WEBVTT 1 00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:25.039 Floated into a UFO by Charles Lear. In the nineteen seventies, New York 2 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:31.600 artist and UFO investigator Bud Hopkins began to specialize in abduction research after being confronted 3 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:36.359 by multiple reports. He wrote about his research in the nineteen eighty one book 4 00:00:36.600 --> 00:00:40.799 Missing Time, and it wasn't long after the book was published that people started 5 00:00:40.840 --> 00:00:44.920 to be featured in the press and on television with claims of their own abduction 6 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:49.880 experiences. In an interview for the PBS series Nova, Hopkins stated that his 7 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:54.799 best case was one that involved witnesses who claimed to have seen a woman accompanied 8 00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:59.840 by three humanoids flowed out of a twelfth story apartment in Manhattan an indoor waiting 9 00:01:00.039 --> 00:01:03.439 craft close to the Brooklyn Bridge. The woman who was reportedly seen was originally 10 00:01:03.519 --> 00:01:08.439 identified by Hopkins as Linda Courtille, now known to be Linda Napolitano, and 11 00:01:08.519 --> 00:01:14.280 the case has become known as the Linda Case or the Brooklyn Bridge abduction case. 12 00:01:14.680 --> 00:01:19.439 Hopkins described the Linda case in his nineteen ninety six book Witnessed. According 13 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:22.439 to him, Linda had written him a letter in the spring of nineteen eighty 14 00:01:22.519 --> 00:01:26.760 nine after reading his nineteen eighty seven book intruders. In the letter, she 15 00:01:26.840 --> 00:01:32.159 described seeing strange nighttime visitors while lying paralyzed in bed as a child. She 16 00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:36.120 also wrote that she was asked by a doctor about what looked like evidence of 17 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:40.560 surgery inside her nose as he was dealing with some build up cartilage had caused 18 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:44.359 a lump that had concerned her. She wrote that she had never had surgery 19 00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:48.439 in her nose, and that this was confirmed by her mother. Hopkins interviewed 20 00:01:48.519 --> 00:01:52.480 Linda in person, had a hypnosis session with her, and a typical gray 21 00:01:52.599 --> 00:01:57.640 alien abduction scenario unfolded, with the exception that she recalled One of the creatures 22 00:01:57.640 --> 00:02:00.560 talked to her as she began to yell. According to her, it said 23 00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:07.000 nabiegg and no calf repeatedly, and then put its hand over her mouth to 24 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:10.000 shut her up. Then, on November thirtieth, nineteen eighty nine, Linda 25 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:14.719 called Hopkins to tell him she had been abducted at around three a m. 26 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:19.000 That morning. A few days later, under hypnosis, she recalled floating out 27 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:22.879 of her apartment window and up into a craft in a blush white beam of 28 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:27.319 light. This would have remained just another typical abduction case had it not been 29 00:02:27.319 --> 00:02:30.680 for a letter Hopkins received in February in nineteen ninety one. The letter began 30 00:02:30.759 --> 00:02:36.479 with the writer describing himself and his partner as police officers who didn't know who 31 00:02:36.520 --> 00:02:39.280 to turn to until they found a book of Hopkins in a bookstore and got 32 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:44.120 his address by looking through the telephone book. He then wrote that in late 33 00:02:44.199 --> 00:02:47.319 November nineteen eighty nine, between three and three thirty am, he and his 34 00:02:47.400 --> 00:02:52.879 partner were in their patrol car under the FDR Drive on South Street in Catherine's 35 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:55.479 Slip, just north of the Brooklyn Bridge, when a reddish glow caught their 36 00:02:55.479 --> 00:03:00.879 attention. They looked up and saw a large oval hovering over an apartment building. 37 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:04.520 A bluish white beam came out of the bottom and the oval moved to 38 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:08.159 an apartment window below. They then saw a woman in a white nightgown looking 39 00:03:08.199 --> 00:03:12.599 like an angel, flowed out of the window and then up into the oval, 40 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:16.080 escorted by three humanoids, one above and two below. The oval then 41 00:03:16.120 --> 00:03:21.080 took off, plunged into the East River and never emerged. During the forty 42 00:03:21.080 --> 00:03:23.680 five minutes they remained in the area. The writer said that he and his 43 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:29.360 partner wished to stay anonymous for the time being, on account of our profession. 44 00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:31.919 The writer closed the letter by saying that he and his partner were hoping 45 00:03:31.960 --> 00:03:36.800 to find the woman and that they would contact Hopkins if they did. It 46 00:03:36.840 --> 00:03:42.080 was signed police officers Richard and Dan. Hopkins was excited by the prospect of 47 00:03:42.159 --> 00:03:46.520 having witnesses who could corroborate an abduction, because that would be a first and 48 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:51.039 would make this case extremely significant. He was also concerned that Lynda might be 49 00:03:51.080 --> 00:03:53.800 alarmed by the sudden appearance of Richard and Dan if they happened to find her, 50 00:03:54.039 --> 00:03:57.639 so he called her to let her know that she might be visited. 51 00:03:57.919 --> 00:04:00.520 He asked her not to tell them about her record collections of that night in 52 00:04:00.599 --> 00:04:04.000 order not to taint their version of events, and to ask them for an 53 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:09.240 audio cassette recording of their account. Richard and Dan did visit Linda, and 54 00:04:09.319 --> 00:04:13.199 it is here that things start getting messy. After the visit, Linda called 55 00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:17.000 Hopkins, and with her permission, he recorded the conversation according to the shortened 56 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:21.920 transcript in his book. After Richard and Dan introduced themselves and showed identification, 57 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:27.079 Dan asked Linda how she managed to float out her window, as if she 58 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:30.920 had had some control during the event. Linda described both men as being emotionally 59 00:04:30.920 --> 00:04:34.600 affected by what they had witnessed and meeting her to the point that they had 60 00:04:34.600 --> 00:04:39.800 tears in their eyes, but she felt as if Dan somehow believed that she 61 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:44.480 was responsible for her own abduction. She reported that Richard had promised to send 62 00:04:44.519 --> 00:04:48.040 Hopkins an audio cassette. Hopkins received the tape, and on it, Richard 63 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:53.279 repeated the description of what they witnessed, with a more detailed description of the 64 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:58.600 humanoids, which he now said he'd observed through binoculars. His description matched those 65 00:04:58.639 --> 00:05:01.360 of gray aliens, except that he thought their eyes might have been white. 66 00:05:01.639 --> 00:05:05.279 Hopkins then got a letter from Dan saying that he'd gone on a long fishing 67 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:10.199 trip to think things out and relaxed. He wrote that both he and Richard 68 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:14.079 were dealing with feelings of guilt for not intervening, and that Richard dealt with 69 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:17.839 his feelings by secretly watching Linda. Hopkins did what he could to find Richard 70 00:05:17.879 --> 00:05:21.120 and Dan and speak to them in person, but was unable to do so. 71 00:05:21.480 --> 00:05:26.720 He then began to suspect that they were not police officers. Richard wrote 72 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:30.879 another letter where he described that there had been a third witness. According to 73 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:33.800 him, this person was an important public official, and he and his partner 74 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:38.319 were assigned to drive him to a meeting and and afterwards take him to a 75 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:42.600 heliport where they were to board a helicopter out of Manhattan. They ended up 76 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:46.959 stopped under the FDR when the car stalled, and then all three witnessed the 77 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:51.240 abduction. The public official was later speculated to be Avier Perez de Quilar, 78 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:57.199 who was then Secretary General of the United Nations. Linda then called Hopkins and 79 00:05:57.279 --> 00:06:00.800 told him that Richard and Dan had forced her into a car and interrogated her, 80 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:04.519 asking if she worked for a government agency. Dan then wrote Hopkins saying 81 00:06:04.519 --> 00:06:08.920 that he, Richard in the third witness, had all been abducted along with 82 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:13.519 Linda. Then Linda told Hopkins that Dan had kidnapped her a second time and 83 00:06:13.639 --> 00:06:15.959 tried to rape her, and that Richard had shown up the savor. The 84 00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:20.920 big bombshell revelation was Richard writing to Hopkins telling him that he and Linda had 85 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:26.839 been abducted since childhood, formed a relationship that only existed on the alien craft, 86 00:06:27.079 --> 00:06:30.360 had become lovers, Linda was married, and that he was the father 87 00:06:30.439 --> 00:06:34.160 of her youngest child. Linda confirmed all but her child's paternity under hypnosis. 88 00:06:34.680 --> 00:06:39.319 As this case had the potential to be used as a strong argument for the 89 00:06:39.399 --> 00:06:44.160 validity of alien abduction reports, other researchers looked into it. One of these 90 00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:48.000 was Greg Sandow, who posted his thoughts about the case online. He points 91 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:53.000 out that the Quellard denied being there and that he would have been attended by 92 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:57.360 the UN Security Force in New York and not by agents of the United States. 93 00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:01.199 The biggest issue Sandow brings up is that we only have Linda's and Hopkins's 94 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:06.040 word that Dan and Richard exist, as they have never come forward, Hopkins 95 00:07:06.040 --> 00:07:10.920 said. Another witness, whom he called Janet Kimball, approached him, but 96 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:15.920 she too refused to come out publicly. The case was investigated by Joseph J. 97 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:18.680 Stefila, Richard D. Butler, and George P. Hansen, and 98 00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:23.720 they discussed their findings in a critique. According to them, they went to 99 00:07:23.720 --> 00:07:28.079 the apartment building and despite a twenty four hour security guard out front, were 100 00:07:28.120 --> 00:07:31.680 told by the supervisor that there had been no UFO reports. They also found 101 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:35.759 that the heliport in the area only operated from seven a m. To seven 102 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:41.839 pm. They found problems with Hopkins investigation, including the fact that he had 103 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:46.920 never interviewed Dan or Richard face to face. The most damning evidence comes from 104 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:50.079 Hopkins's ex wife, Carol Rainey, who writes in an article in Peratopia, 105 00:07:50.199 --> 00:07:55.800 Volume one, Issue one, that Linda lied to Hopkins repeatedly. She gives 106 00:07:55.800 --> 00:07:59.639 one example in which Lynda had called, seeing she and her cousin Connie at 107 00:07:59.720 --> 00:08:03.519 escaped yet another kidnapping attempt by Richard and Dan. She promised to have her 108 00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:07.920 cousin call to confirm the account. The phone rang later, Hopkins answered it, 109 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:13.120 and Rainey describes that a peculiar look came over his face. He hung 110 00:08:13.240 --> 00:08:16.720 up and told Rainey that it had been Linda pretending to be her cousin.