Original subtitles

You're traveling through another dimension

a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind

a journey into a wondrous land

whose boundaries are that of imagination.

That's the signpost up ahead.

Your next stop, the twilight zone.

Global 33, receiving okay.

Magellan, how about a flight progress report?

Coming up, skipper.

Global 33, receiving okay.

We'll be about four minutes

behind flight plan at 30-degrees west.

Check. Captain, gander wants to know

if you intend an altitude change

after we pass 30 west.

Advise gander negative.

Negative altitude change.

You'll be pleased to know

that thanks to the quality of this aircraft

and the fine weather and my brilliant flying

we'll hit idlewild on schedule

if our speed holds up.

Send it in, wyatt.

Yes, sir.

Shannon, shannon, copy, gander.

Global flight 33, position 52 north

30 west, time 14:03.

Flight level 35,000.

Estimating 51 north, 40 west at 14:45.

Estimating idlewild 18:30.

Fuel remaining, 79560.

Temperature, minus 57.

Report received, captain.

How we doing back there, janie?

Oh, your passengers are highly content

but on behalf of the stewardesses

i would like to respectfully request

that we get to new york as soon as possible.

One's going to the opera

two have heavy dates

and the fourth is available to any honorable

and single male crew member.

Oh, hold it a minute.

Do you feel anything?

Feel anything?

No, what do you mean?

I don't know- i felt something...

something funny, like the sensation of speed.

I can't put my finger on it.

I guess i'm getting old.

True airspeed 470, we're level.

Suppose we picked up a tail wind?

Yeah, maybe those jet streams are tricky.

It's that crazy feeling i can't shake.

I can't feel a tail wind, but i feel something.

Everything looks fine.

Magellan, try and get me a ground-speed check

with the doppler.

Indicates 900.

That's impossible.

I better check with loran.

What's going on?

Hold it a minute.

Skipper, loran indicates a ground speed of 830 knots.

I never heard of a tail wind like that.

Check it again.

See if you can raise

weather ship charlie.

Ask him for a radar fix

on the ground- speed check.

Magellan, are you sure

about that ground speed?

I'm not only sure, but we're still accelerating.

980 now.

1,120.

1,500.

Global 33 tocharlie.

God in heaven, i can't even keep up with it.

Global 33 to weather shipcharlie.

Global 33 to weather shipcharlie.

What aboutcharlie?

Nothing, sir, i can't raise them.

2,100.

Well, i hope the wings stay on.

Don't worry about the wings.

It's the true airspeed that counts.

Ground speed means nothing.

Well, now, we just hit one lulu of a jet stream.

Magellan.

My needle just reversed past gander v.o.r.

How could we get past...?

Give me a fast position check.

Skipper, we are past gander.

We must be doing 3,000 knots.

Try to raise harmon control or moncton or boston.

At this speed, you might as well try

to get idlewild.

Harmon control, this is global 33.

Harmon, do you read us?

Moncton.

Moncton, this is global 33.

Boston.

Boston control, this is global 33.

Boston, please acknowledge.

Idlewild.

Idlewild, this is global 33.

Idlewild, do you read us?

It's no soap.

I can't raise anyone.

You're riding on a jet airliner

en route from london to new york.

You're at 35,000 feet atop an overcast

and roughly 55 minutes from idlewild airport

but what you've seen occur inside the cockpit of this plane

is no reflection on the aircraft or the crew.

It's a safe, well-engineered, perfectly designed machine

and the men you've just met

are a trained, cool, highly efficient team.

The problem is simply that the plane is going too fast

and there is nothing within the realm of knowledge

or at least logic to explain it.

Unbeknownst to passenger and crew

this aeroplane is heading into an uncharted region

well-off the beaten track of commercial travelers.

It's moving into the twilight zone.

What you're about to see we call "the odyssey of flight 33."

I hope you're proud of the fly-boys.

I'm seeingthe valkyrietonight.

Oh, janie.

I've always had

a thing about valhalla.

Be a good egg and tell me i'm going to make it

in time for the curtain.

Let me put it to you this way:

I only hope that the valhalla you're talking about

is at the metropolitan opera house in little old new york.

Instead of...?

Instead of a conducted tour through the real thing.

We're in trouble.

How bad?

They don't know yet.

Go ahead, serve it.

Paula, remember:

"Coffee, tea or milk?" And with a smile.

You've got a deal.

You know, you talk about ailments.

Well, i had an aunt once in boise, idaho

had one of the worst livers

in the medical history of the state.

That woman, when she passed on, rest her soul

would you believe it,

there were five medical associations

who were bidding just to get her liver in a bottle on display.

But her mother- that was my father's sister-

she absolutely refused to let them show her liver.

And it was like i said to my late husband, you can...

what did you say you were, dear?

Group captain, madame.

I'm military attache to the british embassy in washington.

Oh, isn't that wonderful.

You know, i had a nephew

in the navy in the second world war.

Yes, he was...

he was on a cruiser or a...

p.t. Boat, or something like that.

Or maybe it was a battleship.

Did you feel anything?

Well, i felt a little queasy when we took off

but like my late husband always used to say

i've got a stomach that's just like...

it's odd.

It's very odd, indeed.

I have the strangest sensation of speed.

Acceleration.

Oh!

Oh, dear, terribly sorry.

Got a little nerves, miss?

Heavy date in new york.

Little shook up.

I don't blame you then.

Another channel...

well, what about it?

Not a thing, captain.

Not a single thing.

Either everybody out there is off whack- everybody-

or we are.

Well, check your equipment again.

I checked it four times.

All right, knock it off.

I might as well try

to bull our way through and see if...

did we hit something?

I don't know. Check for damage.

Number three and four are still on the wing.

They look okay.

Ditto one and two.

Everything seems to be in a piece.

Purcell, go aft and check for cabin damage.

Report back right away.

Right.

I'd better get on the horn

and calm down anybody

that needs calming down.

Tell the girls to stay with it.

Right.

We're in trouble.

I don't know what kind of trouble.

That light, that crazy light- what was it?

Something we'll have to find out-

quick too.

What was that shaking? Turbulence?

I doubt it.

It was more like a... like a...

like a what?

Like a sound shockwave

as if we'd gone past the speed of sound.

You mean we hit mach one?

We broke the sound barrier?

But we didn't get any mach warning bell.

We probably wouldn't have

not with a true airspeed of only 470.

I don't know what it is.

I just don't know.

See, magellan's last speed check was 3,000 knots.

We could have gone through some kind of a sound barrier

but... no kind of a sound barrier i ever heard of.

Magellan-

can you give me a fix now?

Global 33 to harmon control...

whatever that bump was, skipper

it's really knocked out everything.

Global 33, moncton.

The altimeter and rate of climb are steady, skipper.

Captain, i can't reach

gander, moncton or boston or anybody.

Either they're off the air or we are or both.

Hatch, give me a sun line.

I'll need a heading to idlewild

from our last known position.

If we can't raise anyone, we'll establish visual contact.

Skipper, you can't do that.

If we leave this altitude

well run smack-dab into the middle of 20 other flights.

Have you got any other alternative, craig?

Sooner or later, we're going to have

to find a landmark and go v.f.r.

Without radio contact, we're deaf and dumb.

As long as we stay up here, we're also blind.

There's no damage there, skip.

Everybody's shook up and curious.

They're also plenty scared.

Them and me.

Well, "ours is not to reason why."

Into the valley of public relations.

Ladies and gentlemen

this is captain farver.

I want to assure you that everything is under control

and there is no danger.

We encountered a little clear air turbulence

and atmospheric phenomena

but there's been no damage to the aircraft

except for some temporary radio malfunction.

There's no cause for alarm

and i'll keep you posted.

If we run according to schedule

we should be landing at idlewild inside of the next 40 minutes.

Thank you.

Purcell, what's the fuel?

71,435 pounds.

I don't feel that strange sensation of speed anymore.

Magellan, how about

that heading to idlewild?

Part of this is scientific, skipper.

Part of it's kentucky windage.

Try 262, that's as close as i can get.

All right, you all know what we're up against.

We have no radio contact.

Apparently, we're out of touch with all ground-radar points.

We don't know where we are.

We're not even sure if we're on airways.

This beast gulps fuel.

We all know that only too well.

So we've got one chance.

We'll go through this overcast

and try to find

something that looks familiar.

Uh... it's very possible

that we might hit something

on the way down

but it's a chance we've got to take.

I wanted you to know where we stand

so everybody keep a sharp lookout for any other traffic

and keep your fingers crossed.

I guess a few prayers wouldn't be out of order either.

All right, craig, let's go down.

Hit the horn button.

Skipper?

I don't get it.

It happens to be a fact, though.

That's manhattan island down there.

Manhattan island?

How could it be manhattan island?

Where's the skyline?

Where are all the buildings?

I don't know where they are, but that's new york city.

One little item seems to be amiss.

The passengers...

yeah, i don't blame them.

Well, we're over land.

I don't see any...

any what, janie?

Any city, right?

We don't either.

Now, that's manhattan island down there.

There's the east river.

There's the hudson river.

That's staten island.

We've got all the topographical clues we need.

The problem seems to be the real estate's there

it's just the city and eight million people are missing.

In short, there is no new york.

It's disappeared.

Skipper, verify something for me, would you?

And in a hurry?

Look!

It's not possible.

What in the name of everything holy

is going on?

What's the score?

We've been circling for a half an hour?

They said they'd keep in touch,

but not to come in.

Well, what do you think, skipper?

Well, we've flown over

what should be

schenectady, albany

points north.

I'll give you a surmise, gentlemen.

You may want to truss me up with ropes

but it's the only single explanation i can give.

Somehow in some way we not only went through the sound barrier

but we've gone back in time.

Well, what do we do about it?

Skipper?

Fuel is down to 49,435 pounds.

Then here's what we're going to do about it.

We're going to push this baby up

until she's going as fast as she can.

We're going to climb till we get back into that jet stream

and then... we're going to try to go back where we came from.

All right, craig.

Let's do it.

700 knots.

780.

800.

900 knots.

I think we're going to make it.

We're picking it up again. Do you feel it?

We're picking it up again.

Look, i know you've got your hands full

but somebody get on the pipe.

I've got three passengers back there that are nearly hysterical

and those two kids

back in the tourist section

have half the passengers climbing the walls.

We made it!

Look, we're back!

Ladies and gentlemen

this is captain farver.

We encountered some momentary difficulty back there

but as you can see, we're over new york city now

and should be landing inside of just a few minutes.

Thank you.

What about idlewild?

Nothing doing, captain.

Our v.h.f. Is still out.

Maybe their's is out, too.

Try using a high frequency.

I did already, captain.

There's nothing from idlewild.

What about la guardia?

Somebody ought to hear us.

La guardia

this is global 33.

La guardia, come in, please.

This is la guardia tower.

Who is calling, please?

La guardia, this is global 33.

We're on the northeast leg

of la guardia range.

Our v.o.r. And i.l.s. Appear inoperative.

Request radar vector to idlewild.

You request what?

Radar vector to idlewild i.l.s.

What flight did you say this was?

La guardia, this is global airlines flight 33.

Now, stop fooling around.

We're short on fuel.

Global 33?

What kind of aircraft is this?

This is a jet aircraft.

Did you say ajetaircraft?

Let me handle it.

La guardia, this is a jet.

We have four, big lovely turbines

and they're getting hungry, running short on fuel.

We want a radar vector to idlewild.

Do you have us in radar contact or don't you?

I don't know who you are

and we don't know anything at all

about radar or jets or anything else

but if you're really low on fuel

we'll clear you to land here.

Captain, their longest runway

is less than 5,000 feet.

Do you think we ought to take a chance?

Global 33, you're cleared to land on runway 22.

Altimeter 29-88, winds south, ten miles per hour.

The captain is to report

to the c.a.a. Office immediately after landing.

Roger, we'll keep in touch.

C.a.a.?

They haven't called the federal aviation agency

c.a.a. In years.

Now, we're going down below, craig.

Hit the horn button.

Skipper, do you know what that is?

I know exactly what it is.

It's the new york world's fair.

The new york world's fair?

But that means we'd be back in...

1939.

We came back.

We came back

but, dear god, not far enough.

We can't land...

we can't land at la guardia.

We can't land in 1939.

We've got to try again.

What about the passengers?

I think... we better let them in on it.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain.

What i'm about to tell you...

what i'm about to tell you

is something i can't explain myself.

Your crew is as much in the dark as you are.

If you look out from the left-hand side of this aircraft

you'll see directly below an area called lake success.

Those buildings aren't the united nations.

They happen to be... they happen to be the world's fair.

What i'm trying to tell you is

that somehow, some way, in some manner

this aircraft has gone back into time and it's 1939

but we're going to try to increase our speed

and go back through the same sound barrier

we've already done twice before.

I don't know if we can do it.

All i ask of you is that you remain calm and pray.

A global jet airliner en route from london to new york

on an uneventful afternoon in the year 1961

but now reported overdue and missing

and by now searched for on land, sea and air

by anguished human beings, fearful of what they'll find

but you and i know where she is.

You and i know what's happened.

So if some moment, any moment

you hear the sound of jet engines

flying atop the overcast

engines that sound searching and lost

engines that sound desperate

shoot up a flare or do something.

That would be global 33 trying to get home

from the twilight zone.

Rod serling, creator ofthe twilight zone

will tell you about next week's story

after this word from our alternate sponsor.

And now, mr. Serling.

I've only got about 18 seconds

to tell you that next week mr. Burgess meredith returns

tothe twilight zone as mr. Dingle the strong.

He plays the role of an incredible little man

who's given the strength of about 500 men

and comes out of it as a kind of 20th century hercules

and samson all rolled into one.

Its designed to send you right from your set

into a fast bowl of spinach.

It's catching.

Captioned by media access group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org

be sure and see the colgate- palmolive company's

new comedy show my sister eileen

wednesday night on many of these same stations.