches at Keene Teachers College in N.H., but he is known for his research of maps. He is the author of “Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings,” published by Chilton Books. His theory is that an advanced civilization existed thousands of years ago that was almost as advanced as ours today—as evidenced by their superior methods of mapmaking and that they mapped all the continents including the Antarctic when it was still free of ice; and that this advanced civilization was suddenly destroyed. This is another book I recommend to our scientists.

Recently we were filmed by British Broadcasting for a documentary. At that time I introduced the producer to your books and also Charles Hapgood’s. He seemed very interested, but of course, we can not predict their decision, but it is my personal opinion that it would be a tremendous documentary.

Today I completed reading “Earth in Upheaval” and now I am seeking “Ages in Chaos,” but I assume this is not in paperback yet. We receive tons of letters from students requesting reading suggestions about UFOs, so I always include your books on the basis that one must understand the past in order to understand the future. Undoubtedly classrooms are being upset all over the country, by these two controversies.

In conclusion, I thank you for broadening my thinking and making new ideas more acceptable.

  Sincerely,
  Betty Hill

By nameBy date