Media1980

Carl Sagan's Cosmos takes a skeptical look at UFOs and the Hill abduction

When: 14 Dec 1980
Sources: 2 public sources

Carl Sagan in 1980, the year his PBS series Cosmos aired NASA/JPL, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Episode 12 of Carl Sagan's PBS series Cosmos, 'Encyclopaedia Galactica', opened with a dramatized retelling of Betty and Barney Hill's 1961 abduction claim, which Sagan then picked apart, before turning to the scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

Sources

OtherCosmos with Cosmos Episode 12: Encyclopedia Galactica (Casey Dreier) (opens in a new tab)The Planetary Society / 2014-02-05
OtherCosmos 1x12: Encyclopedia Galactica (opens in a new tab)TVmaze

How sources are chosen and tiered

How the story came out

This reports on Betty and Barney Hill encounter (19 Sep 1961).

See it on the timeline: happened vs became public

Where it fits

Earlier in MediaArthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World begins on ITVSep 1980 Later in MediaRobert Sheaffer publishes 'The UFO Verdict'1981

See it on the timeline More in Media