Budd Hopkins, an author who died in 2011, was one of Napolitano’s biggest supporters as illustrated in the Netflix documentary. Hopkins aimed to prove the woman’s story in his 1997 book Witnessed: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge Abduction, per Time.

Who was Carol Rainey?

However, The Manhattan Alien Abduction also highlights Hopkins ‘ late wife and filmmaker Carol Rainey, who documented the author’s investigation and challenged the evidence he presented. Before she died in 2023, Rainey spoke out against Napolitano’s story, saying it was an elaborate hoax.

“Budd cherry-picked compelling details, but ignored anything that presented difficult questions,” Rainey said as she refuted her ex-husband’s evidence, per Time.

The Manhattan Alien Abduction features archived interviews with Rainey and Napolitano, who is now 77 years old. Additionally, the three-part documentary features unseen footage filmed by Rainey, as well as reenactments to illustrate the abduction Napolitano talked about in her story.

Napolitano first contacted Hopkins in April 1989 when the author had a support group for abductees. At that time, Napolitano sent Hopkins a letter to reveal that she experienced an extraterrestrial encounter 13 years earlier. Hopkins then invited her to his support group.

Hopkins supported Napolitano’s claim when she said she found a strange bump on her nose, which allegedly turned out to be a small foreign object after it was x-rayed. The author said aliens must have inserted an implant into her nostril. The object, however, allegedly disappeared when a specialist later attempted to get rid of it.

In November 1989, Napolitano said aliens abducted her from her apartment. According to Napolitano, 23 people came forward as witnesses, saying they saw her floating through the sky. Although the witnesses’ identities have never been verified, Napolitano still stands by her story.

“If I was hallucinating, then the witnesses saw my hallucination. That sounds crazier than the whole abduction phenomenon,” Napolitano told Vanity Fair in a 2013 interview.

Why Linda Napolitano is suing Netflix

Napolitano, who is now speaking out against Netflix for how she’s portrayed in the documentary, has filed a lawsuit against the company. Filing her complaint on Monday in the New York State Supreme Court, Napolitano said the documentary presents her in an unflattering light and portrays Rainey as a prominent expert skeptic on the subject. Napolitano described Rainey as an “embittered, alcoholic ex-wife hell bent on revenge against her husband.” Despite Napolitano’s effort to block the documentary, the three-part series is still streaming on Netflix.