Events
Linda Napolitano ('Linda Cortile'): Brooklyn Bridge abduction (Manhattan, Nov 30, 1989)
Unproven What these labels mean →Budd Hopkins's showcase case (Witnessed, 1996). A Lower Manhattan woman said she was floated out of her 12th-floor window into a craft over the East River around 3 a.m. Hopkins claimed about two dozen witnesses, including two 'security agents' and a 'third man' later identified as UN Secretary-General Pérez de Cuéllar. None of the key witnesses was ever independently identified. Pérez de Cuéllar denied it. No one among the building complex's residents or night guards reported anything. Revived by Netflix's The Manhattan Alien Abduction (2024), which Napolitano sued.
Ties
| To | Role | Years | Verdict | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Betty and Barney Hill (1961) | hypnosis-recovered template | Concept | ||
| Whitley Strieber - Communion (1985) | Hopkins also sent Strieber to hypnosis | 1986 | Documented · occurred | |
| John Mack | same Hopkins circle | 1990s | Documented · occurred |
Tied from
| From | Role | Years | Verdict | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allagash (1976) | same era of MUFON/Hopkins-style regression | Concept |
Links
- TIME: the story behind the Netflix series
- Stefula, Butler, Hansen: A Critique of the Linda Napolitano case (1993)
- Magonia: Manhattan Transfer: the ethics of the case
- Today: Napolitano sues Netflix
What's documented
| Item | Record | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Napolitano reported it to Hopkins; hypnosis sessions followed | Hopkins's book and tapes | she reported it |
| Letters and a tape from 'Richard' and 'Dan' (security agents) and a 'woman on the bridge' | They reached Hopkins by mail or through Linda. Never met or identified by any independent investigator | witnesses unidentified |
| Pérez de Cuéllar was the 'third man' | He denied it (PBS statement) | denied |
| No reports from the complex's ~1,600 residents, night doormen, bridge workers, or the Downtown Post Office loading dock | Stefula/Butler/Hansen canvassing | no corroboration found |
| Hopkins accused the critics of being government/CIA agents | Documented in the critique; the critics were a former Army CID agent, a police officer and a parapsychologist | accusation |
Why it matters
- It is the clearest case of the 'invisible witnesses' problem: impressive corroboration that exists only in the investigator's book.