Hangar 18 (1980) Movie Script
[ Music ]
Ten minutes to launch.
All right, guys, listen up for a minute.
We've got an important call coming through for you.
Roger, flight.
Good evening NASA. This is the president.
I know youre busy,
but Mrs Tyler and I wanted to take a
moment to wish you the best of luck
in launching the first
satellite from our space shuttle.
This is a real feather in the
cap of Americas space program.
Also, I want to pass along a
special hello from my son Bobby to
NASA Astronaut Steven Bancroft and Lew Price.
And to Air Force Colonel John Gates.
All of us in the White House wish you well.
Listen, congress has been
after me to hold on the budget,
so I better keep this short.
After all it is, long distance,
so good night and Godspeed.
All right, thank you, Mr. President.
Let's get back to work. Now
we've got a satellite to launch.
Seven minutes to launch.
I'm getting a red light from the satellite, Colonel.
Roger, looks like a comm module.
I will not have it looked.
Revise and confirm launch status.
You're counting to launch.
You want me to hold the countdown, General?
Satellite's got to be launched on time.
Six minutes to launch.
I wonder what that satellite's going to do.
Probably flush all the toilets in Moscow.
[ Blows ]
What was that?
It's coming from the shuttle.
What's going on up there?
I think the Colonel's looking for a parachute.
Airlock pressure is equalized
and the light is green.
I'm closing the airlock flight.
Stepping into the cargo bay.
Five minutes to launch.
Stand by for satellite launch positioning.
We're proceeding with the countdown,
Steve. Man the launch arm controls.
Here goes.
I'm moving to the satellite now, flight.
Colonel, check all LX switches.
Launch mode B and C.
Main D1 and launch program recalled.
Roger, Capcom.
I've seen the problem.
Four minutes.
What is it, Colonel?
Alex is affirmative.
Main D1 has tripped.
We've got a loose module here.
Can you reset it, Colonel?
Roger, Capcom. She's locked in.
I'm getting an affirmative reading now.
I'm going to stay in the cargo bay, Steve.
In case this thing goes haywire again.
Good idea, Colonel.
The system is verified.
Proceed with launch countdown.
What's that?
What?
Something going like a bat out of hell.
There it is again.
What is it, a meteor?
Not unless a meteor can make a U-turn.
Colonel Gates will maintain EVA position...
Three minutes to launch.
Okay, Steve, go ahead and connect
the extension arm to the satellite.
How does it look to you, Colonel?
Smooth so far, Steve. I'll keep you posted.
Roger.
Fly.
Roger, orbiter.
We're picking up something
pretty wild on radar. Do you read it?
Bob?
We'll see it right there.
Yeah, it is.
Captain, call NORAD.
Two minutes to launch.
Are you sure this is working
right? Let's check it on the B mode.
No, no. We're getting it there, too.
I'll keep checking it.
I'm ready to lock in the remote arm.
Looks good from here, Steve. Go ahead.
Connection is verified. Take it away.
Roger, Cap-Cop. Here we go.
How's it looking, Colonel?
She's lifting out nicely. On her way up.
One minute to launch.
She's at the top, Steve. Looking good.
Satellite is in position.
Proceed with launch sequence and countdown.
Roger, Cap-Cop. I'm returning to flight controls.
T-minus 30 seconds.
Steve.
What?
According to the radar, that thing is right over us.
There it is.
What case do you see?
Man.
NORAD has it, too.
They're trying to get a fix on the speed.
Six, five, four, three, two, one.
Ignition.
What happened, Orbiter?
Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
Steve. Steve, Lou.
What happened?
Come in. Come in.
Come in, Orbiter.
We'll check it again. I don't know.
Steve, Lou.
Come in. Come in.
Come in, Orbiter.
Roger.
What happened?
Whatever that thing was, the
satellite hit it and it exploded.
Steve.
My lord.
Why is it, Steve?
It's Gates.
Gates?
We lost him.
He's dead.
What happened? How?
I guess some debris from
that satellite must have hit him.
His helmet was torn off.
Come on, people. We still have
two men to bring home safely.
Shallow we have 20 seconds to loss of signals.
We will make reentry over the Indian Ocean Station.
Do you copy?
We copy.
The speed has been constant.
It has to be a control craft.
It's in U.S. airspace and coming down.
We better alert air command.
This is a scramble. Air search alpha and bravo.
This is a scrap. This is a scrap.
Air search alpha and bravo. This is a scrap.
Air search units.
There is an object coming
down in sector 12 trajectory.
One night on either. Roger command.
Lopez airport.
Rilow is air light.
South to the center of the weather.
Then east, Roger.
Alpha, and one sector 12 west and 10 west.
All reports will be directed to California.
Roger. We got you.
Roger.
Wait a minute.
Look, there's something over there.
What the hell is that?
Give me a passenger to General Morrison.
This is General Morrison. What have you got?
I don't know, General.
It's the weirdest damn thing.
Well, what do you see?
Lights. In a circular pattern.
Take us lower.
You're kidding.
You're not kidding.
Well, what's it look like?
Just lights. No markings.
No visible sign of life. Not outside.
General, what should we do?
General?
General?
You're in bay. No other close, opener.
Ready for a reentry sequence.
T-minus 50 seconds to reentry fire.
Light clear rotating shaft to reentry position.
We're in steady gyro.
Main V and C are affirmative.
All our CXLX switches are on automatic.
Roger, orbiter.
Harry, I want to talk to you.
Mm-hmm.
Right now, Harry.
Take over here, will you film?
Sure.
Steve, Lou, still cameraing. I'm standing in for Harry.
What's your status, orbiter?
The HCL is affirmative.
HCL checklist has been confirmed.
All systems are going for reentry.
T-minus 10 to reentry fire.
I'm arming the retro agent now.
Arming circuit now.
Arming circuit is affirmative.
Arming circuit is affirmative.
Have you called Washington?
I've got a calling with the White House.
Gordon Gane, the president's chief of staff.
This information should
go directly to the president.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
What do you want with me?
I want you to go there, Harry.
Set up a team. Check it out.
Top to bottom. Inside and out.
Flight, we are setting up for reentry attitude.
Roger.
100,000 feet in 28 degrees.
Roger, flight.
Looking fine. Stand by for reentry.
Roger, Phil.
[indistinct chatter]
[indistinct chatter] Did you
get any confirmation on that?
70,000 feet, 6 degrees.
Observation planes are standing by.
Roger.
Hello, General.
I hate to bother you at this hour.
What can I do for you?
I have some information that should
go to the president immediately.
What is it?
Well, we believe we have an
alien spacecraft in our possession.
I don't want to talk about this
any further on the telephone.
Meet me at the White House when you get to Washington.
Yes, sir.
[indistinct chatter]
Orbiter, we have you on our video.
How do we look?
You're looking real good.
Stand by for gear down.
Decent rate stabilizing.
Roger, CAPCOM. That's affirmative.
Ready for gear.
Gear down.
This is chase one. I have visual confirmation.
The gear is down.
Roger. Speed Brexit.
You are on the glide.
Roger. Real steady.
100 knots.
190 knots.
And they're down.
[engine revving]
Hey, I'm sorry about what happened up there.
Blind partner? Right.
Look, Bill, we want to talk to Colonel Gates' family.
Oh, no, you haven't got time.
The Air Force will take care of it.
Who cares about the Air Force? Come on.
Can you take it up to Harry when you get to Houston?
He's got a plane to catch. All right.
Hold it. Stop the car.
It's right here. It's right over that rise.
Well, Sam?
It was here.
It was right here.
Sure, sir.
It was.
I saw it. Steve saw it. Gates saw it.
I know who. I know what. And I saw it.
Then why don't we look at the telemetry tapes?
Because we already know what's on it.
It's not necessary. It's...
It's all going to come out in the report.
Now, that's all you have to know for now.
Everything's going to be all right.
Harry, just trust me, okay?
Okay.
That's better.
So, what you're saying to me, General, is
that we have a flying saucer in our possession?
Yes, sir.
Now, it's too fantastic even to consider.
Yes, but it's there.
The investigation team.
What is it? Mostly NASA people?
Yes.
They know all about the satellite.
Everything that happened up there.
There's no way to keep them out of it.
Besides, it's their field. I thought
it was best to move fast on this.
No, it's fine. Obviously, they're
with the right people to bring in.
But this is still all speculation.
I mean, until we get inside that
thing, who can guess what the hell it is?
Whatever it is, we've got one.
What facility was it moved to?
An Air Force base in Texas, Hangar 18.
NASA took it over a few years ago and converted it
into a manned lunar flight receiving station.
What, it worked?
It's got everything we need.
Decontamination chambers.
It's got computer facilities.
It's got biological labs.
Who was handling security?
Ordinarily, NASA would. I ordered
Air Force personnel in last night.
Good. All right. It'll take a lot to set
up. You'll need a briefing procedure.
Besides, the Department of Defense
will want CIA to get full reports.
Of course.
Okay. I can make those contacts
get things set up at this end.
Somebody's going to have to talk to the press.
Yeah, that's right.
This is the first time a U.S.
astronaut has died in space.
The papers will be crawling all over the story.
Now, wait a minute. We're
getting into a problem area here.
The election is only two weeks away.
You both read the Harris Poll this morning.
It's too close to call. It could go either direction.
So? What's that got to do with our situation?
Well, what we don't need right now
is a lot of inconclusive speculation
and wild rumors floating around Washington.
What they find in that hangar may
have a crucial effect on our space program.
Maybe even our defense.
Gordon, you aren't suggesting
that we back off this thing, are you?
No, no. Of course not. We've
got to continue the investigation.
Check it out thoroughly. Find out everything we can.
We must proceed very, very carefully.
Duncan Tyler is the best president
this country has had in a long, long time.
And I don't want to blow this
election because of rumor or panic.
We've got to keep this thing under wraps for two weeks,
just until the election is over.
Two weeks? Are you sure that's the right approach?
Do you remember when Senator
Stalin said publicly that he saw a UFO
and the president went after him on it?
He asked the country, "Would you
feel safe electing a man president
who said he believed in flying saucers?"
And next week, Starter
dropped seven points in the polls.
It was a joke. Some joke.
Yeah. I mean, you know what it
would do to his chances for reelection
if the public found out that we had an
alien spacecraft parked at a NASA facility?
Now, you've heard Starter's speeches.
You know what he would do to the defense budget.
Do you know what it would mean to
this country if that man was elected?
Just what are you asking, Gordon?
Keep the lid on Hangar 18.
Mm-hmm.
Well, they're living quarters
right there in the hangar.
Any communication in or out
has to go through my office.
What about the shuttle crew, Bancroft and Price?
Yeah. They saw the satellite hit the UFO.
They're gonna want to talk about that.
They could create some problems, then.
The best thing we can do is to take the initiative.
Be prepared to discredit their reports.
Oh, come on, Frank. Is that necessary?
It would only be for two weeks.
Then we could clear things up,
take them off the hook, officially.
Maybe if we talked with them,
brought them into this thing.
No, I don't think so.
It'll just create more security leaks down the line.
It's best for them to not know
any more than they already do.
I think you ought to keep an eye on both of them, though.
Right.
Gentlemen, we're in agreement, then?
All we need is two weeks.
(Phone ringing)
Yeah.
Steve, this is Flo.
Who?
Flo Mattson in public information.
Oh, yeah. Yeah, Flo, what's up?
Steve, have you seen the morning paper?
No, I...
Well, take a look at it.
Then you and Lloyd better get over here.
Okay.
(Door opens)
(Door opens) (Door opens)
What the hell is this? How can they blame us?
I tried to find out where the story
came from, but there's no byline.
The newspaper wouldn't tell me a thing.
I just don't get it. Who'd float a story like that?
The Air Force, honey.
Why?
To cover themselves.
But this is stupid.
I don't have to wait with it.
But they're saying that you guys are
responsible for wrecking a
satellite and killing a man.
Flo, we didn't do anything.
The satellite hit something.
And we can prove it.
Eight seconds to launch. Here we go.
Seven, six, five...
Where is it? Four, three...
Where's the blip of that thing we saw?
(Distorted voice)
There's the explosion, but that's it.
Either we imagine this whole thing, Lou...
or the blip of the UFO has been erased.
Let's go talk to Harry.
Harry.
We just took...
Where's Harry?
He's been reassigned.
Where did he go?
I don't know. It's classified.
Top secret.
When's he coming back?
I don't know that either.
Let him pass.
Hey, fellas.
Harry. This is a lunar receiving lab.
No, don't let the outside fool
you, Phil. That's just for security.
Come on.
Let's have a look.
(Phone ringing)
I've heard all those crazy stories
about UFOs like everybody else.
And didn't believe them.
Well, it's not something that most people...
want to believe in.
Is there any exterior damage?
No. Don! We think it was a controlled
landing. It means someone brought it in.
And that someone is still inside there.
Well, we'll know more when the others arrive.
Who?
Well, aside from the NASA technicians and engineers,
there's Neil Kelso, linguist.
The translations.
And the very best.
And Sarah Meichels and Paul Bannister, two doctors.
Just in case.
I wonder what they're like.
Second thought, I'm not sure I want to know.
I do.
You know, buddy, if they hang
this thing on us, we're through.
And I don't just mean with NASA.
We'll be able to get a part-time job flying a kite.
I mean, Harry said we were in the clear.
Yeah, Harry.
I wonder if Harry knew about
those doctor telemetry tapes.
Man, I don't know.
All I know is that we're being
made the fall guys in this thing,
and I don't like it. It's scary.
Maybe it's time to go to the newspapers with a story.
What story?
Lou, we don't have a story.
We claim the satellite hit a UFO.
You know what the Air Force is gonna do?
Drag out that fake telemetry,
and we're gonna look like idiots.
Case closed.
You're real encouraging.
What do you want?
Wasn't Crown Mountain one of
the stations that monitored us?
Should have been.
They always do.
Oh, they're pretty remote.
I wonder if they still have the telemetry,
and it hasn't been fooled around with yet.
Hey, it's worth a shot.
Yeah, I got a friend at Crown
Mountain, too, George Turner.
Well, why don't you introduce me?
Okay.
I don't know if he's your type, though.
He's a lot shorter and allows you to answer.
We'll live and work right here
until we're ready to finish our report.
Neil, you mentioned talking to your wife.
It was that red telephone
down in the conference room
with the direct line to General Morrison's office.
That is our only contact with
the outside world, I'm afraid.
It's so restrictive, Harry, isn't it?
Well, it's meant to be, Sarah,
and I know how difficult it's gonna be for you and Paul
working together in the hospital.
But until we fully understand
what it is that we're dealing with out there,
then we simply have got to keep this...
this whole project completely under wraps.
I assume you've all read
through the procedural breakdown
and acquainted yourself with the facility.
So if there are no more questions,
we've got a lot of work ahead of us.
Sarah and Neil, you'll be in the observation booth.
Paul, I got a surprise for you.
You're coming with us.
(Siren wailing)
(Siren wailing)
Question. How do we open it?
Another question.
Do we want to?
(Siren wailing)
The magnetometer readings are rising.
Harry.
(Siren wailing)
(Siren wailing)
Well?
(Siren wailing)
We're going in.
(Siren wailing)
(Siren wailing)
What do you think?
Engine room.
Drive.
(Siren wailing)
(Grunting)
(Siren wailing)
Sir, pressure suit.
(Siren wailing)
Must be another deck.
Yeah.
But how do we get up to it?
(Siren wailing)
(Siren wailing)
(Siren wailing)
That's your orbiter.
Yeah. Time.
12 seconds to launch.
11, 10, 9...
There it is.
And there it goes.
George, can we have this tape or a copy?
This is a Department of Defense operation.
You guys couldn't get out of here with a coffee cup.
But, George...
Now, look, guys, I just did this as a favor.
If the brass knew I even let
you in here, I could lose my job.
All right.
Could you at least project
where that thing came down?
Sure.
This will pinpoint the location
based on trajectory readings.
It'll compute the area of impact and then focus on it.
Right there.
Bannon County, Arizona.
Thanks, George.
(Laughing)
Oh, yeah.
Well, I know what I see.
Sure, Sam, sure.
Well, what do you know?
His name's Tate.
How many men you got down there?
Two. They went down immediately to
check out the crash site and secure it.
That's how they ran into this guy.
Well, how much trouble is he going to be?
I know he's talking, but is anybody listening?
Not really. But that isn't the problem.
Bancroft and Price are on their way to Bannon County.
Well, that's not good.
The crash site's been cleaned up.
But I sure wouldn't want
them running into this Tate guy.
His story would confirm what they saw.
Well, what is he? What does he do?
Construction work, I'm
honestly unemployed right now.
With a lot of federal projects down there?
Get him something. Get him a job.
Right.
Oh, and the Bancroft and Price
keep me brief down what they're up to.
Of course.
Looks okay, Harry.
All my indicator lights are green.
All right, Sarah, get a couple of coonies
and you're on the double, that's it.
Boys, we can get out of these monkey suits.
Careful. Be careful. He's real heavy.
Quick, let's get him into the lab.
Come on, let's get the other one. (MUSIC PLAYING)
Is she still alive?
Barely. She's in a deep coma.
She has very weak vital signs.
She needs the kind of medical
help that we can't give her here.
She should be in a hospital.
All right, I'll take care of it.
(Door closes)
Get me Gordon Kane at the White House.
Ah, yes. What's up with the flight?
Phil. Phil, I want you to get a crew
to go over the outside of that ship
with a fine-tooth comb. See if I can
find any damage that we may have missed.
I don't care if they have to use a microscope.
I don't care how small the damage is, even a pinhole.
I have got to find out whether those
men were dead or alive on the ship planet.
I gotta find that, all right?
Oh, Phil.
There's a couple of glass, beakers, or
vials broken down on the lower deck.
Have those analyzed too, will you?
And I saw it looked like a library
in there. Have Kelso check it out.
Yeah, sure thing.
Here are those preliminary reports you asked for.
(MUSIC PLAYING) What do you think?
Well, I sure didn't get this equipment at Radio Shack.
Close it up.
Let's try the other one.
(Music playing)
What's going on? What's happened?
I pulled the panel over there
and everything went haywire.
Well, watch what you're doing.
If we're gonna find out anything here,
we can't keep our hands in our pockets.
We've gotta do something.
You owe me.
Be careful.
(Music playing)
(Screaming)
(Music playing)
(Screaming)
Oh, God, is she still alive?
Miss Bailey.
Where is she now?
In a hospital, private clinic. They're
keeping her under close observation.
We've got a group of computer
staff people running a trace,
trying to get some kind of I.P. on her.
I don't like it. There are too
many outside people involved.
We've got too many loose ends.
Don't worry. We're keeping very tight security.
The campaign is going well.
Things are running smoothly.
We've got to keep this thing
bottled up, you understand?
Look, Gordon, I'll take care of it.
Fine.
Bill's right. We've gotta find
out what makes this thing tick.
Everybody okay? Everybody all right?
Look at this.
Let's throw it like butter.
(Engine revving)
Howdy.
How you doing?
We need a place to tie down for a while.
The sleeve is set right there.
It's ten a day.
I'd say you wouldn't happen to have a car we could rent.
Nope.
We need some way to get around.
You know where we could rent something?
Yep.
Where's that?
From me.
I thought you said you didn't have a car we could rent.
Don't. Got a truck.
You didn't ask me about no
truck. You asked me about a car.
Ain't got no car.
A truck will be fine.
It's around the side of the hangar.
Keys are in it. It's twenty a day.
Of course, you buy your own gas.
I ain't no millionaire, you know.
By any chance have you heard anything about a crash
that happened in this area a couple of days ago?
Crash.
You must be talking about that
crazy story Sam Tate's been telling.
Dragged a sheriff out there and everything.
Ha ha!
Said he saw a flying saucer come down.
You know, like on the TV.
Um, where was this?
Shoot, I don't know.
You better ask the sheriff.
You know, it's the desert air that does it.
Does what?
Drives out your brain juice so
you can't think straight no more.
Happens everybody out here.
You know, I think we better talk to the sheriff.
Thanks.
(Siren wailing)
(Siren wailing)
(Siren wailing)
(Siren wailing)
There are trouble in the Middle East.
America's military strength
has substantially decreased.
Despite the brisk weekend weather,
the streets of New York were bustling with activity,
but we expect snow by early next week.
The gasoline shortage has not
greatly affected the transit systems
in Montreal or San Francisco.
Apparently they've been recording our broadcasts.
So when you think...
They must have been monitoring them.
This announcement paid for by the committee
to reelect President Nuck and Tyree.
Harry, what is that?
I don't know.
They had it at the beginning, too.
I've seen it before.
I'm sure of it.
I know it's here somewhere.
Right here.
What is it?
This is a symbol for the Earth.
What makes you say that?
Because it was on that film or
tape or whatever it was we saw.
And it reminds me of something else.
I'm gonna check with research.
I'm gonna check with research.
So we went out there, took a look around,
and found just about what I half expected to find...
Nothing.
I hate it.
The same deliberately lies.
Just the way he is, you have to take him or leave him.
Even called Washington.
Made at least five phone calls to Herb Pope.
Where Herb's are, local congressmen, tell him about it.
Sure, where can we find Tate?
Don't know.
Well, that's the other thing I'm not saying.
He's just a drifter.
Comes and goes, ambles off to work somewhere,
and then comes back and nest till
he has to go out and find a job again.
So you think he might have left him?
Well, he ain't around, so I guess so.
Autographs?
Well, it ain't every day.
A couple of live astronauts pass through this town.
That ain't for me, for my wife.
Who shall I make it out to?
Dwayne.
What did Barlow say, just under the ridge?
Steve!
Somebody's trying to hide something.
Let's see how big.
Lou, look at this.
The heat of a blast furnace
to fuse these rocks together.
Yeah.
They found something.
This rock could be just a thing
we need to prove what we saw.
You know that?
Morning.
Oh.
Hi.
How you doing?
What's up?
This is private property.
Flat butte mining.
So?
You're trespassing.
We're sorry.
Thanks.
What have you got there?
It's a rock.
Found it over there.
It's for my kid.
He's got a little collection.
Well, we're making an exploratory operation here.
You're gonna have to leave that.
We're not gonna jump your claim.
No. That's what you're worried about.
Then there's no reason not to give it to me, is there?
No.
I guess not.
Huh?
Let's get out of here.
Come on.
We gotta get that rock back.
Oh, I haven't punched anybody out since high school.
How's your other hand?
Fine.
Why?
Oh, great.
I think they still want to talk to us.
(Siren wailing)
(Siren wailing)
That could have been us, you know.
I don't know about you, but I don't want
to stick around here trying to explain this.
Let's go.
Two men have been killed, and all
you can tell me is it was an accident.
We can't afford accidents like that.
We're trying to reelect a president.
Do you realize this could put all of us in jail?
There's no way any of us can be
connected with what happened.
Two men are dead.
We don't handle things that way.
This is the White House, for Christ's sake.
Well, Bancroft and Price aren't
exactly cooperating with us.
They're the ones who were
responsible for what happened out there.
Fine, fine.
Well, Frank, I'll just have you
explain that to the grand jury.
And to the Senate's investigating
committee and to the newspapers.
I'm sure they'll all be very understanding.
"What do you mean,"
Look, I know we're operating under complicated
conditions, but we've got to stay on top of this.
Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. The Xochitl But they
were made hundreds, maybe thousands of years ago.
And they can only be seen from the air.
If this isn't the wildest coincidence,
then what you're saying is that beings from
another world have been here on Earth before.
That's what I'm saying.
Okay, go ahead.
The Great Pyramid of Tetenapa.
Now, this is bigger than any pyramid in Egypt.
Yeah, right.
No one knows who built it or why.
But here's the best part.
This pyramid is honeycomb, the passageways.
And there are inscriptions on the walls.
Now, here's some drawings of them.
Compare these with these.
See what I mean?
They're similar to the spaceship.
Too similar, Harry, for it to
have been any coincidence.
Yeah, yeah.
Look, I think they have the same route.
Developed differently but from the same source.
Yeah, yeah, so there's the connection.
This alien symbol is part of the Xochitl markings.
And the Tetenapa inscription could
be the key to the whole translation.
It's worth a shot.
Ah, thanks, boss.
Where are you?
I was just wondering about him.
Who he was, what he did, where
he came from, what his life was like.
Who are we going to see again?
His name is Mills, Professor Andrew Mills.
He runs a research lab at Western Tech.
Do you think he can help us?
Well, he's a professor.
We give him the rock and see
if he can tell us what mill to do.
He ran a NASA seminar on astrogeology
before you got into the program.
If anyone can help us, he can.
Great.
Ah, sure hope them boys can
fly better than they can drive.
Well, how's it going? Any luck?
Well, one word in 10 makes any sense.
Well, let's start.
I'll check back in a couple of
hours, see how you're doing.
Hi, where's Paul?
He's in the lab.
Well, we still haven't found out how they died.
But they didn't suffer any
obvious external or internal injuries.
All that work may turn up something, though.
Do you have any idea when they
died? I mean, before or after the crash?
No, we don't. Why is the time important?
Yes, yes.
Yes, I want to know if they were dead, how
they made a controlled landing with that ship.
What else do you have for me?
A height six feet, one inch, weight 200 pounds,
obviously a biped, thumb, four fingers, five toes,
and pale blue eyes.
His heart, lungs, other organs, they're
mostly identical to ours, physically, that is.
Biologically, we're going to
have to wait for the lab results.
One surprising thing, though.
We have an appendix, a tailbone, and
a hardarian gland behind the eyeball.
Yeah? He's got them, too, and they're useless to us.
I don't know about him, but it's obvious that we've
both gone through a parallel evolutionary process.
It's startling.
We've run every conceivable test on the
exterior, and we still have
no idea what brought it down.
No idea at all?
No, sir.
Nothing?
No, sir.
Keep trying, dear. Keep trying anything.
Yes, sir.
Take that down to the equipment room, will you?
Harry, can I see you for a minute, please?
Yes, sure, Phil. Sure. What can I do for you?
Look, I'm not a nuclear engineer,
but my opinion for what it's worth is it.
This is an end-fusion drive.
Fusion? What kind of fuel?
Probably hydrogen. Scooped it up as it went along.
How could it create temperatures
high enough to make a fusion reaction?
It takes one million degrees as far as we know.
And there's another thing. Again, I'm just guessing.
But I don't think this thing was
capable of interstellar travel.
This couldn't have generated enough speed.
Where do you think it came from?
A mothership.
Something bigger than a ship.
Something bigger and faster than we can imagine.
Here we go.
Oh, my God. That's it. That's it!
It's a piece of sandstone. It's quite
common to the region where you found it.
But was it melted by the heat of the spacecraft, Ed?
Probably.
But there are several dozen other
sources that generate temperatures
sufficient to do exactly the same thing.
What have we got?
What you got, Lou, is a piece of rock
that's been subjected to a great deal of heat.
And that's all.
If you want to show that the Air
Force is concealing a flying saucer,
you've got to have substantial proof,
or you're just another nut.
But we saw it.
What do you think? Do you think we're a couple of nuts?
No. No. I believe you.
But in the last analysis, my opinion means nothing.
I think you witnessed something extraordinary.
And if what you're suggesting is so,
then you're talking about
the most significant event
in the history of mankind.
But nobody's gonna believe
you unless you can prove it.
Well,
I guess we're just counting on a little more help.
Now how do we prove what we saw?
All right. Let's go at it from another angle.
If the Air Force does have a UFO in their hands,
where would they hide it?
Well, it'd have to be close to the crash site.
And someplace secure?
Like a military base?
A four or five base, isn't it?
Yeah, but it'd have to be one with
the proper equipment to study it.
A lunar receiving station.
Hangar 18.
Let's go find that thing.
Kelso has deciphered the alien's language.
This is a translation of a document
found aboard the spacecraft.
Now, the translation is very rough and is incomplete,
but if what we can read is true,
and there's no reason to doubt that it isn't,
then all of the previous
information that we have had
about the origin of mankind and the human race
is absolutely false.
What are you talking about, Herron?
This is a report of a previous
visit of the spacemen to Earth.
This report speaks of the capture,
the training and the use
of certain animals as slaves,
both male and female.
The slaves worshiped them as gods.
Then what they referred to
as animals were pre-humans?
Yes.
The report also speaks
to the fact that the female
slaves founded a great honor
to be chosen to live with and
to bear the offspring of the gods.
Lord.
You see, it's no coincidence
that the spacemen are almost identical to us.
It is not, Sarah,
a case of two species developing,
evolving independently of each other.
Those ancient spacemen altered forever.
Our evolution. They are the missing link.
Do you know what you're saying?
Yes.
We, mankind, the human race, are their children.
What we must find out now is why they're monitoring us,
why they're watching us.
Thank you, Rick.
Frank, you see the latest California rules?
They predict the president's going
to take the saint by a landslide.
Great.
Great. It's fantastic.
We've got everything buttoned down.
We're going to do all right.
Ten days.
There's ten more days.
We keep everything buttoned down for ten more days,
and we get four more years.
We don't have any problems, right?
And I told the president
everything was under control.
Well, everything is under control.
Price and Bancroft are running
around the desert chasing their tails.
It's all covered. I'm staying on top of it every minute.
Good. I'm counting on you.
This is Lafferty.
This is Wilson.
Go ahead.
Bancroft and Price have just filed
a flight plan for Midland, Texas.
Midland?
That's 50 miles from hangar 18.
Shit. How did they find out?
I don't know, sir.
When they left Mills' office,
they went directly to the airport.
Damn it. It's up to you to keep
them from getting to that hangar.
Is that clear?
Yes, sir.
Wilson, this is in your hands.
I understand.
When did it take us along to rent this thing?
Oh, the guy said something about washing the car.
No wonder they're number two. Still dirty.
Hey, slow down a little, will you?
I'm trying to. There's something wrong with the brakes.
The old buddy that brakes
are gone. So is the emergency.
(Tires screeching)
Go!
Let's go.
You okay?
Yeah, fine.
But these seat covers are ruined.
(Camera shutter clicks)
(Tires screeching)
(Gunshot) (Tires screeching)
Now what?
Inside. (TIRES SCREECHING)
Go! (TIRES SCREECHING)
They're still coming, Lou.
You know if this thing takes a bullet,
you're not gonna have the gas shortage.
Or us, pal.
(Tires screeching)
What are you doing? Trust me.
What do you mean, trust you?
Get in here!
Lou, are you crazy? Get in here! Get back in here!
(Tires screeching)
(Grunting)
(Grunting)
What the hell is he doing?
Jesus Christ, stop him!
(Gasps)
(Tires screeching)
(Tires screeching)
Lou!
(Tires screeching)
Lou! Steve?
Take it easy. You're gonna be all right.
You're gonna be all right.
I'm not going anywhere.
I'm not going anywhere.
So we find that.
Somebody call an ambulance.
I'll do it.
Lou.
Hold on. Hold on.
Come on, hold on. (TIRES SCREECHING)
I'll find it.
(Tires screeching)
Take care of him, will you?
Harry?
We need you to elaborate away.
What is it? What is it?
Harry?
Yes.
We know how the aliens died.
They were asphyxiated.
Asphyxiated?
How?
These broken glass vials contain chemicals.
An element similar to potassium cyanide,
a form of sulfuric acid and several other compounds.
Now, when combined with the
iron, they form a gas, a deadly toxin.
We must have spread throughout the ship.
When we first went aboard,
our instruments didn't
indicate anything dangerous.
It had dissipated by then.
However, we did find traces
of it throughout their bodies,
in their blood stream, in their lungs,
and most of their organs.
The vials were jarred loose.
And bulked, probably when the satellite hit.
Oh, how ironic.
They're light years ahead of us in intelligence.
And yet they were killed
because of a stupid accident.
This music.
Is it one of the ship's recordings?
Oh, no.
It's a local station.
I've tapped through to their monitoring system.
Terrific.
Yeah, but I still haven't figured
out what method they're using
to record and store all this stuff.
Magnetic.
Doesn't appear to be.
The recordings themselves seem to be on sort of
crystalline microchips.
Crystal.
Keep at it.
We interrupt this program
to bring you a news bulletin.
Lewis Price, NASA's space shuttle pilot,
has been killed in a traffic accident in Texas.
A man who left the scene of
the accident has been identified
as Steven Bankcroft, a space shuttle commander.
Bankcroft and Price have been
the target of charges that they
were responsible for the
death of an Air Force officer.
Clone lights.
More details, and...
I just heard about Price myself.
I have no details.
You knew about Steve and Lou
being blamed for Gates's death?
Yes, I did, but...
Why didn't you tell me?
Because I'd been checking it out.
I've been trying to find out
where that story came from.
I want to see Steve Bankcroft.
I want to know whether Lou's death had anything to do
with what they saw up there in space about what we've
got here in hangar 18.
No, no, you've got my assurance. There is no connection.
That's not good enough!
I want to talk to Steve Bancroft myself!
No, no, he's not here in the morning.
I'm gonna walk right out of here,
and I'm gonna hold a press conference,
and I'm gonna tell him things
that you don't want to hear.
NASA is not gonna take the wrap on this one.
You don't understand the whole picture, Harry.
Morrison! I'm telling you!
If anything happens to Steve Bancroft,
I'm holding you personally responsible.
Lou Price and four other men.
Dead.
How could it have gone this far?
It was a choice between two bad alternatives.
You had to let them get to hang a routine or stop them.
And what are our choices now?
We should have taken Price and Bancroft
into our confidence like I wanted to do.
You think Forbes is serious about going to the press?
Oh, I can guarantee you he's serious.
You know, there's a lot more to
this now than salvaging an election.
A lot of people can be implicated.
Well, thank you very much, General.
I'm sure we are all aware of our situation.
You think I enjoy being in the middle of this?
We've got to start talking about
alternatives here, considering options.
Some decisions have to be made.
This problem is not going to go away.
As long as Hangar 18 exists, the problem exists.
What the hell are you saying?
Aren't we in this deep enough already?
Yeah, so deep there's no going back.
If we don't finish what we
started, it's all over for the president.
And it's all over for us.
If we stop now, we don't stand any chance at all.
All right, let me hear your thinking on this.
There are airplane crashes every day.
Even at military bases.
Your identification, sir.
One moment, sir.
(Tires screeching)
Hello, let's go.
All makes sense.
(Tires screeching)
(Tires screeching)
(Tires screeching)
Base security, this is sector 10.
Subject has just entered building 43.
(Tense music)
Take it easy, now.
(Tense music)
Okay, that's it.
(Tense music)
(Tense music)
(TENSE MUSIC) They're power plants, defense
installations, and industrial complexes.
Yeah, right.
Those symbols on the bottom
there. Can you translate those?
I can try. I get the terminal up
here, run it through the computer.
Let's see what I come up with.
Let's do it. Let's do it.
(Tense music)
Phil, get up here. I got something.
(Tense music)
Steve!
Harry.
Harry, what are you doing here?
The base security call.
Base security? Yeah, they said I'd find you here.
Come on.
Where? Come on. We'll take you
back to hangar 18. You'll be safe there.
Come on.
(Tense music)
There she is.
There it is. Yeah.
They didn't want us to talk about it. And there it is.
Looseman killed. You know that?
I know, Steve.
And they've been trying to kill me.
We've been set up from the start.
What the hell's going on, Harry?
Steve, I don't know.
But we're gonna find out. Come on.
(Tapping)
Harry!
Steve, Kelso's got a translation.
Get in here right away.
(Footsteps)
Evacuate your men.
All right. Let's move out.
Again. Punch it in again to make sure.
I've tried three times, Harry. I
keep on getting the same answer.
These are all designated landing areas.
Oh, my God. They're coming back.
Now what, Harry?
Phil, get the equipment up here
and make a hard copy, print out.
The rest of you keep checking the dates and...
(Fire billowing)
In today's headlines, reports continue to flood in
about last night's massive explosion
at Wolf Air Force Base in West Texas.
Astronaut Stephen Bancroft,
NASA Deputy Director Harry Forbes,
and a small crew of technicians
miraculously survived the blast.
Initial accounts indicate they
were shielded from the explosion,
inside what NASA claims to be an alien spacecraft.
Press representatives from around
the world have been gathering
since early this morning, in
anticipation of a news conference
to be held by Mr. Forbes this afternoon.
As yet, there has been no official
statement from the White House.
(Music continues)
Ten minutes to launch.
All right, guys, listen up for a minute.
We've got an important call coming through for you.
Roger, flight.
Good evening NASA. This is the president.
I know youre busy,
but Mrs Tyler and I wanted to take a
moment to wish you the best of luck
in launching the first
satellite from our space shuttle.
This is a real feather in the
cap of Americas space program.
Also, I want to pass along a
special hello from my son Bobby to
NASA Astronaut Steven Bancroft and Lew Price.
And to Air Force Colonel John Gates.
All of us in the White House wish you well.
Listen, congress has been
after me to hold on the budget,
so I better keep this short.
After all it is, long distance,
so good night and Godspeed.
All right, thank you, Mr. President.
Let's get back to work. Now
we've got a satellite to launch.
Seven minutes to launch.
I'm getting a red light from the satellite, Colonel.
Roger, looks like a comm module.
I will not have it looked.
Revise and confirm launch status.
You're counting to launch.
You want me to hold the countdown, General?
Satellite's got to be launched on time.
Six minutes to launch.
I wonder what that satellite's going to do.
Probably flush all the toilets in Moscow.
[ Blows ]
What was that?
It's coming from the shuttle.
What's going on up there?
I think the Colonel's looking for a parachute.
Airlock pressure is equalized
and the light is green.
I'm closing the airlock flight.
Stepping into the cargo bay.
Five minutes to launch.
Stand by for satellite launch positioning.
We're proceeding with the countdown,
Steve. Man the launch arm controls.
Here goes.
I'm moving to the satellite now, flight.
Colonel, check all LX switches.
Launch mode B and C.
Main D1 and launch program recalled.
Roger, Capcom.
I've seen the problem.
Four minutes.
What is it, Colonel?
Alex is affirmative.
Main D1 has tripped.
We've got a loose module here.
Can you reset it, Colonel?
Roger, Capcom. She's locked in.
I'm getting an affirmative reading now.
I'm going to stay in the cargo bay, Steve.
In case this thing goes haywire again.
Good idea, Colonel.
The system is verified.
Proceed with launch countdown.
What's that?
What?
Something going like a bat out of hell.
There it is again.
What is it, a meteor?
Not unless a meteor can make a U-turn.
Colonel Gates will maintain EVA position...
Three minutes to launch.
Okay, Steve, go ahead and connect
the extension arm to the satellite.
How does it look to you, Colonel?
Smooth so far, Steve. I'll keep you posted.
Roger.
Fly.
Roger, orbiter.
We're picking up something
pretty wild on radar. Do you read it?
Bob?
We'll see it right there.
Yeah, it is.
Captain, call NORAD.
Two minutes to launch.
Are you sure this is working
right? Let's check it on the B mode.
No, no. We're getting it there, too.
I'll keep checking it.
I'm ready to lock in the remote arm.
Looks good from here, Steve. Go ahead.
Connection is verified. Take it away.
Roger, Cap-Cop. Here we go.
How's it looking, Colonel?
She's lifting out nicely. On her way up.
One minute to launch.
She's at the top, Steve. Looking good.
Satellite is in position.
Proceed with launch sequence and countdown.
Roger, Cap-Cop. I'm returning to flight controls.
T-minus 30 seconds.
Steve.
What?
According to the radar, that thing is right over us.
There it is.
What case do you see?
Man.
NORAD has it, too.
They're trying to get a fix on the speed.
Six, five, four, three, two, one.
Ignition.
What happened, Orbiter?
Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
Steve. Steve, Lou.
What happened?
Come in. Come in.
Come in, Orbiter.
We'll check it again. I don't know.
Steve, Lou.
Come in. Come in.
Come in, Orbiter.
Roger.
What happened?
Whatever that thing was, the
satellite hit it and it exploded.
Steve.
My lord.
Why is it, Steve?
It's Gates.
Gates?
We lost him.
He's dead.
What happened? How?
I guess some debris from
that satellite must have hit him.
His helmet was torn off.
Come on, people. We still have
two men to bring home safely.
Shallow we have 20 seconds to loss of signals.
We will make reentry over the Indian Ocean Station.
Do you copy?
We copy.
The speed has been constant.
It has to be a control craft.
It's in U.S. airspace and coming down.
We better alert air command.
This is a scramble. Air search alpha and bravo.
This is a scrap. This is a scrap.
Air search alpha and bravo. This is a scrap.
Air search units.
There is an object coming
down in sector 12 trajectory.
One night on either. Roger command.
Lopez airport.
Rilow is air light.
South to the center of the weather.
Then east, Roger.
Alpha, and one sector 12 west and 10 west.
All reports will be directed to California.
Roger. We got you.
Roger.
Wait a minute.
Look, there's something over there.
What the hell is that?
Give me a passenger to General Morrison.
This is General Morrison. What have you got?
I don't know, General.
It's the weirdest damn thing.
Well, what do you see?
Lights. In a circular pattern.
Take us lower.
You're kidding.
You're not kidding.
Well, what's it look like?
Just lights. No markings.
No visible sign of life. Not outside.
General, what should we do?
General?
General?
You're in bay. No other close, opener.
Ready for a reentry sequence.
T-minus 50 seconds to reentry fire.
Light clear rotating shaft to reentry position.
We're in steady gyro.
Main V and C are affirmative.
All our CXLX switches are on automatic.
Roger, orbiter.
Harry, I want to talk to you.
Mm-hmm.
Right now, Harry.
Take over here, will you film?
Sure.
Steve, Lou, still cameraing. I'm standing in for Harry.
What's your status, orbiter?
The HCL is affirmative.
HCL checklist has been confirmed.
All systems are going for reentry.
T-minus 10 to reentry fire.
I'm arming the retro agent now.
Arming circuit now.
Arming circuit is affirmative.
Arming circuit is affirmative.
Have you called Washington?
I've got a calling with the White House.
Gordon Gane, the president's chief of staff.
This information should
go directly to the president.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
What do you want with me?
I want you to go there, Harry.
Set up a team. Check it out.
Top to bottom. Inside and out.
Flight, we are setting up for reentry attitude.
Roger.
100,000 feet in 28 degrees.
Roger, flight.
Looking fine. Stand by for reentry.
Roger, Phil.
[indistinct chatter]
[indistinct chatter] Did you
get any confirmation on that?
70,000 feet, 6 degrees.
Observation planes are standing by.
Roger.
Hello, General.
I hate to bother you at this hour.
What can I do for you?
I have some information that should
go to the president immediately.
What is it?
Well, we believe we have an
alien spacecraft in our possession.
I don't want to talk about this
any further on the telephone.
Meet me at the White House when you get to Washington.
Yes, sir.
[indistinct chatter]
Orbiter, we have you on our video.
How do we look?
You're looking real good.
Stand by for gear down.
Decent rate stabilizing.
Roger, CAPCOM. That's affirmative.
Ready for gear.
Gear down.
This is chase one. I have visual confirmation.
The gear is down.
Roger. Speed Brexit.
You are on the glide.
Roger. Real steady.
100 knots.
190 knots.
And they're down.
[engine revving]
Hey, I'm sorry about what happened up there.
Blind partner? Right.
Look, Bill, we want to talk to Colonel Gates' family.
Oh, no, you haven't got time.
The Air Force will take care of it.
Who cares about the Air Force? Come on.
Can you take it up to Harry when you get to Houston?
He's got a plane to catch. All right.
Hold it. Stop the car.
It's right here. It's right over that rise.
Well, Sam?
It was here.
It was right here.
Sure, sir.
It was.
I saw it. Steve saw it. Gates saw it.
I know who. I know what. And I saw it.
Then why don't we look at the telemetry tapes?
Because we already know what's on it.
It's not necessary. It's...
It's all going to come out in the report.
Now, that's all you have to know for now.
Everything's going to be all right.
Harry, just trust me, okay?
Okay.
That's better.
So, what you're saying to me, General, is
that we have a flying saucer in our possession?
Yes, sir.
Now, it's too fantastic even to consider.
Yes, but it's there.
The investigation team.
What is it? Mostly NASA people?
Yes.
They know all about the satellite.
Everything that happened up there.
There's no way to keep them out of it.
Besides, it's their field. I thought
it was best to move fast on this.
No, it's fine. Obviously, they're
with the right people to bring in.
But this is still all speculation.
I mean, until we get inside that
thing, who can guess what the hell it is?
Whatever it is, we've got one.
What facility was it moved to?
An Air Force base in Texas, Hangar 18.
NASA took it over a few years ago and converted it
into a manned lunar flight receiving station.
What, it worked?
It's got everything we need.
Decontamination chambers.
It's got computer facilities.
It's got biological labs.
Who was handling security?
Ordinarily, NASA would. I ordered
Air Force personnel in last night.
Good. All right. It'll take a lot to set
up. You'll need a briefing procedure.
Besides, the Department of Defense
will want CIA to get full reports.
Of course.
Okay. I can make those contacts
get things set up at this end.
Somebody's going to have to talk to the press.
Yeah, that's right.
This is the first time a U.S.
astronaut has died in space.
The papers will be crawling all over the story.
Now, wait a minute. We're
getting into a problem area here.
The election is only two weeks away.
You both read the Harris Poll this morning.
It's too close to call. It could go either direction.
So? What's that got to do with our situation?
Well, what we don't need right now
is a lot of inconclusive speculation
and wild rumors floating around Washington.
What they find in that hangar may
have a crucial effect on our space program.
Maybe even our defense.
Gordon, you aren't suggesting
that we back off this thing, are you?
No, no. Of course not. We've
got to continue the investigation.
Check it out thoroughly. Find out everything we can.
We must proceed very, very carefully.
Duncan Tyler is the best president
this country has had in a long, long time.
And I don't want to blow this
election because of rumor or panic.
We've got to keep this thing under wraps for two weeks,
just until the election is over.
Two weeks? Are you sure that's the right approach?
Do you remember when Senator
Stalin said publicly that he saw a UFO
and the president went after him on it?
He asked the country, "Would you
feel safe electing a man president
who said he believed in flying saucers?"
And next week, Starter
dropped seven points in the polls.
It was a joke. Some joke.
Yeah. I mean, you know what it
would do to his chances for reelection
if the public found out that we had an
alien spacecraft parked at a NASA facility?
Now, you've heard Starter's speeches.
You know what he would do to the defense budget.
Do you know what it would mean to
this country if that man was elected?
Just what are you asking, Gordon?
Keep the lid on Hangar 18.
Mm-hmm.
Well, they're living quarters
right there in the hangar.
Any communication in or out
has to go through my office.
What about the shuttle crew, Bancroft and Price?
Yeah. They saw the satellite hit the UFO.
They're gonna want to talk about that.
They could create some problems, then.
The best thing we can do is to take the initiative.
Be prepared to discredit their reports.
Oh, come on, Frank. Is that necessary?
It would only be for two weeks.
Then we could clear things up,
take them off the hook, officially.
Maybe if we talked with them,
brought them into this thing.
No, I don't think so.
It'll just create more security leaks down the line.
It's best for them to not know
any more than they already do.
I think you ought to keep an eye on both of them, though.
Right.
Gentlemen, we're in agreement, then?
All we need is two weeks.
(Phone ringing)
Yeah.
Steve, this is Flo.
Who?
Flo Mattson in public information.
Oh, yeah. Yeah, Flo, what's up?
Steve, have you seen the morning paper?
No, I...
Well, take a look at it.
Then you and Lloyd better get over here.
Okay.
(Door opens)
(Door opens) (Door opens)
What the hell is this? How can they blame us?
I tried to find out where the story
came from, but there's no byline.
The newspaper wouldn't tell me a thing.
I just don't get it. Who'd float a story like that?
The Air Force, honey.
Why?
To cover themselves.
But this is stupid.
I don't have to wait with it.
But they're saying that you guys are
responsible for wrecking a
satellite and killing a man.
Flo, we didn't do anything.
The satellite hit something.
And we can prove it.
Eight seconds to launch. Here we go.
Seven, six, five...
Where is it? Four, three...
Where's the blip of that thing we saw?
(Distorted voice)
There's the explosion, but that's it.
Either we imagine this whole thing, Lou...
or the blip of the UFO has been erased.
Let's go talk to Harry.
Harry.
We just took...
Where's Harry?
He's been reassigned.
Where did he go?
I don't know. It's classified.
Top secret.
When's he coming back?
I don't know that either.
Let him pass.
Hey, fellas.
Harry. This is a lunar receiving lab.
No, don't let the outside fool
you, Phil. That's just for security.
Come on.
Let's have a look.
(Phone ringing)
I've heard all those crazy stories
about UFOs like everybody else.
And didn't believe them.
Well, it's not something that most people...
want to believe in.
Is there any exterior damage?
No. Don! We think it was a controlled
landing. It means someone brought it in.
And that someone is still inside there.
Well, we'll know more when the others arrive.
Who?
Well, aside from the NASA technicians and engineers,
there's Neil Kelso, linguist.
The translations.
And the very best.
And Sarah Meichels and Paul Bannister, two doctors.
Just in case.
I wonder what they're like.
Second thought, I'm not sure I want to know.
I do.
You know, buddy, if they hang
this thing on us, we're through.
And I don't just mean with NASA.
We'll be able to get a part-time job flying a kite.
I mean, Harry said we were in the clear.
Yeah, Harry.
I wonder if Harry knew about
those doctor telemetry tapes.
Man, I don't know.
All I know is that we're being
made the fall guys in this thing,
and I don't like it. It's scary.
Maybe it's time to go to the newspapers with a story.
What story?
Lou, we don't have a story.
We claim the satellite hit a UFO.
You know what the Air Force is gonna do?
Drag out that fake telemetry,
and we're gonna look like idiots.
Case closed.
You're real encouraging.
What do you want?
Wasn't Crown Mountain one of
the stations that monitored us?
Should have been.
They always do.
Oh, they're pretty remote.
I wonder if they still have the telemetry,
and it hasn't been fooled around with yet.
Hey, it's worth a shot.
Yeah, I got a friend at Crown
Mountain, too, George Turner.
Well, why don't you introduce me?
Okay.
I don't know if he's your type, though.
He's a lot shorter and allows you to answer.
We'll live and work right here
until we're ready to finish our report.
Neil, you mentioned talking to your wife.
It was that red telephone
down in the conference room
with the direct line to General Morrison's office.
That is our only contact with
the outside world, I'm afraid.
It's so restrictive, Harry, isn't it?
Well, it's meant to be, Sarah,
and I know how difficult it's gonna be for you and Paul
working together in the hospital.
But until we fully understand
what it is that we're dealing with out there,
then we simply have got to keep this...
this whole project completely under wraps.
I assume you've all read
through the procedural breakdown
and acquainted yourself with the facility.
So if there are no more questions,
we've got a lot of work ahead of us.
Sarah and Neil, you'll be in the observation booth.
Paul, I got a surprise for you.
You're coming with us.
(Siren wailing)
(Siren wailing)
Question. How do we open it?
Another question.
Do we want to?
(Siren wailing)
The magnetometer readings are rising.
Harry.
(Siren wailing)
(Siren wailing)
Well?
(Siren wailing)
We're going in.
(Siren wailing)
(Siren wailing)
What do you think?
Engine room.
Drive.
(Siren wailing)
(Grunting)
(Siren wailing)
Sir, pressure suit.
(Siren wailing)
Must be another deck.
Yeah.
But how do we get up to it?
(Siren wailing)
(Siren wailing)
(Siren wailing)
That's your orbiter.
Yeah. Time.
12 seconds to launch.
11, 10, 9...
There it is.
And there it goes.
George, can we have this tape or a copy?
This is a Department of Defense operation.
You guys couldn't get out of here with a coffee cup.
But, George...
Now, look, guys, I just did this as a favor.
If the brass knew I even let
you in here, I could lose my job.
All right.
Could you at least project
where that thing came down?
Sure.
This will pinpoint the location
based on trajectory readings.
It'll compute the area of impact and then focus on it.
Right there.
Bannon County, Arizona.
Thanks, George.
(Laughing)
Oh, yeah.
Well, I know what I see.
Sure, Sam, sure.
Well, what do you know?
His name's Tate.
How many men you got down there?
Two. They went down immediately to
check out the crash site and secure it.
That's how they ran into this guy.
Well, how much trouble is he going to be?
I know he's talking, but is anybody listening?
Not really. But that isn't the problem.
Bancroft and Price are on their way to Bannon County.
Well, that's not good.
The crash site's been cleaned up.
But I sure wouldn't want
them running into this Tate guy.
His story would confirm what they saw.
Well, what is he? What does he do?
Construction work, I'm
honestly unemployed right now.
With a lot of federal projects down there?
Get him something. Get him a job.
Right.
Oh, and the Bancroft and Price
keep me brief down what they're up to.
Of course.
Looks okay, Harry.
All my indicator lights are green.
All right, Sarah, get a couple of coonies
and you're on the double, that's it.
Boys, we can get out of these monkey suits.
Careful. Be careful. He's real heavy.
Quick, let's get him into the lab.
Come on, let's get the other one. (MUSIC PLAYING)
Is she still alive?
Barely. She's in a deep coma.
She has very weak vital signs.
She needs the kind of medical
help that we can't give her here.
She should be in a hospital.
All right, I'll take care of it.
(Door closes)
Get me Gordon Kane at the White House.
Ah, yes. What's up with the flight?
Phil. Phil, I want you to get a crew
to go over the outside of that ship
with a fine-tooth comb. See if I can
find any damage that we may have missed.
I don't care if they have to use a microscope.
I don't care how small the damage is, even a pinhole.
I have got to find out whether those
men were dead or alive on the ship planet.
I gotta find that, all right?
Oh, Phil.
There's a couple of glass, beakers, or
vials broken down on the lower deck.
Have those analyzed too, will you?
And I saw it looked like a library
in there. Have Kelso check it out.
Yeah, sure thing.
Here are those preliminary reports you asked for.
(MUSIC PLAYING) What do you think?
Well, I sure didn't get this equipment at Radio Shack.
Close it up.
Let's try the other one.
(Music playing)
What's going on? What's happened?
I pulled the panel over there
and everything went haywire.
Well, watch what you're doing.
If we're gonna find out anything here,
we can't keep our hands in our pockets.
We've gotta do something.
You owe me.
Be careful.
(Music playing)
(Screaming)
(Music playing)
(Screaming)
Oh, God, is she still alive?
Miss Bailey.
Where is she now?
In a hospital, private clinic. They're
keeping her under close observation.
We've got a group of computer
staff people running a trace,
trying to get some kind of I.P. on her.
I don't like it. There are too
many outside people involved.
We've got too many loose ends.
Don't worry. We're keeping very tight security.
The campaign is going well.
Things are running smoothly.
We've got to keep this thing
bottled up, you understand?
Look, Gordon, I'll take care of it.
Fine.
Bill's right. We've gotta find
out what makes this thing tick.
Everybody okay? Everybody all right?
Look at this.
Let's throw it like butter.
(Engine revving)
Howdy.
How you doing?
We need a place to tie down for a while.
The sleeve is set right there.
It's ten a day.
I'd say you wouldn't happen to have a car we could rent.
Nope.
We need some way to get around.
You know where we could rent something?
Yep.
Where's that?
From me.
I thought you said you didn't have a car we could rent.
Don't. Got a truck.
You didn't ask me about no
truck. You asked me about a car.
Ain't got no car.
A truck will be fine.
It's around the side of the hangar.
Keys are in it. It's twenty a day.
Of course, you buy your own gas.
I ain't no millionaire, you know.
By any chance have you heard anything about a crash
that happened in this area a couple of days ago?
Crash.
You must be talking about that
crazy story Sam Tate's been telling.
Dragged a sheriff out there and everything.
Ha ha!
Said he saw a flying saucer come down.
You know, like on the TV.
Um, where was this?
Shoot, I don't know.
You better ask the sheriff.
You know, it's the desert air that does it.
Does what?
Drives out your brain juice so
you can't think straight no more.
Happens everybody out here.
You know, I think we better talk to the sheriff.
Thanks.
(Siren wailing)
(Siren wailing)
(Siren wailing)
(Siren wailing)
There are trouble in the Middle East.
America's military strength
has substantially decreased.
Despite the brisk weekend weather,
the streets of New York were bustling with activity,
but we expect snow by early next week.
The gasoline shortage has not
greatly affected the transit systems
in Montreal or San Francisco.
Apparently they've been recording our broadcasts.
So when you think...
They must have been monitoring them.
This announcement paid for by the committee
to reelect President Nuck and Tyree.
Harry, what is that?
I don't know.
They had it at the beginning, too.
I've seen it before.
I'm sure of it.
I know it's here somewhere.
Right here.
What is it?
This is a symbol for the Earth.
What makes you say that?
Because it was on that film or
tape or whatever it was we saw.
And it reminds me of something else.
I'm gonna check with research.
I'm gonna check with research.
So we went out there, took a look around,
and found just about what I half expected to find...
Nothing.
I hate it.
The same deliberately lies.
Just the way he is, you have to take him or leave him.
Even called Washington.
Made at least five phone calls to Herb Pope.
Where Herb's are, local congressmen, tell him about it.
Sure, where can we find Tate?
Don't know.
Well, that's the other thing I'm not saying.
He's just a drifter.
Comes and goes, ambles off to work somewhere,
and then comes back and nest till
he has to go out and find a job again.
So you think he might have left him?
Well, he ain't around, so I guess so.
Autographs?
Well, it ain't every day.
A couple of live astronauts pass through this town.
That ain't for me, for my wife.
Who shall I make it out to?
Dwayne.
What did Barlow say, just under the ridge?
Steve!
Somebody's trying to hide something.
Let's see how big.
Lou, look at this.
The heat of a blast furnace
to fuse these rocks together.
Yeah.
They found something.
This rock could be just a thing
we need to prove what we saw.
You know that?
Morning.
Oh.
Hi.
How you doing?
What's up?
This is private property.
Flat butte mining.
So?
You're trespassing.
We're sorry.
Thanks.
What have you got there?
It's a rock.
Found it over there.
It's for my kid.
He's got a little collection.
Well, we're making an exploratory operation here.
You're gonna have to leave that.
We're not gonna jump your claim.
No. That's what you're worried about.
Then there's no reason not to give it to me, is there?
No.
I guess not.
Huh?
Let's get out of here.
Come on.
We gotta get that rock back.
Oh, I haven't punched anybody out since high school.
How's your other hand?
Fine.
Why?
Oh, great.
I think they still want to talk to us.
(Siren wailing)
(Siren wailing)
That could have been us, you know.
I don't know about you, but I don't want
to stick around here trying to explain this.
Let's go.
Two men have been killed, and all
you can tell me is it was an accident.
We can't afford accidents like that.
We're trying to reelect a president.
Do you realize this could put all of us in jail?
There's no way any of us can be
connected with what happened.
Two men are dead.
We don't handle things that way.
This is the White House, for Christ's sake.
Well, Bancroft and Price aren't
exactly cooperating with us.
They're the ones who were
responsible for what happened out there.
Fine, fine.
Well, Frank, I'll just have you
explain that to the grand jury.
And to the Senate's investigating
committee and to the newspapers.
I'm sure they'll all be very understanding.
"What do you mean,"
Look, I know we're operating under complicated
conditions, but we've got to stay on top of this.
Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. The Xochitl But they
were made hundreds, maybe thousands of years ago.
And they can only be seen from the air.
If this isn't the wildest coincidence,
then what you're saying is that beings from
another world have been here on Earth before.
That's what I'm saying.
Okay, go ahead.
The Great Pyramid of Tetenapa.
Now, this is bigger than any pyramid in Egypt.
Yeah, right.
No one knows who built it or why.
But here's the best part.
This pyramid is honeycomb, the passageways.
And there are inscriptions on the walls.
Now, here's some drawings of them.
Compare these with these.
See what I mean?
They're similar to the spaceship.
Too similar, Harry, for it to
have been any coincidence.
Yeah, yeah.
Look, I think they have the same route.
Developed differently but from the same source.
Yeah, yeah, so there's the connection.
This alien symbol is part of the Xochitl markings.
And the Tetenapa inscription could
be the key to the whole translation.
It's worth a shot.
Ah, thanks, boss.
Where are you?
I was just wondering about him.
Who he was, what he did, where
he came from, what his life was like.
Who are we going to see again?
His name is Mills, Professor Andrew Mills.
He runs a research lab at Western Tech.
Do you think he can help us?
Well, he's a professor.
We give him the rock and see
if he can tell us what mill to do.
He ran a NASA seminar on astrogeology
before you got into the program.
If anyone can help us, he can.
Great.
Ah, sure hope them boys can
fly better than they can drive.
Well, how's it going? Any luck?
Well, one word in 10 makes any sense.
Well, let's start.
I'll check back in a couple of
hours, see how you're doing.
Hi, where's Paul?
He's in the lab.
Well, we still haven't found out how they died.
But they didn't suffer any
obvious external or internal injuries.
All that work may turn up something, though.
Do you have any idea when they
died? I mean, before or after the crash?
No, we don't. Why is the time important?
Yes, yes.
Yes, I want to know if they were dead, how
they made a controlled landing with that ship.
What else do you have for me?
A height six feet, one inch, weight 200 pounds,
obviously a biped, thumb, four fingers, five toes,
and pale blue eyes.
His heart, lungs, other organs, they're
mostly identical to ours, physically, that is.
Biologically, we're going to
have to wait for the lab results.
One surprising thing, though.
We have an appendix, a tailbone, and
a hardarian gland behind the eyeball.
Yeah? He's got them, too, and they're useless to us.
I don't know about him, but it's obvious that we've
both gone through a parallel evolutionary process.
It's startling.
We've run every conceivable test on the
exterior, and we still have
no idea what brought it down.
No idea at all?
No, sir.
Nothing?
No, sir.
Keep trying, dear. Keep trying anything.
Yes, sir.
Take that down to the equipment room, will you?
Harry, can I see you for a minute, please?
Yes, sure, Phil. Sure. What can I do for you?
Look, I'm not a nuclear engineer,
but my opinion for what it's worth is it.
This is an end-fusion drive.
Fusion? What kind of fuel?
Probably hydrogen. Scooped it up as it went along.
How could it create temperatures
high enough to make a fusion reaction?
It takes one million degrees as far as we know.
And there's another thing. Again, I'm just guessing.
But I don't think this thing was
capable of interstellar travel.
This couldn't have generated enough speed.
Where do you think it came from?
A mothership.
Something bigger than a ship.
Something bigger and faster than we can imagine.
Here we go.
Oh, my God. That's it. That's it!
It's a piece of sandstone. It's quite
common to the region where you found it.
But was it melted by the heat of the spacecraft, Ed?
Probably.
But there are several dozen other
sources that generate temperatures
sufficient to do exactly the same thing.
What have we got?
What you got, Lou, is a piece of rock
that's been subjected to a great deal of heat.
And that's all.
If you want to show that the Air
Force is concealing a flying saucer,
you've got to have substantial proof,
or you're just another nut.
But we saw it.
What do you think? Do you think we're a couple of nuts?
No. No. I believe you.
But in the last analysis, my opinion means nothing.
I think you witnessed something extraordinary.
And if what you're suggesting is so,
then you're talking about
the most significant event
in the history of mankind.
But nobody's gonna believe
you unless you can prove it.
Well,
I guess we're just counting on a little more help.
Now how do we prove what we saw?
All right. Let's go at it from another angle.
If the Air Force does have a UFO in their hands,
where would they hide it?
Well, it'd have to be close to the crash site.
And someplace secure?
Like a military base?
A four or five base, isn't it?
Yeah, but it'd have to be one with
the proper equipment to study it.
A lunar receiving station.
Hangar 18.
Let's go find that thing.
Kelso has deciphered the alien's language.
This is a translation of a document
found aboard the spacecraft.
Now, the translation is very rough and is incomplete,
but if what we can read is true,
and there's no reason to doubt that it isn't,
then all of the previous
information that we have had
about the origin of mankind and the human race
is absolutely false.
What are you talking about, Herron?
This is a report of a previous
visit of the spacemen to Earth.
This report speaks of the capture,
the training and the use
of certain animals as slaves,
both male and female.
The slaves worshiped them as gods.
Then what they referred to
as animals were pre-humans?
Yes.
The report also speaks
to the fact that the female
slaves founded a great honor
to be chosen to live with and
to bear the offspring of the gods.
Lord.
You see, it's no coincidence
that the spacemen are almost identical to us.
It is not, Sarah,
a case of two species developing,
evolving independently of each other.
Those ancient spacemen altered forever.
Our evolution. They are the missing link.
Do you know what you're saying?
Yes.
We, mankind, the human race, are their children.
What we must find out now is why they're monitoring us,
why they're watching us.
Thank you, Rick.
Frank, you see the latest California rules?
They predict the president's going
to take the saint by a landslide.
Great.
Great. It's fantastic.
We've got everything buttoned down.
We're going to do all right.
Ten days.
There's ten more days.
We keep everything buttoned down for ten more days,
and we get four more years.
We don't have any problems, right?
And I told the president
everything was under control.
Well, everything is under control.
Price and Bancroft are running
around the desert chasing their tails.
It's all covered. I'm staying on top of it every minute.
Good. I'm counting on you.
This is Lafferty.
This is Wilson.
Go ahead.
Bancroft and Price have just filed
a flight plan for Midland, Texas.
Midland?
That's 50 miles from hangar 18.
Shit. How did they find out?
I don't know, sir.
When they left Mills' office,
they went directly to the airport.
Damn it. It's up to you to keep
them from getting to that hangar.
Is that clear?
Yes, sir.
Wilson, this is in your hands.
I understand.
When did it take us along to rent this thing?
Oh, the guy said something about washing the car.
No wonder they're number two. Still dirty.
Hey, slow down a little, will you?
I'm trying to. There's something wrong with the brakes.
The old buddy that brakes
are gone. So is the emergency.
(Tires screeching)
Go!
Let's go.
You okay?
Yeah, fine.
But these seat covers are ruined.
(Camera shutter clicks)
(Tires screeching)
(Gunshot) (Tires screeching)
Now what?
Inside. (TIRES SCREECHING)
Go! (TIRES SCREECHING)
They're still coming, Lou.
You know if this thing takes a bullet,
you're not gonna have the gas shortage.
Or us, pal.
(Tires screeching)
What are you doing? Trust me.
What do you mean, trust you?
Get in here!
Lou, are you crazy? Get in here! Get back in here!
(Tires screeching)
(Grunting)
(Grunting)
What the hell is he doing?
Jesus Christ, stop him!
(Gasps)
(Tires screeching)
(Tires screeching)
Lou!
(Tires screeching)
Lou! Steve?
Take it easy. You're gonna be all right.
You're gonna be all right.
I'm not going anywhere.
I'm not going anywhere.
So we find that.
Somebody call an ambulance.
I'll do it.
Lou.
Hold on. Hold on.
Come on, hold on. (TIRES SCREECHING)
I'll find it.
(Tires screeching)
Take care of him, will you?
Harry?
We need you to elaborate away.
What is it? What is it?
Harry?
Yes.
We know how the aliens died.
They were asphyxiated.
Asphyxiated?
How?
These broken glass vials contain chemicals.
An element similar to potassium cyanide,
a form of sulfuric acid and several other compounds.
Now, when combined with the
iron, they form a gas, a deadly toxin.
We must have spread throughout the ship.
When we first went aboard,
our instruments didn't
indicate anything dangerous.
It had dissipated by then.
However, we did find traces
of it throughout their bodies,
in their blood stream, in their lungs,
and most of their organs.
The vials were jarred loose.
And bulked, probably when the satellite hit.
Oh, how ironic.
They're light years ahead of us in intelligence.
And yet they were killed
because of a stupid accident.
This music.
Is it one of the ship's recordings?
Oh, no.
It's a local station.
I've tapped through to their monitoring system.
Terrific.
Yeah, but I still haven't figured
out what method they're using
to record and store all this stuff.
Magnetic.
Doesn't appear to be.
The recordings themselves seem to be on sort of
crystalline microchips.
Crystal.
Keep at it.
We interrupt this program
to bring you a news bulletin.
Lewis Price, NASA's space shuttle pilot,
has been killed in a traffic accident in Texas.
A man who left the scene of
the accident has been identified
as Steven Bankcroft, a space shuttle commander.
Bankcroft and Price have been
the target of charges that they
were responsible for the
death of an Air Force officer.
Clone lights.
More details, and...
I just heard about Price myself.
I have no details.
You knew about Steve and Lou
being blamed for Gates's death?
Yes, I did, but...
Why didn't you tell me?
Because I'd been checking it out.
I've been trying to find out
where that story came from.
I want to see Steve Bankcroft.
I want to know whether Lou's death had anything to do
with what they saw up there in space about what we've
got here in hangar 18.
No, no, you've got my assurance. There is no connection.
That's not good enough!
I want to talk to Steve Bancroft myself!
No, no, he's not here in the morning.
I'm gonna walk right out of here,
and I'm gonna hold a press conference,
and I'm gonna tell him things
that you don't want to hear.
NASA is not gonna take the wrap on this one.
You don't understand the whole picture, Harry.
Morrison! I'm telling you!
If anything happens to Steve Bancroft,
I'm holding you personally responsible.
Lou Price and four other men.
Dead.
How could it have gone this far?
It was a choice between two bad alternatives.
You had to let them get to hang a routine or stop them.
And what are our choices now?
We should have taken Price and Bancroft
into our confidence like I wanted to do.
You think Forbes is serious about going to the press?
Oh, I can guarantee you he's serious.
You know, there's a lot more to
this now than salvaging an election.
A lot of people can be implicated.
Well, thank you very much, General.
I'm sure we are all aware of our situation.
You think I enjoy being in the middle of this?
We've got to start talking about
alternatives here, considering options.
Some decisions have to be made.
This problem is not going to go away.
As long as Hangar 18 exists, the problem exists.
What the hell are you saying?
Aren't we in this deep enough already?
Yeah, so deep there's no going back.
If we don't finish what we
started, it's all over for the president.
And it's all over for us.
If we stop now, we don't stand any chance at all.
All right, let me hear your thinking on this.
There are airplane crashes every day.
Even at military bases.
Your identification, sir.
One moment, sir.
(Tires screeching)
Hello, let's go.
All makes sense.
(Tires screeching)
(Tires screeching)
(Tires screeching)
Base security, this is sector 10.
Subject has just entered building 43.
(Tense music)
Take it easy, now.
(Tense music)
Okay, that's it.
(Tense music)
(Tense music)
(TENSE MUSIC) They're power plants, defense
installations, and industrial complexes.
Yeah, right.
Those symbols on the bottom
there. Can you translate those?
I can try. I get the terminal up
here, run it through the computer.
Let's see what I come up with.
Let's do it. Let's do it.
(Tense music)
Phil, get up here. I got something.
(Tense music)
Steve!
Harry.
Harry, what are you doing here?
The base security call.
Base security? Yeah, they said I'd find you here.
Come on.
Where? Come on. We'll take you
back to hangar 18. You'll be safe there.
Come on.
(Tense music)
There she is.
There it is. Yeah.
They didn't want us to talk about it. And there it is.
Looseman killed. You know that?
I know, Steve.
And they've been trying to kill me.
We've been set up from the start.
What the hell's going on, Harry?
Steve, I don't know.
But we're gonna find out. Come on.
(Tapping)
Harry!
Steve, Kelso's got a translation.
Get in here right away.
(Footsteps)
Evacuate your men.
All right. Let's move out.
Again. Punch it in again to make sure.
I've tried three times, Harry. I
keep on getting the same answer.
These are all designated landing areas.
Oh, my God. They're coming back.
Now what, Harry?
Phil, get the equipment up here
and make a hard copy, print out.
The rest of you keep checking the dates and...
(Fire billowing)
In today's headlines, reports continue to flood in
about last night's massive explosion
at Wolf Air Force Base in West Texas.
Astronaut Stephen Bancroft,
NASA Deputy Director Harry Forbes,
and a small crew of technicians
miraculously survived the blast.
Initial accounts indicate they
were shielded from the explosion,
inside what NASA claims to be an alien spacecraft.
Press representatives from around
the world have been gathering
since early this morning, in
anticipation of a news conference
to be held by Mr. Forbes this afternoon.
As yet, there has been no official
statement from the White House.
(Music continues)