The Manhattan Alien Abduction

The Manhattan Alien Abduction
Genre	Docuseries
Directed by	Vivienne Perry Daniel Vernon
No. of episodes	3
Original release
Network	Netflix
Release	October 30, 2024 (2024-10-30)

The Manhattan Alien Abduction is a three-episode Netflix documentary miniseries about an alien abduction case from 1989. It was released in the United States on October 30, 2024. The three-part series describes Linda Napolitano's claim to have been repeatedly beamed into a spaceship from her bedroom and includes commentary from her supporters as well as her detractors. This story generated new media attention in 2024 because Napolitano and some supporters sued Netflix for defamation.

Synopsis

Linda Napolitano alleges that on November 30, 1989, aliens abducted her from her Manhattan apartment. She claimed that aliens extracted her from her 12th-floor window "on a blue beam of light, lifting her onto a reddish-orange spacecraft that quickly sped off toward the Brooklyn Bridge." More than twenty unidentified witnesses and two bodyguards of an unnamed "world leader" were alleged to have witnessed the event. In 2024, Napolitano sued Netflix for defamation and misrepresentation about how the material would be presented. Her suit is joined by the estate of the author of a book about her alleged experiences.

The series covers Budd Hopkins' promotion of her case with a book supporting her claim that gave her story considerable notoriety and several media appearances because the author claimed to have identified and interviewed over twenty witnesses. They included an unidentified foreign dignitary and his two bodyguards. The pseudonym-named bodyguards say they saw her floating out of her 12th-floor apartment window to a spacecraft presented in the series as a recreation. She further claims that "Dan" kidnapped her, claimed he loved her, and made her show him her toes to confirm that she was not an alien.

This website has an article and some history about the original claimed event, including the official trailer for the series.

Reception

In the three-part series, the story is told chronologically from the points of view of those close to Napolitano. This includes a complex of people who support her claim, which she has always maintained is accurate, including an interview with her son and representatives for the estate of Budd Hopkins, the author of the book about her titled Witness: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge Abduction. There are also reports from individuals who initially believed the story but are now skeptical. Napolitano claims that she had a previous experience 13 years earlier when she woke up with a nosebleed. She claims a group of small gray beings placed her on a table in the spaceship and put a strange metallic device into her nose while telling her to be quiet in some peculiar, telepathic language. Napolitano says that she first thought it had all been a dream when she woke up in bed. But when she noticed a lump in her nose, she went to a doctor, who said that while there was nothing in her nose now, there was a build-up of cartilage that suggested there had been something foreign in it.

A Netflix promo says, "This docuseries explores whether it was an elaborate hoax or proof of alien life." Initially, filmmaker Carol Rainey believed Napolitano's story, but she later thought that her ex-husband Hopkins had lost his objectivity. She became a major critic. The Decider summarized their impressions in this way, "Despite all the archival footage and dark-toned reenactments that set the scene for The Manhattan Alien Abduction, the docuseries is essentially two now-senior citizens litigating a decades-old beef via the camera they’re talking into and the producer that’s asking them questions." They also complain that the reenactments in the series are "a little over the top."

The October 2024 lawsuit, filed by Napolitano and the estate of Budd Hopkins, seeks damages for six claims, including fraud, defamation, and breach of good faith. Her biggest detractor was filmmaker Carol Rainey, Hopkins's ex-wife. Rainey recalled that she initially believed Napolitano’s story, and they became friends. But over time, Rainey began to question whether Napolitano was telling the truth. Part of Napolitano’s lawsuit concerns the use of footage of interviews with Rainey in the documentary, which Napolitano claims Netflix told her would not be extensively used. Napolitano argues that Netflix portrayed her as a "fabulist" and that she was "smeared as a liar by a late ufologist's scorned ex-wife."