Elliot Budd Hopkins was born in 1931.
He was raised in Wheeling, West Virginia.
He lived with his parents, Elliot B. Hopkins and Eleanor A. Hopkins, brother, Stuart, and sister, Eleanor.
At age two, Hopkins contracted polio.
During the long recovery process, Hopkins developed an interest in drawing  and watercolors, which eventually led him to Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in art history in 1953.
It was here, Hopkins was exposed to art with "a capital A", and attended a lecture by Robert Motherwell that first introduced him to the "automatic, gestural approach that Motherwell espoused."

From Oberlin, Hopkins moved to New York City, where he met Franz Kline, Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning and other abstract expressionists.
For a time, Hopkins studied art history at Columbia University and worked a low-level job selling tickets at the Museum of Modern Art.
His experimentation with collage techniques and style as an abstract expressionist, won him national acclaim.
Hopkins' first solo show was held in New York City in 1956, the same year he met and married his first wife of thirteen years, Joan Rich.

In 1976, Hopkins was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for painting.
He also received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
His articles on art appeared in magazines and journals, and he lectured at many art schools, including Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill.
In 1993 he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member and became a full Academician in 1994.

After the publication of Missing Time in 1981, his UFO research began to take precedence over his art.
As a self-described humanist, Hopkins saw his work with alleged alien abduction victims as a way to bring attention to an otherwise marginalized part of society.
His follow-up book Intruders: The Incredible Visitations at Copley Woods, published in 1987, helped establish Hopkins as a prominent leader in the UFO movement.

By 1973, Hopkins was married to art critic April Kingsley, with whom he had a daughter, Grace Hopkins Their marriage ended in divorce in 1991.

In 1989, Hopkins organized the Intruders Foundation in Manhattan to provide support for alleged victims of alien abduction, conduct research and investigations, and promote public awareness of the phenomenon.
The organization became inactive after his death in 2011.

The 1992 made-for-television film Intruders featured fictionalized characters based on the works of Hopkins and psychiatrist John E. Mack, and, like Hopkins' book of the same name, portrayed abduction scenes.

In 1994, Hopkins met writer, filmmaker Carol Rainey, who became his third wife in 1996.
They shared a mutual fascination with alien abduction stories and, according to Rainey, possibility that people on Earth may have been "seeded here by highly advanced beings or a Big Being from 'out there'."
The two co-wrote a book Sight Unseen, Science, UFO Invisibility and Transgenic Beings, which was published in 2003.
They were married for 10 years.

Also in 1996, Hopkins' book Witnessed: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge UFO Abductions was published.
The book portrayed an abduction case that was alleged to have occurred in late 1989 near the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City.

On August 21, 2011, Hopkins died from complications of cancer.
At the time of his death, he was in a relationship with journalist Leslie Kean.
Elliot Budd Hopkins was born in 1931. He was raised in Wheeling, West Virginia. He lived with his parents, Elliot B. Hopkins and Eleanor A. Hopkins, brother, Stuart, and sister, Eleanor. At age two, Hopkins contracted polio. During the long recovery process, Hopkins developed an interest in drawing  and watercolors, which eventually led him to Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in art history in 1953. It was here, Hopkins was exposed to art with "a capital A", and attended a lecture by Robert Motherwell that first introduced him to the "automatic, gestural approach that Motherwell espoused."
From Oberlin, Hopkins moved to New York City, where he met Franz Kline, Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning and other abstract expressionists. For a time, Hopkins studied art history at Columbia University and worked a low-level job selling tickets at the Museum of Modern Art. His experimentation with collage techniques and style as an abstract expressionist, won him national acclaim. Hopkins' first solo show was held in New York City in 1956, the same year he met and married his first wife of thirteen years, Joan Rich.
In 1976, Hopkins was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for painting. He also received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. His articles on art appeared in magazines and journals, and he lectured at many art schools, including Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill. In 1993 he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member and became a full Academician in 1994.
After the publication of Missing Time in 1981, his UFO research began to take precedence over his art. As a self-described humanist, Hopkins saw his work with alleged alien abduction victims as a way to bring attention to an otherwise marginalized part of society. His follow-up book Intruders: The Incredible Visitations at Copley Woods, published in 1987, helped establish Hopkins as a prominent leader in the UFO movement.
By 1973, Hopkins was married to art critic April Kingsley, with whom he had a daughter, Grace Hopkins Their marriage ended in divorce in 1991.
In 1989, Hopkins organized the Intruders Foundation in Manhattan to provide support for alleged victims of alien abduction, conduct research and investigations, and promote public awareness of the phenomenon. The organization became inactive after his death in 2011.
The 1992 made-for-television film Intruders featured fictionalized characters based on the works of Hopkins and psychiatrist John E. Mack, and, like Hopkins' book of the same name, portrayed abduction scenes.
In 1994, Hopkins met writer, filmmaker Carol Rainey, who became his third wife in 1996. They shared a mutual fascination with alien abduction stories and, according to Rainey, possibility that people on Earth may have been "seeded here by highly advanced beings or a Big Being from 'out there'." The two co-wrote a book Sight Unseen, Science, UFO Invisibility and Transgenic Beings, which was published in 2003. They were married for 10 years.
Also in 1996, Hopkins' book Witnessed: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge UFO Abductions was published. The book portrayed an abduction case that was alleged to have occurred in late 1989 near the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City.
On August 21, 2011, Hopkins died from complications of cancer. At the time of his death, he was in a relationship with journalist Leslie Kean.
Budd Hopkins