[bmorr]

for the hell of it, i checked out wikipedia for betas origin. heres the first part:

Spy organization S.H.I.E.L.D. detected an alien fleet passing through Earth's solar system, with Director Nick Fury asking Thor to investigate. When Thor finds the advance ship, it scans Thor and perceives him to be a threat. Unable to stop Thor, the sentient ship - called Skuttlebutt - revives Beta Ray Bill, who is in suspended animation. Bill battles Thor to standstill, until the ship reaches Earth's orbit, where one of the mystical enchantments of Thor's hammer Mjolnir comes into effect, being that Thor will revert back to his mortal persona of Donald Blake if separated from the hammer for more than sixty seconds. Blake is knocked unconscious by Bill, who examines Blake's cane (Mjolnir's "shell" when Thor is in Blake's form) and on striking the cane receives Thor's power and costume.